Ward Lucas is a longtime investigative journalist and television news anchor. He has won more than 70 national and regional awards for Excellence in Journalism, Creative Writing and community involvement. His new book, "Neighbors At War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association," is now available for purchase. In it, he discusses the American homeowners association movement, from its racist origins, to its transformation into a lucrative money machine for the nation's legal industry. From scams to outright violence to foreclosures and neighborhood collapses across the country, the reader will find this book enormously compelling and a necessary read for every homeowner. Knowledge is self-defense. No homeowner contemplating life in an HOA should neglect reading this book. No HOA board officer should overlook this examination of the pitfalls in HOA management. And no lawyer representing either side in an HOA dispute should gloss over what homeowners are saying or believing about the lawsuit industry.
More than half of all homeowners in North Carolina live in covenant-controlled developments or Homeowner Associations. One of them is Becky Lew-Hobbs. She and her family owned a home in VillageLakes, near Raleigh. Becky admits the family got behind in their dues when her husband was out of work. But they tried hard to come up with the $1,143.89.
Suddenly, they were told they were being evicted from their own home and had FIVE days to pack up and leave. Becky says they were never notified that their house had been seized in a foreclosure action ten months earlier. That $1100 bill cost them their $160,000 home.
Well, at least it sounded cool, but I didn’t have the guts to say that to my publisher. I actually did want to hold off for a couple of weeks on my new book, Neighbors At War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowner Association. With all the embezzlements from HOAs, I’ve got a last minute update I’d like to make. I want to slip into Chapter 14 a $1000 challenge: a reward for the reader who can compile a verified list of the largest number of Homeowner Association embezzlements.
“Oh. you’re moving into the neighborhood? I don’t really want to interfere with your attempt to lease or buy a home in this HOA. But I work for the government. And it’s my job to make sure the landlord didn’t make any misrepresentations to you when he agreed to lease or sell his home to you.
“For example, did the owner tell you whether the ratio of HOMEOWNERS to TENANTS was out of whack here? Since renters have a reputation for not properly maintaining their homes, FHA loans and company reimbursements may not be available to anyone in the neighborhood.
Whenever the news media start trolling for stories about HOA abuse, they seem to be buried with them. This was one of many uncovered by reporter J. David McSwane, of Denver’s Westword Magazine.
He reports that Angela Quinn, a resident in an HOA in Western Washington, was told she could not have an air conditioner in her rental home. She says her neighbor had an A/C unit, and since she was in her third trimester of pregnancy, she figured she could install one in a back window which was not visible from the street.
Despite a few changes in law in such states as Texas and Arizona, Homeowners Associations are developing an increasingly bad reputation because of the ongoing spate of news stories about homeowners abused by the HOA system. Homeowners wrongly believe that HOAs are created to maintain property values and help homeowners get along with each other. Nothing could be further from the truth.
