Local lawmakers work towards HOA legislation - WMBFNews.com, Myrtle Beach/Florence SC, Weather

Local lawmakers work towards HOA legislation - WMBFNews.com, Myrtle Beach/Florence SC, Weather



Good luck, folks. It's the standard line about disclosure--that's all the help you will get from "law makers," and it isn't worth much. What good is disclosure when (a) nearly all new housing is in HOA or other CIDs so you have no choice, and (b) every single word of "what they are signing up for" is incomprehensible, non-negotiable, boilerplate?  

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"HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - Local law makers are working on a draft bill for HOA legislation. The bill will focus on three trending issues they feel would hold the most significance on the floor while helping the most people.  A top concern for some law makers is to make sure people know what they are signing up for when it comes to their HOAs."

Does HUD's privatization scheme mean the end of public housing?

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/11/public-housing-renovationrentalassistancedemonstration.html

"Launched in 2013, the RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration) will hand over 60,000 units of public housing to private management by 2015. While that’s only a fraction of the nearly 1.2 million public housing units nationwide, RAD’s reach could soon expand: HUD Secretary Julián Castro and participating developers are lobbying Congress to lift the cap set during the program’s initial phase and allow more conversions to private ownership, and HUD is requesting $10 million toward the expansion of the RAD."
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The ideology of privatization is so entrenched in the neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party that they won't defend anything public anymore. It turns out in practice that these programs end up being disasters in many cases, but  by then the profit-takers are in the Bahamas and the rest of us are left to clean up the mess. We'll see how this RAD program works in practice.

Cigarette rage shuts down public meeting over tobacco ban

http://www.boston.com/news/2014/11/12/unruly-crowd-shuts-down-westminster-tobacco-ban-meeting/SpTOwv1ttrcNmcrB7C5RZK/story.html

So this is what freedom is all about for some people: cigarettes.  The tiny little town of Westminster, Massachusetts, is considering a ban on the sale of tobacco products. That brought out a host of flag-draped, nicotine-addicted oldsters who were so angry and out of control that the  meeting had to be shut down. They were screaming about freedom. Nonsense. It's about public safety.  The city is trying to prevent the tobacco industry from hooking yet another generation of  their children on the addictive drug that they are peddling inside their cancerous little death-tubes. Smoking kills 480,000 Americans every year.  The cost to all of us is enormous. According to the CDC, the cost is:

• More than $289 billion a year, including at least $133 billion in direct medical care for adults and more than $156 billion in lost productivity
• $5.6 billion a year (2006 data) in lost productivity from exposure to secondhand smoke

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/

While I'm on the topic, I've often wondered why smokers think it is perfectly acceptable to fling cigarette butts all over creation.  Why do they think this is anything but littering?

Domino’s founder turning FL town into unconstitutional contraception-free ‘Catholic enclave’

Domino’s founder turning FL town into unconstitutional contraception-free ‘Catholic enclave’

I've posted about Ave Maria before. Let's see how this shapes up--do we have another Marsh v. Alabama on our hands?

Ten buildings in San Francisco where the HOA fees are higher than the rent

http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/11/11/mapping_10_buildings_with_hoa_fees_higher_than_your_rent.php


"The highest HOA fees at 1001 surpass the $5,000 mark—which is high above the recent citywide median rent of $3,488. The 10th-place HOA fee on our map is $2,838, which is still more than the median rent for a one-bedroom in Bernal."
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After which the article goes on to rationalize and justify the high fees as "boring homeownery stuff" and "high-dollar extras" like doormen, without mentioning management company charges, senseless litigation, and other costs that  are more controversial than paying for utilities. It is getting harder to tell the difference between real estate reporters and PR flacks for the housing  industry.

Park Ridge residents sued for objecting to condo development

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge-niles/ct-park-ridge-lawsuit-met-20141111-story.html

This is a SLAAP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against some neighbors who objected to construction of a condo project.  City officials and twenty citizens who attended two public meetings are named as defendants.  Got your local democracy right here.

Six month sentence for public sex in retirement "community"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2828952/Couple-sentenced-six-months-jail-having-sex-outdoors-Florida-retirement-community-go.html

Six months in jail for having public sex in a retirement "community"? And it's the second time a sentence like this has been imposed for public sex in this place. Are you kidding me?  They should get a medal. This place is called "The Villages,"  but perhaps "Cotton Mather Acres" would be a better name.

Selling fast: public goods, profits, and state legitimacy

http://bostonreview.net/books-ideas/mike-konczal-profits-state-legitimacy-parrillo-goldstein-balko#.VGDbvdxAADs.twitter

Mike Konczal reviews three books dealing with the failures of privatization and in the process writes a brilliant  essay. A taste:

"Through the first half of our country’s history, public officials were paid according to the profit motive, and it was only through the failures of that system that a fragile accountability was put into place during the Progressive Era. One of the key sources of this accountability was the establishment of salaries for public officials who previously had been paid on commission. As this professionalized system is dismantled, once-antique notions are becoming relevant again. Consider merit pay schemes whereby teachers are now meant to compete with each other for bonuses. This mirrors the 1770 Maryland assembly’s argument that public officials “would not perform their duties with as much diligence when paid a fixed salary as when paid for each particular service.” And note that the criminal justice system now profits from forfeiture of property and court fees levied on offenders, recalling Thomas Brackett Reed, the House Republican leader who, in 1887, argued, “In order to bring your criminals against the United States laws to detection” you “need to have the officials stimulated by a similar self-interest to that which excites and supports and sustains the criminal.”

Homeowners association pulls plug on Waterford woman's Volt - WXYZ.com

Homeowners association pulls plug on Waterford woman's Volt - WXYZ.com: (WXYZ) - Natalie Forte is eco-friendly and loves her Chevy Volt.

But, her homeowners association doesn't share her enthusiasm.

The resident owns a condo along Elizabeth Lake Road in Waterford and says the homeowners association doesn't have rules against plug-in cars. But the HOA has cut-off power to Forte's garage.

Forte tells Action News starting in June she would charge up her new car in her detached garage. Electricity to the garages are under shared expenses residents pay as part of their monthly HOA fees.

After a few months, the association told Forte the expense was too much and wanted her to pay for the extra electricity.
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Add electric vehicles to the list of issues that generate bad press for Privatopia. Film at 10 on WXYZ, Detroit.

Election 2014--my interpretation

I look at elections by starting with the structural factors first.  Democrats had a difficult set of structural factors to overcome.  But they took a bad hand and did worse than expected. 

1.  Of the 36 Senate seats up for election, 21 were held by Democrats and 15 by Republicans, so the Democrats had more seats to defend and were more exposed to the risk of losing seats.  

2.  And 7 of those 21 Democratic senators were in states that Romney won just two years ago--what we call red states.  Democrats have a hard time winning in those states in the best of times.

3. Moreover, the whole class of senators was elected last in 2008, when Obama was elected, McCain took a drubbing, and the whole Republican brand was in the tank because they wrecked the economy and stuck us in two wars that we had obviously lost. That's why so many Democrats were elected in red states--they had Obama "hope and change" coattails, running nationally against a party in relative disrepute. 

That's all changed now. Twenty one Democratic candidates (well, 20 plus one independent) had to run in 2014 with no presidential coattails, with one-third of them in red states. In fact, Obama was widely seen as a drag on the ticket even though he wasn't on it.  The public has a short memory and independent voters in particular walk  in space a large part of the time, so they don't remember how Bush and his team wrecked the place. 

So everybody knew Republicans would win the Senate, just based on structural or fundamental factors.  But last night's results were worse than they should have been for Democrats, even given those realities.  Why?  I see two main reasons:

Money: I think when the FEC and other reports are in, it will turn out that Republicans outspend Democrats substantially. The "dark money" factor--independent spending by non-profits funded by right-wing plutocrats--looks at this point like it heavily favored Republicans. Independent voters, who for the most part just don't understand politics but think they do, are more easily swayed by 30 second ads that focus on candidate image. But we shall see.

Base voters: The Democratic party has lost its connection with the social groups that should be its base. Young people; working  and middle class people; black, latino, and asian people; seniors; women.  Instead, again and again Democrats, including most especially Obama, have tried to compete with Republicans for the love of the rich and powerful.  Banks, insurance companies, manufacturers, big pharma, and on and on.  They have benefited consistently.  But where was the relief for middle-class homeowners? How about students drowning in college loan debt? Why are we still wasting billions in pointless wars in the Middle East? 

But here's the quandary Democrats face: How tdo they get the money they need to compete against the Republicans--who gleefully sell out to the highest bidder--while serving the interests of people who are not in the top 1% or even the top 10%?  

The answer, I think, is that they have to take a big leap and transform themselves back into what they were from 1933 until Reagan came along: the party of working people, an economically populist party.  And they have, I think, a very short time to do that, because the 2016 election cycle is already underway.  Right now we have on offer a battle between the Republican Party and the Republican Lite Party. The result of such a race in 2016 will probably be a Republican president and congress.

Homeowner associations seen as mini-governments

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/local/henrico/homeowner-associations-seen-as-mini-governments/article_2827ee0d-376b-5fca-bff3-97f6b4b8bcac.html

"When homeowners associations make the news, it’s usually for some sort of dispute with a resident: a fight about a mailbox, a garden, a sign or a flag. But the associations are nearly ubiquitous for new residential housing in the Richmond area, embraced by developers as a way to handle long-term care of common amenities and by local officials as “mini-governments” that can help maintain order and property value."
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Nearly ubiquitous, indeed. And not only in the Richmond area.

Vegas HOA takeover case defense attorney moves for dismissal

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/hoa-case-lawyer-moves-dismiss-charging-prosecutor-misconduct

The claim: that the prosecution committed misconduct by not agreeing to keep secret the records of lead defendant Leon Belzer's failed plea negotiations, in which he said things that have made it obvious to anybody who can read how guilty these folks are.  Jeff German snarfed the docs during the two days when they were public and went to press in  the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Now defendants want to move the trial to the moon to avoid tainted public opinion.

Lawyers in HOA scheme request trial be moved from Las Vegas | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Lawyers in HOA scheme request trial be moved from Las Vegas | Las Vegas Review-Journal

See the story immediately below for what has prompted this motion. The Review-Journal just published a bombshell of a story:

"Lawyers for defendants charged in the scheme to take over Las Vegas-area homeowners associations want the high-profile Feb. 23 trial moved out of Las Vegas. In federal court papers filed late Thursday, lawyers for Las Vegas attorney Keith Gregory said he can’t get a fair trial because of the mass of ongoing “prejudicial” media coverage of the case, primarily from the Las Vegas Review-Journal."

Journalistic Bombshell: Target of Las Vegas HOA investigation detailed scheme, bribes in secret documents | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Target of Las Vegas HOA investigation detailed scheme, bribes in secret documents | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Benzer is the alleged "mastermind" of the whole scheme. This report is explosive and Benzer's attorneys went to court to stop the Las Vegas Review-Journal from publishing it.  Read it and see how ridiculously easy it is for somebody with money to take over an HOA board.

update: I read the motion Benzer's lawyer filed and this is how the timeline unfolded:

On August 5, one of the co-defendants, Benzer's former attorney Keith Gregory, filed a motion to sever his trial from Benzer's. Then on September 16, Gregory's attorneys filed this previously-secret document in support of the motion, consisting of a report of Benzer's confidential talks with the prosecution in which he explained how the scheme worked. The plea talks fell through, and the statements can't be used against Benzer, but they are very damaging to any defendant. For example,  here is how reporter Jeff German relates some statements about Keith Gregory:
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Benzer, 47, admitted he gave his personal lawyer, Keith Gregory, a $10,000 bribe for work on the HOA takeover at the Vistana condominium complex in southwest Las Vegas. Gregory is also under indictment. Benzer recalled paying Gregory from his personal account “as a ‘thank you’ for ‘working with us.’ “When questioned as to exactly what he meant by thank you and whether the payment was more accurately described as a bribe payment, Benzer advised that the term bribe was ‘your language’ and he didn’t like to use that term, but that the answer was ‘basically yes,’ ” reads one report.
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Gregory's attorney asked the court to keep the documents under seal and mistakenly also thought that the government would agree to keeping them secret, but instead the US Attorney's office opposed keeping them secret.

So, on September 17, the court unsealed the documents. The next day, Gregory's attorneys made a motion to withdraw the documents, and asked the court to seal them.  The court agreed on September 19, and sealed and struck them from the record.

But it was too late, because during the few days when the documents were in the record of the case, Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German obtained a copy.  German has been all over this story like a blanket.

On October 30, the defense attorneys learned that German was doing a story on the secret documents. They went to court that day and filed a motion (you can read it on the LVRJ story that I linked to--the whole motion is there) asking the court to stop the publication. A "prior restraint" on publication is almost never justified, so I don't think it would have been granted, but in any event it is too late for any court to stop the publication.  The story is out and you can read it for yourself.

Homeless women to stay in Frisco home for now after HOA loses motion | Dallas Morning News

Homeless women to stay in Frisco home for now after HOA loses motion | Dallas Morning News



"MCKINNEY — A transitional living program for homeless young women will be allowed for now to continue operating in a Frisco neighborhood. District Judge Jill Willis ruled Friday that a Frisco homeowners association failed to meet its burden for temporary injunctive relief. The PR2 Homeowners Association had sought to keep the nonprofit City House from moving more women into its home while a civil case is pending. Two women and one child live there now. The case filed by the HOA against City House continues. No trial date has been set. Chad Robinson, who represents the HOA board for the Plantation Resort 2 community, declined to comment after the ruling. He said he needed to consult with his clients. Robinson argued during Friday’s hearing that the HOA’s deed restrictions require that homes be used for single-family residential purposes only. He said single-family use means people who are related by blood or by law. Texas courts have also allowed other limited uses, such as nannies or an incidental renter. He argued that City House’s transitional living program for up to eight women was not a single-family residential use."

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So this looks like an HOA-flavored NIMBY dispute. The people who want to keep out the "undesirables" have CC&Rs to use as their legal lever.

Myrtle Beach area HOA owners complain

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2014/10/30/4571043/myrtle-beach-area-hoa-complaints.html

Guess what? There was another public meeting about possible legislation at which people living in HOAs and condos complained about developers and board members making their lives miserable.

If I am reading all this correctly, they can be assured that more legislative tinkering will take place at some point in the near future.  That is all.

Developer buys scores of Detroit's worst houses in $3.2million 'blight bundle'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2813166/The-blight-bundle-6-300-Detroit-s-worst-houses-real-estate-developer-just-bought-3-2million.html


"Anywhere else, a property developer who buys a bundle of foreclosed houses, abandoned factories and disused churches for a mere $500 a piece would be hailed as a genius.
But this is Detroit. And Herb Strather's $3.2million purchase of 6,350 homes is being called foolhardy.  To be sure, there are plenty of gems in the city's 'blight bundle.' A 170,00-square-foot factory that's still in good shape, a three-story brick home built in 1915 that most recently sold for $185,000, a lovely Tudor-style house that's ready to move into and a five-bedroom that simply needs a new roof.  But city officials tell the Detroit News that 2,000 of the properties are vacant lots. More than 3,000 will need to be torn down immediately...The city put strenuous rules on the buys of the 'blight bundle' requiring the buyer to either demolish and clean up all 6,350 properties within the next six months or offer a development plan. 'Now what we have to do is find out if indeed this group is serious about taking on such a task. And if they're willing to do so, we're willing to listen,' Wayne County Chief Deputy Treasurer David Szymanski told the Huffington Post. 
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And at an estimated cost of $10,000 for each demo, the development group could have to pay up to $30 million just to clear the ground--almost ten times their current investment. Is that how things will unfold, or is there a plan to cherry-pick the nicest properties and profit from them piecemeal?  The city is looking at major redevelopment, but private investors may well be thinking about making money off the good stuff.

Marin County HOA nixes solar panels. Because.

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_26758081/marin-resident-denied-solar-panels-by-homeowners-association

Same old story. The HOA has virtually unfettered discretion to say no.   They did.

Flagpole fight attracts attention of Hancock County prosecutor - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Flagpole fight attracts attention of Hancock County prosecutor - 13 WTHR Indianapolis: HANCOCK COUNTY - There's a new twist in a veteran's fight to keep his flagpole despite threats by his homeowners association. The homeowner says it stands for freedom, but the homeowners association says it violates policy.

The story generated hundreds of comments on WTHR's social media pages. Now it appears the prosecutor in Hancock County could join the front yard feud with a civil lawsuit.

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This is the first known instance of a local prosecutor jumping into an HOA flag flap amid the usual negative media attention and public comment directed at the HOA. According to the report, the prosecutor's office is giving the HOA until November 1st to back down.

Worst abuse of adhesion contracts ever?

http://www.citylab.com/work/2014/10/mapping-where-jimmy-johns-ex-employees-are-forbidden-to-make-sandwiches/381634/

Jimmy John's makes the kids who slap sandwiches together sign a non-competition agreement that effectively makes them unemployable in the  fast food industry for two years after they quit.

Armored vehicle helps collect civil judgment in small town

Armored vehicle helps collect civil judgment in small town

"When officials in the tiny Town of Stettin in Marathon County went to collect a civil judgment from 75-year-old Roger Hoeppner this month, they sent 24 armed officers. And an armored military vehicle."

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The police chief says that while Mr. Hoeppner was not known to be violent, he was "argumentative."  That's why the police are not apologetic for this ludicrous show of military force. The old police motto "To Protect and Serve" only makes sense these days if you realize that the police are protecting and serving themselves much of the time.

Overmyer v. Frick--new theory for HOA rights?

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=405&invol=174

The Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives from the 11th District in Pennsylvania is a civil rights attorney named Andy Ostrowski.  He has a theory that HOAs violate a principle he sees in the US Supreme Court case of Overmyer v. Frick, which is linked above.  The issue in the case involved an Ohio law that allowed people--usually debtors trying to get one more chance from their creditor--to give up all their due process rights and confess judgment in advance, if they defaulted one more time.  This was legal under an old doctrine called "cognovit."  The Supreme Court ruled that  cognovit notes were not unconstitutional, provided that the waivers of due process were adequate.  Ostowski thinks that maybe HOAs and condos require inadequate notice and the agreements are unconstitutional.  Interesting theory, but I think it is far-fetched. The problem is that the court ultimately ruled in favor of cognovit.

Here is Ostrowski's statement of how he thinks this applies:
https://www.facebook.com/Floridiansact/posts/637732836340842


And here is the court's explanation for upholding the cognovit provision. You be the judge.

"Even if, for present purposes, we assume that the standard for waiver in a corporate-property-right case of this kind is the same standard applicable to waiver in a criminal proceeding, that is, that it be voluntary, knowing, and intelligently made, Brady v. United States, [405 U.S. 174, 186]   397 U.S. 742, 748 (1970); Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S., at 444 , or "an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege," Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938); Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S., at 439 , and even if, as the Court has said in the civil area, "[w]e do not presume acquiescence in the loss of fundamental rights," Ohio Bell Tel. Co. v. Public Utilities Comm'n, 301 U.S. 292, 307 (1937), that standard was fully satisfied here.

"Overmyer is a corporation. Its corporate structure is complicated. Its activities are widespread. As its counsel in the Ohio post-judgment proceeding stated, it has built many warehouses in many States and has been party to "tens of thousands of contracts with many contractors." This is not a case of unequal bargaining power or overreaching. The Overmyer-Frick agreement, from the start, was not a contract of adhesion. There was no refusal on Frick's part to deal with Overmyer unless Overmyer agreed to a cognovit. The initial contract between the two corporations contained no confession-of-judgment clause. When, later, the first installment note from Overmyer came into being, it, too, contained no provision of that kind. It was only after Frick's work was completed and accepted by Overmyer, and when Overmyer again became delinquent in its payments on the matured claim and asked for further relief, that the second note containing the clause was executed.

"Overmyer does not contend here that it or its counsel was not aware of the significance of the note and of the cognovit provision. Indeed, it could not do so in the light of the facts. Frick had suggested the provision in October 1966, but the first note, readjusting the progress payments, was executed without it. It appeared in the second note delivered by Overmyer's own counsel in return for substantial benefits and consideration to Overmyer. Particularly important, it would seem, was the [405 U.S. 174, 187]   release of Frick's mechanic's liens, but there were, in addition, the monetary relief as to amount, time, and interest rate.

"Overmyer may not have been able to predict with accuracy just how or when Frick would proceed under the confession clause if further default by Overmyer occurred, as it did, but this inability does not in itself militate against effective waiver. See Brady v. United States, 397 U.S., at 757 ; McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 772 -773 (1970).

"We therefore hold that Overmyer, in its execution and delivery to Frick of the second installment note containing the cognovit provision, voluntarily, intelligently, and knowingly waived the rights it otherwise possessed to prejudgment notice and hearing, and that it did so with full awareness of the legal consequences.

Insurance Co. v. Morse, 20 Wall. 445 (1874), affords no comfort to the petitioners. That case concerned the constitutional validity of a state statute that required a foreign insurance company, desiring to qualify in the State, to agree not to remove any suit against it to a federal court. The Court quite naturally struck down the statute, for it thwarted the authority vested by Congress in the federal courts and violated the Privileges and Immunities Clause."

Delaware ombudsman office getting started

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2014/10/20/ombudsman-weigh-homeowner-association-disputes/17639817/

This legislation is only a few months old. One more state goes the ombudsman route, giving unit owners someplace to turn other than the courts. It is a necessary reform, but not sufficient to address the unmet needs.

You need this condo pony

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/21/357816986/you-definitely-need-this-condo-pony-and-other-products-from-skymaul?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2045

And to think I never knew there was such a thing as a condo pony.

Property manager accused of stealing $180,000 from HOAs

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/chamblee-man-allegedly-stole-50000-homeowners-asso/nhpD3/?ref=cbTopWidget

"A Chamblee property management company owner is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from homeowner’s associations. 

So far, police in Dunwoody and Chamblee tell Channel 2 Action News reporter Mike Petchenik they’ve filed charges against Michael Sisson, and they say more charges are possible. Darwin Johnson told Petchenik his Midtown condo association hired Sisson a few years ago to manage their property near Piedmont Park."

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There have been so many such incidents around the country that I have  lost count. Industry representatives  invariably say these are "isolated incidents," which would be true if you stretch the meaning  of  "isolated" to include every state where you find a significant number of HOAs and/or condos.

Sarah Jessica angers homeowners association - Yahoo Maktoob News

Sarah Jessica angers homeowners association - Yahoo Maktoob News: Parker returned to the building earlier this month to stage a photoshoot for her footwear brand, placing the shoes on the steps and posting pictures of them on her Instagram.com page.

However, the stunt has infuriated the local homeowners association, who claim the actress failed to obtain proper permission to gain access to the steps, reports contactmusic.com.

Gerald Banu, president of the Perry Street Association, said: "I heard about the shoot. They didn't get the permission from the owner. The situation with 'SATC' visitors is still very intense.
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Sex, shoes and the HOA. Maybe this will lead to a Hollywood production. Been a while since the Falls at Arcadia X-Files episode.

Veteran not backing down after homeowners association says his flag pole must go | Fox 59

Veteran not backing down after homeowners association says his flag pole must go | Fox 59: “We do not tell anyone they cannot fly a flag. What we are having a problem with is the flag pole. Flag poles are not allowed in this association,” said Kaye Eckert, president of the Fieldstone HOA board.

Eckert said the association has tried to compromise.

In September, they sent a letter saying the couple could keep the flag pole, if they paid a $500 fine to cover legal costs. Bob Willits would not budge.

“That flag is very personal to me,” said Willits, “That means a lot to me.”

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More bad press for Privatopia, Indiana secktor. Film at 10 on Fox 59, Indianapolis.

HOA troubles? Legislators want to hear them : News : CarolinaLive.com

HOA troubles? Legislators want to hear them : News : CarolinaLive.com: Have any concerns, questions or issues with your homeowners' association?

The Horry County Legislative Delegation will host a public hearing on homeowners' association issues on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. in Horry Georgetown Technical College's Burroughs and Chapin Auditorium.

Connie Turner, administrative assistant for the delegation, said the format will be question and answer.
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Trouble in Privatopia, South Carolina sector? The Legislature wants to know.

Least subtle walling out of the poor award

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2799262/no-entry-haves-wealthy-michigan-suburb-erect-fences-middle-streets-stop-detroit-nots-driving-city.html

Building a brick wall across the street sends the message: if you are from Detroit, you aren't welcome in Grosse Pointe Park.

Pay to Prey: Report on privatization

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/10/12620/pay-to-prey-governors-facilitate-the-predatory-outsourcing-of-americas-public-services

This is a report on the way Republican governors  have allowed corporations to profit from privatization deals at the expense of the public and the people who are supposed to be receiving the services.  Some of the stories are pretty lurid.  From  the report:

"Outsourcing of public services is a big business. Some experts estimate that $1 trillion out of the $6 trillion the federal government, together with state and local governments, spend annually are handed over to private contractors. In 2010, an electoral landslide ushered in a new breed of governors. Aided and abetted by corporate-funded legislative and lobbying groups, such as the American Legislative Exchange Counsel (ALEC), these governors pushed the envelope of outsourcing and privatization, selling public services to for-profit firms with their powerful political lobbies and related campaign contributions. In this process, transparency and accountability are lost and the public loses its ability to influence decision makers through normal democratic channels. Shared prosperity also suffers when good middle class jobs are lost to low-road, low-wage employers. In states across the country, schools, health care, prisons, prison food, water services, road services, state liquor sales, state economic development authorities, legal services, and even child support services were outsourced to private, for-profit companies. While the governors spoke of tight budgets and cost savings, a pattern emerged of influential corporate lobbyists and deep-pocketed campaign contributors In this effort to shrink government and sell off the prosperous parts to private interests, the winners are large corporations with a phalanx of lobbyists and campaign coffers big enough to buy political influence. All too often, taxpayers find themselves on the losing side."

The Making of Ferguson, MO

http://www.epi.org/publication/making-ferguson/


"In August 2014, a Ferguson, Missouri, policeman shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. Michael Brown’s death and the resulting protests and racial tension brought considerable attention to that town. Observers who had not been looking closely at our evolving demographic patterns were surprised to see ghetto conditions we had come to associate with inner cities now duplicated in a formerly white suburban community: racially segregated neighborhoods with high poverty and unemployment, poor student achievement in overwhelmingly black schools, oppressive policing, abandoned homes, and community powerlessness."

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This is a detailed and balanced account of how Ferguson became what it is today. Public  policies, real estate industry practices, and other institutional factors contributed to the situation.  My colleague Dennis Judd's article about segregative practices  is cited. 

SFR Investments v. US Bank

The Nevada Supreme court has ruled that:

"NRS 116.3116 gives a homeowners' association (HOA) a 
superpriority lien on an individual homeowner's property for up to nine 
months of unpaid HOA dues. With limited exceptions, this lien is "prior to 
all other liens and encumbrances" on the homeowner's property, even a 
first deed of trust recorded before the dues became delinquent. NRS 
116.3116(2). We must decide whether this is a true priority lien such that 
its foreclosure extinguishes a first deed of trust on the property and, if so, 
whether it can be foreclosed nonjudicially. We answer both questions in 
the affirmative and therefore reverse."

The result is that an investment company bought a house for peanuts at an HOA foreclosure sale, and the sale wiped out the first mortgage on a house worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Wow.  I have placed the full opinion on mckenzie-law.wikispaces.com for anybody to download.

Construction company builds dream home--on the wrong lot

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2793069/couple-outraged-construction-company-built-680-000-oceanside-dream-home-wrong-lot.html

I've heard of banks foreclosing on the wrong house, but this  is a first.

Bad news for builders?

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/talking-numbers/this-chart-spells-trouble-for-home-builders-215720049.html

Thanks to Fred Pilot for this link to a financial story about an exhange traded fund (ETF) that includes the home building industry.  Bad news for builders?
---------

'They may be called home builders,but this year their stocks are portfolio wreckers.Those who had the misfortune of buying the ETF that tracks the home builders (trading under the ticker symbol XHB) at the beginning of the year are in the red by 14 percent.The XHB is now trading at its lowest levels this year and according to the charts, it could get a lot worse."

New city policy in Whitefish prohibits gated communities | Missoula Local News - NBCMontana.com

New city policy in Whitefish prohibits gated communities | Missoula Local News - NBCMontana.com: City leaders say gated communities just don’t match the city’s vision for growth.

There are currently two gated communities. One of them, Grouse Mountain Estates, wants to add more gates. They currently have two gates inside the subdivision and want to expand with more gates at the front. It would eliminate public traffic to the roads.
-----------
Gates are for ranches, not communities.

Out of control federal deficit? Not so much.

Here are the facts from the Congressional Budget Office on the federal budget deficit that every Republican in America says is spiraling out of control: 

"Relative to the size of the economy, that deficit—at an estimated 2.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—was slightly below the average experienced over the past 40 years, and 2014 was the fifth consecutive year in which the deficit declined as a percentage of GDP since peaking at 9.8 percent in 2009."
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/49450

Fired doorman shoots property manager

http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/news/local/va-hospital-called-police-on-condominium-shooting-/nhcRf/?__federated=1

Seems that the property manager fired him as doorman.

"Police apprehended the man who allegedly shot a Palm Beach property manager in the head Friday morning after the suspect went to the VA Medical Center Hospital in Riviera Beach for medical treatment, Public Safety Director Kirk Blouin said Sunday."

Florida Couple Keeps Statues of Jesus, Virgin Mary on Property Despite Threat of Legal Action by HOA

Florida Couple Keeps Statues of Jesus, Virgin Mary on Property Despite Threat of Legal Action by HOA: A couple in Florida will be allowed to keep statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary on their property after initially being told by a homeowners' association that they could not.

Enock and Ines Berluche of Kissimmee will not have to remove the statues, after being told by the Shingle Creek Reserve at the Oaks Homeowners' Association that they had to do so.

The Berluches were given legal help by the Orlando-based conservative law firm the Liberty Counsel, which was founded by Mat Staver.

Why the shocking growth of economic inequality in the US is not a big political issue

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_economic_inequality_is_not_a_bigger_political_issue_20141003


Because, says David Sirota, Americans have no idea how huge the gap really is, and that makes the Democratic Party  afraid to use this as an issue in the 2014 election.  But the way I see it, this timidity is what leaves the Democratic base dispirited, and that leads to low turnout, and that means a repeat of 2010. Republicans aren't afraid to rally their base, but Democrats are.

"If critics of income inequality are wondering why the growing gap between rich and poor hasn’t been a more potent political issue in the upcoming elections, a new study offers some answers: Americans grossly underestimate this inequality. That’s one of the key findings of a survey showing the gap between CEO and average worker pay in America is more than 10 times larger than the typical American perceives. In the report, Harvard University and Chulalongkorn University researchers analyzed survey data from 40 countries about perceptions of pay gaps between rich and poor. In every country, respondents underestimated the size of the gap between CEO and average worker pay. In the United States, for example, the researchers found the median American respondent estimated that the ratio of CEO to worker income is about 30-to-1. In reality, the gap is more than 350-to-1."

"The country simply can't go on like this"

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_Man_With_The_Disease

From Charles Pierce, writing about the ebola fear-mongering by right wingers, in which science and medical opinion are simply ignored:

"The country simply cannot go on this way, with one of our two political parties completely insane, and with a counter-cultural universe that claims the right to promulgate its own science as equal to the science produced by actual scientists, and with this dangerous lunacy treated as legitimate by powerful people who ought to know better. As I once wrote, it doesn't matter how many people vote for the anti-gravity party, you still can't flap your arms and fly to the moon. A dangerous disease is not a matter of debate. Your profitable fantasy and the reality of the disease do not deserve an equal place in the discussion of what we as a society will do about the disease. The response is going to have to be precise and empirical. It is going to have to be impatient with cant, and immune to the delusions on which demented ideology feeds. And, most important of all, we are going to have to trust each other, and we are going to have to trust our government, which is the political manifestation of all of us, no matter what 30 years of Reaganite heresy has taught us. We are going to have to trust ourselves as individual citizens, and we are going to have to trust ourselves as partners in the creative act of self-government. I am afraid we will not, because there is one side of our politics who will stand in the way, and another side of our politics that is too frightened or too polite to call dangerous nonsense to account, and to shun the people who are promoting it. And that is what scares me the most about the man in Texas with the disease."

Nevada high court makes key ruling on HOA liens | WashingtonExaminer.com

Nevada high court makes key ruling on HOA liens | WashingtonExaminer.com: LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that a lien held by a homeowners association can override a deed of trust involving a first mortgage on the property.

Real estate investors in Las Vegas who have been buying foreclosed property at bargain prices claimed a victory in the ruling on Thursday.

The state Supreme Court overturned an earlier Clark County District Court decision and ruled in favor of SFR Investments Pool 1, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (http://tinyurl.com/pupczsg).

Homeowners associations can place liens on properties within their communities for unpaid fees. Unpaid association dues land in a super-priority lien that must be paid off first when a foreclosed home is sold.

Ayn Rand-style libertarian paradise fails to produce bliss

http://www.salon.com/2014/09/16/ayn_rands_capitalist_paradise_lost_the_inside_story_of_a_libertarian_scam_partner/

Well, I'm just shocked--shocked, I tell you--to hear that Galt's Gulch didn't pan out.
-----------------------------

"In Rand’s novel the great, throbbing “motor of the world” (it’s made of executives, remember?) retreats to an Atlantis-like idyll known as “Galt’s Gulch.” Without their ingenuity and drive the nation descends into chaos, leading many long pages later to their triumphant return and anointment as leaders of a new libertarian order. Which gets us to the fraud charges now swirling around a venture called “Galt’s Gulch of Chile.” Its website is currently down, but it’s still being promoted as a real-world retreat for the world’s movers and shakers. “Yes, you read that right,” the organizer chirps cheerily. “Those who become one of GGC’s Founders will be paid back … within three years of the consummation of their Founders Club participation (please contact GGC for the fine print and T&Cs). In what should be an unsurprising outcome, it didn’t turn out very well.  That news comes (via Metafilter and Gawker) from a blogger named Wendy McElroy, who writes that she bought some property in Galt’s Gulch with her husband and then learned that it never had legal rights to the property in the first place. A visit to Chile revealed that many of the area’s local vendors had also been defrauded by the Galtians."

Illinois Supreme Court: Contract? What contract?

Spanish Court Two Condominium Association v. Carlson:  Spanish Two sued a unit owner for failure to pay assessments. In Illinois, condo associations can do that in landlord-tenant court, and evict the owner without needing to foreclose. The owner alleged an affirmative defense of failure to maintain and repair the common elements and asked for a set-off, something that tenants do in landlord-tenant disputes over rent. The trial court struck the defense, but the Appellate Court reversed, saying unit owners could avail themselves of the same failure to maintain defense against condo associations, just as tenants do against landlords.  The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Court, saying the trial court was right--

"Where a condominium association brought a forcible entry and detainer action against a unit owner for failure to pay assessments, the affirmative defense of alleged failure to repair and maintain common areas was properly stricken as not germane to that summary statutory proceeding."

http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/SupremeCourt/2014/115342.pdf

It is interesting to read the language where the Supreme Court dances around the claim that the association-unit owner relationship is based on contract, something we hear all the time from advocates of strictly enforcing the DD&RS:  It's a contract, they say, and if you didn't like it you shouldn't have entered into it.  But now the shoe is on the other foot--an owner wants the rights that go with a contract:  the party claiming back assessments hasn't lived up to its part of the bargain, so the owner, like a tenant, should have the benefit of that breach.  But no, the court says, now that contract language isn't to be taken so literally.  You see, it's more accurate to say that it is largely based on statute.  From the IL SC opinion:

----------------

Spanish Court maintains that the appellate court’s recognition of a nullification defense rests on an ill-fitting analogy, namely, that the association-unit owner relationship is, for purposes of the forcible statute, analogous to the landlord-tenant relationship. See 2012 IL App (2d) 110473, ¶¶ 16, 26, 46. We agree with Spanish Court. 

¶ 20 The relationship between a landlord and tenant is contractual. See generally 24 Ill. L. and Prac. Landlord and Tenant § 1, at 157 (2009). Although aspects of that relationship may be governed by state and local landlord-tenant laws, the relationship is created through the agreement of the parties. When a landlord breaches the terms of the agreement (the lease) by failing, for example, to comply with the implied warranty of habitability, cases have traditionally applied contract remedies, including damages, rescission, reformation, or abatement of rent. Glasoe v. Trinkle, 107 Ill. 2d 1, 15-17 (1985). Cf. Mohanty v. St. John Heart Clinic, S.C., 225 Ill. 2d 52, 70 (2006) (“Under general contract principles, a material breach of a contract provision by one party may be grounds for releasing the other party from his contractual obligations.”). 

¶ 21 Although contract principles have sometimes been applied to the relationship between a condominium association and its unit owners based on the condominium’s declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations (1 Gary A. Poliakoff, The Law of Condominium Operations § 1:23 (1988 and Supp. 2012-13)), the relationship is largely a creature of statute, defined by the provisions of the Condominium Act (765 ILCS 605/1 et seq. (West 2008)). Under that Act, the board of managers, through whom the association of unit owners acts (765 ILCS 605/2(o) (West 2008)), has the duty “[t]o provide for the operation, care, upkeep, maintenance, replacement and improvement of the common elements.” 765 ILCS 605/18.4(a) (West 2008). The Condominium Act also addresses the “[s]haring of expenses” among unit owners, and establishes that: “It shall be the duty of each unit owner *** to pay his proportionate share of the common expenses.” 765 ILCS 605/9(a) (West 2008).2 Although these duties may also be reflected in the condominium declaration and bylaws, as they are in this case, they are imposed by statute and exist independent of the association’s governing documents. Accordingly, a unit owner’s obligation to pay assessments is not akin to a tenant’s purely contractual obligation to pay rent, which may be excused or nullified because the other party failed to perform. 

---------

More details revealed in Las Vegas HOA fraud case

http://m.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/new-details-revealed-hoa-fraud-case

What this massive fraud reveals is how vulnerable HOAs and condo associations are to being taken over or manipulated into becoming ATMs for fraudsters. Insurance companies were taken to the cleaners. I haven't even tried to list all the embezzlement cases. I have a notebook three inches thick of press clippings reporting them. Then there were the developer and converter frauds.  Here in Chicago at least 200 fraudulent condo conversions shoveled millions of dollars from banks into the pockets of crooks, cost investors a fortune, and victimized  hundreds of tenants who were paying rent to somebody who didn't own the building.  

And all that criminality is in addition to the non-criminal practices of underfunding reserves that  exposes owners to enormous risk, and vendors charging ridiculous fees for doing nothing and locking  associations into terrible adhesion contracts.

Why is it so hard to put all this together and reach the obvious conclusion that the money side of CIDs is not working?  The media have a frame for reporting on the social control conflicts that happen in associations--flags, pets, political signs, religious symbols--but they can't seem to see the pattern when it comes to the enormous financial problems that leave millions of Americans vulnerable to major economic loss.

It makes no sense to put untrained, uncompensated, and often unqualified volunteers in charge of billions of dollars, based on a bogus ideology of privatism.

DURHAM: City threatens to cut off water to apartment complex - WNCN: News, Weather

DURHAM: City threatens to cut off water to apartment complex - WNCN: News, Weather: The president of the homeowners group, Greg Jones, said he learned of the possible disconnection from the city via email. From there, he said, he spoke with the tenants association, which prompted the letter left on doors.

Jones said Bentwood Park started getting behind on payments in December because some of the units' 90 different owners began falling behind in paying their dues, in particular one who owns multiple units.

"I have two small kids in here that go to school every day, and we need water to bathe and to drink," said renter Latoyia Edwards. "They need to find the man that created this problem and make him pay for it, or somebody just has to deal with it."

------------

Conflicts of interest abound when the HOA becomes a super landlord but doesn't pay the water bill.

Condo president buys car, pays himself, with association funds

http://www.local10.com/news/community-president-buys-car-pays-self-salary-with-neighborhood-money/27853208
"Ed Ryan, a long-time condominium president in Fort Lauderdale, has been violating the law for years by paying himself tens of thousands of dollars -- and even buying himself a car -- out of neighborhood funds, according to state records. In September, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation alleged Ryan was illegally managing the association without a license and issued a cease and desist order to stop him from paying himself after he'd received $45,000 in the first nine months of the year alone. But Ryan, president of Georgian Court North Apartments, hasn't missed a beat, admitting to Local 10 News that he's still paying himself. "
------------------------------
One of the cool parts about volunteer private government:  having access to all that money!

Bill addresses watering in homeowner associations - SFGate

Bill addresses watering in homeowner associations - SFGate: SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Homeowner associations would be prohibited from requiring residents to pressure-wash their driveways or other areas when droughts are declared locally or across California, under a bill sent to Gov. Jerry Brown.

Republican Sen. Jim Nielsen of Gerber says some homeowners are caught in bind. They face fines under state regulations that prohibit washing driveways, as well as fines from their associations if they don't follow its rules.
-------
Government already regulates many private sector industries. The community association industry fine machine is now getting a greater degree of regulation.

Drought debate: Homeowner fined for replacing grass with drought-tolerant plants - Inside Bay Area

Drought debate: Homeowner fined for replacing grass with drought-tolerant plants - Inside Bay Area: SAN RAMON -- Fran Paxson figured to get a little credit and admiration when she replaced the old lawn around her suburban San Ramon home with drought-resistant plants.

Her public water supplier is even rewarding her with a rebate.

But her homeowners association -- drought and a new state law be darned -- is punishing her with a fine.

Paxson's plight is turning up the heat in the conflict between the aesthetics and the thirst of water-hungry green lawns as California struggles through a third year of drought.
-------------
Another perennial story in the litany of bad press for Privatopia: enforcement actions over flying flags, holiday lights and this recurring story of HOAs at odds with local governments over watering restrictions.

Fox sets up plan to create utopia

http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/fox-gambles-on-big-bold-and-expensive-vision-of-utopia-1201288541/

Well, if anybody can create utopia it would be Fox. Rupert Murdoch has it all figured out.

Hoa fines owner for lawn removal during drought

http://m.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Lawn-removal-in-parched-California-draws-fine-5706307.php

With the state of California authorizing fines for wasting water, this Hoa is fining people for not wasting water keeping their lawns green. 

'Remove flags or be fined' homeowner told by HOA | AccessNorthGa

'Remove flags or be fined' homeowner told by HOA | AccessNorthGa: GAINESVILLE - A Gainesville woman has been told by her homeowners' association that she must remove the Israeli and American flags on display in her front yard or face a fine.
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Flag flap No. 583,762 in Privatopia, Georgia sector.

Scottsdale HOA sues property management company - CBS 5 - KPHO

Scottsdale HOA sues property management company - CBS 5 - KPHO: SCOTTSDALE, AZ (CBS5) -

Some North Scottsdale homeowners are angry and they want answers.

Their property management company is accused of embezzling more than $3.4 million.

The Edge at Grayhawk Condominium Association has filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court against Eagle Property Management.

The lawsuit claims that Eagle Property Management committed fraud and embezzled millions of dollars in HOA money.

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Alleged graft in Privatopia, Arizona Sector. The cops are on the case. Film at 10 on CBS5, Phoenix.

Pay for your own sidewalks?

http://wlfi.com/2014/08/07/sidewalk-scuffle-homeowners-surprised-by-city-code/

I'd be surprised, too. 

IRS ruling highlights schizo nature of hoas

http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2014/08/05/homeowner-association-irs-ruling-highlights-schizophrenic-nature-of-associations/

Featuring a long quote from yours truly.

ALEC Offshoot Takes Aim at Local Government | PR Watch

ALEC Offshoot Takes Aim at Local Government | PR Watch: "Early reports suggests that ACCE will pursue similar policy objectives as ALEC. According to The Guardian, "An early draft of the agenda for [the] meeting revealingly listed ACCE’s very first workshop under the simple title: 'Privatization' – though in the final version the wording had been sanitized into: 'Effective Tools for Promoting Limited Government'." Privatization has been a long term goal for many ALEC member firms, and ALEC model bills have called for the creation of a special state commission to privatize public services. Other ALEC bills call for the privatization of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, public schools, state pensions and more. Another workshop at the inaugural ACCE meeting is titled "Releasing Local Governments From the Grip of Collective Bargaining," which fits into ALEC's long-standing antipathy towards unions."

----------

The American Legislative Exchange Council is a corporate-funded group that puts state legislators in the same room with corporate lobbyists, who hand our elected officials pre-drafted bills for them to introduce and pass back home. It's anti-union, anti-environment, anti-consumer, pro-gun, etc. Now, with the American City County Exchange, they are lowering their sights and trying to hamstring and plunder local government the way they have done so effectively in a number of states. Privatization for all, which means taxpayers bear the risk and get turned into fee-paying consumers, and private corporations keep the profits. Thanks to Mystery Reader, who first flagged this story.  If you don't know who these people are, you can read more here.

California Assembly Bill AB 968 - Bill Analysis

AB 968 Assembly Bill - Bill Analysis

This bill is intended to clear up the existing ambiguity regarding responsibility for maintenance, repair, and replacement of limited common elements in CIDs. The bill passed the Assembly 73-1, made its way through the Senate committee system,  clearing the Commitee on Transportation and Housing by a 10-0 vote, and is now awaiting a third reading on the Senate floor. The bill is opposed by Donie Vanitzian  and also by Marjorie Murray and the Center for California Homeowner Association Law.

  The full text of the bill is here.

The normal situation is that the association is responsible for the common elements, and the owners are responsible for their separate interest.  But what about limited use common elements, such as condominium decks and patios, that are part of the common elements but that can only be used by the individual owner?  The existing section that governs this is  Section 4775 of the Civil Code.  It currently reads as follows (my emphasis), and it is unclear on that subject:

Section 4775.  

(a) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of a
4common interest development, the association is responsible for
5repairing, replacing, or maintaining the common area, other than
6exclusive use common area, and the owner of each separate interest 7is responsible for maintaining that separate interest and any 8exclusive use common area appurtenant to the separate interest.

Note that the words "repairing" and "replacing" do not appear in the language about "exclusive use common area," i.e., limited use common elements. So, if the documents don't specify, whose job is it to repair and replace limited common elements?

AB 968 would repeal the existing section 4775 and replace it with this language (again, my emphasis):

Section 4775 is added to the end insertbegin insertCivil Codeend insertbegin insert, to read:end insert

begin insert

14

begin insert4775.end insert  

(a) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), unless
15otherwise provided in the declaration of a common interest
16development, the association is responsible for repairing, 17replacing, and maintaining the common area.

18(2) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of a common
19interest development, the owner of each separate interest is 20responsible for repairing, replacing, and maintaining that separate 21interest.

22(3) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration of a common
23interest development, the owner of each separate interest is 24responsible for maintaining the exclusive use common area P3    1appurtenant to that separate interest and the association is 2responsible for repairing and replacing the exclusive use common 3area.

4(4) The governing documents may define which items or actions 5constitute maintenance and which constitute repair and 6replacement.

7(b) The costs of temporary relocation during the repair and
8maintenance of the areas within the responsibility of the
9association shall be borne by the owner of the separate interest
10affected.

11(c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.

Let's make this less abstract. Imagine that I own a condo unit, which means I own an airspace and the whole building is common elements.  My unit has a deck that is mine and mine alone to use--it is a  limited common element.  Under the proposed new law, unless my association's declaration says otherwise, I am responsible for maintaining my deck, and the association is responsible for repairing and replacing the deck.

But wait, you say--what if the coating of my deck is worn out and it is leaking. Is that maintenance, which is my responsibility, or repair, which the associaiton would have to pay for, so that the cost is shared by all owners?  The bill doesn't define that distinction.  Instead, this bill in section (4) says the governing documents may (not must) define "which items or actions constitute maintenance and which constitute repair and replacement." For most associations, there is no such specificiation in the declaration, so they would need to amend their documents if they wanted to clarify that.  

Donie Vanitzian says that section (4) doesn't just allow the association to define what it maintenance versus repair and replacement, but also allows the association to amend the documents and reclassify various building components as limited use common elements, and then assign responsibility for them to individual owners.  From the column: "AB 968 allows boards to expand, redefine and concoct their own rendition of what 'exclusive use common area' is and then assess the owner to maintain, insure and assume liability for it. If the association has a reserve account, this new obligation does not exempt owners from continuing to fund it. Exclusive use components that associations may add are infinite. Some examples: indoor/outdoor pipes, sprinkler systems, wiring, parking stalls, doors, screens, windows, steps to entryways, outdoor light fixtures, walkways, hallways, fences, mailboxes, balconies, porches, roofs, air conditioners, heating systems, outdoor stairs, patches of dirt touching your property's stucco and more."  

 Here's how the legislative analyst summarizes the opposition. They say (my emphasis): 

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Opponents believe that this bill's  

          lack of definitions for maintenance, repair, and replacement  

          does a huge disservice to associations and residents by forcing  

          associations to devise definitions when even this bill's sponsor  

          cannot.  In addition, opponents argue that this bill imposes  

          significant new financial obligations on homeowners.  First,  

          this bill newly assigns the repair and replacement of separate  

          interests to homeowners.  Second, having associations define  

          this bill's terms creates an opportunity to foist new  

          maintenance duties onto homeowners.  These issues are  

          exacerbated by the lack of clarity in some governing documents  

          over what is considered exclusive-use common area.  

It appears that the opponents see potential for abuse here that the legislature doesn't, given the virtually unanimous votes it has received so far.  The bill is subject to amendment before the third reading, and if anybody knows what amendments are being considered, please comment or email me.

Update 8/3/14: the Executive Council oh Homeowners supports the bill.

http://www.echo-ca.org/hoa-advocacy/ab-968-exclusive-use-common-area

Marjorie Murray tells me the Public Interest Law Project and Consumer Attorneys of California oppose the bill. I can't find any reference to the bill on their websites. I will link to their statements directly if and when I can. 

Someone call the HOA!

Crop circle in Germany attracts many visitors 


 


--------------
There must be something in the CC&Rs that prohibits crop circles.

Mesa residents still fighting HOA, claim former board members misspent money - ABC15 Arizona

Mesa residents still fighting HOA, claim former board members misspent money - ABC15 Arizona: Mesa, AZ - We've been following the legal battle between Superstition Lakes Condominium Association and its former leadership.

We met with former resident Kathleen Daurio last year. As she dug through board records and said she found nearly $40,000 used for items and meals that she said didn't benefit homeowners. Homeowners accuse board of misspending funds.

"I mean, they bought laundry detergent and almonds and vodka and baby wipes and just about every time they bought air fresheners," said Daurio.

Another resident, Jan Stuart, sued that former board last year. It ended in a settlement agreement that allowed a vote resulting in three members being recalled, and a new board put in place.

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Your HOA assessment dollars at work -- or not. Trouble in Privatopia, Arizona sector. Film at 10 on ABC 15.