Remember that creepy HOA cult classic video titled The Colony that featured an uber regimented HOA controlled by an iron fisted developer who silenced a barking dog by cutting out its vocal cords? And who also indulged his voyeuristic inclinations by installing cameras in the bedrooms and other private places of the homes of his inmates?
The Sacramento Bee reports Michael Lyon faces a local criminal investigation amid allegations he secretly recorded people in his private homes and has temporarily stepped down as CEO of Lyon Real Estate. The newspaper reports "allegations of cameras concealed in bedrooms and bathrooms in Lyon's homes have jolted many who work at Lyon Real Estate, where top officials have retained an outside public relations consultant to manage the escalating crisis."
The Sacramento County sheriff's and district attorney's offices told The Bee they are launching their own investigation to determine if Lyon broke any state laws after the U.S. attorney's office closed a 16-month FBI probe of Lyon for lack of evidence.
"After being cleared of any wrongdoing by the U.S. attorney and the FBI, Mike will spend time clearing his good name and dealing with current baseless allegations being investigated by the district attorney," according to a statement by the company published in the newspaper.
3 comments:
"Michael Lyon faces a local criminal investigation amid allegations he secretly recorded people in his private homes"
I'm a little bit unclear. When they say "recorded people in his homes," are they referring to recording guests in houses he owned, or homeowners in houses that he built and then sold to other people? ie, were other people being recorded in their homes built by Lyons?
What happens when HOA rules have a provision that allows HOAs to place telescreens in everyone's home? Sure it's a violation of privacy, but you agreed to it!
Or, if services are to be privatized, what happens when the HOA becomes the telephone and internet service provider, and all such telecom is routed through the HOA's "common interest communications gateway"? Will they have the right to monitor and filter what goes in and out over the wires that belong to the neighborhood?
Will our browsers be re-directed to caionline.org at startup, while sites like "The Privatopia Papers" and "On The Commons" are blocked?
"Remember that creepy HOA cult classic video titled The Colony that featured an uber regimented HOA"
Don't forget the X-Files episode "Arcadia".
And while not about HOAs, Hot Fuzz had a sub-plot about the local Neighborhood Watch Association (NWA) that regular readers of this site will appreciate.
What other depictions of HOAs and neighborhood associations exist in popular culture?
> What other depictions of HOAs and neighborhood associations exist in popular culture?
I was not aware of this, but based on a response to a question of mine about "Common Mistakes by Economists" on another web site, Over the Hedge:
"Maybe conservatives and libertarians are putting more effort into national issues. The only national attention HOAs have gotten recently was from Over the Hedge."
Over The Hedge was released in May 2006.
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