Questions raised about tombstone removal from small historic cemetery in Holmdel | APP.com | Asbury Park Press

Questions raised about tombstone removal from small historic cemetery in Holmdel | APP.com | Asbury Park Press: "'The tombstones of children who passed away in the 1800s and those of their family members were unceremoniously destroyed. This was essentially sanctioned vandalism at the behest of a board.'

But Beau Ridge Association president Edward Esler said everything was done by the letter of the association's laws.

'There's no story here,' Esler said. 'By the bylaws of our organization, we are required to maintain that area, which was done when the place was built 25 years ago and is being done now. Everything we've done has been done to the letter of the law.'"

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The HOA charm campaign contines.

FloriDUH: HOA charging $600 for a mailbox

FloriDUH: HOA charging $600 for a mailbox

Now the association is trying to turn the neglected neighborhood around by charging fees to new buyers lured by low home prices. They think homeowners who didn't pay mortgages or dues for years should not be allowed to just walk away and leave behind an eyesore, reports TBO.com.

The community started charging buyers a $400 transfer fee, then a $225 fee to release liens against the property. There is also a $250 charge to prepare a letter detailing the fees owed. If buyers or sellers opt to do the work themselves, there is a $75 fee for the association to review the work, reports TBO.com.

And $600 for a mailbox.

Do homeowner regulations go too far? | StarNewsOnline.com

Do homeowner regulations go too far? | StarNewsOnline.com: "New Hanover County Fire Marshal Matt Davis said investigators don't know whether Darius intended to die in the fire or just wanted to blow up the house because of the ongoing problems with his homeowners association."

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That's quite a sentence, isn't it?

Bladder Lane, Bent Street and Butt Hole Road – the street names that reached the end of the road - Telegraph

Bladder Lane, Bent Street and Butt Hole Road – the street names that reached the end of the road - Telegraph: "Dozens of councils across Britain have reported cases of residents changing the names of their street because they dislike the one on the map.
In some cases, the name change has followed years of ridicule.
The inhabitants of Butt Hole Road even had to put up with coach loads of US tourists visiting to have their pictures taken near the road sign, after the street appeared in an American book and on the internet."
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This is the opposite of what developers do, where they name streets in a desert something like "Ocean Wave Lane."

Housing Choice - Help Today’s Owners or Future Buyers - NYTimes.com

Housing Choice - Help Today’s Owners or Future Buyers - NYTimes.com: "As the economy again sputters and potential buyers flee — July housing sales sank 26 percent from July 2009 — there is a growing sense of exhaustion with government intervention. Some economists and analysts are now urging a dose of shock therapy that would greatly shift the benefits to future homeowners: Let the housing market crash."
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Home values have already dropped 30%. What does "crash" look like, please?

Walter Russell Mead's Blog - The American Interest

Walter Russell Mead's Blog - The American Interest: "Automation, outsourcing and unremitting pressures to control costs are going to squeeze upper middle class incomes.� What blue collar workers faced in the last thirty years is coming to the white collar workforce now.

Yet as their financial prospects darken, students’ educational costs are exploding.� Like the health care system, the educational system is being overwhelmed by rising costs and rising demand.� And as misguided government policies contributed to the real estate bubble by artificially inflating demand, government programs are burdening students with unpayable loans and contributing to relentless and unsustainable inflation in school costs."
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Mead is a famous political science professor at Yale and Bard College.

When the HOA forecloses: This isn't like a tax assessor's sale

When paying the mortgage is not enough

When Becky and Chris Hobbs' home was foreclosed on and the family evicted from it this spring, the couple had not missed a house payment. They had, however, not paid their homeowners association dues. "I had no idea that anyone other than your mortgage company can evict you from your house," Becky Lew-Hobbs said. "It's absurd to me that one late payment can evict you."

Skipping out on homeowners association dues can have extreme, and often unexpected, consequences. Increasing numbers of the neighborhood-based groups are turning to foreclosure proceedings to collect on overdue fees, which the associations use to maintain community clubhouses, pools and the like.
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People who have suffered a big loss of income in the economic contraction may figure that as with delinquent property taxes, they can settle up with the assessor's office when their financial situation improves. Wrong. HOAs come knocking years before the tax man for significantly much smaller sums. Since HOA assessments are considered private and not public obligations, private attorneys play the role of tax collectors. And they charge big fees for doing so, often multiples of the underlying amount owed. Good work if you can find it or an appalling scam -- depending upon your perspective.

U.S. housing value down at least $4 trillion | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/05/2010

U.S. housing value down at least $4 trillion | Philadelphia Inquirer | 09/05/2010: "Since the real estate boom ground to a painful close about 31/2 years ago, the nation's housing stock has shed from about $4 trillion to $7.1 trillion in value."
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Ouch. How about this quote from a developer: "The perception of homeownership as a wealth builder has suffered a deep setback." No. Really?

In struggling housing market, buyers and sellers are out of sync

In struggling housing market, buyers and sellers are out of sync: "Across the Washington region and around the country, the expectations of buyers and sellers are out of whack, thwarting deals that could potentially lift the U.S. housing sector from its long funk. The nascent rebirth of the market earlier this year proved to be a mirage."
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Sellers think their homes are worth about twice what anybody is willing to pay. An acquaintance of mine just bought a home in foreclosure. It was sold new in 2006 for $370,000. The absentee owner, who bought it as a (really bad) investment, has been trying to unload it and eventually he couldn't even find a tenant for it. The house sat vacant for a while and finally the owner just let the bank take it in foreclosure. At the foreclosure sale the bank wanted about $154,000. Only my acquaintance even bid on it--for one dollar above that figure. He got it.

There are three houses for sale on my street. One has been on the market for almost two years, the others over a year. No action. I'm sure they could be sold, but the prices would have to come down so low the owners either couldn't pay off the mortgage or would consider their lives ruined.

And every TV talking head keeps talking about "the recovery." Yeah, sure.

The Ogallala Aquifer and Its Role as a Threatened American Resource - APEC HRDWG Wiki

The Ogallala Aquifer and Its Role as a Threatened American Resource - APEC HRDWG Wiki
Here's some info on what I refer to below...

The Ogallala aquifer is being used today to supply residential and agricultural communities across eight Midwestern states. For nearly 80 years the nation’s breadbasket has been irrigated from Ogallala groundwater—a practice so unsustainable it severely threatens an aquifer that had flourished for over a million years. Farmlands are already shrinking on some portions of the Ogallala that have been mined of water. As the water table continues to plummet the High Plains will have to take drastic measures, whether communities import costly water or abandon the most profitable farming in the nation. Either way the decision has to be made soon because the aquifer that once held enough water to cover the entire United States under 1.5 feet of water is rapidly running out.

Aral Sea Almost DRIED UP: UN Chief Calls It 'Shocking Disaster'

Aral Sea Almost DRIED UP: UN Chief Calls It 'Shocking Disaster': "NUKUS, Uzbekistan -- The drying up of the Aral Sea is one of the planet's most shocking disasters, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday, as he urged Central Asian leaders to step up efforts to solve the problem.

Once the world's fourth-largest lake, the sea has shrunk by 90 percent since the rivers that feed it were largely diverted in a Soviet project to boost cotton production in the arid region."
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The Aral Sea is one especially horrible example of what is happening to the world's lakes and rivers. Damming rivers for crackpot schemes to irrigate deserts and build cities where only reptiles would be comfortable; industrial pollution; overpumping of ground water that won't recharge for a thousand years; using millions of gallons of water to extract oil from tar sands, and on and on. We are about 10 to 20 years from a global water crisis, and in fact it has already started in some places.

Now, let's bring this down to the US and the housing industry. The western US is sucking rivers dry and draining the aquifers so deep that the ground is subsiding. The Rio Grande is running dry. Some years it doesn't even reach the Gulf of Mexico. The Colorado River is in danger of basically drying up by 2050 or so, by some estimates. The level of the Ogallala aquifer that underlies the midwestern US and supports 1/5 of our agriculture is being overdrawn so badly that is dropping by 1.75 feet per year. It took 6000 years to fill, and the most dire estimates say it will run dry in 25 years. I could go on, but if you take a look at this book or any number of others with a similar message, you will see that the evidence for an impending world water crisis, including parts of the US, is overwhelming.

Now--with that as the background, what are the implications for the American real estate development industry? For example:

1. Should developers be permitted to build new subdivisions in deserts and other places that don't have sufficient water (such as Atlanta, GA)? Is it wise to keep building vast quantities of housing in and around Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Atlanta, Riverside and San Bernardino, etc., when they are pumping in or otherwise stealing millions of gallons of water already?
2. Should golf courses be permitted at all in such locations? Or is it time to shut them down in order to avoid wasting water?
3. Should local communities be allowed to adopt building moratoriums and keep developers out entirely, on the sole grounds that there isn't enough water?
4. Should HOAs be forced by state law to permit low-water yards, regardless of what the governing documents say?
5. Should state laws impose water conservation measures on cities and HOAs?

What do you think?

Jane White: Work Until You're Dead? That May Be the Only Option for Many Americans

Jane White: Work Until You're Dead? That May Be the Only Option for Many Americans: "Many Americans are likely to have to work until they are dead, not as a result of Social Security shortfalls but because of their inadequate 401(k) savings or the fact that they have no retirement plan at all. This disaster has not dawned on the mutual fund companies that manage retirement assets, much less debated on Capitol Hill. Given that the first wave of Boomers is scheduled to turn 65 in 2011, Attention Must be Paid."
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Sounds about right. As Mr. T would say, I pity the fools that want our jobs after we retire.

Florida’s High-Speed Answer to a Foreclosure Mess - NYTimes.com

Florida’s High-Speed Answer to a Foreclosure Mess - NYTimes.com: "No one disputes that foreclosures dominate Florida’s dockets and that something needs to be done to streamline a complex and emotionally wrenching process. But lawyers representing troubled borrowers contend that many of the retired judges called in from the sidelines to oversee these matters are so focused on cutting the caseload that they are unfairly favoring financial institutions at the expense of homeowners."
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Judges these days are focused on processing cases in the name of efficiency, and committed to the notion of enforcing the terms of contracts. Those aren't bad things, but it can lead to some very harsh consequences.

White House to Deploy Broader Mortgage Aid - WSJ.com

White House to Deploy Broader Mortgage Aid - WSJ.com: "Officials say between 500,000 and 1.5 million so-called underwater loans could be modified through the program, the first initiative to target homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments but are at risk of default because they have no equity in their homes. Some experts are warning, however, that the same knots that tied up prior initiatives could do so again.

Under the new 'short refinance' program, banks and other creditors that write down mortgages to less than the value of the property can essentially hand off the reduced loan to the government. The process involves refinancing borrowers into loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration."
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I mentioned weeks ago that this was coming. When an underwater borrower hands off a chunk of their debt to "the government," that means "the taxpayers," so I'm pretty sure that means that people like me are paying somebody else's mortgage. I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of this kind of "aid." Who, precisely, is going to pay a share of my mortgage?

Newspaper chastises Arizona HOA for calling for removal of flag as "debris"

HOA, don't tread on a classic piece of Americana

The state Legislature has intervened before on behalf of flag-flying residents against their HOAs. The Avalon Village folks know full well that lawmakers will do it again if they press this matter. The group needs to quit its line-parsing interpretation of the rules and let the flag fly.

Don't tread on Andy McDonel. Or his flag. The fact is, McDonel's HOA lost this argument when it called a classic piece of Americana "debris."

God Bless America: HOA reaches accord with resident over patriotic garage door sign

Compromise reached on 'God Bless America' sign

The assistant Delray Beach police chief had used magnetic letters to spell out the words on his garage door, and his actions incurred the wrath of the Springs Hamlet homeowners association. They told him the sign violated a blanket ban, no matter how patriotic the sentiment.

He refused to take it down, saying his rights as an American were being hindered. His stance brought calls from newspapers across the country, and an appearance on Fox News.
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I bet all that publicity gave Mr. Milenkovic a good deal of leverage with the HOA, making it more inclined to compromise rather than risking fines and litigation which would have only brought more bad press.

Life imitating art? Sacramento officials investigate real estate company official

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.

Will the Pink Flamingoes join with the Tea Party?

I posed this question to the good perfessor who owns this blog over the weekend. He thinks not and I tend to agree.

But the political climate is such that private HOA government is finding itself under fire just as are all levels of public government. So now when HOAs so much as appear to be trampling on someone's rights of expression and redress of grievances, they too get their turn in the media spotlight.

The stories get additional legs in the blogosphere such as this post at a Yahoo News blog by Liz Goodwin. Goodwin reports the American Civil Liberties Union is defending an Arizona man ordered by his HOA to furl his "Don't Tread On Me" Gadsen flag.

Welcome To Kiryas Joel: Please Dress Accordingly � CBS New York- News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and the Best of NY

Welcome To Kiryas Joel: Please Dress Accordingly � CBS New York- News, Sports, Weather, Traffic and the Best of NY: "The tradition in the village of Satmar Hasidic Jews is modesty. Even on the hottest of days, most residents cover up from head to toe. But visitors don’t necessarily follow that tradition, and now the main synagogue is asking them to comply.
Congregation Yetev Lev posted signs at the village’s entrance – in both English and Spanish – asking outsiders to cover their legs and arms, use appropriate language and maintain gender separation in public."
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And this isn't even a private community.