AHRC "Editorial": HOA HACK!!
Here is a vague "editorial," whatever that means, from the AHRC site claiming (without any evidence offered) that AHRC was down because it was "hacked" by person or persons unknown. But the author of the piece has a whole list of possible culprits to speculate about:

On January 18th, 2007, the homeowner advocate's American Homeowner Resource Center (AHRC) website was hacked into and shut down. The spell binding mystery and intrigue of this 'HOA Hack' adds a new twist and chapter to what have been referred to as the HOA life dramas: "The Stepford Lives" and "As the HOA Turns". The tales of "who dunnit" are many - pointing the finger to greedy HOA lawyer groups, angry political opposition, corrupt property managers, a rival homeowner advocate green with envy over AHRC's growth, HOA "bored of neighbors", and even bored cyber sleuths.

The Star Beacon; Ashtabula, Ohio - Charges filed against condo management firm co-owner
More on the Ohio property management firm scandal:

SAYBROOK TOWNSHIP - - The co-owner of the firm that managed Mariners Point Condominium Association has been charged with one count of mail fraud. Kathleen DeSalvo, who co-owned MultiVest Management Inc. in Willoughby with her husband, James, is accused of transferring funds from MultiVest's clients' bank accounts and depositing the funds into MultiVest's accounts since 2000. She is also accused of creating false bank statements which reflected inflated balances in the clients' accounts. Kathleen DeSalvo allegedly provided the false statements to the accounting department which unknowingly created false financial statements that were mailed to MultiVest's clients each month, according to the information filed against her by the U.S. Department of Justice. No charges have been filed against James DeSalvo yet.

Water-use restrictions start next week in South Florida: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
I think this will be the Summer of the Brown Grass in the sunshine state. All those common area open spaces will look like one of those orange pool tables they used to sell at Sears.

City inspectors, armed with citation books, will cruise the streets ready to pounce if they find a sprinkler operating illegally. Neighbors will be encouraged to rat each other out for watering on the wrong day. Helicopters will hover above farms and golf courses, taking satellite coordinates of pumps operating in violation of water-shortage orders. This is the new era of water restrictions. It begins next Thursday, when rules approved by the South Florida Water Management District take effect...Almost half of all drinking water in South Florida goes toward watering lawns, according to the district, which controls water supply and drainage for 16 counties in Central and South Florida. District officials said the restrictions may become permanent and that tougher rules may be necessary.

Top investor sees U.S. property crash: Reuters
I said long ago there was going to be a bubble-popping ceremony in the real estate market, and I said that a lot of people with bizarre high-risk mortgages were going to get hurt when it happened. But I think this fellow is carrying things a bit too far. It can't be that bad. At least, I don't think so. But then, I don't have enough money to afford a $15 million home, so who am I to talk?

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Commodities investment guru Jim Rogers stepped into the U.S. subprime fray on Wednesday, predicting a real estate crash that would trigger defaults and spread contagion to emerging markets. "You can't believe how bad it's going to get before it gets any better," the prominent U.S. fund manager told Reuters by telephone from New York. "It's going to be a disaster for many people who don't have a clue about what happens when a real estate bubble pops. "It is going to be a huge mess," said Rogers, who has put his $15 million belle epoque mansion on Manhattan's Upper West Side on the market and is planning to move to Asia.

CAI's objections to AARP HO Bill of Rights
I have read the full 3 1/2 page letter from Tom Skiba to AARP objecting to the AARP Homeowners' Bill of Rights, drafted by attorney David Kahne. I see no reason to amend my earlier comments that were based on the summary I linked to from Ungated, the CAI blog that Tom writes.

To sum up, here are the main points of the AARP document:

Security against Foreclosure
Resolve Disputes without Litigation
Fairness in Litigation
Be Told of All Rules and Charges
Stability in Rules and Charges
Individual Autonomy
Oversight of Associations and Directors
Vote and Run for Office
Reasonable Associations and Directors
An Ombudsperson for Homeowners

CAI objects to this. Why?

They don't like the process of developing the document because it didn't include CAI or other industry representatives. I have already addressed that issue. And they don't like the substance because it involves increased state legislation, and more state oversight of HOA board activities. It imposes limits on what HOA BODs can do to people. I think it needs to be pointed out that this type of reform legislation really limits the powers of the attorneys and managers who constitute CAI. Because make no mistake about this: for all this talk of local democracy and consumer choice, the real power in the HOA universe is in the hands of attorneys. They are the ones who exercise the powers of the BOD, when owners don't go along with the program. And that is the power--lawyer power--that gets limited by state regulatory legislation that gives owners some rights. What David Kahne is trying to do (among other things, but centrally) is give the owners some way to stand up to the association's attorney. He does that by giving them some enforceable rights and relief from the boilerplate language that puts the owners in an essentially powerless position from the moment they take the deed to their property.

CAI also want to get AARP corralled into the cozy little UCIOA amendment process that the Uniform Law Commissioners are undertaking (with a CAI stalwart as the ABA advisor to the committee). The AARP project, because it is apart from that ULC process, could throw a monkey wrench into creating an industry-friendly "new" legal structure that would leave the current power dynamics intact.

Here's how I think CAI wants things to end up: The BODs would have nearly absolute power over homeowners, whose only options, if they feel they have been mistreated, would be to elect a new board or sell their home and move somewhere else. The association attorney and property manager would (and do) control the BODs. CAI trains and organizes the attorneys and property managers. The states would require certification of property managers. CAI would provide that certification. The out-of-control owner-run insurgent groups would be shut out of the policy process and branded as loons and nutcases, and their websites would be shut down. The press would get off the "HOA abuses abound" angle, and instead go to CAI for comment on community association issues, and print the PR line. Particular complaints about abuses would be conclusively presumed to be either a) lies and distortions spread by neighborhood malcontents who couldn't get along with Mother Theresa, or b) unrepresentative anecdotes that fail to capture the true level of mass satisfaction with HOA life. And the state legislatures would pass UCIOA and move on from HOA legislation to other matters, like selling the state tollway system to Spanish and Australian corporations to finance free health care and early childhood education for all. Happy ending. That's the desired endgame as I see it. Maybe Tom can correct me if I am wrong.

Here's the problem with that scenario: things were basically like that in the early 1990s, but things have changed. Too many people are now aware of what's going on in Privatopia for that status quo ante to be reinstituted. When a mega-interest group like AARP weighs in, and when half a dozen state legislatures have reform legislation on the books or in the hopper, and when I can name you probably two dozen law professors and at least that many reporters who understand this issue area very well...when all this happens, it is too late to silence or co-opt all the dissenting voices and have everybody speak with a single tongue.

Change is happening right now, and I don't think it can be stopped. I don't know if all the change will be for the good, and I have been critical of some of the reform legislation. But it is coming. And that AARP document is going to give owner rights a much bigger place at the table than they would have had if the industry had their way. That's a good thing, not only for owners but for the industry, if they would just take the long view. I wish I could get CAI to understand that some of their own policy positions are actually adverse to their own long-term interests. But I'll leave that for another post.

AARP: A Bill of Rights for Homeowners in Associations: Basic Principles of Consumer Protection and Sample Model Statute
I thought I'd link this to make sure that anybody who hasn't read it has a quick way to find it. This is the document that Tom Skiba and CAI are reacting to as linked in the post earlier.

Late Mortgage Payments Reach High, New Foreclosures Hit All-Time High
This probably means that HOA assessment delinquencies are up as well. People don't ordinarily stiff the bank and pay their HOA.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Late mortgage payments shot up to a 3 1/2-year high in the final quarter of last year and new foreclosures surged to record levels as borrowers with tarnished credit histories had trouble keeping up with monthly payments.

Ungated :: AARP, Community Associations, Rights, and Responsibilities
Here is Tom Skiba's take on AARP's Homeowners Bill of Rights. Follow link to his blog and there you will find a link to the full CAI position paper on AARP's B of R:

- The paper was prepared by a homeowner advocate attorney in Texas [note from Evan: that would be David Kahne], and not by AARP staff. As you might imagine, there was very limited input from industry representatives including CAI, NAHB, the National Council of Commissioners on Uniform State Law (who drafted UCIOA and similar legislation) and others.

- AARP has not adopted the proposed Bill of Rights as an official legislative position, although the report has been sent to their state offices.

- Sadly, the paper also seems to intimate that mature Americans are incapable of managing their own affairs and protecting their own interests. Personally, I think that seriously underestimates AARP's own members.

Yet the report raises some important issues and includes some potentially beneficial ideas on ensuring that communities serve all of their owners fairly, equitably, and harmoniously.

While we disagree on many of the details, we believe that this process can have positive outcomes.

------------------
I think it is great that Tom sees the AARP as raising important issues and containing some good ideas. I have to read the full CAI reaction, but these bullet points do stir some preliminary thoughts. First, what is a "homeowner advocate attorney"? David is an attorney, and he has represented homeowners. Is there something wrong with that? I don't see how that comment has any bearing at all on the AARP document, much less deserving to be given bullet point status as though it was some sort of "gotcha." The document went through outside review as well, so it isn't as though it went from David's computer to the publisher with nobody checking it out. Seems to me lots of "industry attorneys" have been doing all the drafting for about fifty years, so can somebody else take a crack at it for a change?

Second, why should there be input from industry representatives in the drafting of the AARP document? The premise of the document--the reason it needs to be written, in other words--is that the law as written in most states is heavily loaded for the industry (lawyers and other professionals) and for the BODs, and against the owners. The whole point here is to give the owners some protections. The AARP document is a starting point. The time for the industry to weigh in is now, I would say--not while the owner protections were being drafted.

And finally, the idea is not that owners are little children who need paternalistic policy. The need for a bill of rights comes from the untenable legal position HOA owners find themselves in, courtesy of the cozy relationship between real estate developers and local governments. I am talking about blanket imposition of reams of lawyer-drafted, non-negotiable, boilerplate, developer-friendly, board-friendly, and often repressive rules on owners who have to take the whole package or forget about the home they wanted to buy. And with so many of these projects having similar substantive and procedural content, and with so little choice left in the market due to municipal mandates and developer preferences, the case for a little legislative protection of owners is compelling.

That's why the trend in so many state legislatures is now pro-owner. And I don't think the genie can be put back in the bottle. I will read CAI's take on the AARP proposals carefully and hope for the best. But I think David Kahne and AARP are definitely deserving of high praise, and I hope good things come of their efforts.

State budget crisis heats up
Actually, it's worse than that for the state of Michigan and its local governments. It's no wonder they are building condos in Kalamazoo (see below). When local governments are strapped for cash, condos and HOAs are the preferred form of real estate development because of the double taxation benefits--fewer services to provide, but a full share of property tax paid by all owners:

LANSING -- Wall Street is turning up the heat on Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature to find a quick solution to Michigan's deepening fiscal crisis or face a credit downgrade -- which would make it more expensive for the state and some local governments to borrow money. "From a credit perspective, this is probably the most important legislative session in more than a decade," James Wiemken, managing director of Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, said in a report released Monday.

Nation's second largest sub-prime mortgage lender looking shaky...
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- New Century Financial Corp., the nation's second-biggest subprime mortgage lender, said it doesn't have the cash to pay creditors who are demanding their money, increasing speculation that the company will go bankrupt. The New York Stock Exchange, citing the credit crisis, halted trading of New Century this morning until it decides whether to keep listing the company's securities. Shares of the Irvine, California-based company, already down 90 percent in 2007, lost half their remaining value in pre-market trading, and rivals fell as much as 25 percent today. ``They're one step closer to bankruptcy,'' said Bose George, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods in New York who rates the shares ``market perform.'' ``The only possibility for survival now is for someone, potentially an investment bank, to step in.'' New Century may be insolvent because too many of its own customers -- most of whom have poor credit histories or heavy debt burdens -- aren't repaying their loans. Bad U.S. subprime mortgages are at a seven-year high, forcing more than two dozen lenders to close or sell operations. Their woes may contribute to more than 1.5 million Americans losing their homes and 100,000 people losing their jobs, according to real estate executives, economists, analysts and a Federal Reserve governor. New Century said in a federal filing it doesn't have funds to repay lenders including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The creditors want New Century to repurchase all outstanding mortgage loans they financed.

Condo boom Builders back away from single-family homes for condominium construction: Kalamazoo Gazette
I remember when people used to tell me that condos only existed in Florida. They were wrong then, but now condos are the big thing even in Kalamazoo.

The latest residential-construction reports for Kalamazoo County show that local builders increased their condominium building last year considerably. Construction of the retiree-friendly units more than quadrupled in 2006; at the same time, the building of single-family homes declined by 27 percent.

Sheriff's Deputy Suspected of Stealing from Homeowners Association: San Diego, California

If they allow a 10% posting, he could use that 20K to bail himself out.
(Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.)
A San Diego sheriff's deputy is behind bars this weekend on suspicion of stealing thousands of dollars from a homeowners association. Ronald Sakamoto, 44, was arrested by La Mesa police. Investigators said he embezzled as much as $20,000 from the Lake Murray Gardens Homeowners Association. Sakamoto served as the association's treasurer. He is being held on $200,000 bail.

Crisis Looms in Mortgages - New York Times
This is a pretty weighty article.

On March 1, a Wall Street analyst at Bear Stearns wrote an upbeat report on a company that specializes in making mortgages to cash-poor homebuyers. The company, New Century Financial, had already disclosed that a growing number of borrowers were defaulting, and its stock, at around $15, had lost half its value in three weeks. What happened next seems all too familiar to investors who bought technology stocks in 2000 at the breathless urging of Wall Street analysts. Last week, New Century said it would stop making loans and needed emergency financing to survive. The stock collapsed to $3.21. The analyst’s untimely call, coupled with a failure among other Wall Street institutions to identify problems in the home mortgage market, isn’t the only familiar ring to investors who watched the technology stock bubble burst precisely seven years ago.

Troubles Hit Real Estate at High End - New York Times
I realize these folks won't generate much sympathy, but still...

Until now, deep-pocketed Wall Street tycoons and foreign investors benefiting from a weak dollar seemed to be holding up the luxury real estate market even as the low-end fractured. But there are signs that some high-end real estate developers are also being hit by the slowdown.

HOA rules come under attack
Here is an HOA that has banned outdoor recreational activity in the common areas, including the sidewalks, streets, driveways, and landscaped areas. Result: children can't play outdoors. The property manager says they can always go play at the high school. And this isn't even a seniors community. The excuse is fear of liability, but there has never been a suit. The real reason seems to be cranky neighbors who hate the sound of children at play. This is a great example of why there have to be some limits on the kinds of behavioral rules HOAs can impose.

Although Oak Park is known as a family-oriented community filled with children, one neighborhood forbids kids from playing outside and some homeowners are angry. Country Vistas III, a quiet development of about 147 town houses and single-family homes off Oak Hills Drive, is ruled by a homeowner association whose bylaws prohibit recreational activities on common area sidewalks, streets, driveways and/or landscaped areas. There is also a "residents' right to quiet enjoyment" rule. Several residents who have children are frustrated by the regulations, which they see as restrictive and unfair.

Man chainsaws house in two in divorce split - Yahoo! News
This gives new meaning to the term "separate property."

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 43-year-old German decided to settle his imminent divorce by chainsawing a family home in two and making off with his half in a forklift truck.

Polar bears 'thriving as the Arctic warms up' | International News | News | Telegraph
Recall that we were being told the polar bears were dying off by drowning due to melting ice caused by global warming, and it's all our fault. Now an actual count of polar bears shows that they are thriving. In one 140,000 sq. kilometer region, there are 2100 polar bears versus 850 in the mid 1980s. As one polar bear biologist put it, "There aren't just a few more bears. There are a hell of a lot more bears."

But wait! That's our fault too. You see, "mankind's interference in the environment" is to blame.

Do you get the sense that for some people, no matter what happens in nature, it is a sign of impending doom and proof of human-caused global warming?

United Press International - NewsTrack - Latinos land 2 in 3 U.S. construction jobs
This is quite a concept. What would be the effect of immigration reform on housing prices?

Latinos make up 13.6 percent of the U.S. employment population, but accounted for 36.7 percent of the 2006 U.S. employment growth, a study showed Wednesday. Most of the jobs Hispanic workers landed were in the construction industry, the Pew Hispanic Center said. In fact, two out of every three new U.S. construction jobs went to Hispanic workers, the center said. Hispanic employment increased by almost 1 million from 2005 to 2006, with foreign-born Latinos who arrived since 2000 responsible for about 24 percent of the total U.S. employment increase. Undocumented immigrants accounted for about two-thirds of the increase in recently arrived Hispanic workers, the center estimated.

Wall Street sags on bleak housing view - Yahoo! News
Fred Pilot found this pithy comment from a builder:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks slipped on Wednesday following a negative assessment of the housing market from a large home builder and a Federal Reserve report indicated some U.S. regions were seeing slowing economic growth. Stocks gave up gains in the last hour of trading after the chief executive of D.R. Horton Inc. delivered an unusually blunt evaluation of the residential real estate market...The chief executive of home builder D.R. Horton said at an analysts' conference that the current year for his company was "going to suck," spurring worries about weakness in housing. "The housing market, which is the weak spot in the economy ... is the main fear of a recession, and the main fear on earnings" growth, said Milton Ezrati, senior economic strategist at Lord Abbett & Co. in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Homeowners' Assocaitions -- HB 391 DBPR STUDY
Jan Bergemann tells me that Jeb Bush vetoed a Florida version of UCIOA (see below) for lack of consumer protection. Here's CCFJ's writeup on it. I must say, I went through the so-called Homeowner Bill of Rights document that is supposed to make UCIOA more owner-friendly, and I don't see a whole lot of owner rights. It's like searching for a real piece of chicken in a bowl of canned chicken soup. Compare it with the AARP document drafted by David Kahne, which is a whole lot more aggressive in protecting owners.

Philadelphia Daily News | 02/21/2007 | Dan Gross | Chops sues LaBan
Talk about private restrictions on freedom of speech! Check out this lawsuit in Philadelphia:

A THREE-SENTENCE restaurant review has led to a high-steaks lawsuit from Chops Restaurant (401 City Ave.) against Inqwaster food critic Craig LaBan and Philadelphia Media Holdings, which owns the Inqwaster and Daily News. In his "Or Try These" sidebar to his Feb. 4 review of Fleming's in Radnor, LaBan called Chops, a popular Bala Cynwyd steakhouse, the "Palm on City Line," where he had a "miserably tough and fatty strip steak." However, according to the suit filed by Chops owner Alex Plotkin, LaBan had a steak sandwich minus the bread, not a strip steak. "No legitimate food critic would ever mistake, or compare, a steak sandwich with a strip steak," the lawsuit states. Plotkin, who prides himself on Chops' chops, says in the suit that he had called LaBan about the review and that LaBan had "apologized for the 'confusion,' admitted he did not have a strip steak and 'saw [Plotkin's] point,' but would not publish a retraction in his column."

SB 948 California Senate Bill - INTRODUCED
Here are three new bills introduced in the California legislature pertaining to CIDs. Fred Pilot sent the links and bill summaries. What you have here is mandatory training for BOD members; tightening of open meeting "sunshine" requirements; and a 2% limit on assessment increases for low and moderate income housing. I would expect pretty stiff opposition to these, except maybe the training of board members. How can anybody object to that? It is impossible to defend the current state of ignorance, especially considering the rate at which the California legislature is heaping new procedural rules on their heads.

Existing law requires the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department
of Real Estate, to the extent existing funds are available, to
develop an online education course for the board of directors of an
association regarding the role, duties, laws, and responsibilities of
board members and prospective board members, and the nonjudicial
foreclosure process.
This bill would, in addition, as of January 1, 2009, require every
member of the board of directors of an association to complete at
least one 3-hour course during every term of office relating to
decisional and statutory law regarding common interest developments.
The bill would require such a course to be approved by the Department
of Real Estate.

SB 528 California Senate Bill - INTRODUCED
The Common Interest Development Open
Meeting Act provides that any member of the governing association of
a common interest development may attend meetings of the board of
directors of the association, except as specified. The act also
requires that notice of the time and place of a meeting be given to
members at least 4 days prior to the meeting, except as specified.
This bill would prohibit the board of directors from considering
any subject matter at a meeting unless the subject matter was placed
on the agenda when the meeting was announced. The bill would also
make technical changes.

AB 952 California Assembly Bill - INTRODUCED
Existing law places
specified limitations on the amount by which the board may increase
regular assessments, and levy special assessments, without a vote
complying with certain procedural requirements. Existing law exempts
assessments for emergency situations, as described, from these
limitations.
This bill would, in addition, prohibit the board of directors from
imposing a special assessment, including an emergency assessment, or
an increase in the regular assessment of more than 2% on units that
are required by law to be provided to low- or moderate-income
purchasers without a vote of the owners of those units in accordance
with specified procedural requirements.

Developer sues over subdivision delay
Nancy Levy wonders about this situation, and so do I. Tactics like this always make you think about SLAPP statutes. But it's hard to tell from one article.

A Royal Oak developer, already suing a citizens group for slander, has hit the city with a lawsuit over six months of delays in the controversial Maida Woods project...In September, a group of residents formed the Westland Homeowners Committee for Environmental Conservation and Smart Growth. The homeowners say the project will destroy the area that's home to many animals. The group claims the site contains more wetlands than thought, which has prompted officials to delay approval several times. An administrative law judge is set to settle the matter. Last week, developers sued the group for at least $25,000 -- or as much as $2 million -- claiming slander, trespass and conspiracy.

Business - Folsom home lender closes - sacbee.com
Here's a story by Jim Wasseman, who used to be an Associated Press writer. He is very knowledgable about the housing industry and has done some excellent pieces on HOAs. Now he's bylined as a staff writer for the Sacramento Bee. Thanks to Nancy Levy for pointing this out. The story is about rising mortgage defaults that are bad enough to cause a bank to fail. Is this only the start? And if they don't pay the mortgage, they aren't paying the HOA assessments. Note also that this isn't just any bank. Look who is the CEO:

Growing consumer defaults have claimed the first home loan lender in the Sacramento area with the closing of Folsom-based Central Pacific Mortgage. The firm shut its doors last week and dismissed an unknown number of employees, the state Department of Corporations confirmed. "We know that it's closed and the next step in the process may be that they voluntarily surrender their license," DOC spokesman Andrew Roth said. The firm's demise comes amid growing trouble for the nation's mortgage lenders as rising numbers of borrowers default on their home loans. It also involves an influential local personality on the nation's mortgage lending scene and a 2004 appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. John Courson, Central Pacific's 17-year president and chief executive officer, chaired the national trade group for mortgage bankers, the Mortgage Bankers Association, in 2002 and 2003. Currently, he is chairman of the board of the California Housing Finance Agency, the state's affordable housing bank.

"YOU ARE LEAVING THE AMERICAN ZONE!”
Fred Pilot flagged this CCFJ story. It is just amazing, and you have to read it to see how public officials are abandoning HOA and condo residents to the tender mercies of their private governments. Embezzlement isn't a crime if it happens in an HOA...at least that seems to be the (amazing) message. So, asks Jan Bergemenn, does the same (il)logic hold true for murder?

"State laws that regulate homeowners associations lack criminal sanctions," Palm Beach County Assistant State Attorney Preston Mighdoll was quoted as saying in a recent article (Suit says Boca Rio funds misspent) about embezzlement in a homeowners' association.

California exodus has far-ranging implications | The San Diego Union-Tribune
Fred Pilot sent this link. San Diego and coastal California in general are rapidly turning into places where the middle class can't live, although San Diego is still relatively affordable when compared with parts north.

In the early 1990s, as Southern California suffered its worst recession in half a century, freeways were crowded with moving vans headed to Nevada, Arizona, Utah and points east, filled with people hoping to find a better life elsewhere. These days, there's no recession. California's economy is growing at roughly the same pace as the nation's. The statewide unemployment rate is at historic lows. There is no major wave of factories being shut down. But once again, more Californians are moving out than are coming in from other states. This time they're not looking for jobs. They just want a cheaper place to live.

Homeowners Wage Battles Against HOAs
Jan Bergemann of Florida's Cyber Citizens for Justice was on Fox News. Watch the video at this link. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the tip.

Henry Daily Herald, McDonough, GA - ‘Private Cities’ measure back before lawmakers
Nancy Levy sends this extremely interesting story of a major privatization proposal in Georgia:

ATLANTA — Last year, they were “community development districts.” This year, they’re “infrastructure development districts.” But to critics, legislation that would let developers use quasi-governmental powers to finance and build new communities in undeveloped areas across Georgia still goes by the more pithy sobriquet “private cities.” For the second consecutive legislative session, Republicans are pushing a bill and accompanying constitutional amendment that would allow landowners to finance the roads and water and sewer lines needed to create large developments. Subject to the approval of affected cities or counties, property owners would form districts governed by boards with the power to float bonds that would be repaid through taxes, fees and assessments levied on the residents.

Developer, buyers wage war over Panama island project - Sacramento Business Journal:
Fred Pilot sends this along, which is the story that you needed a subscription to read as linked below:

Granite Bay developer Shepard Johnson fell in love with Isla Solarte, a rustic paradise of sunshine and palms off the coast of eastern Panama, while touring the Caribbean years ago. He thought the small island had the same potential as Maui as a tourist destination, and in 1995 he launched a plan to develop and sell land there, largely to Americans looking to build inexpensive vacation or retirement homes. Now, he says he can't go back because he's facing criminal charges.

Look before you leap into a condo lifestyle
Fred Pilot located this. Here's a pithy little snippet:
Condo buildings "can be very political," said Jeff Turk, a private equity fund managing partner who recently served on a homeowners association board of a condo in Chicago for two years. "They are literally microclimates . . . in terms of issues that affect one side of the building that doesn't affect the other, like noise from a parking garage, or light creating different heating and ventilation on one side of the building than the other, or a leak in the floor of a rooftop level unit that doesn't affect units underneath it." The issues "can be very contentious or just plain very expensive," said Turk.

Former Massage Therapist and Home Stager Teaches Homeowners how Having High Energy and Rediscovering Your True Self Creates a 'You' Home
Nancy Levy says she couldn't resist sending this and I can see why. Here's the payoff line:

New business shows homeowners how to personalize homes in a sea of cookie cutter and generic design...Ayanna is a woman with a mission. She assists and teaches homeowners how to uncover who they truly are so that they will make better choices in all aspects in their lives and especially their homes.

Developer, buyers wage war over Panama island project - Sacramento Business Journal:
From Fred Pilot comes this saga that you need a subscription to read.

CLRC doesn't want to hold HOA elctions to public standards
Thanks to Fred Pilot for this latest from the California Law Revision Commission.

Residents losing their say about managing - National - smh.com.au
Thanks to Nancy Levy for this development from the land down under.

AMENDMENTS TO UNIFORM COMMON INTEREST OWNERSHIP ACT
This is the "Homeowners' Bill of Rights Act" in draft form, produced by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. There are several Bills of Rights for HOA and condo owners floating around these days. Sooner or later I'll have to sit down and compare them.
ps: I had an email from Jan Bergemann of Cyber Citizens for Justice calling to my attention the following text from the document:
AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION ADVISOR
GARY A. POLIAKOFF, 3111 Stirling Road, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312-6525, ABA Advisor

Jan notes that CCFJ considers attorney Poliakoff--a prominent member of CAI and active on CAI's legislative agenda--one of CCFJ's most dedicated opponents and he notes that Poliakoff's law firm organized what Jan describes as an "anti-homeowner group." The UCIOA amendment project is viewed with skepticism by HOA activists in any event.

yourrossmoor.com
Thanks to Gilbert Doubet, Rossmoor, Walnut Creek, CA, for sending me this link to the website of "Your Rossmoor." Doubet quotes me as saying, "“...small but vocal anti-HOA owners groups are organizing, using the internet as their medium and gaining attention from the press," and then says, "That's us in spades."

L'Eggo My Lego
It seems that this really happened in the space-time continuum that we inhabit. The question is, how will kids who have been brainwashed in this fashion function in the HOAs that I assume they will buy into at some future date? Maybe this is good preparation...

Some Seattle school children are being told to be skeptical of private property rights. This lesson is being taught by banning Legos. A ban was initiated at the Hilltop Children's Center in Seattle. According to an article in the winter 2006-07 issue of "Rethinking Schools" magazine, the teachers at the private school wanted their students to learn that private property ownership is evil. According to the article, the students had been building an elaborate "Legotown," but it was accidentally demolished. The teachers decided its destruction was an opportunity to explore "the inequities of private ownership." According to the teachers, "Our intention was to promote a contrasting set of values: collectivity, collaboration, resource-sharing, and full democratic participation." The children were allegedly incorporating into Legotown "their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys." These assumptions "mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society -- a society that we teachers believe to be unjust and oppressive." They claimed as their role shaping the children's "social and political understandings of ownership and economic equity ... from a perspective of social justice."

The LA Suburb that the law forgot...
This story is about as shocking as anything you are likely to read today.

Cudahy resembles a Mexican border town more than it does a Los Angeles suburb. Entrenched gangs and Mexican drug trafficking have trapped working-class legal and illegal immigrants in a cycle of violence and fear, in a city where less than a quarter of the 28,000 residents are eligible to vote. An uneducated city council, a deeply troubled police force imported from Maywood two towns over, and the raw power of the 18th Street Gang — a complex criminal organization with a knack for setting up business fronts and obscuring underground drug activity — make Cudahy residents seem like hostages in their own city. By most accounts, Cudahy City Council members — two retired union managers, an insurance salesman, a waitress and a grocer — do not run the city as they were elected to do. Rather, they defer to City Manager Perez, a former janitor who is known to favor revenue traps such as DUI and driver’s license checkpoints over aggressive tactics that make gangs and drug dealers less comfortable.

Homeowners group's ex-leader accused of theft
Thanks to Jean Winters for this very disturbing story about HOA misconduct:

Something had gone wrong in the quiet Boca Rio Townhomes neighborhood near the Broward County line, residents noticed last year. The sprinklers stopped working. Broken fences weren't mended. The grass turned brown in their orderly suburban community. No one answered the phone at the clubhouse anymore, and those who did get through to homeowners association President Betty Marshal met obstinate refusal to let them see the books. One resident, Randy Gavitt, started digging further. What he says he uncovered led to Marshal's resignation as board president and a lawsuit filed Friday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Marshal, a 68-year-old grandmother, gambled away nearly $500,000 of her association's money and fled to Pennsylvania, residents allege in the lawsuit. Over three years, she used the association's debit card and withdrew as much as $30,000 a month on what appear to be personal expenses at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, online gambling sites and the chocolate factory in her hometown of Hershey, Pa., and for airline tickets and other items, the lawsuit says. She left the neighborhood in disrepair and $662,070 poorer.

Community Associations Institute - New England Chapter -- Court Limits Liability for Third Party Web Postings
Here's a post advising CAI people about a California Supreme Court case (Barrett v. Rosenthal) that limits liability for re-posting on a web site the libelous posts of other people, based on a provision of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. CAI's advice is still on the side of caution, saying HOAs should still be careful about reposting potentially defamatory material. Seems like good advice to me. Thanks to Shu Bartholomew for pointing this out.

The ruling applies only in California, but many trends begin there, and legal analysts say it is possible that other courts will adopt this court’s “freedom of Internet speech” logic if confronted with suits raising similar questions. On the other hand, most associations would no doubt prefer not to end up in a protracted (and expensive) legal battle, even if it’s a battle they might ultimately win. So the best advice, still, is probably to assume the association would be sued for potentially libelous statements and avoid posting them, or having them posted, on the community’s Web site, in newsletters or any other communications venues the association controls.

ABC News: New England Town Prints Up Its Own Currency
So give me one good reason why HOAs can't do the same.

AB 1164 Assembly Bill - INTRODUCED
Fred Pilot sent this link to a piece of legislation introduced in California that would prohibit sole-provider agreements between apartment owners (and HOA developers and boards, as I read the summary) and video or broadband providers. Developers have been granting cable companies monopolies in exchange for a simple covenant banning antennas.

This bill would prohibit a provider of video service or broadband
service from entering into an agreement with any person owning,
leasing, controlling, or managing buildings or dwellings that would
diminish or interfere with the rights of any tenant or other occupant
of the building or dwelling to the use of any video service or
broadband service offered by another party.

Tennessee Center for Policy Research: Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national average
Now that Al Gore has his Oscar and his Nobel Peace Prize nomination, I suppose boring facts like this are irrelevant, but I ran across this on The Drudge Report, so here it is. I didn't watch the Oscars, but the news today is full of what went on. Environmental scientist Leonardo DiCaprio pronounced it the "green" Oscars. Does that mean that the stars flew in on private jets fueled by organic peanut butter?

Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES). In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home. The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average. Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359. Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.

Do fence me in - Los Angeles Times
Nancy Levy flagged this story. I have my doubts about this claim that gated communities are all that popular.

If a man's home is his castle, gates are the modern equivalent of living behind the moat. Gated communities, in fact, are the fastest-growing form of housing in the U.S., according to census data. Why? Those who opt for gates point to reduced crime and traffic, a safer environment for children and the prestige of living somewhere that's exclusive. But not everyone likes being sealed off from the world. Some people view gates as elitist or don't want the bother of calling the guards each time a visitor is expected. Whether new or old, suburban or urban, surrounded by affluence or a gritty neighborhood, a secured perimeter with controlled access generally makes a home more expensive. "Gated communities command a higher price when they enter the market," said Setha Low, an anti-gates anthropologist who wrote "Behind the Gates: Life, Security and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America." "Their advantage diminishes as the development ages and their maintenance costs increase." The view on the ground in Southern California comes from John Karevoll, chief analyst for DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based real estate research firm. "There is initially a bit more value to those properties. In general, 5% to 7%.

Retirement community rift pits Baby Boomers against the elderly
Marjorie Murray, President of the Center for California Homeowner Association Law, sent me the link to this story about a new issue that needs some serious consideration:

Sprawling retirement communities are attempting to spruce up facilities to appeal to the onslaught of Baby Boomers, while the longtime residents worry that they are subtly being nudged out the gate. Out in Walnut Creek, where the "active retirement" community of Rossmoor is experiencing growing pains, resident Dick Hayes, 71, a former president of the Residents Association, speaks for many retirees. "I think there is an attempt, and it may be subtle and unconscious, to get rid of the 80- and 90-year-olds,'' says Hayes.

wcbstv.com - Officials To Review Rat-Infested KFC Inspection
See my post criticizing the cozy relationship between the so-called "Health Department" of NYC and the infamous rat-infested KFC. Now check this out. The dump was inspected the day before CBS filmed rats doing half-gainers into tubs of extra crispy wings and running laps around the feet of horrified diners. Result: congRATulations! You pass the Health Department inspection! Read the comments of the "health department spokesman" who doesn't want to prejudge anybody or anything like that. Heaven forfend.

(CBS) NEW YORK Health officials are going to review the inspection of a Greenwich Village KFC/Taco Bell, which was completed one day before CBS 2 cameras caught dozens of rats scurrying across the store, jumping on tables, and climbing into food trays. "It doesn't look like the inspection that was done Thursday met our standards," said Geoffrey Cowley, a health department spokesman. "I don't want to prejudge that. We're concerned and we're going to carefully revaluate that inspection."

wcbstv.com - KFC Rats Still Talk Of Greenwich Village--municipal government (in)action!
The Health Department had cited this dump numerous times for live rats all over the place but left it open. KFC/Taco Bell (remember the Taco Bell e. coli outbreak?) obviously knew or should have known the place was a rat carnival. Now that the local TV station has filmed and broadcast the rodent festivities, and the video is all over the world, the city and the mega-corporation and the New York restaurant industry flacks are telling us how high their standards are. Right. Scroll down to the bottom and see what an ex-employee had to say:

Marcus Bonner said he used to work at this chain and would often see rodents coming inside. "That's where the rats come from, there's a hole in the back where the garbage is," Bonner said. "There's a hole about three-to-four inches wide. So easy they just walk through. They don't have to squeeze through. "I quit because it was nasty. They don't use gloves to make the food. They use the same grease day after day after day. At night, the manager told me to put the chairs up. We don't sweep; we don't mop. So that's what the rats are eating off, the stuff that's left on the floors."


To me, the moral of the story is that sometimes an industry works out a cozy relationship with government that allows the industry to, shall we say, underperform. The public doesn't know how bad things are until something really awful happens and the media finds out about it. Until then, it is business as usual. And if somebody starts asking for more regulation of the industry, in this case restaurants, the industry will swear up and down that this time they have really, really, learned their lesson, and they can handle the whole thing internally.

Cox & Forkum: Holy Smoke and Mirrors
This one got me to laugh at 8:00am, which is a good thing.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES : The perfect shock: Condo dreams turn into nightmares with $100,000 special assessments

Thanks to Dick Simpson for giving me this. I keep telling people to watch out for huge special assessments in the years to come. Check this one out:

About 100 condo owners at two renovated buildings...have faced special assessments as high as $100,000 apiece to pay for damage they say is caused by shoddy construction. The two condominium buildings are undergoing a total of $7 million in repairs, and their boards have filed lawsuits asking the developers to take responsibility for alleged construction defects. A legal expert says the jaw-dropping extra assessments result from a perfect storm of condo conversion circumstances: A lack of oversight by the city, buyers with stars in their eyes and little information and developers who claim they have no assets to correct defects after they sell the condos.

FOXNews.com - Connecticut Woman May Win Battle for Old Glory -
EAST WINDSOR, Conn. — The Connecticut condominium association that asked the mother of a National Guardsman to remove her flags and flagpole will allow the woman to keep Old Glory flying if she moves her flagpole from the center of her lawn, FOXNews.com learned Wednesday.

Senate OKs 'home for sale' sign right
Here's some legislative action from Arizona:

PHOENIX — Homeowners hoping to find a buyer won't have to keep their offering a secret from passing traffic, regardless of homeowner association rules, under the terms of legislation approved Monday by the state Senate. On a 28-1 vote, senators agreed to give would-be sellers the unfettered right to put signs on their own properties. The measure, SB 1062, now goes to the House.

New York House - Can homeowner association bar worship at its clubhouse? Religious group alleges fair-housing violation

Unless and until state constitutional protections apply to large HOAs, banning religious activity in the common areas probably will be allowed. The Twin Rivers case could begin to change that.

Until 2004 the Savanna Club Worship Service Inc. conducted its worship services in the Savanna Homeowners Association clubhouse or common areas. But the homeowner association received numerous complaints from its members regarding use of the common areas for religious services. One of the reasons for the complaints was such usage was contrary to the stated purpose of making the common areas available for use and enjoyment of the members of the association. After receiving numerous complaints, the association conducted an informal vote of its members. They voted 714 to 434 to prohibit religious services in their common areas. As a result, the association adopted a rule that "No portion of the common areas of Savanna Club may be used for any religious service." Following enactment of the rule, the worship club continued holding its services. But the homeowner association filed a court petition for mediation. Following mediation, the club stopped holding its religious services in the common areas. The worship club then brought this lawsuit against the Savanna Club Homeowners Association, alleging the rule barring religious services violates the federal Fair Housing Act. If you were the judge would you rule the homeowner association rule barring religious services in the common areas violates the Fair Housing Act?

The judge said no!

Investigation: Money Missing From Condo Association Funds - News
Thanks to Nancy Levy for this link. There have been many such cases over the years, and we can expect more.

WILLOUGHBY, Ohio -- Hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing from condo association funds across northeast Ohio, NewsChannel5 reported. In an exclusive report, Carolina Leid said the FBI is investigating a local business and its owners. MultiVest Management works with condo associations in seven counties. Leid reported that the money associations paid toward keeping their properties maintained is gone.

Humans' beef with livestock: a warmer planet | csmonitor.com
They don't want much, these global warming folks. All we have to do is abandon our cars and walk everywhere, live in the dark, and switch from meat to mung bean burgers. It would be a lot like the Middle Ages, except without the roast beef.

As Congress begins to tackle the causes and cures of global warming, the action focuses on gas-guzzling vehicles and coal-fired power plants, not on lowly bovines. Yet livestock are a major emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change. And as meat becomes a growing mainstay of human diet around the world, changing what we eat may prove as hard as changing what we drive.

Inman Real Estate News - Condos: the good, the bad, the ugly
Thanks to Shu Bartholomew for the link to this promo for a book, "Tips and Traps When Buying a Condo, Co-op, or Townhouse, Second Edition" by Robert Irwin. Here's an interesting excerpt:

This ultra-complete book uses many pages warning about the negatives of cooperative apartment buildings, found mostly in New York, Chicago, Florida and a few California cities. The huge negative of the board of directors' inquisition approval or disapproval of prospective co-op buyers and renters, Irwin warns, holds down the market value of co-ops compared to equivalent condominiums that do not require approval of prospective buyers. As the current and previous owner of several condominiums, Irwin shamelessly shows his battle scars from dealing with boards of directors and architectural committees. He warns condo buyers to read the CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions), by-laws and rules before purchase, but don't think you can change these limitations after you buy.

Link to the Twin Rivers argument
I had an email from Frank Askin, attorney for the Committee for a Better Twin Rivers. He is still optimistic about the eventual outcome of the case, and so am I. Here is a link to the oral argument, if you haven't heard it. Just scroll down to the Twin Rivers link.

Here's the appellate court link for Pratt v. McMahon
Thanks to Fred Pilot for tracking this down. This Pratt v. McMahon is one of numerous appellate court matters involving the McMahons. I think there are three underlying lawsuits that have given rise to numerous appellate court case numbers. The ones that say "McMahon v. Superior Court" are probably writs. That would mean there was an adverse ruling short of final judgment, and the McMahons appealed from that ruling while the case was still pending in the trial court. So there aren't as many cases at it appears. Each writ would have its own case number, even if they all came from the same underlying lawsuit. Note that the law firm of Peters & Freedman has sued the McMahons as well, and that one is in the appellate courts. So two law firms (P & F and attorney Pratt) have sued them. The McMahons took a a writ up from some ruling in that case on May of 2006 that was denied. I think it was a SLAPP motion. The current appeal, having to do with denial of the SLAPP motion, was filed by the McMahons in November of 2006. The docket shows that the McMahons want more time to file briefs.

Case Summary
Trial Court Case: 06CC01968
Court of Appeal Case: G038236
Division: 3
Case Caption: Pratt v. McMahon et al.
Case Type: Civil
Filing Date: 02/08/2007
Oral Argument Date/Time:
Cross Referenced Cases
G013464 Palacio Del Mar Homeowner Assn v. Superior Court et al.
G028742 Palacio Del Mar Homeowners Assoc. v. McMahon et al.
G034741 McMahon et al. v. The Superior Court of California et al.
G034993 McMahon et al. v. Orange County Superior Court et al.
G035129 McMahon et al. v. Orange County Superior Court et al.
G035705 McMahon et al. v. Orange County Superior Court et al.
G035713 McMahon et al. v. The Superior Court of California et al.
G037017 McMahon et al. v. The Superior Court of California et al.
G037871 Peters & Freedman, LLP v. McMahon et al.

Speculation about a possible explanation for the disappearance of AHRC?
I do not know if any of the following explains why the American Homeowners Resource Center has been down, but for what it's worth, Fred Pilot sent me this link to the Edgewater Isle website that suggests there is a defamation suit against Elizabeth and Arnold McMahon (the folks behind AHRC). The site also speculates that this lawsuit may be the reason the AHRC site is down. I don't know if that's what happened (see below). The Edgewater Isle page has links to (1) a cached AHRC article about Jeffrey Pratt; (2) a screen shot of that article; and (3) a page from the Orange County, CA, Superior Court web docket about the Pratt v. McMahon lawsuit.

I assume the McMahons and/or Mr. Pratt can confirm or deny it in pretty short order, and if there is any correction to be made I will do so.

UPDATE: I checked the Banner site for the OC Superior Court, Civil Division. The Plaintiff in case no. 06CC01968 is Jeffrey R. Pratt, who is representing himself. The Defendants are Elizabeth and Arnold McMahon, and they are represented by attorney Philip A. Putman. The case was filed on 1/6/06. There was a hearing on a SLAPP motion on 1/17/07. That must have been brought by the McMahons--SLAPP means "strategic lawsuit against public participation," and such motions are brought by defendants to dismiss cases that are allegedly filed to silence their voices on public issues.

Then you see a notice of appeal (2/8/07) filed by Elizabeth McMahon and a request to prepare a transcript (2/14/07). That seems to indicate that the lawsuit is over or that some major issue has been decided, and the McMahons lost and either are appealing a final judgment or taking an interlocutory appeal on a major issue (the SLAPP motion, for example). Without more detail I can't be certain, but going just off the docket, that's what it looks like. Again, the McMahons or Mr. Pratt can correct me on this if I'm wrong.

Now, what was the judgment from which they are appealing? And does that judgment have anything to do with the disappearance of AHRC? It might take a trip to the courthouse in Orange County to sort that out, and being here in Chicago I guess I'll leave that to somebody else.

You can get this info and more on the attorney who I think must be the correct Mr. Pratt at www.lawyers.com. He appears to be a solo practitioner who does HOA law, among other things.

Jeffrey R. Pratt, Attorney at Law
3636 Nobel Drive, Suite 200
San Diego, California 92122

Jeffrey R. Pratt, Attorney at Law practices in the following areas of law:
Civil Litigation and Trial Practice, Real Estate and Real Property, Business Litigation, Construction, Homeowner Association Disputes.
Firm Profile:
Experienced litigator and solo practitioner, dedicated to providing effective legal solutions and personalized service.
Firm Size: 1

Again, I invite comment or correction--I'm just trying to advance the story with what I know.

Homes Of The Future - NAHB Takes A Guess
NAHB manages to describe every aspect of this future home in the minutest detail without ever mentioning the homeowner and condominium associations that will be universal. They do note that "neighborhoods or communities will have more open space with walking and jogging trails," which implies common area.

Jacksonville.com: First Coast Community: Ponte Vedra: Story: Homeowner groups reject proposed bill 02/14/07
The reporting and headline in this article are beyond inept. There is no "homeowner group" doing or saying anything. It is just an uncritical report of an HOA lawyer opposing regulation of HOAs and proposing instead to give them more power. The press needs to get more educated on the players in order to cover HOA legislation. You see a lot of this sloppy writing about "homeowner groups." There are HOAs, which are created by developers and are mandatory membership organizations into which owners are conscripted. I don't think they are "groups" at all. They are corporate entities with limited purposes. Then there are industry groups like CAI, which is a trade association that has a small percentage of the nation's HOAs as members. That is clearly a professional organization and in no sense a homeowner group. And then there are the groups actually organized by real live home owners to represent their interests in the policy process. Those, in my opinion, are the only "homeowner groups." They are real groups, and the members are real homeowners. But most reporters don't seem to get this. Here's Exhibit A: a story about how "homeowner groups reject proposed bill," that presents as gospel the views of an HOA lawyer who has his own idea of good laws: giving HOA veto power over issuance of governmental building permits, and exempting HOAs from Florida's sunshine laws, so they can make decisions in secret. My question for reporter Christina Abel is, "How wrong can you get it?" Don't they teach these people anything in J-School?

A bill that will be considered by the Florida House this spring has at least one local attorney worried about the effects it could have on the way local homeowner associations operate and enforce their rules. Attorney Barry Ansbacher, who has been representing the Marsh Landing Homeowner Association in its efforts to get St. Johns County to recognize their right to enforce covenants, said at a meeting of homeowner association representatives Monday that House Bill 433 is a major concern...Another issue that could affect homeowner associations is an amended ordinance Ansbacher has drafted for Marsh Landing that would require neighborhood residents to get their association's approval before going to the county to get a building permit.

Currently, residents apply to their homeowner associations and their association's architectural review boards for approval if they are going to build something or make structural changes, but that approval isn't necessary before the applicant can go to the county for approval.

In addition, the amendment would change the ordinance so that county homeowner associations are not subject to Florida Sunshine Laws. Currently, Ansbacher said, the associations are considered a government agency and therefore must abide by Sunshine laws, including announcing their association meetings to the public and not conducting informal discussions between one or more members of the association outside a public meeting.

Skyscraper 'Lights Out' is for the birds, in a good way
All you condo owners and office dwellers had better learn to live in the dark:

In the Twin Cities, a group of avian advocates plans to ask high-rise building owners to turn off unnecessary interior and exterior lights from midnight until dawn during spring and fall migrations. Their goal? To ensure a safer passage for millions of birds along the Mississippi Flyway.

Bloomberg.com: Home Prices Fell in Half U.S. Cities in 4th Quarter
Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices fell in half of U.S. cities in the fourth quarter as a housing slump forced sellers to accept lower prices, the National Association of Realtors said. The median price for a single-family home fell in 73 of 149 metropolitan areas studied by the Chicago-based real estate trade group. The national median price for a previously owned house was $219,300 in the fourth quarter, down 2.7 percent from a year earlier when the median price was $225,300, the group said in a report today...The national median existing condominium and co-op price was $220,900, down 2.1 percent from $225,700 a year earlier. The national figure covers 58 markets. The trade group said condo prices dropped the most in the New Orleans, Louisiana area, which is struggling to recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Condo prices plunged 29 percent to $147,100 from $206,100 a year earlier.

SPB race pits Fox against Jacobson
Here's an example of a candidate moving from the condo board to city politics:

SOUTH PALM BEACH — Voters will choose between Murray Fox and Maury Jacobson for mayor when they go to the polls on March 13...Fox is founder and former president of the South Palm Beach Condo and Co-op Association. He resigned the post to run for mayor. The group has scheduled a debate between the two candidates at 7 p.m. March 8 at the The Barclay condominium, 3546 S. Ocean Blvd. Fox is president of the Dune Deck Condominium Association. He also has a seat on the town's Board of Adjustment, which meets as needed.

Antarctic temperatures disagree with climate model predictions
...but don't let the facts get in the way of giving an Oscar to Al Gore.
COLUMBUS , Ohio – A new report on climate over the world's southernmost continent shows that temperatures during the late 20th century did not climb as had been predicted by many global climate models. This comes soon after the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that strongly supports the conclusion that the Earth's climate as a whole is warming, largely due to human activity. It also follows a similar finding from last summer by the same research group that showed no increase in precipitation over Antarctica in the last 50 years. Most models predict that both precipitation and temperature will increase over Antarctica with a warming of the planet.

Junk-filled house condemned by town (February 15, 2007)
look at the lengths the city went to in order to help this lady, over a 4 year period. Would an HOA have shown the same sense of compassion, or just proceeded with violation notices and a court proceeding?

WEST YARMOUTH - Ann Biglin crammed so many things into her house on Nauset Road that she had little choice but to crawl out a window to reach the rest of the world.The structure has now been condemned and Biglin is in the hospital, Yarmouth police and health officials said yesterday...Her home has not had heat since 2005 and the bathroom was not working either, Yarmouth Health Director Bruce Murphy said...''She was just using an electric blanket,'' he said. After discussions with police and the town's building inspector, health inspectors condemned the building as unfit for human habitation, Murphy said. Police have worked with Biglin, 53, for the past four years on what Xiarhos said is one of the toughest cases of hoarding he has seen. Off-duty police officers have helped Biglin clean her home and accompanied her to doctors appointments, he said. In 2003 inmates from the Barnstable County Jail came to her home to clean the yard but it didn't last, Xiarhos said.

A challenge to cut signs
My family and I live in Lindenhurst, in Lake County, IL. We have village council election coming up. The incumbents are unpopular because they were all set to embrace a big mixed use development project that involved a TIF district, and at the last minute they encountered massive public opposition to the TIF and were forced to back down. None of them seemed to have the slightest idea how a TIF worked, but they were swept up in the developer's rhetoric about how great it was. And it was...for the developer. The school districts and other taxing bodies would have taken it in the neck. The public figured it out before their "leaders" did, and the school district were going to sue (and probably win) because the area subject to the TIF wasn't really "blighted" as the statute requires. The outcry produced a slate of challengers for the incumbents' council seats, and my guess is that on election day the incumbents will be toast. I think they know that. So now, the incumbents have come up with a brilliant strategy: they have proposed a joint agreement between the two slates not to use any yard or roadside campaign signs. Of course, the challengers will have none of it, because they need the signs to generate name recognition and demonstrate their level of support in the community. That's what yard and road signs are for, and that's why municipalities are prohibited from banning them (per the US Supreme Court). That's also why HOAs should be legally prohibited from banning them. And it is exactly why the incumbents want a sign-free campaign--so they can have the name recognition advantage. They don't admit that, of course. It's all about aesthetics, you see. Right. See you on election day.

Lindenhurst village board incumbents have asked their challengers to reduce environmental pollution by not using yard and roadside campaign signs. The request was made in a letter sent to mayoral challenger Susan Lahr by the incumbent’s slate, the Lindenhurst Community Party. “People get upset with signs, especially campaign signs,” said Mayor James Betustak. “If they agree not to put them up, we will, too. “If they don’t agree, then we will have to decide what to do. It is tough to not have campaign signs when your opponents do.” Lahr said her slate’s platform is to foster open and frequent communication. “We feel that yard signs are a means of informing residents that there is a choice,” she said. If the Community Party is worried about the environment, Lahr said, they should further investigate light and noise pollution the Village Green development would create. Village Green is a multi-use development proposed for the northwest corner of routes 45 and 132 that includes more than 400,000 square feet of retail space and multi- and single-family housing. It is likely to be a key issue in the race.

MercuryNews.com | 02/11/2007 | `Nanny' bills: pitting safety against rights and liberties
Fred Pilot found this article talking about the same thing I've been noticing recently: all sorts of ridiculous paternalistic (or is "maternalistic" a better choice of words?) laws premised on the notion that we are all little children who need government to restrict our liberty and make all our decisions for us, so we don't hurt ourselves. I have linked HOA micro-management to this, but California's legislature and other policy-making bodies are getting into the act. Government as nanny:

SACRAMENTO - Ban parents from spanking their toddlers. Force restaurants to disclose calories on menus. Forbid school cafeterias from cooking with trans fats. Prohibit smoking on state beaches. Make homeowners switch to energy-efficient light bulbs. Legislators who have proposed these measures, mostly Democrats, seem to be on a tear in recent weeks, telling Californians, ``Hey, we know what's best for you -- and we're going to make sure you do it.'' But enough already, say opponents, mostly Republicans, who are increasingly railing against what they call ``frivolous'' proposals and embracing a term often repeated in the Capitol this legislative session: Nanny government.

illinoisreview: TIF Bashing Facts
TIFs are used extensively to create or rebuild infrastructure for new development, often in conjunction with HOAs. The increased property taxes generated by new development within the TIF go to the municipality for the TIF distict, to repay the upfront cost of building the infrastructure, instead of to other taxing bodies. So, the school districts get new students from within the TIF, but don't get the increased property taxes to pay for them. The justification is that without the TIF blighted areas couldn't be redeveloped. But many people, myself included, think that TIFs are grossly overutilized. This is a blog post that extensively quotes an article about the impact of TIFS. Here's one snippet:

Tax increment financing is usually sold to the public with assurances that ‘TIF does not increase your taxes.’ However, NCBG’s study indicates clear warning signs that the liberal use of TIFs captures the natural growth in property tax base, putting more strain on every taxpayer and all taxing bodies, a strain more acutely felt in public budget belt-tightening times.” -- Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, which includes economists at University of Illinois and Loyola, DePaul, and Chicago State Universities. “Our analysis of 235 municipalities in the metropolitan Chicago region finds cities, towns, and villages that had TIF districts actually grew more slowly than municipalities that did not use TIF.” -- Professors Richard F. Dye and David F. Merriman for a study published by the University of Illinois...Nearly the only people who defend TIF are developers and consultants who make money from TIF, and municipal officials who create TIF districts. Study after study shows that TIF districts often fail to achieve their stated goals; divert growth away from other areas of the community, resulting in no net gain in development and sometimes net losses; and enrich a favored few developers, landowners, and businesses at the expense of everyone else.

courant.com | Resident Wins Bid To Keep Flag Flying
EAST WINDSOR -- The mother of a soldier in Afghanistan who has refused to take down the American flag outside her home despite warnings from her condo association received word Friday that she will be allowed to fly her flag if she agrees to certain restrictions. Teresa Richard, who in August pitched an American flag and Blue Star flag hung by mothers of soldiers at war, was warned by the Stoughton Ridge Condominium Association that she was in violation of "common area" rules and would be fined $25 a day after Labor Day. But on Friday, Richard said, she received a letter from the association offering a compromise. The offer comes after a frenzy of media coverage and growing political support from state officials, including Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and state Rep. Ted Graziani, D-Ellington. Blumenthal has been working with Kevin Carson, president of the condo association, and Richard to strike a deal.

Grand Canyon Skywalk opens deep divide - Los Angeles Times
This is the main attraction of a planned commercial development for an impoverished Hualapai Indian reservation. Down at the bottom of the article is mention of one big sticking point: H2O.

GRAND CANYON WEST, ARIZ. — Perched over the Grand Canyon close to a mile above the Colorado River, a massive, multimillion-dollar glass walkway will soon open for business as the centerpiece of a struggling Indian tribe's plan to lure tourists to its remote reservation. An engineering marvel or a colossal eyesore, depending on who is describing it, the horseshoe-shaped glass walkway will jut out 70 feet beyond the canyon's edge on the Hualapai Indian Reservation just west of Grand Canyon Village. Buttressed by 1 million pounds of steel and supporting 90 tons of tempered glass, the see-through deck will give visitors a breathtaking view of the canyon. When the cantilevered structure opens to the public next month, it will be the most conspicuous commercial edifice in the canyon. And, if the tribe's plans come to fruition, the Skywalk will be the catalyst for a 9,000-acre development, known as Grand Canyon West, that will open up a long-inaccessible 100-mile stretch of countryside along the canyon's South Rim. The cost of the Skywalk alone will exceed $40 million, tribal officials say.

Gated communities will add to Baghdad security-TimesOnline
I assume they won't be worrying about whether everybody's mailbox is the same shade of beige. If anyplace needs gates and walls, it would be those poor folks in Baghdad.

The American general taking on the task of purging Baghdad of insurgents plans to establish several “gated communities” to provide extra security for Sunnis and Shias, according to a senior US defence official. General David Petraeus, who takes over command of the multinational force in Iraq today, believes that Fallujah, the Sunni stronghold 40 miles (64km) west of the capital, seized by US Marines two years ago after driving out extremists, is a model for other communities, the official said. Fallujah was set up as a gated community in which all the inhabitants were required to have biometric ID cards, after Operation Phantom Fury when US Marines wrested back control from Sunni extremists and Muslim clerics. The official said: “I think there are certain areas in Baghdad where we will have to control access with checkpoints because otherwise there will be people trying their best to blow them up.”

BREITBART.COM - 'Doomsday vault' to resist global warming effects
I'll bet some folks have been wondering what connection I see between HOAs and global warming. Submitted for your consideration, as Rod Serling used to say, is this plan (construction to begin in March) for a sort of Arctic gated community to survive global warming. I think the designers have been reading old Superman comic books and got hung up on the Fortress of Solitude. And no, it's not for you and me. It's for seeds. And don't laugh or Gaia will get angry, and you wouldn't like her when she's angry.

An Arctic "doomsday vault" aimed at providing mankind with food in case of a global catastrophe will be designed to sustain the effects of climate change, the project's builders said as they unveiled the architectural plans.
The top-security repository, carved into the permafrost of a mountain in the remote Svalbard archipelago near the North Pole, will preserve some three million batches of seeds from all known varieties of the planet's crops.

WBAY-TV Green Bay-Fox Cities-Northeast Wisconsin News: City Throws Out Fight for Condo Garbage Pickup
Thanks to Nancy Levy for this interesting dispute between a municipality (none other than Green Bay, Wisconsin, which claims to have a football team) and a condo association over the perennial "double taxation" issue.

A community of condominium owners on Green Bay's east side is upset with the city council, which trashed their seven-month battle. Taking out the garbage seems like such a simple process. But to Joan Heim, it's an unfair one. "Fifty-six homeowners are angry right now because we're paying taxes and we get nothing," said Heim of the Alpine Point Condo Association. Each unit at Alpine Point Condos pays about $70 a year for private garbage pickup. But they say because they pay city taxes as well, they should be entitled the same services as other people in the city, including garbage services. Tuesday night the city council voted and their request failed.

BBC NEWS | Business | 'Table-sized flat' for £170,000
Mystery Reader sent along this link, via Boing Boing, to an amazingly expensive urban closet. I mean, apartment.

A flat roughly the size of a snooker table has gone on sale for £170,000 in London's upmarket Chelsea.
The former janitor's storeroom measures 11ft by 7ft and has a cupboard place for a shower and kitchenette area.

Potential buyers can expect to fork out an extra £30,000 to make the room habitable as there is no lighting and it is full of rubble.

Even the estate agent selling the property admitted the flat was "incredibly depressing".

voiceofsandiego.org: News... A Subdivision Off the Old Block
Thanks to Nancy Levy for this link to a story about new developments that are designed to look like the old ones...

With neighborhoods named Cabrillo and Kensington, it's quite plain what muse Del Sur master developer Fred Maas invoked when dreaming up a sales pitch for this 3,050-home planned community north of State Route 56 -- old-school San Diego neighborhoods.

Hence the phrase used in a recent newspaper ad, purporting Del Sur is connected to old San Diego "by more than a freeway." Maas hopes to separate this development from cookie-cutter suburban subdivisions that have sprung up around the county in recent years to meet rising demand for housing. And to do that, he's evoked the names and the histories of the established neighborhoods usually ringed by these types of new developments. The homes in the "Alcala" community, named for the San Diego Mission, claim to form a "personal sanctuary" for residents and are planned to be built in the Spanish style reminiscent of old San Diego, for example.

Emergency relief for Sweden's starving reindeer
Another global warning alert:
STOCKHOLM, Feb 7 (AFP) Feb 07, 2007
Sweden said Wednesday it would give its reindeer herders millions of euros (dollars) in emergency aid to help them feed their animals, which are starving because of thick ice that is preventing them from reaching the lichen they eat.

How the US sent $12bn in cash to Iraq. And watched it vanish | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited
This is enough to make Karl Marx vote Libertarian.

The US flew nearly $12bn in shrink-wrapped $100 bills into Iraq, then distributed the cash with no proper control over who was receiving it and how it was being spent.

News - Placer seizes Artest dog - sacbee.com:
Fred Pilot sent this link. Ron Artest, formerly of the Chicago Bulls, then later famous for charging into the stands to strangle some fans, is now in trouble for not feeding his Great Dane, Socks:
"The president of the homeowners association for Artest's gated neighborhood said Tuesday that animal services had been to the Artest residence prior to January.
Allan Frumkin, who heads the Sierra Ridge Estates Homeowners Association, also said residents have come to him with concerns about the welfare of dogs kept at Artest's home."

UC BERKELEY / Scholars to consider the shrinking of cities
Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link to this article about a conference on the physical and social decline of cities all over the world. They should have a conference next door on the rise of private neighborhoods.

More than 20 scholars from a dozen countries are lined up for the "Future of Shrinking Cities" symposium Thursday and Friday at International House on campus. They'll compare shrinking cities internationally, debate urban retreat in North America and discuss creative approaches for revitalizing the metropolis sliding past its prime.

New no-smoking frontier: condos and apartments: Seniors are leading the way in the new battle to ban smoking from communal environments.
| csmonitor.com

Not only are some condos and apartment houses banning smoking inside private units, but there is talk in Belmont, Calif., of a city law next month that would mandate that all complexes keep a portion of their units smoke-free. The war against smoking first ramped up in the 1980s when some of America's public buildings became smoke-free. Then, in the 1990s, a slew of restaurants and bars in US cities banned smoking. Now, seniors are leading the way in the new battle in part because many live in communal environments and they feel they are susceptible to the health and safety hazards of smoking.

Exurbs hardest hit in recent housing slump - Feb. 6, 2007
There has been a lot of new HOA-style construction in the exurbs in recent years, and probably a lot of over-building. And now the oversupply is driving down prices, which shouldn't surprise anybody. But it makes bad breakfast table reading for those who just bought a new house way out there and now find out it may be worth less than they paid for it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- While the U.S. housing downturn has depressed once-thriving real estate markets around the nation, far-flung suburbs of major cities have suffered the most abrupt market correction. Home construction in these distant exurbs has slowed and prices and sales have fallen more than those of close-in suburban neighbors since a five-year U.S. housing boom ended in the summer of 2005. Average home prices in Loudoun County, Virginia, 35 miles outside of Washington, D.C., fell roughly 11 percent in 2006, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. By contrast, Virginia's Arlington County, which hugs the nation's capital, saw a price decline of only about 2 percent. "It's been hard for sellers to comprehend, and I'm usually the bearer of bad news," said Mike Wagner, a real estate broker who works in Loudoun. "The news is: Your home is worth $100,000 less than it was a year and a half ago."

Who Watches The Watchers In Surveillance Society? - Yahoo! News
When the article refers to Big Brother, keep in mind that these technologies are used far more pervasively by private organizations than governments.

CHICAGO - In some cities in Europe and the United States, a person can be videotaped by surveillance cameras hundreds of times a day, and it's safe to say that most of the time no one is actually watching. But the advent of "intelligent video" -- software that raises the alarm if something on camera appears amiss -- means Big Brother will soon be able to keep a more constant watch, a prospect that is sure to heighten privacy concerns. Combining motion detection technology with the learning capabilities of video game software, these new systems can detect people loitering, walking in circles or leaving a package.

Ban Proposed On Walking While Talking, Listening To iPod - News
More nanny state nonsense, this time from the state of New York. Note the legislator's justification for this ridiculous proposal--people getting hit by cars because they aren't paying attention. He sees this as a problem that government should solve. I would just call it natural selection. People are getting double-teamed by public and private governments that seem to be competing with each other to see who can be the most intrusive and bothersome.



A state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo. NewsChannel 4 reported that Sen. Carl Kruger is proposing the ban in response to two recent pedestrian deaths in his district, including a 23-year-old man who was struck and killed last month while listening to his iPod on Avenue T and East 71st Street In Bergen Beach. "While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they're tuning out the world around them," Kruger said. The proposed law would make talking on cell phones while crossing the street a comparable offense to jaywalking.

Texas could punish 'truant' parents - Yahoo! News
Who would have thought that the Texas legislature would go from rugged individualism to nanny state nonsense like this:
AUSTIN, Texas - Parents beware: Miss a meeting with your child's teacher and it could cost you a $500 fine and a criminal record.A Republican state lawmaker from Baytown has filed a bill that would charge parents of public school students with a misdemeanor and fine them for playing hooky from a scheduled parent-teacher conference. Rep. Wayne Smith said Wednesday he wants to get parents involved in their child's education. "I think it helps the kids for the parents and teachers to communicate. That's all the intent was," Smith said.

Roadside America - Guide to Uniquely Odd Tourist Attractions
Every community should have a bizarre local attraction. Other than the city council, I mean.

Global Warming: The Cold, Hard Facts?
Here's an explanation of why nobody is listening to the global warming skeptics, from a former Professor of Climatology. It's 2 degrees right now in Chicago.

Global Warming, as we think we know it, doesn't exist. And I am not the only one trying to make people open up their eyes and see the truth. But few listen, despite the fact that I was the first Canadian Ph.D. in Climatology and I have an extensive background in climatology, especially the reconstruction of past climates and the impact of climate change on human history and the human condition. Few listen, even though I have a Ph.D, (Doctor of Science) from the University of London, England and was a climatology professor at the University of Winnipeg. For some reason (actually for many), the World is not listening. Here is why.

More detail on AHRC
An alert anonymous comment to this blog supplied the following info (thanks!), which seems to indicate that something happened to the server on which AHRC is located. What kind of "break in" was it? And who did it? Stay tuned, and if you have any information pass it along.



FYI -- This was posted today...

Dear AHRC subscribers and friends:

A recent break into several servers, included one on which the AHRC
News Services websites were hosted.

The providers and administrators are making progress on the work they
need to do to get the websites back online shortly.

We will keep you posted.

Thank you for your patience.

The Staff
AHRC News Services