At Mass this morning, there was a reading from Micah, II,1-3

Sent to me from a friend. Am sharing with permission.
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"Shame on those who lie in bed planning evil and wicked deeds and rise at daybreak to do them, knowing that they have the power!
They covet land and take it by force; if they want a house they seize it; they rob a man of his home and steal every man's inheritance.

Therefore these are the words of the Lord:
Listen, for this whole brood I am planning disaster...

Goodness! I didn't know the CAI-HOA was active then, too!

Texas HOA property owners outraged over lack of transparency, questionable expenditures

The neighbors wanted everyone to know exactly where their dues were going, so they also presented their findings at a recent HOA meeting that got so out of control some people were threatened with arrests.

"People are outraged," exclaimed Peggy Sue Wilson-Schmueckle. She’s the homeowner leading the fight to rid the association of what she calls gross mismanagement of funds by the board. “Once we uncovered it and did an audit, people were very outraged. They want them [the current board] to resign.”

The information we uncovered explain why the homeowners are so bent out of shape. Records detail board meetings at nice restaurants; meetings that were not open to the public. We also found a document showing a $4,200 expense paid to the board president's son-in-law for brush work he did in the neighborhood. Additional records showed the HOA donated thousands of dollars to random charities. The HOA even gave more than $1,300 to a group of HOA lawyers to help them lobby the legislature.

Florida HOA threatens $100 a day fine for unapproved shade of mulch

Lynn of Davie couldn’t believe her eyes, but a letter from her homeowners association confirmed the worst: She faces a potential $100-a-day fine for having the wrong-colored mulch in front of her house.

Lynn tells me that her problems began when the Association made it known it was displeased that home’s mulch had thinned out too much and needed replacing. To appease the board, Lynn and her husband added new match, but apparently the golden shade of mulch the couple chose was not in accordance with what the Association wants. Thus the ultimatum: Put in new mulch or pay $100 a day until you do.

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As the owner of this blog has noted, there seems to be no limit to how frivolous HOAs can be.

Homeowners Associations Get Nasty: Foreclose or Sue to Collect Dues

In 30 states, HOAs have the power to foreclose on homeowners who do not pay up, which has made them even more vilified than the IRS!And now some are resorting to cutting off utilities: A Georgia woman has been living without water for more than a year now, all because she failed to pay her HOA dues.

Texas State Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas), who serves as president of a huge national realty property management firm with $400 million revenue, says the Texas law that permits HOAs to foreclose should not be changed. Tweaked, but not changed. When you sign for your mortgage, he said, you also sign and legally agree to be a part of the homeowners association. That's fair -- you are duly warned and don't have to buy the property if you don't like the association's terms (my words). He advises buyers to read HOA rules carefully before buying. Seek counsel, if necessary. He also says that homeowners who don't pay their share of homeowners association dues force a hardship on other homeowners in the neighborhood, who often have to kick in more for expenses.

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Life is so simple, "if you don't like it, move" or better yet, "Don't live there". If you sign your mortgage docs, you agree to be abused, fined, have your water turned off, get evicted from your own home.

And you thought the IRS was the most hated entity in the country.

Ah yes, more happy homeowners Zogby missed - this time around.

Sailor faces fine for leasing condo

Homeowner's association charges sailor $10 a day CHEASPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) - For three years, the condo on Rivanna River Reach was home for Mike Lukaszonas.
But when the Navy transferred the helicopter pilot to Florida, he started leasing his home to someone else to help pay for the mortgage. He asked his homeowner's association for permission
"They decided unanimously to vote no," said Mike Lukaszonas, "and the reason was never cited in the letter. They just said denied."

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Another genius board at work here.

I wonder if Zogby ever talked to anyone in this haven of happy homeowners?

Power company tells customer she is dead

Power company tells customer she is dead

VIENNA (Reuters) – An Austrian woman has had to convince her electricity supplier that she is alive after the company wrote to her asking for information about her contract following her "passing away."

In a personally addressed letter, the Linz-based company said it had heard of her death through her bank, daily Oesterreich reported on Thursday.

"I am not the dead one," 58-year-old Christine R. wrote back in a fax and email to the company, explaining that it was her neighbor who had died and she was the custodian. She eventually went to the customer center in person to prove her existence.

The Next Foreclosure Fight

CNBC does a segment oh HOA foreclosures. Tom Skiba of CAI defends the HOA's ability to foreclose and Bill Davis does a great job of presenting the other side. You can view the video clip at this link.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?play=1&video=1544519000

HOA Turns Off Marietta Woman's Water

MARIETTA, Ga. - A condominium owner who's been without water for over a year is pleading with the Magnolia Lane Homeowner's Association in Marietta to turn her water back on. Helen Burgess says she is trying to pay off her debt but says the HOA just won't work with her.



Burgess' attorney said if the Magnolia Lane HOA accepted Burgess' offer last year, she would've shaved close to $3,000 off her debt, but now she's added another $3,000.

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They're all heart, these HOAs, aren't they? They won't work with her and instead of making it easy, they just make it harder for her.

Here is another happy homeowner Zogby missed. An "isolated incident"? I think not.

On the front lines in Vegas: Economic firefight erupts from residential real estate crash

In Clark County, Nevada there's little tolerance for owners of foreclosed REO (Real Estate Owned) properties who fail to keep them up to county building and HOA standards. Clark County is levying daily fines of $1000 for failure to correct violations of Clark County Code Title 11, the Rehabilitation of Abandoned or Rental Residential Property, according to this Las Vegas Business Press story. The newspaper reports the fines and similar sanctions levied by homeowners associations "have already chased away prospective buyers" who would have to pay them.

The upshot is if REOs aren't maintained and the fines rapidly accumulate into big liens, the properties could ultimately become worthless since the cost to acquire them with the county and/or HOA liens tacked on could reach an appreciable fraction of their already depressed market value.

This is a real economic firefight arising out of the residential real estate crash that could end up with no winners and plenty of casualties. The owners of the REOs would lose and so would Clark County and HOAs with their jurisdictions littered with unmarketable, dilapidated properties.

Mamas don't let your babies grow up to buy condos

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Some Orange County condo owners are living with a nasty green swimming pool and large holes in the buildings even though the owners pay more than $250 a month in homeowner association dues.WFTV learned Tuesday that the property managers at the Silver Pines Apartments on Pine Chase Drive (see map) , near Silver Star Road, won't do anything to fix the problems.Brenda Mallard has a nice condo inside, but it's the outside she's worried about.“I'm angry, yes, I am angry because it's ridiculous," Mallard said.Four the past four years, she's seen the place go from bad to worse and she's not the only one who feels that way."It's just bad, man, it's just really bad," condo owner James White said.There are holes under the eaves, you can look straight into the attic at night, and people there say they hear animals running around inside. Then there's the swimming pool, which is filled with green goop. No one has gone swimming there in years.
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Sounds like something out of a Joe Bob Briggs drive in movie review that might read as follows: Pool filled with green goop. Rats in the attic. Indoor rainfall. Condo fu. Film at 11 on WFTV channel 9. Three stars. Joe Bob says check it out.

Blagojevich: Musings of ex-governor included Bleep the public, Oprah for senator

CHICAGO -- Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich may or may not have broken the law, but he sure did hate his job. He reviled his political enemies, mocked many of the candidates for a vacant U.S. Senate seat and disparaged the voters who failed to appreciate his talents.

"Only 13 percent of you all out there think I'm doing a good job. So [expletive] all of you," the salty-tongued Blagojevich (D), referring to poll numbers, said in a secretly taped conversation played at his federal corruption trial.

By the time Democrat Barack Obama had won the White House in 2008, the two-term governor was deeply in debt and obsessed with finding a new job that paid well. He spent as few as two hours a week in the office, sometimes hiding in the restroom to avoid his budget director.

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Why is it we manage to elect the worst candidates for leadership positions in this country? Is it because the good leaders don't run for office? Here is another gem!

Economists see U.S. recovery weakening: survey

Economists see U.S. recovery weakening: survey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy will lose steam as the year progresses but will not slide back into recession, even though unemployment is unlikely to fall significantly, according to a survey released on Saturday.

The Blue Chip Economic Indicators survey of private forecasters found analysts increasingly glum about the outlook. They now see the economy expanding just 3.1 percent in 2010, down from 3.3 percent in the June poll.

They do not, however, envisage a renewed period of contraction, which has been widely debated in financial markets in recent weeks.

"Our panelists think talk of a double-dip recession is overblown absent a new, major shock," the group said in its report.

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One of the more significant parts of this economic story is near the end:

Along with more moderate growth, inflation is expected to remain extremely tame. Forecasters are looking for a 0.9 percent increase in prices for 2010 as a whole, the smallest rise since 1950.

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When the economy gets the stuffing knocked out of it to the extent it has over the past three years of 2007-2010, the danger of deflation looms. Think of deflation as reverse inflation. Instead of the cost of goods and services being ratcheted up, prices enter a self reinforcing spiral of decline. Instead of too much money chasing too few goods and services, there’s too little money chasing a plethora of products and services. They become undervalued instead of overvalued.

Unlike in an inflationary economy where people accelerate buying decisions in the hope of beating price increases, in a deflationary economy these decisions are delayed with the expectation that prices will decline and a better deal can be had simply by waiting. With consumers tapped out of credit and many unemployed, waiting becomes far easier. That of course retards economic growth, stalling a speedy recovery.

The last time the economy was tanked by speculation and excess leverage was in the Great Depression of the 1930s. It lasted about ten years. We are in a similar situation today. The decade of 2010-20 could end up as a deflationary “lost” decade that people endure and muddle through until a more sustainable socio-economic environment emerges. The deflationary decade may in retrospect mark the death of an economy driven by excess consumerism, speculation and leverage, a passing necessary to make way for the birth of a new and more sustainable economy.

Homeowners association demands removal of energy-efficient door

Ashley Woods West resident says California Solar Rights Act protects his right to use the passive solar door

When Frank Sigrist installed a passive solar garage door in his Granite Bay house, he forgot to submit an application to his homeowner’s association.

He filed the required documents a month or so later, thinking he wouldn’t be denied permission because the $10,000 state-of-the-art door is energy efficient and aesthetically pleasing — besides, the garage sits far back off the street in this upper-end gated community.

“It’s not going to be a big deal,” Sigrist said.

But he was wrong.

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Nah, who would have thunk it?

But board members are reasonable people, acting reasonably, right?

Moral hazard in the jumbo mortgage marketplace

NYT: Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich

LOS ALTOS, Calif. — No need for tears, but the well-off are losing their master suites and saying goodbye to their wine cellars.

The housing bust that began among the working class in remote subdivisions and quickly progressed to the suburban middle class is striking the upper class in privileged enclaves like this one in Silicon Valley.

Whether it is their residence, a second home or a house bought as an investment, the rich have stopped paying the mortgage at a rate that greatly exceeds the rest of the population.

More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent, according to data compiled for The New York Times by the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic.

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Lenders are fearful that many of the 11 million or so homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will walk away from them, especially if the real estate market begins to weaken again. The so-called strategic defaults have become a matter of intense debate in recent months.

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Moral hazard -- the risk that parties to a financial transaction won't honor their obligations -- played a major role in the Wall Street crash in the fall of 2008. Now it poses a problem in the jumbo mortgage market: mortgages of $500K on up. Since a lot of these highly leveraged, high end properties lie within the upscale gated communities of Privatopia, they pose a risk for their HOAs as well since these "walk away" homeowners will have no qualms about also walking away from their HOA assessments.

East Bridgewater condo association learns hard lesson

EAST BRIDGEWATER —
Residents of Hillcrest Village in East Bridgewater learned a hard fiscal lesson when they let one person control the condo association’s money.
The group’s former treasurer, Edward M. Richards, 55, is now charged with embezzling $102,000 from the association.
“To let one person control the money is a horrible idea,” said Bob McBride, CEO of the Dartmouth Group, a condo and property management company based in Bedford, “because people don’t ask the right questions.”
The safest bet for associations – and other groups – is to have more than one person watching the books and sharing responsibility for the money.
“When it comes to finances, you absolutely need to go with a management company,” said Pamela Brown, a unit owner and former condo association trustee at another complex.
Brown is a 27-year resident of Pomponoho Pines Condominiums in East Bridgewater – a 128-unit complex just yards from Hillcrest Village.

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I am gobsmacked! There must be something in HOA waters that addles people's thinking.

Millions of dollars have been embezzled by management company employees. As long as HOAs can operate under cover of darkness, embezzlement will be a very real part of association living.

National Anthem a no-go at La Casa

Residents were informed through the La Casa Activity Association president Clint Van Tassell's monthly report. He wrote, "We will inform all our musical groups that if they are performing any patriotic-type routine, at the end of the dance, they are not to perform 'The Star-Spangled Banner' or 'O Canada,' but are requested to use 'God Bless America.' "
Van Tassell wrote, "It is the feeling of the Board that this covers all of the Americas adequately. It is our request that any La Casa Clubs having a musical group follow this policy."


There are many rules that some of our residents don't care for," said Activity Association secretary Dorothy Freiler Wednesday. "We tried to establish a policy without offending people. Nobody has an objection to the 'Star Spangled Banner.' "
Freiler said the songs "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and "America the Beautiful" are more "singable."
" 'The Star Spangled Banner" has a wide range of notes that some people can't reach," she said. "Other patriotic songs are more singable."

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Aren't HOAs great? They even choose your music for you so you don't have to. I feel like singing "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." I wonder if it is on the approved song list in my neighborhood?

Ex-Employee Gets 10 Years For $700,000 HOA Theft

HOA Thefts Raised Questions About Financial Controls

ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. -- A former employee was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for stealing more than $700,000 from homeowners associations in metro Denver.
Stacey Lynn Chevarria, who worked for Vista Management in Westminster, admitted she stole the money, authorities said. She was sentenced in Adams County District Court.
The thefts surfaced in October 2009 when Vista Management President Cindy Combs and her bookkeeper were trying to reconcile bank books and discovered money missing, police said.

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More evidence that HOAs need the power to foreclose. Heavens, if they didn't some homeowners might not pay their assessments and that justwouldn't be fair, would it?

Hmmmm, something just isn't quite clicking.

Strings put on beach-front buyouts

GALVESTON — Some West End homeowners, worried about the city’s plans for beach-front properties acquired through a federal buyout program, want the city to restrict what it does with the newly public land in their neighborhoods.As part of its agreement to buy 64 hurricane-damaged houses under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the city asked those property owners to obtain releases from the homeowners associations so the city wouldn’t have to pay association fees or follow deed restrictions. Homeowners associations typically have some legal authority through deed covenants over how property is used.However, some homeowners associations are refusing to release the properties until the city agrees to leave the land as open space, City Attorney Susie Green said.

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It just keeps getting more and more interesting.

Thanks to Fred Fischer for this story.

Corolla resort manager sentenced

The property manager of a Corolla resort community has been sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to embezzling nearly $1 million from her employer.


The embezzled money came primarily from association dues and assessments collected from nearly 100 Buck Island homeowners as well as monies set aside by property owners for ongoing maintenance and repair of their homes, the release states.

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Let's see, HOAs must have the power to foreclose because without it some owners won't pay their dues which just won't be fair on the other owners. Right? But what about all the money that is embezzled from these same poor homeowners? Why is a million dollars" an isolated incident" but a couple of hundred dollars in unpaid assessments cause for foreclosure?

vLog - 29 June 2010: Homeowner's Associations - Putting the "ass" in association

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxx37s5tzdg

Interesting commentary on associations and why it is so difficult to get more homeowner friendly laws passed in Texas. Thanks to Bill Davis for the link.