Missoulian: Law school faculty consider challenging Natelson ruling
I have reported on this before. Bob Natelson has written on property issues pertaining to condominiums and HOAs generally. He is a quality researcher and from what I gather a good teacher. His law school until recently wouldn't let him teach Constitutional Law. Natelson challenged that, claiming he was being denied this opportunity because he is a conservative, and he prevailed in a hearing held in August. Now faculty members are trying to overturn the ruling in his favor. Apparently the problem is that
University of Montana Law School faculty are talking about challenging UM President George Dennison's decision last week to appoint conservative lightning rod Rob Natelson to teach a class on Constitutional Law.
Some of Natelson's colleagues will meet Tuesday to consider filing a formal grievance with the university or appealing to the state Commissioner of Higher Education.
[more]
Friday, September 10, 2004
Thursday, September 09, 2004
ABC7Chicago.com: Mayor outlines elaborate camera network for city
Hello, surveillance society. What I find so interesting here is that many liberals and leftists are terrified of Attorney General John Ashcroft, who they suspect of peering over their shoulder at the library and rifling through their trash. But here is Democrat mayor Richard Daley installing thousands of video surveillance cameras, all linked into some sort of network. Will the left complain? Let's see.
September 9, 2004 (Chicago) — The city of Chicago plans to network more than two-thousand surveillance cameras in public places to alert authorities to suspicious behavior or emergency situations.
Mayor Richard Daley says the plan announced today would give authorities what he calls "the equivalent of hundreds of sets of eyes." Daley says it's "the next best thing to having police officers stationed at every potential trouble spot."
The city plans to put 250 new cameras in places determined to be at high risk for crime or terrorism. They would be networked with existing cameras, including those at O'Hare Airport, on the city's transit lines and in public housing buildings and schools.
The system is expected to be in place by the spring of 2006 and will be funded with a five-(M)million-dollar homeland security grant.
Hello, surveillance society. What I find so interesting here is that many liberals and leftists are terrified of Attorney General John Ashcroft, who they suspect of peering over their shoulder at the library and rifling through their trash. But here is Democrat mayor Richard Daley installing thousands of video surveillance cameras, all linked into some sort of network. Will the left complain? Let's see.
September 9, 2004 (Chicago) — The city of Chicago plans to network more than two-thousand surveillance cameras in public places to alert authorities to suspicious behavior or emergency situations.
Mayor Richard Daley says the plan announced today would give authorities what he calls "the equivalent of hundreds of sets of eyes." Daley says it's "the next best thing to having police officers stationed at every potential trouble spot."
The city plans to put 250 new cameras in places determined to be at high risk for crime or terrorism. They would be networked with existing cameras, including those at O'Hare Airport, on the city's transit lines and in public housing buildings and schools.
The system is expected to be in place by the spring of 2006 and will be funded with a five-(M)million-dollar homeland security grant.
Disabled boy wins right to front door
This one qualifies as a world-class and well-deserved legal spanking of a condo association by an advocacy group for the disabled and the US Attorney's Office here in Chicago. Good for them. Now, the question is whether all the other associations in the nation are paying attention.
For 10-year-old Jaime Trujillo, it was the modern-day equivalent of being forced to sit in the back of the bus.
But, as of Wednesday, the wheelchair-using Glenview boy no longer will be forced to enter his condo building through a back service entrance alongside a loading dock and trash cans.
Jaime instead finally can come in through the front door without fear of getting fined or yelled at, after a settlement was struck between his family and the Triumvera Tower Condominium Association.
The association agreed to pay $83,500 in fines, its president will resign, and its board will apologize to the Trujillos and throw out the rule that prohibits people who use wheelchairs from entering through the front door. A portion of the settlement, $10,000, will go to a previous tenant, now a widow, whose late husband also was kept from entering the 106-unit high-rise through the front.
Karen Tamley -- who heads Access Living, an advocate group for people with disabilities that sued on behalf of the Trujillo family -- blasted the association for having a rule she says was so antiquated it hearkened back to the days before civil rights reforms.
"This was akin to requiring African Americans to sit at the back of buses or use separate drinking fountains," Tamley said.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who later joined in suing the association, called the rule "blatant discrimination" and said the case sends a message that "second-class treatment for persons with disabilities will not be tolerated."
[more]
---------------------------
This one qualifies as a world-class and well-deserved legal spanking of a condo association by an advocacy group for the disabled and the US Attorney's Office here in Chicago. Good for them. Now, the question is whether all the other associations in the nation are paying attention.
For 10-year-old Jaime Trujillo, it was the modern-day equivalent of being forced to sit in the back of the bus.
But, as of Wednesday, the wheelchair-using Glenview boy no longer will be forced to enter his condo building through a back service entrance alongside a loading dock and trash cans.
Jaime instead finally can come in through the front door without fear of getting fined or yelled at, after a settlement was struck between his family and the Triumvera Tower Condominium Association.
The association agreed to pay $83,500 in fines, its president will resign, and its board will apologize to the Trujillos and throw out the rule that prohibits people who use wheelchairs from entering through the front door. A portion of the settlement, $10,000, will go to a previous tenant, now a widow, whose late husband also was kept from entering the 106-unit high-rise through the front.
Karen Tamley -- who heads Access Living, an advocate group for people with disabilities that sued on behalf of the Trujillo family -- blasted the association for having a rule she says was so antiquated it hearkened back to the days before civil rights reforms.
"This was akin to requiring African Americans to sit at the back of buses or use separate drinking fountains," Tamley said.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who later joined in suing the association, called the rule "blatant discrimination" and said the case sends a message that "second-class treatment for persons with disabilities will not be tolerated."
[more]
---------------------------
UCLA Anderson School of Management | Media | UCLA Anderson Forecast Warns of Possible Recession in 2005 or 2006 for the US Economy
...and check out this language about California, putting it together with the preceding post about mass illiteracy in LA with no end in sight:
...
The state budget is the big issue in California, as the essential structural imbalance – spending more than revenue income – remains. In his overview of the state’s economy, UCLA Anderson Forecast Senior Economist Joseph Hurd notes that the imbalance is being “funded” by state borrowing of $15 billion (based on Proposition 57) from cities and counties across California.
“The economic implications of the budget mess are not good,” Hurd said. “In the short run, cities and counties will shed employment due to the ‘loans’ they are being forced to give the state. We expect total job losses of about 45,000 at the state and local level in 2004 and 2005.”
Hurd’s report, titled “California: Growing and Growing … But a Few Fixes are Needed,” assumes that Sacramento “solves” the budget problems by the next fiscal year. He speculates that it will be a combination of taxes, user fees and spending cuts, while “California becomes the gambling capital of the nation (and partly lives off casino income).”
Not solving the budget issue has a big impact on the annual long-term forecast, as the postponement of building maintenance and other infrastructure projects will be put off indefinitely.
[more]
...and check out this language about California, putting it together with the preceding post about mass illiteracy in LA with no end in sight:
...
The state budget is the big issue in California, as the essential structural imbalance – spending more than revenue income – remains. In his overview of the state’s economy, UCLA Anderson Forecast Senior Economist Joseph Hurd notes that the imbalance is being “funded” by state borrowing of $15 billion (based on Proposition 57) from cities and counties across California.
“The economic implications of the budget mess are not good,” Hurd said. “In the short run, cities and counties will shed employment due to the ‘loans’ they are being forced to give the state. We expect total job losses of about 45,000 at the state and local level in 2004 and 2005.”
Hurd’s report, titled “California: Growing and Growing … But a Few Fixes are Needed,” assumes that Sacramento “solves” the budget problems by the next fiscal year. He speculates that it will be a combination of taxes, user fees and spending cuts, while “California becomes the gambling capital of the nation (and partly lives off casino income).”
Not solving the budget issue has a big impact on the annual long-term forecast, as the postponement of building maintenance and other infrastructure projects will be put off indefinitely.
[more]
L.A. Daily News:Illiteracy shockingly high in L.A. Half of workers unable to read
Continued immigration and a stubborn high school dropout rate have stymied efforts to improve literacy in Los Angeles County, where more than half the working-age population can't read a simple form, a report released Wednesday found.
Alarmingly, only one in every 10 workers deemed functionally illiterate is enrolled in literacy classes and half of them drop out within three weeks, said the study by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
"It's an emergency situation," said Mayor James Hahn, adding that poor literacy rates could jeopardize the region's economy by driving out high-tech businesses and other industries that pay well.
In the Los Angeles region, 53 percent of workers ages 16 and older were deemed functionally illiterate, the study said.
That percentage dropped to 44 percent in the greater San Fernando Valley -- which includes Agoura Hills and Santa Clarita -- but soared to 85 percent in some pockets of the Valley.
The study measured levels of literacy across the region using data from the 2000 Census, the U.S. Department of Education and a survey of literacy programs taken from last September to January.
It classified 3.8 million Los Angeles County residents as "low-literate," meaning they could not write a note explaining a billing error, use a bus schedule or locate an intersection on a street map.
And despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent in public schools over the past decade to boost literacy rates, functional illiteracy levels have remained flat because of a steady influx of non-English-speaking immigrants and a 30 percent high school dropout rate, authors of the report said.
[more]
---------------------------
And despite gazillions spent on bilingual education. Can we call that a colossal failure yet? And note the minimal interest among these functional illiterates in learning English. The trajectory for the LA area is pretty clear, isn't it? Would you locate your business in Los Angeles, if it required a work force that could read? Would you send your kids to public schools full of kids who can't read and whose parents can't read? If you wanted to raise a family and couldn't afford private schools, would you live in LA?
Continued immigration and a stubborn high school dropout rate have stymied efforts to improve literacy in Los Angeles County, where more than half the working-age population can't read a simple form, a report released Wednesday found.
Alarmingly, only one in every 10 workers deemed functionally illiterate is enrolled in literacy classes and half of them drop out within three weeks, said the study by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
"It's an emergency situation," said Mayor James Hahn, adding that poor literacy rates could jeopardize the region's economy by driving out high-tech businesses and other industries that pay well.
In the Los Angeles region, 53 percent of workers ages 16 and older were deemed functionally illiterate, the study said.
That percentage dropped to 44 percent in the greater San Fernando Valley -- which includes Agoura Hills and Santa Clarita -- but soared to 85 percent in some pockets of the Valley.
The study measured levels of literacy across the region using data from the 2000 Census, the U.S. Department of Education and a survey of literacy programs taken from last September to January.
It classified 3.8 million Los Angeles County residents as "low-literate," meaning they could not write a note explaining a billing error, use a bus schedule or locate an intersection on a street map.
And despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent in public schools over the past decade to boost literacy rates, functional illiteracy levels have remained flat because of a steady influx of non-English-speaking immigrants and a 30 percent high school dropout rate, authors of the report said.
[more]
---------------------------
And despite gazillions spent on bilingual education. Can we call that a colossal failure yet? And note the minimal interest among these functional illiterates in learning English. The trajectory for the LA area is pretty clear, isn't it? Would you locate your business in Los Angeles, if it required a work force that could read? Would you send your kids to public schools full of kids who can't read and whose parents can't read? If you wanted to raise a family and couldn't afford private schools, would you live in LA?
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Homeowners feeling trapped
Fred Pilot is on a roll with biblical plague stories. First rats, then poverty, and now there is a fungus among us. Mold. But not to worry: lawyers to the rescue:
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. -- When Sheri Weaver tells people she lives in the Brittany Chase subdivision, the reaction is almost like she's had a death in the family.
"Is everyone OK?" she is often asked.
"I just tell them my neighbors have it worse than me."
The subdivision of $200,000 to $500,000 homes has become the focal point for the mold problem gripping housing developments in some metro Indianapolis counties.
Fifty of the neighborhood's 127 homes are now vacant because the builder has bought them from their owners to eliminate the mold.
Some of the remaining Brittany Chase residents say they are trapped. No one will buy their homes, and their investments are too big to walk away from.
Judge Bernard L. Pylitt of Hamilton Superior Court will decide this fall whether to accept an estimated $24 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by homeowners against builder Trinity Homes and parent company Beazer Homes. The proposed settlement was made public recently.
[more]
Fred Pilot is on a roll with biblical plague stories. First rats, then poverty, and now there is a fungus among us. Mold. But not to worry: lawyers to the rescue:
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. -- When Sheri Weaver tells people she lives in the Brittany Chase subdivision, the reaction is almost like she's had a death in the family.
"Is everyone OK?" she is often asked.
"I just tell them my neighbors have it worse than me."
The subdivision of $200,000 to $500,000 homes has become the focal point for the mold problem gripping housing developments in some metro Indianapolis counties.
Fifty of the neighborhood's 127 homes are now vacant because the builder has bought them from their owners to eliminate the mold.
Some of the remaining Brittany Chase residents say they are trapped. No one will buy their homes, and their investments are too big to walk away from.
Judge Bernard L. Pylitt of Hamilton Superior Court will decide this fall whether to accept an estimated $24 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit brought by homeowners against builder Trinity Homes and parent company Beazer Homes. The proposed settlement was made public recently.
[more]
Levitt tried for rules but failed (phillyBurbs.com)
William Levitt tried his best.
But this renowned builder who so carefully sculpted the first planned communities in America couldn't put a stop to the individualist impulses of his homeowners.
Despite his dismay and even legal efforts, Levittown homeowners began breaking the rules spelled out in their deeds within a few years of moving in. They put up fences, let their shrubbery grow taller than the 3-foot limit and erected sheds and home additions - all in clear violation of Levitt's vision.
"I think it was hubris on his part," said Curt Minor, a curator for the State Museum of Pennsylvania who worked on a historical exhibit about Levittown for its 50th anniversary two years ago. "He thought he could put these things down and people would follow them. I think he underestimated the will of human nature."
The problem, Minor said, was that Levitt planned for rules, but not an enforcer.
------------------------
As Austin Powers would say, riiiiiiiiiight....
OK, maybe "relatively" unknown, but (as I explain in Privatopia) the biggest builder of them all, Jesse Clyde Nichols, who founded the Urban Land Institute and built the Country Club District of Kansas City, had been using HOAs for this very reason for fifty years or so.
And this articlealso doesn't mention that Levitt also included one more deed restriction, as did Nichols: race restrictive (whites only) covenants.
William Levitt tried his best.
But this renowned builder who so carefully sculpted the first planned communities in America couldn't put a stop to the individualist impulses of his homeowners.
Despite his dismay and even legal efforts, Levittown homeowners began breaking the rules spelled out in their deeds within a few years of moving in. They put up fences, let their shrubbery grow taller than the 3-foot limit and erected sheds and home additions - all in clear violation of Levitt's vision.
"I think it was hubris on his part," said Curt Minor, a curator for the State Museum of Pennsylvania who worked on a historical exhibit about Levittown for its 50th anniversary two years ago. "He thought he could put these things down and people would follow them. I think he underestimated the will of human nature."
The problem, Minor said, was that Levitt planned for rules, but not an enforcer.
------------------------
As Austin Powers would say, riiiiiiiiiight....
OK, maybe "relatively" unknown, but (as I explain in Privatopia) the biggest builder of them all, Jesse Clyde Nichols, who founded the Urban Land Institute and built the Country Club District of Kansas City, had been using HOAs for this very reason for fifty years or so.
And this articlealso doesn't mention that Levitt also included one more deed restriction, as did Nichols: race restrictive (whites only) covenants.
Trouble in paradise (phillyBurbs.com)
Two from the Philadelphia suburbs:
On the surface, Ivygreene Run is like many neatly ironed communities that have sprung from former farm fields in recent years.
The 158 crisply veneered twin homes that go for $270,000 in Northampton are a uniform cream color with sparse landscaping and tidy door stoops. Little form of self-expression is seen.
But behind the trim exterior, a debate is raging in this development for those 55 and older. A group of homeowners is rebelling against a system of law and order it says is unfair, capricious and autocratic. They say the smallest details of their personal lives are under the scrutiny of an overvigilant homeowners association.
A military veteran was ordered to remove one of the two postcard-sized American flags on his lawn. A couple were told to uproot $150 worth of plastic flowers they've planted in their flowerbeds each spring for two years. And a computer programmer smacked up against a rule prohibiting plantings more than 5 feet from his house.
Leonie Rozenfeld had put in a grape plant, a symbol of his grandfather who spent 12 years in a Soviet prison for illegally selling wine. The Russian immigrant has been cited six times for breaking rules and fined $150 for refusing to remove the grape plant. He eventually did. "I leave Russia for freedom and what I get is prison," said Rozenfeld.
[more]
Two from the Philadelphia suburbs:
On the surface, Ivygreene Run is like many neatly ironed communities that have sprung from former farm fields in recent years.
The 158 crisply veneered twin homes that go for $270,000 in Northampton are a uniform cream color with sparse landscaping and tidy door stoops. Little form of self-expression is seen.
But behind the trim exterior, a debate is raging in this development for those 55 and older. A group of homeowners is rebelling against a system of law and order it says is unfair, capricious and autocratic. They say the smallest details of their personal lives are under the scrutiny of an overvigilant homeowners association.
A military veteran was ordered to remove one of the two postcard-sized American flags on his lawn. A couple were told to uproot $150 worth of plastic flowers they've planted in their flowerbeds each spring for two years. And a computer programmer smacked up against a rule prohibiting plantings more than 5 feet from his house.
Leonie Rozenfeld had put in a grape plant, a symbol of his grandfather who spent 12 years in a Soviet prison for illegally selling wine. The Russian immigrant has been cited six times for breaking rules and fined $150 for refusing to remove the grape plant. He eventually did. "I leave Russia for freedom and what I get is prison," said Rozenfeld.
[more]
Board member: Know your rights (phillyBurbs.com)
He's been on the board for nearly three years and Bob Gore still wonders about the way his homeowners association works.
"It's silly," he said. Neighbors tattle on neighbors. Residents move in without knowing the rules.
[more]
He's been on the board for nearly three years and Bob Gore still wonders about the way his homeowners association works.
"It's silly," he said. Neighbors tattle on neighbors. Residents move in without knowing the rules.
[more]
Friday, September 03, 2004
Little Pink Houses...
Tired of living in a gray house among dozens of other gray houses, Debra Cullom painted her family's Leawood, Kan., home pink. We're fun, friendly and loving people, and we wanted our house to show that," she says. "It was pretty boring and bland before."
But neighbors are red hot about the new paint job and are circulating a petition to demand a change. Homes association members are debating the color choice.
"We have no list of approved colors or blacklisted colors," says Danne Webb, an at-large director of the neighborhood association. "However, the board's position is that the paint color isn't in harmony and conformity with the neighborhood."
Meanwhile, colorful exteriors are popping up in other young subdivisions where neutral hues have been the norm. Paint manufacturer Behr is selling lots of butter yellow, pale green and light blue exterior paint along with the standard taupe at Home Depot. Large, newer homes are being repainted in unusual colors like peach, purple -- and pink.
[more]
Tired of living in a gray house among dozens of other gray houses, Debra Cullom painted her family's Leawood, Kan., home pink. We're fun, friendly and loving people, and we wanted our house to show that," she says. "It was pretty boring and bland before."
But neighbors are red hot about the new paint job and are circulating a petition to demand a change. Homes association members are debating the color choice.
"We have no list of approved colors or blacklisted colors," says Danne Webb, an at-large director of the neighborhood association. "However, the board's position is that the paint color isn't in harmony and conformity with the neighborhood."
Meanwhile, colorful exteriors are popping up in other young subdivisions where neutral hues have been the norm. Paint manufacturer Behr is selling lots of butter yellow, pale green and light blue exterior paint along with the standard taupe at Home Depot. Large, newer homes are being repainted in unusual colors like peach, purple -- and pink.
[more]
Poverty in the Suburbs
Yesterday it was rats. Today it's poverty. Fred may be right after all. Check out this article in The Nation from political scientist Peter Dreier:
Hidden in a Census Bureau report on poverty released in late August is a factoid with significant political and social consequences. Poverty has moved to the suburbs. Or, more accurately, poverty has expanded to the suburbs. Today, 13.8 million poor Americans live in the suburbs--almost as many as the 14.6 million who live in central cities. The suburban poor represent 38.5 percent of the nation's poor, compared with 40.6 percent of the total who live in central cities.
Yesterday it was rats. Today it's poverty. Fred may be right after all. Check out this article in The Nation from political scientist Peter Dreier:
Hidden in a Census Bureau report on poverty released in late August is a factoid with significant political and social consequences. Poverty has moved to the suburbs. Or, more accurately, poverty has expanded to the suburbs. Today, 13.8 million poor Americans live in the suburbs--almost as many as the 14.6 million who live in central cities. The suburban poor represent 38.5 percent of the nation's poor, compared with 40.6 percent of the total who live in central cities.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Las Vegas SUN: Rats haunt residents of upscale community
Fred Pilot think this may be evidence of a Biblical curse being visited on HOAs. I say you have no proof until you have a plague of locusts. What's your opinion?
Residents of the upscale Sun City Anthem retirement community in Henderson tolerate the coyotes, jack rabbits and desert squirrels that try to hang on to what once was their habitat, but homeowners draw the line at rats.
Roof rats, non-indigenous rodents that over the last decade have haunted posh Las Vegas communities including Spanish Trail and the Scotch 80s, are trying to establish themselves in Anthem at the south end of the Las Vegas Valley, scurrying about properties and at times working their way into million-dollar homes.
Several residents of the Pulte Homes/Del Webb community of more than 5,000 residences believe its homeowners association is not taking strong enough action to control the problem that has caused some homeowners to avoid their own backyards at night.
The developer and a homeowners association member say they are taking aggressive action to control the problem, noting that not only do they have to deal with the roof rats, but also indigenous rats as well as other desert critters.
[more]
Fred Pilot think this may be evidence of a Biblical curse being visited on HOAs. I say you have no proof until you have a plague of locusts. What's your opinion?
Residents of the upscale Sun City Anthem retirement community in Henderson tolerate the coyotes, jack rabbits and desert squirrels that try to hang on to what once was their habitat, but homeowners draw the line at rats.
Roof rats, non-indigenous rodents that over the last decade have haunted posh Las Vegas communities including Spanish Trail and the Scotch 80s, are trying to establish themselves in Anthem at the south end of the Las Vegas Valley, scurrying about properties and at times working their way into million-dollar homes.
Several residents of the Pulte Homes/Del Webb community of more than 5,000 residences believe its homeowners association is not taking strong enough action to control the problem that has caused some homeowners to avoid their own backyards at night.
The developer and a homeowners association member say they are taking aggressive action to control the problem, noting that not only do they have to deal with the roof rats, but also indigenous rats as well as other desert critters.
[more]
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Homeowners gaining rights | The Arizona Daily Star ?
Fred Pilot caught this good article, loaded with links to material on the new laws in AZ:
Associations finding their powers curbed
By Scott Simonson
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
When a Midtown homeowners association made Michael Bryan take down the sign in his window supporting Howard Dean for president earlier this year, Bryan struck a blow for thousands of homeowners in the Tucson area.
Bryan, who was finishing law school at the University of Arizona, did some research and found out that the no-signs rule in the Crest Ranch Homeowners Association, near North Campbell Avenue and East Prince Road, had state law on its side.
So Bryan talked to Rep. Tom Prezelski, D-Tucson, and they changed the law.
Bryan put up another political sign in front of his home on Wednesday, a day when eight of 10 new state laws took effect to regulate homeowners associations.
That sign will stay up, thanks to the new law that says homeowners associations in Arizona must permit political signs around election time.
The new laws also expand other rights for homeowners and require associations to assume more of the responsibilities of public governments, such as holding open meetings and avoiding conflicts of interest.
More changes may be on the way, according to two Tucson-area state representatives who helped sponsor much of the recent legislation, as HOA issues continue to be a topic in the new legislative session.
[more]
Fred Pilot caught this good article, loaded with links to material on the new laws in AZ:
Associations finding their powers curbed
By Scott Simonson
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
When a Midtown homeowners association made Michael Bryan take down the sign in his window supporting Howard Dean for president earlier this year, Bryan struck a blow for thousands of homeowners in the Tucson area.
Bryan, who was finishing law school at the University of Arizona, did some research and found out that the no-signs rule in the Crest Ranch Homeowners Association, near North Campbell Avenue and East Prince Road, had state law on its side.
So Bryan talked to Rep. Tom Prezelski, D-Tucson, and they changed the law.
Bryan put up another political sign in front of his home on Wednesday, a day when eight of 10 new state laws took effect to regulate homeowners associations.
That sign will stay up, thanks to the new law that says homeowners associations in Arizona must permit political signs around election time.
The new laws also expand other rights for homeowners and require associations to assume more of the responsibilities of public governments, such as holding open meetings and avoiding conflicts of interest.
More changes may be on the way, according to two Tucson-area state representatives who helped sponsor much of the recent legislation, as HOA issues continue to be a topic in the new legislative session.
[more]
Saturday, August 28, 2004
Missoulian: Natelson wins UM dispute
I blogged on this a while back. Robert Natelson is a law professor who wrote, among other things, an important law review article on the origins of the condominium form of ownership. He wanted to teach Constitutional Law at the University of Montana, where he teaches Property and other things. They wouldn't let him. He argued that it was because of his political conservatism--in other words, it was viewpoint discrimination. Now, here is the resolution of his complaint:
Conservative activist Rob Natelson, who claimed he was the victim of political discrimination at the University of Montana, has triumphed in a campus battle to teach constitutional law.
University President George Dennison announced Natelson's new teaching assignment Thursday after accepting a hearing officer's report concluding Natelson, a UM law professor since 1987, had been treated unfairly at the Law School. Hearing officer Donald Robinson found Natelson had been unfairly denied the opportunity to teach constitutional law, but stopped short of addressing the professor's complaint of discrimination based on his personal politics. Dennison appointed Robinson, a Butte attorney, as hearing officer after Natelson sought to take his complaint to the state Board of Regents in July. The regents declined to intervene.
"I am very pleased," Natelson said. "I think it's time to put the acrimony behind us."
Natelson's faculty colleagues reacted coolly to the decision, but Law School Dean Edwin Eck vowed to move beyond the contentious issue for the sake of students.
For Natelson, the outcome settles a long struggle with his employer. His grievance, which covered two distinct themes - political discrimination and violation of department hiring procedures - was given an expedited hearing at Dennison's request.
Natelson, who has twice run as a Republican for governor and led ballot-issue campaigns to limit taxes, accused UM of discriminating against him once his conservative political views became public in 1993.
That discrimination, he said, made itself known every time he requested to teach constitutional law and denied that opportunity as well as other job benefits.
After reviewing the conclusions crafted by the hearing officer, Dennison agreed that UM's Law School gave preference in the past to a few faculty members seeking internal transfers, a practice which Robinson identified as "collegial preference."
[more]
I blogged on this a while back. Robert Natelson is a law professor who wrote, among other things, an important law review article on the origins of the condominium form of ownership. He wanted to teach Constitutional Law at the University of Montana, where he teaches Property and other things. They wouldn't let him. He argued that it was because of his political conservatism--in other words, it was viewpoint discrimination. Now, here is the resolution of his complaint:
Conservative activist Rob Natelson, who claimed he was the victim of political discrimination at the University of Montana, has triumphed in a campus battle to teach constitutional law.
University President George Dennison announced Natelson's new teaching assignment Thursday after accepting a hearing officer's report concluding Natelson, a UM law professor since 1987, had been treated unfairly at the Law School. Hearing officer Donald Robinson found Natelson had been unfairly denied the opportunity to teach constitutional law, but stopped short of addressing the professor's complaint of discrimination based on his personal politics. Dennison appointed Robinson, a Butte attorney, as hearing officer after Natelson sought to take his complaint to the state Board of Regents in July. The regents declined to intervene.
"I am very pleased," Natelson said. "I think it's time to put the acrimony behind us."
Natelson's faculty colleagues reacted coolly to the decision, but Law School Dean Edwin Eck vowed to move beyond the contentious issue for the sake of students.
For Natelson, the outcome settles a long struggle with his employer. His grievance, which covered two distinct themes - political discrimination and violation of department hiring procedures - was given an expedited hearing at Dennison's request.
Natelson, who has twice run as a Republican for governor and led ballot-issue campaigns to limit taxes, accused UM of discriminating against him once his conservative political views became public in 1993.
That discrimination, he said, made itself known every time he requested to teach constitutional law and denied that opportunity as well as other job benefits.
After reviewing the conclusions crafted by the hearing officer, Dennison agreed that UM's Law School gave preference in the past to a few faculty members seeking internal transfers, a practice which Robinson identified as "collegial preference."
[more]
AB 2598 Assembly Bill - Status
This bill is now back to the Assembly, where it originated, and where they now have to concur in the amendments made in the Senate.
This bill is now back to the Assembly, where it originated, and where they now have to concur in the amendments made in the Senate.
AB 2598 Assembly Bill - Vote Information
The Steinberg bill, which passed in the Assembly 69-10 on May 27, has now passed the Senate, 33-1. See my post yesterday (8/27), where I linked to the latest analyis after amendments. This is a major reform bill that changes the rules for foreclosure quite significantly, and also addresses signage and record access for owners. Here's the lead of the analysis:
"This bill enacts numerous changes to the Davis-Stirling Act. Most significantly, this bill prohibits the use of judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure to collect unpaid assessments under $2,5000 and implements new procedures to be followed when judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure is used to collect unpaid homeowner association assessments $2,500 and over. It changes the minimum bid price for a separate interest being sold in nonjudicial foreclosure to 90 percent of the exterior-only appraised value minus senior liens, and creates a 90-day right of redemption for a separate interest sold in nonjudicial foreclosure.This bill also extends the areas on which a separate interest owner may display certain noncommercial signs, posters, flags or banners, expands the categories of association records the members are entitled to inspect and copy to include contracts to which the association is or has been a party, and expands the categories of association records the members are entitled to inspect and copy to include the records of community service organizations."
The Steinberg bill, which passed in the Assembly 69-10 on May 27, has now passed the Senate, 33-1. See my post yesterday (8/27), where I linked to the latest analyis after amendments. This is a major reform bill that changes the rules for foreclosure quite significantly, and also addresses signage and record access for owners. Here's the lead of the analysis:
"This bill enacts numerous changes to the Davis-Stirling Act. Most significantly, this bill prohibits the use of judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure to collect unpaid assessments under $2,5000 and implements new procedures to be followed when judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure is used to collect unpaid homeowner association assessments $2,500 and over. It changes the minimum bid price for a separate interest being sold in nonjudicial foreclosure to 90 percent of the exterior-only appraised value minus senior liens, and creates a 90-day right of redemption for a separate interest sold in nonjudicial foreclosure.This bill also extends the areas on which a separate interest owner may display certain noncommercial signs, posters, flags or banners, expands the categories of association records the members are entitled to inspect and copy to include contracts to which the association is or has been a party, and expands the categories of association records the members are entitled to inspect and copy to include the records of community service organizations."
Friday, August 27, 2004
TheStar.com - Man lay dead in bed for two years:Condo fees and bills were still being paid
Now, here's an example of good condo citizenship. He was dead, but he kept paying his assessments. Unfortunately, his condo community wasn't quite as solicitous about him as he was about them. They didn't check into where the heck he was. Note the way the condo board president allegedly reacted when the deceased's long-term absence was called to her attention...
WINNIPEG—His telephone number was still listed in the telephone directory and his condominium fees and bills were automatically being withdrawn from his bank account.
No one knew Jim Sulkers had died in his bed almost two years ago.
Neighbour Sam Shuster said residents in the complex often wondered where the man they knew only as Jim had gone, but were told his condominium fees were still being paid. "How can that happen, for God's sake. Two years!" Shuster said yesterday of the man who had been a resident in the building since the mid-1980s.
"I used to ask the president of the board of directors where in the hell is he? She said all she knew was the bank gets the monthly money so we don't worry about it."
[more]
Now, here's an example of good condo citizenship. He was dead, but he kept paying his assessments. Unfortunately, his condo community wasn't quite as solicitous about him as he was about them. They didn't check into where the heck he was. Note the way the condo board president allegedly reacted when the deceased's long-term absence was called to her attention...
WINNIPEG—His telephone number was still listed in the telephone directory and his condominium fees and bills were automatically being withdrawn from his bank account.
No one knew Jim Sulkers had died in his bed almost two years ago.
Neighbour Sam Shuster said residents in the complex often wondered where the man they knew only as Jim had gone, but were told his condominium fees were still being paid. "How can that happen, for God's sake. Two years!" Shuster said yesterday of the man who had been a resident in the building since the mid-1980s.
"I used to ask the president of the board of directors where in the hell is he? She said all she knew was the bank gets the monthly money so we don't worry about it."
[more]
AB 2598 Assembly Bill - Bill Analysis
This bill has been amended again. Here's an analysis of the way it stands now. Note that the prohibition on foreclosure for fines and penalties has been removed.
This bill has been amended again. Here's an analysis of the way it stands now. Note that the prohibition on foreclosure for fines and penalties has been removed.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Citizens for Legal Responsibility - Exposing Attorney and Judicial Misconduct
Homeowner activist Monica Sadler of Moline, Illinois, lets fly with a web page for a new organization.
Homeowner activist Monica Sadler of Moline, Illinois, lets fly with a web page for a new organization.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
BocaNews.com:High cost of insurance giving condo associations a real headache
As president of the Casa Del Rio Condominium Association in Boca Raton, David Trimble says that he and the other 260 condo owners are actively looking for a way to curb their skyrocketing association insurance rates.
“We haven’t filed a claim in about nine years. Our insurance rates have gone up about 40 percent over the past five years,” Trimble said.
The association currently pays about $105,000 per year to insure their property.
“It is supposed to have gone down by $4,000. As far as I’m concerned, it’s legal thievery,” he said.
Trimble said he is awaiting a decision that would allow the property to be re-classified as not being within a flood zone. He hopes it makes a difference in their insurance rates.
Trimble said their rates have gone up as much as $20,000 in previous years and last year were increased by about $9,000.
He blames the high insurance rates on a number of factors – including costs that are passed on to the customers.
“A hot water heater exploded in one of the units and the contractor cost $4,500 but were only here two and one half hours to clean it. They charged the insurance company for that,” he said.
Mostly, Trimble says there’s just not enough competition between insurance providers.
“I’ve been told they’ve signed a pact that they won’t take customers from each other and that puts a monopoly on things,” he said.
[more]
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But...but...that would be (gasp)...WRONG!
As president of the Casa Del Rio Condominium Association in Boca Raton, David Trimble says that he and the other 260 condo owners are actively looking for a way to curb their skyrocketing association insurance rates.
“We haven’t filed a claim in about nine years. Our insurance rates have gone up about 40 percent over the past five years,” Trimble said.
The association currently pays about $105,000 per year to insure their property.
“It is supposed to have gone down by $4,000. As far as I’m concerned, it’s legal thievery,” he said.
Trimble said he is awaiting a decision that would allow the property to be re-classified as not being within a flood zone. He hopes it makes a difference in their insurance rates.
Trimble said their rates have gone up as much as $20,000 in previous years and last year were increased by about $9,000.
He blames the high insurance rates on a number of factors – including costs that are passed on to the customers.
“A hot water heater exploded in one of the units and the contractor cost $4,500 but were only here two and one half hours to clean it. They charged the insurance company for that,” he said.
Mostly, Trimble says there’s just not enough competition between insurance providers.
“I’ve been told they’ve signed a pact that they won’t take customers from each other and that puts a monopoly on things,” he said.
[more]
---------------------------
But...but...that would be (gasp)...WRONG!
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