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.
Pagedale, Missouri appears to have learned the “tricks of the trade” from HOAs by turning homeowners into cash cows.
Most city codes do not allow for cars up on jacks in driveways or front yards. They frown on RVs, travel trailers, and eighteen wheelers parked in driveways. And peeling paint or a falling fence will no doubt be met with a violation warning letter. But the City of Pagedale has a line of homeowners waiting to pay fines for a BBQ grill in the front yard, a free-standing basketball goal on the driveway, or the wrong color of blinds in the windows. If the windows are missing screens it makes for another reason to fine the homeowners. Even an 84 year old woman has been ordered to change her window treatments or be fined.
I’m wondering if a former HOA board member has been elected to the Pagedale City Council? This behavior sounds all too familiar!
The Institute for Justice has gotten word of this excessive fining against the Pagedale homeowners. After investigating the homeowner’s claims they stepped in with a lawsuit against the city. It’s unfortunate this group doesn’t come to the rescue of the HOA homeowners, too.
Be sure to take note of the homeowner who has taken out loans to pay her fees at close to a 100% interest rate. I think somebody also needs to investigate this lender as well!
A threat to all users of the World Wide Web is growing and it could catch all of us by surprise. The European Parliament is considering a change in copyright law that could impact hundreds of millions of websites. The same copyright changes have been suggested in the U.S. as well.
It’s called ‘ancillary copyright.’ Boiled down to basics, it means that websites violate international copyright law if they provide hyperlinks to other websites. In other words, if I give you a link to a publication that exposes a horrible HOA story somewhere I violate that publication’s copyright. The reasoning is horrible.
Many people who read NeighborsAtWar.com each night provide links to my website to their respective email lists. My readership always goes up on those days, so I don’t object to anyone linking to an interesting post on this blog. In face, I encourage everyone to do so. I will NEVER claim that you violated my copyright even if I say something embarrassingly stupid, which I sometimes do. But a growing number of national and international organizations are demanding that the act of providing hyperlinks be criminalized.
The reasoning is nuts. The ultimate result will be that hundreds of millions of websites will simply have to shut down. It’s a huge muzzle on free speech and free access to information. News aggregators like Drudge, Breitbart, and Huffington Post will simply have to quit doing business. Our lives and our free access to information have been remarkably improved since the invention of the World Wide Web and hyperlinks. But free access to information threatens many in the establishment.
Our anti-HOA movement is growing exponentially because we’re all able to share stories about the huge scam known as the Homeowners Association Movement. Fight this suppression of Free Speech whenever and wherever it occurs.
Why state licensing for property management companies is good for you!
In formal classes the HOA industry money makers (property management companies and attorneys) seem to smirk/smile when they say “but ultimately the Board is responsible for everything.” Note, the HOA attorney is in a lobby group with the property management companies which then work to keep themselves self-governed and unaccountable. This is not in the best interest for you or your fellow homeowners. It’s an obvious conflict-of-interest.
You are relying on self-proclaimed ‘professionals’ who are unlicensed and unregulated property managers. When they give their so-called ‘expert advice,’ should they not be required to follow the laws, and be held accountable for their actions?
Why should you allow management companies to demand indemnification clauses? HOA homeowners should NOT have to pay to defend management companies for their own negligence.
On this blog we talk a lot about bad management companies. Tonight, I want to talk about a great one! Mine.
I’ve worked with Dave Watts of ForRentByOwner for nearly 17 years. It’s been a relationship that hasn’t had single hitch in all those years. He’s great, his employees are great. The reason I bring this up is that just yesterday I voiced a promo that he’s entering into a bank contest. It’s cute.
