Mistake costs Leisure World Seal Beach nearly $273,000

The retirement community was penalized after its management company failed to pay the majority of a total of $3.5 million in property taxes on time.
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Ouch..

The story of Dune, recreated with Gummi worms

The story of Dune, recreated with Gummi worms
This has nothing to do with anything, but it is cool beyond belief.

Villaraigosa Ignores Outcry, Will Build 6-Foot - Flash Player Installation

Villaraigosa Ignores Outcry, Will Build 6-Foot - Flash Player Installation
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Despite the objections of his neighbors, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has ordered city officials to proceed with a plan to erect a six-foot wall around the mayor’s mansion.

The wall — which would flank the sides of Getty House in Hancock Park — recently drew the ire of local residents in February when Villaraigosa filed a request for a local variance that prohibits any fencing that exceeds 42 inches in height.
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Interesting post-apocalyptic approach to home security for a lefty mayor who is trying to force people to move back into downtown LA, despite their fears about crime.

UIC News - Homeowner associations failing, expert says

UIC News - Homeowner associations failing, expert says
This is some home-cooked publicity from the UIC News, our campus newspaper.

Private Community Associations: Boon or Bane for Local Governance?, Recorded on 6/30/2011 urbaninstitute on USTREAM. Other Events

Private Community Associations: Boon or Bane for Local Governance?, Recorded on 6/30/2011 urbaninstitute on USTREAM. Other Events
Watch it for yourself--yours truly and economist Robert Nelson.

Condo HOA employs fecal forensics to crack down on dog doo

JUPITER — If your pooch poops, you pay.

Plagued with pets that do business in all the wrong places, dog owners in the Village of Abacoa, a condominium association of 458 units, must pay a $200 fee starting Aug. 1. The money will pay DNA Pet World Registry to take the dog's genetic fingerprint and keep the information on file.

Doggie droppings found in condo common areas will be collected and mailed in a plastic tube to the Knoxville, Tenn.-based company.

If the poop matches the pooch, the owners can be fined up to $1,000. If they don't pay, a lien can be placed on their home, said Susan Nellen, property manager for Versa Property Management, which manages the condo near Roger Dean Stadium.
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Humans have a symbiotic bond with canines built over millenniums. Modern day co-existence however can be difficult, particularly when humans and their animals live in close quarters such as condo complexes. Watch where you walk.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman opposes foreclosure deal | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com

AG Eric Schneiderman opposes foreclosure deal | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman expects to lead opposition to what he called a "quick, cheap settlement" of a 50-state investigation into foreclosure practices. Schneiderman put the monetary settlement being discussed with the largest U.S. mortgage servicers at $20 billion to $25 billion and said he will take "the hardest line" against it.
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Sock it to them.

The Courier - Zombie planning — undead hordes no threat to Dundee City Council

The Courier - Zombie planning — undead hordes no threat to Dundee City Council
It's nice to see that at least one local government is taking steps. Sadly it is in the UK. Everybody knows the zombie invasion will start here in the US, probably in a state where they think Michelle Bachmann would make a great president.

The Urban Institute | Events Versus -- Private Community Associations: Boon or Bane for Local Governance?

The Urban Institute | Events Versus -- Private Community Associations: Boon or Bane for Local Governance?
...in which yours truly will be debating libertarian economist Robert Nelson, Thursday at 9:00 am Eastern Time. It will be webcast live! Tune in.

Muni Defaults Still Coming, But Timing Unclear: Whitney - CNBC

Muni Defaults Still Coming, But Timing Unclear: Whitney - CNBC
With the clock ticking on her prediction that scores of municipalities would default on their bonds, analyst Meredith Whitney both amped up the rhetoric and backed off on the timing for her highly controversial call.
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I gather that many people think she is wrong about this, but it does seem possible that if this sort of thing got started, it could take on momentum.

The next mortgage bombshell

Private mortgage insurance companies to go belly up?

The private insurers that cover $700 billion of U.S. mortgages are facing an onslaught of foreclosures. The big three—MGIC, Radian, PMI—are at risk.
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Can anybody say that the federal government has done a good job restoring the health of the housing market? I'm not saying that they have all the answers, but really--can't we expect three years into this debacle that we would have seen the last of the major institutional failures?

Tampa retiree says he lost belongings in foreclosure blunder - St. Petersburg Times

Tampa retiree says he lost belongings in foreclosure blunder - St. Petersburg Times
Santiago's attorney, J. Scott Murphy, said in the complaint that agents from Field Asset Services were hired by Countrywide Home Loans to carry out janitorial and cleanup services to a condominium next door — at 4255 W Humphrey St.

Santiago lives in a single-family home at 4205 W Humphrey St.

In the fall of 2009, when Santiago and his son, Benjamin Santiago Jr., returned to the northwest Tampa home after spending time in New Mexico, they discovered a big sign posted on the house that read Field Asset Services.

The locks were changed and a padlock was left on the front door. Everything was gone.
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This is another bogus foreclosure outrage situation. Wrong house. They took everything he had, including the photos of his dead wife. And the attorney for the people who did this of course denies any wrongdoing.

Thanks to Mystery Reader for the link.

HOA gets new chance to bar yard sculpture

HOA gets new chance to bar yard sculpture
The first time around the HOA lost because the governing documents didn't specifically mention sculptures. Now they get a chance to show that the sculpture is unsightly, which could be difficult given that old saying, de gustibus non est disputandum. Thanks to Mika Brainy for this link.

New Zoning Laws Allow for New Neighbors—Meet the Goats Next Door

First came the chickens, then the bees. So what’s the next animal that may be residing in a backyard next to you? Maybe goats. As the small-scale urban animal husbandry movement becomes a force in everyday urban life, more and more jurisdictions are being forced to revamp their laws to allow residents to hatch their own eggs, keep their own hives and—now—tend their own goats.
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So suburbanites will be raising their own chickens, growing their own corn, and maybe butchering their own hogs. Sounds like we are sliding back into the 19th century. But not if you have an HOA...