HOA spat gets nasty as meeting door slammed on owner | TBO.com and The Tampa Tribune

HOA spat gets nasty as meeting door slammed on owner | TBO.com and The Tampa Tribune: Walz said she was standing in the doorway of the meeting room, lodging her protest, as the board members told her to leave.

“I was at the threshold and I said, ‘If he’s allowed to stay here, then I should be allowed to stay,’” Walz said, referring to Calcagni. “Mr. Calcagni must have gotten upset about it.”

Walz said Calcagni rose from his chair and shoved the door closed. She said she shoved back, but the property manager prevailed, and the door shut on her foot. Mitchell said he witnessed the incident.

“He takes his body and pushes his full body weight against her foot,” Mitchell said.

According to the sheriff’s report, Walz told a dispatcher the door shut on her foot but she declined an offer to call emergency medical services.
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HOA managers sometimes act as bailiff in executive sessions. Extra omnes!

Association rules force veteran to remove flag pole

Association rules force veteran to remove flag pole: Foster says she reviewed the View Harbour Neighborhood Association's rules and did not see any restrictions on flags or flag poles.

"When you look through the covenants, the words "flag pole" and "flag" are not here," she said.

So she installed the flag pole in her front yard.

Board members then told her she is allowed to hang flags outsider her home--just not with a pole. They asked her to remove it and to then ask the board for written permission.
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Sometimes a flagpole is just a pole...except in Privatopia.

York County woman fed up with homeowners association - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

York County woman fed up with homeowners association - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC: INDIAN LAND, SC (WBTV) -

Taking on a persistent homeowners association is a battle many have faced before, but one York County mother says she's had enough.

24-year old Betty Lapore and her family bought a house in the Windsor Trace development last year. Since then, she says the homeowners association hasn't left her family alone.

"We moved here from a really bad area in Fort Bragg so our kids could have a good life. And I'm not trying to cause problems, i'm just trying to hangout with my kids all day," Lapore said.

Lapore tells WBTV it all started when she decided to paint her front door red, which instantly caught the attention of the HOA.

"They fined us 350 dollars. They threatened to put a lien on our house for that much," Lapore said.
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Yet another HOA channeling Mick Jagger: Sees a red door, wants it painted black. No unapproved colors any more; we want it painted black.

Five major forces driving down mortgage interest rates

http://blog.metrotrends.org/2015/02/major-forces-driving-mortgage-interest-rates/
And they are:
Slow growth and turmoil abroad
Upheaval in the oil market
The US economy is steadily improving
Low Treasury rates, low mortgage rates
Reduced demand for mortgages

Another Florida crumbling condo

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2945412/Squalid-crumbling-Tymber-Skan-condo-community-renters-turn-trapped-slum-lord-owners

Another example of how fragile condominium housing really is. It's not just the ticky tacky construction. It's the over reliance on the owners resources. Many associations were obviously unsustainable from the start but they were profit centers for the real estate and financial sector so they were built and sold anyway. Now the remaining owners and renters are stuck in awful circumstances, others lost their shirts. 

Florida county wants to privatize practically everything

http://highlandstoday.com/hi/local-news/commissioners-following-privatization-goals-20150207/

Highlands County, Florida goes full-on privatization.