Saturday, May 30, 2015

Foreclosure scam ordered to repay $11M to distressed homeowners | TheHill

Foreclosure scam ordered to repay $11M to distressed homeowners | TheHill



"The lawyers behind a foreclosure scam were ordered Friday in federal court to repay more than $11 million that it took for vulnerable homeowners. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the state of Florida accused the scammers, led by the Hoffman Law Group, of tricking distressed homeowners into joining frivolous lawsuits that would supposedly provide foreclosure relief."

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After the housing market crashed in 2007-08, a whole lot of "foreclosure rescue" businesses were set up. Many of them were nothing more than fraud rings and they operated for years--with many still in business.  It's a great example of how little our policy makers care about homeowners and how much they care about banks.

New law aims to lift artificial turf ban on HOA property | FOX5 San Diego – San Diego news, weather, traffic, sports from KSWB

New law aims to lift artificial turf ban on HOA property | FOX5 San Diego – San Diego news, weather, traffic, sports from KSWB



"CHULA VISTA, Calif.  — On the heels of new water regulations that start Monday across San Diego, one answer to California’s massive drought may come in the form of something fake. There’s a turf war brewing over a bill making its way to the State Senate. The bill would make it illegal for homeowners associations (HOAs) to prohibit fake turf."

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This has passed the Assembly. If it passes the Senate, I hope the Governor signs it this time.

HOA tows heart attack victim's car from neighborhood - News3LV

HOA tows heart attack victim's car from neighborhood - News3LV



"Virginia says she also heard her car was towed because it was in the same spot for more than 72 hours. "Just because my mom doesn't drive her vehicle very often, doesn't give them the right to tow it," says Jason Lenderman, Virginia's son."

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Of course this story doesn't have all the facts, but this sounds like one of those all-too-common situations where the owner is outraged and the media coverage implies that the association is being unreasonable, but when all is said and done the association has the law on its side and they can do this is if they want to.  So it's just a question of whether they want to put up with the bad press.  

The Supreme Court Could Transfer A Lot Of Political Power Away From Cities | FiveThirtyEight

The Supreme Court Could Transfer A Lot Of Political Power Away From Cities | FiveThirtyEight



The conservative majority on the Supreme Court seems to have decided that they need to get their thumb on the scale of partisan politics. They have destroyed campaign finance regulation, they gutted the Voting Rights Act, and now they have two redistricting cases that could give the Republicans a huge advantage--which they just happen to need, because their voters are dying off. Coincidence? Sure.