The 40,000 pound battle of the wheelie bins: Homeowner slapped with massive legal bill after row with neighbour ends up in court | Mail Online

The 40,000 pound battle of the wheelie bins: Homeowner slapped with massive legal bill after row with neighbour ends up in court | Mail Online

"When Liaquat Ali’s next door neighbour complained that his wheelie bin was blocking the narrow alleyway between their homes, he agreed to move it.But its new position at a wider point of the shared access route prompted a solicitor’s letter stating it was still causing problems. The dispute developed into a bitter feud between Mr Ali, 47, and neighbour Iqbal Suleman, which ended in a court ruling that neither homeowner could keep a bin there. But they still ‘refuse’ to see eye-to-eye after Mr Ali was ordered to pay both of their legal bills, totalling almost £40,000."

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It is amazing to see how many neighbor disputes over minor issues end up costing people a fortune.

‘Disciplinary fees’ show the trouble with charter schools and privatization — MSNBC

‘Disciplinary fees’ show the trouble with charter schools and privatization — MSNBC:
"Chicago’s Noble Network of Charter Schools is making some cash on the side by charging “disciplinary fees” to unruly students. The parents of one teenager, writes Traci Lee, had to pay close to $2,000 in fines for infractions including “an unkempt appearance and not making eye contact.”
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Another example of using contracts and privatization to soak people for acts that would be OK except for private tyranny.

Corporate personhood advances – in carpool lane - Political Blotter - Politics in the Bay Area and beyond

Corporate personhood advances – in carpool lane - Political Blotter - Politics in the Bay Area and beyond: "Corporate personhood takes a new leap forward Monday as a Marin County motorist challenges his traffic ticket by arguing it was OK to drive in the carpool lane because his corporation was with him.

Jonathan Frieman, a local activist and nonprofit consultant, was ticketed Oct. 2 for driving in the carpool lane during restricted hours; the officer apparently wasn’t impressed when Frieman showed him his incorporation papers. A traffic court hearing is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

The fine for such a violation is $478, but Frieman, 59, of San Rafael, says that if the court rules against him Monday, he’s prepared to appeal the case all the way to the California Supreme Court in an effort to expose the impracticality of corporate personhood."
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Great argument. Just cite Citizens United v. FEC

HOAs in the Media: 5 Scandals affecting community associations in 2012

HOAs in the Media: 5 Scandals affecting community associations in 2012
Interesting piece that finds five big "scandals" relating to HOAs:
1.  George Zimmerman and the Trayvon Martin shooting
2.  Embezzlement and fraud
3.  Erroneously blaming the actions of a historic district on HOAs (this isn't a scandal--let's not get hypersensitive)
4.  Banks not paying assessments on foreclosed properties
5.  Citizens' Property Insurance in Florida

Think tank to study privatizing most Postal Service operations - The Washington Post

Think tank to study privatizing most Postal Service operations - The Washington Post

"As members of Congress pledged Thursday to revive legislation to save the financially ailing U.S. Postal Service, a Washington think tank announced it will conduct an independent study of how the quasi-government agency could cede much of its operation to private companies. The review by the nonprofit National Academy of Public Administration will analyze the benefits of restoring the agency’s financial health by using a “hybrid” model, which would farm out to the private sector postal operations other than the last delivery mile. A letter carrier would still drive or walk that last part, dropping letters and packages in mailboxes."
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So the easy part would be privatized, and the hard part would be left to the the quasi-public Postal Service. Sounds like the usual cream-skimming that characterizes many privatization arrangements.

Neighborhood dispute in Sarasota turns 'colorful' - My Suncoast: Local News

Neighborhood dispute in Sarasota turns 'colorful' - My Suncoast: Local News

Essex says the pigs must go | Burlington Free Press | burlingtonfreepress.com

Essex says the pigs must go | Burlington Free Press | burlingtonfreepress.com

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No, Essex is not an HOA.  And we're not talking about just one pet pig but two dozen oinkers.

Python purge: Florida contest turns public loose in Everglades | Fox News

Python purge: Florida contest turns public loose in Everglades | Fox News

Privatization in action.  Pay $50, take a 30 minute course, and head off into the Everglades to kill Burmese Pythons. What could possibly go wrong?

"The Sunshine State is hosting a month-long “Python Challenge" beginning Jan.12 with cash prizes of up to $1,500 for the biggest snakes caught. Wildlife officials urge caution, but beyond the online course and the fee, there are no other requirements to hunt down the Burmese pythons, which can reach nearly 18 feet in length and have devastated much of the southern Florida ecosystem...The commission’s website includes tips on how to identify Burmese pythons -- and how to kill them. Recommended methods for dispatching the animals include hacking off their heads with a machete or shooting them with a gun."

Reagans' 'Home of the Future' for sale for $5 million - Washington Times

Reagans' 'Home of the Future' for sale for $5 million - Washington Times:
In 1956, Ronald and Nancy Reagan helped design their onetime residence: a 4,764-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bath ranch house in the tony Pacific Palisades neighborhood in west Los Angeles — now up for for sale.

It is, in real-estate parlance, "midcentury modern." There are glass-walled rooms, fabulous views, an indoor courtyard, vaulted ceilings, streamlined cabinets, granite walls, den with wet bar, all manner of electric gadgetry, an octagonal swimming pool and sprawling open spaces for entertaining.
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That's where he got The Call from Jimmy Carter conceding the 1980 presidential election. Carter famously conceded while the polls were still open in ten western states, costing a lot of Democrats their jobs.

Raleigh woman, HOA in stare-down over backyard staircase :: WRAL.com

Raleigh woman, HOA in stare-down over backyard staircase :: WRAL.com: The Stowecroft Owners Association Inc. sent Daniel letter after letter telling her to tear the staircase down. She refused, saying she spent thousands of dollars on it.

"They say they're going to fine me $100 every day, and if I don't pay, they're going to foreclose on my home," she said recently. "When they say 'foreclosure,' I was so sad. These people are going to foreclose on my home just for building some steps."

The Death of the American Shopping Mall - Jobs & Economy - The Atlantic Cities

The Death of the American Shopping Mall - Jobs & Economy - The Atlantic Cities:
"I believe we’re seeing clear signs that the e-commerce revolution is seriously impacting commercial real estate. Online retailers are relentlessly gaining share in many retail categories, and offline players are fighting for progressively smaller pieces of the retail pie. A number of physical retailers have already succumbed to online competition including Circuit City, Borders, CompUSA, Tower Records and Blockbuster, and many others are showing signs of serious economic distress. These mall and shopping center stalwarts are closing stores by the thousands, and there are few large physical chains opening stores to take their place. Yet the quantity of commercial real estate targeting retail continues to grow, albeit slowly. Rapidly declining demand for real estate amid growing supply is a recipe for financial disaster."
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Borders wiped out independent book stores, then got wiped out by Amazon. Shopping malls wiped out Main Street and now the malls are in the crosshairs of e-commerce.

Brian Collister’s Blog: Ousted HOA president demands millions | WOAI: San Antonio News

Brian Collister’s Blog: Ousted HOA president demands millions | WOAI: San Antonio News
She's back. And you have to hand it to Lisa Pfeiffer, if nothing else, she is persistent. The former president of the Ventura Homeowners association and other former board members have filed a claim against the HOA's insurance for more than $4,000,000 dollars. Pfeiffer was forced to resign last November after I reported she had closed all board meetings, spent more than $100,000 to sue several homeowners and then rigged her own re-election. In the insurance claim Pfeiffer and her board cronies claim they were discirminated against, harassed and unfairly thrown out of office.
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Wow. The video is quite a treat.

Oxford graduate quit mainstream society to live a hobbit-style existence in mud hut in the Welsh hills | Mail Online

Oxford graduate quit mainstream society to live a hobbit-style existence in mud hut in the Welsh hills | Mail Online

"Her daily chores involve tending to her vegetable plot and collecting fruit, looking after her three goats, seven chickens and two horses and chopping firewood. She gets her drinking water from a nearby stream and only rarely ventures to the shops for treats like rice and chocolate."

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Nice digs.

Sun City COA officials want laws amended to protect residents

Sun City COA officials want laws amended to protect residents
The board wants legislative action to protect people against excessive fees charged by management companies. This is a reaction to the federal lawsuit filed by J. Roger Wood that alleges there is a widespread practice of charging excessive fees for routine services that should be free or much less expensive.

In Pictures: the Year's 13 Most Gloriously Hideous Listings - Year in Curbed 2012 - Curbed National

In Pictures: the Year's 13 Most Gloriously Hideous Listings - Year in Curbed 2012 - Curbed National
The year in bad taste...

URI leader defends prof's NRA remark as protected speech | First Amendment Center – news, commentary, analysis on free speech, press, religion, assembly, petition

URI leader defends prof's NRA remark as protected speech | First Amendment Center – news, commentary, analysis on free speech, press, religion, assembly, petition:
The president of the University of Rhode Island has issued a statement supporting the right of a professor to express his views after he called for the National Rifle Association CEO’s “head on a stick.”
President David Dooley’s comments on Dec. 23 came after a statement last week in which Dooley distanced the university from a posting on Twitter by history professor Erik Loomis. Loomis wrote the post on Dec. 14, the day 20 children and six adults were killed by a gunman using a semi-automatic weapon inside a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.
“I was heartbroken in the first 20 mass murders. Now I want Wayne LaPierre’s head on a stick,” Loomis wrote. LaPierre is the chief executive of the NRA, the nation’s largest gun-rights lobby.
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This professor doesn't have tenure. Gun nuts tried to get him fired after he made the "head on a stick" comment on Twitter.  As with the Michael Mann lawsuit against National Review Online (see below), this situation raises some interesting issues about how freedom of expression and academic freedom operate with highly-charged political issues that play out across the internet.  The editorial function is either absent or involves less time for deliberation, so things are often "published" that in years past might have been edited out.  And now instead of a  daily news cycle, we have instant reverberations across social media platforms.

Michael Mann v. National Review Online

his will be an interesting lawsuit to watch. Penn State climate change scientist and Nobel Laureate Michael Mann is suing National Review Online, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and right wing "journalists" Marc Steyn and Rand Simberg for defamation. They accused him of academic fraud for his work on climate change and basically compared him to Penn State child molester Jerry Sandusky. The price of climate change denial just went up. Mann is represented by Cozen O'Connor. It isn't fun to be sued by those folks. NRO is already doing online begging for money.

And it is worth noting that internet posts accusing other people of crime, fraud, and other moral failings are risky propositions these days. 

Florida homeowners foreclosing on banks - Dec. 26, 2012

Florida homeowners foreclosing on banks - Dec. 26, 2012:
  "Hundreds of homeowners and condo associations are foreclosing on banks that have failed to pay dues and other expenses on the properties they've repossessed."
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Banks have this unfortunate habit of foreclosing on a condo or HOA unit and not paying the monthly assessments.  Why should they be treated differently than any other delinquent owner?

Clay Twp. basin topic of Thursday meeting - News

Clay Twp. basin topic of Thursday meeting - News: At the meeting, the letter states, a homeowners' association will be established and members elected. The association will then take over care and maintenance of the stormwater basin.

That doesn't sit well with David Martin and some of his neighbors.

"This really should go to Clay Township, and they should be responsible," said Martin, whose Foggy Bottom Road home is a stone's throw from the basin. "We pay them through our taxes to take care of property like this."

Usually.

But in the case of Wildflower Pond, buyers purchasing houses in the development signed an agreement that a homeowners' association would be formed.
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Welcome to Privatopia, where you render taxes to both public and private governments.  And don't ask the former to bear the cost of maintaining retention basins and repairing deteriorating thoroughfares and sinkholes.  After all, you agreed that's not their responsibility, didn't you?

Man's rough month includes homeowners association fight | Local News - KMBC Home

Man's rough month includes homeowners association fight | Local News - KMBC Home: KANSAS CITY, Mo. —Just days before Christmas and days after the death of his granddaughter, a Johnson County man had his bank account seized by his homeowners association for being behind on his dues.

We're broke," said Sam Marsala. "We're terribly in the hole. That's all I can say."

According to court records, Marsala's bank account was garnished five days ago. He said he thinks he owes his homes association about $4,300 in back dues, money it uses to maintain the swimming pool, landscaping and trash pickup.

"I'm not going to deny that I owe them some money," he said.

Marsala said he's an electrical engineer, but his business in the solar industry hasn't been very good for several years. He's also taking care of his granddaughter, Fiona, who was born two years ago with a rare, terminal form of epilepsy.
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So much for the quaint notion that HOA private government is less impersonal and bureaucratic and fosters community. HOAs want their money just as much as the county tax assessor --- regardless of whether it's Christmas or the Fourth of July.