Friday, July 20, 2007

Idiocy
Monica Caruso sends this link to a light-hearted poster that epitomizes the problem with people in groups, including an undetermined percentage of HOAs. This underscores my puzzlement at the popularity HOAs have among some libertarians. Normally, they view the individual as the source of all wisdom and the group as the source of...well, look at the poster.
Miami Condo Glut Pushes Florida's Economy to Brink of Recession
In the middle of the biggest glut of condominiums in more than 30 years, Miami developers keep on building. The oversupply will force prices down as much as 30 percent, the worst decline since the 1970s, and help push Florida's economy into recession as early as October, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Moody's Economy.com, who owns a home in Vero Beach, Florida. ``Florida is the epicenter for all the problems that exist in the housing industry,'' said Lewis Goodkin, president of Goodkin Consulting Corp. and a property adviser in Miami for the past 30 years, who also foresees a recession. ``The problems we have now are unprecedented and a lot of people will get burnt.''

Monday, July 16, 2007

APP.COM - Condo fee at closing legalized under bill | Asbury Park Press Online
Did you hear a loud "KA-CHING"?

FREEHOLD — What started out as litigation here is now legislation in Trenton that will limit but also legalize a standard practice of charging an upfront fee to condominium buyers.

The bill, which has passed both chambers of the Legislature and is now on the governor's desk, will allow condominium associations, only through their master deed or bylaws, to charge a one-time, nonrefundable "capital contribution fee" upon closing.

For condo associations, charging this fee is nothing new. However, the bill, if signed, will allow associations to charge up to nine times the amount of a unit's monthly maintenance fee, in addition to legally protecting the practice. The amount was amended in the Senate from 18 times the monthly maintenance fee.
Plague rats being used to supply restaurants | NEWS.com.au
OK, so they ate the snakes and the owls that were eating the rats, so now they need to eat the rats? Do you remember the song about the old lady who swallowed a spider?

Live rats are being trucked from central China, suffering a plague of a reported two billion rodents displaced by a flooded lake, to the south of the of country to end up in restaurant dishes, Chinese media has reported...Local governments in Hunan have been grappling with the rats, which had already destroyed 1.6 million hectares of crops and could spread disease, according to media reports. A lack of snakes, also a popular dish in the south, and owls, a traditional Chinese medicine, was held partly responsible.
All-white schools told to mix with other races or be labelled 'failing' | the Daily Mail
Interesting contrast between the recent USSC decisions that made it harder for schools to take race into account in assigning students to schools, and this British policy.
The Buffalo News: Northern Suburbs: Pig roast in garage sparks $150,000 fire
Here is a headline you don't read every day. Even the most creative attorney would never have thought to write a covenant banning pig roasts in the garage.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Fighting for their home- NOLA.com
We have tax auctions here in Illinois, but there are protections against this sort of thing. I guess Louisiana could use a cleanup on aisle common sense.

The Atwoods' nightmare began when they learned in 2000 that their four-bedroom, two-bath home had been sold in 1997 through a tax sale for the $1.63 in unpaid taxes, plus 10 cents interest and $125 in costs associated with the sale.