NPR : Nevadans Air Housing Worries in Primary Season: "The Las Vegas real estate market has turned from boom to bust in short order; Nevada now has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation."

Problem Solver helps a cancer patient avoid condo-association penalty -- chicagotribune.com
In which we read about a condo association that raised meanness and stupidity to an art form and then backed down in the glare of publicity.

Politics - Big prisoner release plan - sacbee.com: "In what may be the largest early release of inmates in U.S. history, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is proposing to open the prison gates next year for some 22,000 low-risk offenders."

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It seems to me that "follow the money" should be the first instruction given to anybody who wants to understand state and local government these days. This shows the limits of political mandates, even ones that come directly from "the people." In 1978 Prop. 13 passed overwhelmingly, cutting property taxes radically. But during the 1980s and early 1990s the voters and the state legislature created all sorts of new "go to prison" mandates, which happens to be hugely expensive because it costs a good $30K per year per inmate. Then Governor Terminator came along with new and expensive educational policies, and the Democrats took over the state legislature and had some great new expensive pro-social welfare and anti-business ideas. The middle class began fleeing the state for low-tax states like Nevada, as large numbers of poor people entered the state from Central America and elsewhere.

Net result: a $14 billion budget deficit. And now it is time to release 22,000 people from prison. But the service cuts won't stop there.

Rand Corporation predicted massive fiscal consequences from the mandatory minimums a long time ago. It isn't hard to do. But for some reason, you just can't get people to listen until it is too late.

FOXNews.com - Lakota Indians Withdraw Treaties Signed With U.S. 150 Years Ago -
People in gated communities are accused of secessionist views, but here is secession on a more dramatic scale.

The Lakota Indians, who gave the world legendary warriors Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, have withdrawn from treaties with the United States.

"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,'' long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said.

Judge clears Madison resident | clarionledger.com | The Clarion-Ledger
I've been giving talks about this bizarre ordinance. Madison, MS, has a local ordinance making it a misdemeanor--a crime--to violate your HOA's rules.

Fred Pilot sent me this link to an article about a prosecution under the ordinance.

Maryland law to deal with defunct associations
Fred Pilot sent this. Just watch. This will become a common situation in the years to come. I have been predicting it for a long time, and now the evidence is starting to make it into the press.

Apathetic homeowners' associations soon could find themselves paying court-appointed receivers to manage their affairs. A Maryland law that took effect Oct. 1 states that a group of three or more owners can ask the courts to appoint a receiver if their home-owners' or condominium association fails to recruit enough directors to meet a quorum. The receiver then would make all management decisions for the community until it assembled a large enough board. "We've had some communities in Maryland that have gone bankrupt. Some others are just hanging on by a thread and are in terrible condition" due to neglect by their boards of directors, said District 10 Sen. Delores Kelley, the sponsor of the bill.

Entire Neighborhood Faces Foreclosure Over Association Fees - Video - WFTV Orlando: "Unless They Pay, By The End Of The Month, They Could End Up Fighting A Legal Battle... Just To Keep Their Homes. More Than 70 Homeowners... Already Have Liens Against Their Properties, In The Stonebridge Landings Development, Off Goldenrod Road, Near The Airport."

Thanks to Fred Pilot for this shocker.

Reason Magazine - The Death of Main Street: "Big businesses know that a heavy regulatory burden is the best way to make sure small- and medium-sized businesses never rise up to challenge them."

Good point.

KSTP.com - Record home foreclosures cause snow removal problems

The snow brings a new problem with the high number of foreclosures in the Twin Cities. All those empty homes mean no one is around to clear the sidewalks.

Couple asked to take down American flag - Local & State News - Tampa Bay's 10 - tampabays10.com: "The flag, flies from a 16-foot tall pole. But last month the Grants were told their flagpole violated their Homeowners Association guidelines and now the Grants have been told they have 15 days to bring it down."

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly: Owners can't block costly condominium assessment: "Unit owners in a condominium complex could not bar the condo's board of trustees from levying an assessment for a major renovation project, even where the project is expected to cost $75 million, a Superior Court judge has ruled."

San Mateo Daily News: Pinched by fee hikes, condominium owners call for help
Fred Pilot sent this, which is yet another example of the looming private infrastructure crisis:

Posner's plight isn't universal, according to experts. But it's becoming increasingly familiar on the Peninsula, where the first wave of condo complexes are showing their age and many homeowners associations lack the money for repairs. The problem, many say, is a failure of planning by homeowners boards, whose members are not financial experts but average residents elected by their neighbors. Soaring construction and insurance costs aren't helping.

9NEWS - Article - HOA says mother of fallen soldier has to take down flag
Mike Riordan sent this link.

AURORA - Mary Sims lives at the Strawberry I at HeatheRidge. On her front porch she flies a U.S. Flag. Her son Ryan Sims was a recruiter for the National Guard in Davenport, Iowa and was killed in a car crash two years ago and her husband is currently a civilian worker with the Department of Defense stationed in Iraq.

"That flag is for them, for everyone that came before, that there are now and will come after," said Sims.

She calls it a patriotic display. Last Friday, her homeowners' association sent her a notice telling her that the display violates the HOA's rules and regulations. The notice stated that the flag, which is placed on a "common element," is not allowed. It continued on to say that Sims could place the flag in her window or on the balcony. Sims refused.

Empty Houses Home to Crime As Loans Fail: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

We need a TV series on the mortgage meltdown. Episode One: Zombies roam the streets of abandoned subdivisions searching for interest-only loans.

"Eighty-five bungalows dot the cul-de-sac that joins West Ontario Avenue and East Ontario Avenue in Atlanta. Twenty-two are vacant, victims of mortgage fraud and foreclosure. Now house fires, prostitution, vandals and burglaries terrorize the residents left in this historic neighborhood called Westview Village."

Colorado Town Wants To Ban Red And Green Lights:
Another signpost on the road to American cities becoming exactly like HOAs:

"The town of Fort Collins, Colorado, and its Holiday Display Task Force are in the process of making their Christmas decorations more politically correct. The task force plans to recommend that the city displays only include white lights, winter symbols that aren't linked with any particular holiday and other non-secular items. Additionally, Christmas trees will no longer be permitted to be put up outside of public buildings or on public property. The city plans on voting on the recommendations on November 20th."

Income gap among black, white families up - Yahoo! News "Incomes among black men have actually declined in the past three decades, when adjusted for inflation. They were offset only by gains among black women. Incomes among white men, meanwhile, were relatively stagnant, while those of white women increased more than fivefold."

Miami condo at ground zero in mortgage fraud | Reuters
Here is a dubious distinction.

"...the 643-unit condo known as the Club at Brickell is a leader in mortgage foreclosures and it appears also to stand at ground zero in a blizzard of fraud that may lie behind many of the failed loans threatening to bury the U.S. property market."

New York mulls $1,000 fine for feeding pigeons - Yahoo! News
When Hemingway was living in Paris he used to shoot pigeons for dinner. Has anybody in NYC considered that option? Just trying to be helpful.

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City lawmaker wants to declare war on the city's pigeons and says he will not be dissuaded by the difficulties faced by London and Venice in ridding themselves of the ubiquitous birds."

Woman Asks to Keep Horse in Apartment
Good thing for the neighbors that she didn't get emotionally attached to an elephant.

Increases in new house prices slow down: "The housing-starts report showed that 79 per cent of all new Vancouver housing starts to the end of October - 13,325 of 16,787 - were multi-family condominium or townhouse projects."