Why I've been off the air

I've been keeping up this blog since 2003, but this summer I went off the air for several months because of some events that absorbed a great deal of my time and energy.  My mother died in July at the age of 93, in Pasadena, California. I became the executor of her affairs, there have been many things to attend to, and the emotional side of a loss like that is never easy, as I'm sure you know.

At the same time, through a chain of unusual circumstances I ended up teaching an intensive summer course on urban politics at UIC. Then on the heels of that, I went to Australia for a week to give the keynote address at a conference on condominium housing (which they call "strata title").  This was a fantastic conference in an amazing country, but by the time I returned I was behind in my work. To add the final straw, I was made head of the Political Science Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and I've been on the learning curve with those additional responsibilities, in addition to teaching two Fall courses with a total of 172 students.

All three of my children started at new universities--two as freshmen and one as a graduate student--and that meant move-outs and move-ins.  I certainly logged some travel miles--this summer I had trips to Israel, Australia, Phoenix (driving back with my oldest son in a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder with 200,000 miles and no air conditioning, in July), Los Angeles, and Springfield, IL.

So that is why I haven't been able to stay current with this blog--but I hope people will continue to send me items, because I'm back on the air.

Is living in a steel box the future of housing?

Coming to a condo association near you, someday?

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/oct/09/living-steel-box-shipping-containers-future-housing

South Carolina: HOAs do a terrible job maintaining dams, causing massive flooding

I've been away from this blog for quite a while because events in my life made it hard for me to focus on it. I have a lot to report on and I'll try to get to it over the next week or so.

First up:  the media has reported extensively on the massive flooding in South Carolina. One angle hasn't been reported much, even though it is at the heart of the problem.  South Carolina is one of these states where they brag about how low their taxes are and how useless government is. But the reason the flooding is so bad is...privatization. They keep taxes low by not spending much public money on maintaining infrastructure like, oh...dams, for instance. Instead they trust developers to build them, and homeowners' associations to maintain them.  And surprise, surprise!  Many HOAs are doing a perfectly terrible job of maintaining the earthen dams that keep water from wrecking other people's neighborhoods.


http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article38043186.html

Feds fighting to keep Las Vegas HOA fraud files secret

"Federal prosecutors are fighting to keep secret the mass of evidence in the long-running investigation into the scheme to take over and defraud homeowners associations. Lawyers with the Justice Department’s Fraud Section in Washington filed court papers late last week opposing the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s request to dissolve two protective orders that withhold documents in the high-profile case from the public. Attorney Maggie McLetchie, representing the newspaper, argued in court filings June 9 that the public has a right to see the evidence, most of which has long ago been turned over to defense lawyers. With most of the 42 convicted defendants sentenced, the epic case is essentially over."

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/feds-fighting-keep-las-vegas-hoa-fraud-files-secret

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Kind of makes you wonder what they don't want the public to see, doesn't it?  Permit me to do a bit of speculating. I have no special inside knowledge of any of this, but I have read the press coverage carefully, particularly Jeff German's exceptional reporting for the Review-Journal. 

When the scandal first became public, a number of story lines popped up briefly in the press and then were submerged as the prosecution went forward and the focus shifted to the way the case was unfolding, day to day.  I think these unresolved story lines are why the Review-Journal is after the records, and that may be why the DOJ is fighting to keep them secret.  For example:

1.  Did anybody in the justice system--prosecutors or judges, perhaps--tip off the fraudsters about what was happening inside the investigation?  There were stories suggesting that this may have happened.

2. Why did the DC office of the DOJ take the case away from the local US Attorney's office?  Why did the private attorney who blew the whistle on all this have to do his own investigation and present it to the government gift-wrapped in order for anything to happen?

3. Was this ring--with 42 convictions--not the whole operation? Were there other people involved who didn't get prosecuted?  

4.  Was this ring linked to organized crime at a higher level, as in what we call here in Chicago "The Outfit"?  There were suggestions of that in the press early on, but that angle was not pursued in the DOJ's case.

5. Are there other HOAs and other HOA vendors in Las Vegas or nearby where the same sorts of things are going on, but without prosecution or even investigation?  What turned up in the investigation regarding how prevalent HOA takeover by contractors, and sweetheart deals, really are, in Vegas and elsewhere?

So I hope and trust that the court will open up this investigation so we can have answers to these and maybe other questions.

Man Who Created The Pink Plastic Lawn Flamingo Dies : The Two-Way : NPR

Man Who Created The Pink Plastic Lawn Flamingo Dies : The Two-Way : NPR



"If you've got a plastic pink flamingo on your lawn, give it a pat on the back. The man who designed the lawn art, Donald Featherstone, has died. He was 79."

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That's quite a legacy. The symbol of the homeowners' rights movements, too.

Dying woman who turned her yard into a giant SANDBOX so she didn't have to mow the lawn threatened with jail if she does not clean it up

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3136072/Dying-woman-turned-yard-giant-SANDBOX-didn-t-mow-lawn-threatened-jail-does-not-clean-up.html

"A Missouri woman who says she has about six months to live has been threatened with jail time and fines if she does not remove the sand in the front yard of her home.
Georgianna Reid has lived in her home in Brookside, Kansas City, for more than 33 years, but covered the front of the house with 80 tonnes of sand three years ago, in an operation that cost her $4,000.

'I would say I'm putting in the largest litter box in the world,' said Reid of her unusual approach to landscaping last year.

But the local council and her neighbors don't see it as the beach-like oasis Reid does/Reid received a letter from the city that said she has 10 days to remove the sand from her yard or she will face up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, KSHB reported.'I called the city, I asked permission, not once but twice,' Reid told the network.She said she gave the yard a facelift because she had grown tired of mowing and watering it."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3136072/Dying-woman-turned-yard-giant-SANDBOX-didn-t-mow-lawn-threatened-jail-does-not-clean-up.html#ixzz3dvDOX57P
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3136072/Dying-woman-turned-yard-giant-SANDBOX-didn-t-mow-lawn-threatened-jail-does-not-clean-up.html#ixzz3dvDOX57P Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook"
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She says she'll take the sand out of the yard as ordered, but she's going to replace it with asphalt. Prepare for Round Two...

Israel conference on residential private governmnet

I just got back from the Interdisciplinary Center at Herzliya, Israel, (known as IDC Herzliya) where I attended a conference on private communities and presented a paper. It was a wonderful experience in many ways, because I made new friends, learned a great deal about  what is happening with common interest housing in other nations, and visited Israel for the first time. You can read about it by following the link below. We are producing a book from all the papers we wrote, and there will be more research to come after that.  These were mostly lawyers and law professors, which is a different network than the urban planners, geographers, and social scientists who populate the other international network of private government scholars I'm associated with.

Here are a few notes:  Insolvency of condominium associations is a significant  problem in other nations--it isn't just a US problem.  And owners are ultimately liable for the debts of their associations in other nations, not just the US.  Most US condo and HOA owners don't know they are potentially on the hook for their associations debts, by the way.  In Spain, everybody has to rotate as a BOD member, like it or not.



http://gazit-globe.idc.ac.il/en/announcements/international-conference-private-communities-and-urban-governance-theoretical-and-c

How the rise of gated spaces like swimming pools can quietly perpetuate racial tension - The Washington Post

How the rise of gated spaces like swimming pools can quietly perpetuate racial tension - The Washington Post

This horrible McKinney, Texas, incident, with a cop brutalizing and menacing black kids while white people saunter around and manhandle the teenagers themselves, is instructive.  It is no accident that it happened in an HOA, nor was it an accident that Trayvon Martin was shot to death by "neighborhood watch volunteer" George Zimmerman in an HOA. These associations first became popular in the US as a way to enforce contractual bans on selling homes to African-Americans. And after Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 banned separate but equal public accommodations, private swimming pools became available (for only the white residents) in your local HOA. The boom in HOAs began in the years immediately following the Brown decision, and one factor was that the real estate industry decided this was a way they could continue making money peddling racial segregation. There were other factors, but segregation was, and still is, one of the reasons so many white people want to live in private and especially gated communities.



"As Yoni Appelbaum points out over at The Atlantic, this context is particularly freighted: For decades, swimming pools in America have been sites of racial exclusion. Many of the fights to desegregate communities and public resources in the 1950s were waged over access to swimming pools. And the way they're used to this day still reflects a sweeping trend — more subtle in its exclusion but no less pervasive — that arose from that era. As public resources were desegregated in American cities, communities increasingly found ways to privatize them. In McKinney on Saturday, the black teens were not using a public pool. They were swimming, rather, in the communal pool of a private community in the predominantly white part of town where civic resources like parks and pools are funded directly by homeowners."

VT woman builds 60-foot by 24-foot 'screen' to block view of neighbor's home | Local News - WPTZ Home

VT woman builds 60-foot by 24-foot 'screen' to block view of neighbor's home | Local News - WPTZ Home


This is a new one: fabric privacy screens for homes. It's only a matter of time before they come to Privatopia and join flagpoles, flags, swingsets, clothelines and treehouses as the latest battlefront between the HOA commissars and inmates.

'Naughty Neighbors' face HOA lawsuit in Parker County

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2015/06/02/naughty-neighbors-faces-hoa-lawsuit-in-parker-co/28388783/

So it turns out that a swingers club operating out of a 4000 square foot home in a gated community is a business, according to this HOA.

The suit argues that the late-night parties are business operations because charges of up $75 per couple are listed on advertisements for the events.

HOA policy doesn't allow for businesses within the neighborhood. Specifically, the petition states that Carter is "...operating a business in violation of the Covenants which has become obnoxious, offensive, an annoyance, and a nuisance to the neighborhood, which is also a violation of the Covenants."

Other neighbors who spoke with News 8 but asked not be identified also expressed concern about the nature of the parties, and about the noise and clientele driving through the neighborhood late at night.

It wasn't immediately clear if the operation violates any county ordinance.

The lawsuit asks for an injunction, as well as attorney's fees and unspecified damages.

Vendors Flood Market with HOA Super-Lien Services | News

Vendors Flood Market with HOA Super-Lien Services | News

"Laws that give homeowners association debts "super lien" priority over all other claims have been a long-standing threat to servicers. But it wasn't until a pair of recent court rulings came out in favor of HOAs that industry vendors started to look at their existing data and technology to develop products for servicers to manage these risks. There are super lien laws on the books in 21 states, plus Washington, D.C. Historically, they've rarely been invoked, but when they are, the results can be devastating for mortgage debt holders. In a Nevada case ruled on last year, the first-lien mortgage holder lost its claim to an $885,000 debt because of $6,000 in delinquent HOA dues. "That gave everybody the awareness that this is not something that they should take lightly," said Ann Song, vice president of REO management for LRES, an industry vendor that recently launched HOA lien services for originators, servicers and investors...Vendors that have flooded the market with super lien-related products include Black Knight Financial Services, CoreLogic and LRES, as well as a partnership that incorporates services from MMREM and Equifax. The vendors all say their services can identify properties subject to super-lien laws and check for active HOA liens. LRES and MMREM will also help servicers negotiate HOA lien disputes. (The two vendors are both REO management companies, while LRES also has an appraisal services unit.)"

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Superlien statutes give HOA/condo association liens for unpaid assessments priority over the first mortgage, at least in some amount. They vary from state to state.  The idea is to protect the association from having its entire lien wiped out when the bank forecloses on the first mortgage and there is nothing left over to pay the association for unpaid assessments prior to the foreclosure.  The solvency of community associations hit the radar screen of policy makers since the crash of 2008. Foreclosures wrecked a lot of homeowners' lives and also left an enormous number of associations in terrible financial shape.

Many earthen dams on private property are behind on repairs | The Columbus Dispatch

Many earthen dams on private property are behind on repairs | The Columbus Dispatch

"Almost 43 percent of the high-hazard earthen dams in Ohio are on private land — about 200 in all. They’ve been designated as such because if the dams fail, people who live in the water’s path likely will die. Like those owned by the state, private dams pose a serious threat in part because the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the state agency that inspects dams, goes easy on dam owners. It lets some dams remain dangerous for decades as it tries to negotiate repairs. Owners also are to blame: They often are ignorant about dam safety and lack money for repairs. “I think people are not aware of the liability that comes with the dam. ... There’s potential for great disaster, and people don’t realize that,” said Hans Gottgens, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Toledo who has studied dam failure."

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The condition of public infrastructure in this country is deplorable, and private infrastructure may be even worse.  But we are doing a great job of blowing up infrastructure in other countries and then paying private contractors to rebuild it. So there's that.  Thanks to Deborah for this link.  By the way, take a look at this list of high speed rail miles of track by country and see where USA ranks. This is what happens when a country is run by people who think the only proper roles of government are to make war and to serve as a source of plunder for the rich.

How California Homeowners Are Dealing with Drought | Digital Trends

How California Homeowners Are Dealing with Drought | Digital Trends

"Per the new regulations, watering lawns within 48 hours of “measurable” rainfall is a finable offense. Some people are forgoing their lawns all together, either following the State Water Resources Control Board’s urgings to let the die or finding creative solutions. Some are painting their lawns green. Others are ripping them up and putting in artificial turf (to the dismay of homeowners associations) or shrubs and plants that thrive in drought conditions (known as xeriscaping), thanks to rebates available in some areas."

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Maybe the political system's reflexive deference to HOA regulations has finally run out, along with the state California's water supply. After all these decades of state legislatures and courts acting like the whims of some long-gone developer and his lawyer are holy writ, it would be nice to see some recognition that private law-making is subordinate to public policy.

Franklin HOA settles suit after denying room for disabled kids

Franklin HOA settles suit after denying room for disabled kids



File this one in the "some people never learn" category:



"A Franklin homeowners association has agreed to pay $156,000 to parents who said they were unfairly barred from building a therapeutic space for their two children with Down syndrome. The specially designed sun room would have been a place for Charles and Melanie Hollis' young kids to play and receive physical therapy, but the Chestnut Bend Homeowners Association denied their request to construct it based on concerns about the way the addition would look, a 2012 federal lawsuit alleged. That, the lawsuit said, constituted discrimination and a violation of the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal for agencies to turn down what are called "reasonable modifications" that make it possible for residents with disabilities to more fully enjoy their homes."

Homeowners sue Barrington Hills after tree dispute bars them from moving in - Barrington Courier-Review

Homeowners sue Barrington Hills after tree dispute bars them from moving in - Barrington Courier-Review



"Homeowners have sued the village of Barrington Hills after being denied permission to move into their newly built mansion because of a dispute over the number of trees on the property. Najamul and Nausheen Hasan built a 9,200-square-foot estate on a five-acre lot they purchased in 2007, but they sued last week after they were recently denied an occupancy permit by the village. The Hasans claim in the suit that the village's tree ordinance — spelling out how builders must replace the trees that they remove during construction — is unconstitutional. They also say their civil rights are being violated, and that the matter is "of an emergency nature" because they have leased their residence in Hoffman Estates after being told by the village's building officer that they would be granted a temporary occupancy permit. The temporary permit for occupancy was later denied."

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This complicated dispute about the number and species of trees that the Hasans are supposed to plant, to replace the ones they cut down during construction, all started when the president of the HOA contacted the village of Barrington Hills.  She says she "speaks for the trees."  Remember the Lorax, from Dr. Seuss? That's what he said. One of my favorite stories, by the way--not to take sides in this Barrington Hills tree saga.

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.

Las Vegas HOA takeover fraud ring sentencings

There are many sentencings going on this week in the multi-million dollar Las Vegas HOA takeover fraud prosecution.  I believe the number of people convicted stands at 38, and they include attorneys and former police officers.  I will post a summary of these sentences when the dust settles.