The Real Deal on HOAs - RE/MAX Baja Realty
"The City Council is working on setting up a new department to coordinate the HOA of the different developments, to solve internal problems between residents, the HOA and the developer. Before the developer establishes the HOA the new department appointed by the City Council will check the regulations and then give its authorization to go ahead and establish it. Raúl Aragón, council member of Rosarito and businessman has made a lot of effort for this to happen; he is also assisting the Rosarito Realtors Association and obtaining a licensed requirement to practice real estate in the city of Rosarito." Gustavo Torres, President of AMPI, commented on the subject. The new department will have the obligations to create reorganization and modernizing programs, annual income and expense reports, administrative manuals, it will keep a statistical control, impose sanctions in case of violation of the law, inspections and notices when applicable, it will supervise the appointment of board members, security and management; it will also establish the budget for common expenses, types of payment and a reserve fund.
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Thanks to Robert Rancansky for this interesting link. The writer doesn't understand why associations are proliferating and explains that all wrong, but this last paragraph is worth noting. This is in Baja California, Mexico, where apparently they have some concept of the need to keep track of association affairs. I guess Milton Friedman didn't get around to preaching his gospel there.
Friday, September 02, 2011
Calculated Risk: Lawler: Census 2010: Homeownership Rates by Selected Age Groups
Calculated Risk: Lawler: Census 2010: Homeownership Rates by Selected Age Groups
Homeownership rates for those under the age of 55 have fallen dramatically since 1980, according to the Census.
Homeownership rates for those under the age of 55 have fallen dramatically since 1980, according to the Census.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Oregon Foreclosures Appear Likely to Shift to the Courts | LoanSafe.org
Oregon Foreclosures Appear Likely to Shift to the Courts | LoanSafe.org
For half a century, the vast majority of the state’s residential foreclosures have occurred without a judge’s involvement. Oregon is one of 24 states that allow nonjudicial foreclosures, provided lenders give borrowers proper notice, publicize the sale and abide by other requirements.
But late last year, federal judges began blocking them, ruling that lenders had failed to follow one of those requirements: filing the mortgage’s ownership history in county records.
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I have said many times that nonjudicial foreclosure is a terrible thing, whether done by CIDs or banks. Here is some reconsideration of the practice taking place in Oregon.
For half a century, the vast majority of the state’s residential foreclosures have occurred without a judge’s involvement. Oregon is one of 24 states that allow nonjudicial foreclosures, provided lenders give borrowers proper notice, publicize the sale and abide by other requirements.
But late last year, federal judges began blocking them, ruling that lenders had failed to follow one of those requirements: filing the mortgage’s ownership history in county records.
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I have said many times that nonjudicial foreclosure is a terrible thing, whether done by CIDs or banks. Here is some reconsideration of the practice taking place in Oregon.
The Home Equity Theft Reporter: May 1, 2011
The Home Equity Theft Reporter: May 1, 2011
Ohio Supremes To Decide Whether Foreclosing Party Must Own Both Note, Mortgage At The Time Complaint Is Filed
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Interesting blog--and looks like a big case.
Ohio Supremes To Decide Whether Foreclosing Party Must Own Both Note, Mortgage At The Time Complaint Is Filed
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Interesting blog--and looks like a big case.
Guilty plea in homeowners association scheme - Houston Chronicle
Guilty plea in homeowners association scheme - Houston Chronicle
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas political consultant pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to taking part in a scheme to control condominium homeowners associations and steer business to favored companies in southern Nevada.
Steven Wark, 54, admitted in a plea agreement that in 2005 he joined an effort to control homeowners association boards of directors to send legal work and building contracts to a law firm and construction company designated by his co-conspirators, prosecutors said.
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Thanks to Bill Davis for the link. Others sent me a link to the Las Vegas Review-Journal version, but I never quote anything from that newspaper because they sued people for doing it.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas political consultant pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to taking part in a scheme to control condominium homeowners associations and steer business to favored companies in southern Nevada.
Steven Wark, 54, admitted in a plea agreement that in 2005 he joined an effort to control homeowners association boards of directors to send legal work and building contracts to a law firm and construction company designated by his co-conspirators, prosecutors said.
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Thanks to Bill Davis for the link. Others sent me a link to the Las Vegas Review-Journal version, but I never quote anything from that newspaper because they sued people for doing it.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Guilty plea in homeowners association scheme
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas political consultant pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to taking part in a scheme to control condominium homeowners associations and steer business to favored companies in southern Nevada.
Steven Wark, 54, admitted in a plea agreement that in 2005 he joined an effort to control homeowners association boards of directors to send legal work and building contracts to a law firm and construction company designated by his co-conspirators, prosecutors said.
The Justice Department also alleged in the statement that co-conspirators forged ballots and rigged board elections in the scheme that involved about a dozen homeowners associations and took place from about August 2003 through February 2009. The names of the co-conspirators and other companies weren't made public.
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The story goes on to note a federal prosecutor expects more federal cases to be filed in the coming days and weeks. The late Las Vegan and wannabe wiseguy Phil "The Ghostbuster" Testa must be having a posthumous "told ya so" moment. Thanks to Bill Davis for the story.
Orange County, CA, may go bankrupt...again???
Second District Supervisor John Moorlach warned in a weekend editorial in the Register that the county is poised at the edge of bankruptcy – again.
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Thus spake Orange County Second District Supervisor John Moorlach, who was the county treasurer for 12 years--following the first Orange County bankruptcy in 1994. That time, it was the result of bonehead financial decisions made by the previous treasurer, Robert Citron, who thought investing public money in complex derivatives was a great way for the Republicans of Orange County to avoid paying taxes. This time? It sounds like a combination of factors, but the tax phobia of Orange County residents is a perennial fact of life for county officials.
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Thus spake Orange County Second District Supervisor John Moorlach, who was the county treasurer for 12 years--following the first Orange County bankruptcy in 1994. That time, it was the result of bonehead financial decisions made by the previous treasurer, Robert Citron, who thought investing public money in complex derivatives was a great way for the Republicans of Orange County to avoid paying taxes. This time? It sounds like a combination of factors, but the tax phobia of Orange County residents is a perennial fact of life for county officials.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Dispute could force out residents of rundown condo | The Tennessean | tennessean.com
Dispute could force out residents of rundown condo | The Tennessean | tennessean.com
Residents of a West Nashville condominium complex could soon be forced to search for new homes because of a complicated dispute between absentee real estate investors and their homeowners association.
The West Meade Condominium complex, located off Charlotte Pike next to the Nashville West shopping center, has become dangerously rundown because the homeowners association doesn’t have enough money to pay for repairs.
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Yet another collapsing condo project. I expect this sort of story to become commonplace over the next few years. Thanks to Fred Pilot for this link.
Residents of a West Nashville condominium complex could soon be forced to search for new homes because of a complicated dispute between absentee real estate investors and their homeowners association.
The West Meade Condominium complex, located off Charlotte Pike next to the Nashville West shopping center, has become dangerously rundown because the homeowners association doesn’t have enough money to pay for repairs.
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Yet another collapsing condo project. I expect this sort of story to become commonplace over the next few years. Thanks to Fred Pilot for this link.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Online petition to Congress: Declare HOAs governments -- or outlaw them as rackets
Make Home Owner Associations legitimate by holding them to the same standards as our state and federal government, or end them as racketeering.
These privatized corporate goverments are judge, jury, and executioner against homeowners' basic rights. They require no oversight as they target, bully, and foreclose for profit, and just because they can. This multi-billion dollar a year industry uses oblivious HOA boards to extort billions from homeowners while proporting to "protect property values." Nothing could be further from the truth. Tragically, Senator Carona from Dallas owns the largest HOA management company in the country, and he writes the legislation against homeowners to protect his empire.
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The petition can be viewed and signed here.
These privatized corporate goverments are judge, jury, and executioner against homeowners' basic rights. They require no oversight as they target, bully, and foreclose for profit, and just because they can. This multi-billion dollar a year industry uses oblivious HOA boards to extort billions from homeowners while proporting to "protect property values." Nothing could be further from the truth. Tragically, Senator Carona from Dallas owns the largest HOA management company in the country, and he writes the legislation against homeowners to protect his empire.
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The petition can be viewed and signed here.
Foreclosures made up 31 pct. of home sales in 2Q - Yahoo! Finance
Foreclosures made up 31 pct. of home sales in 2Q - Yahoo! Finance
The share of the market would likely have been larger this spring if not for a state and federal investigation into faulty paperwork by banks and servicers. The probe has led many banks to delay foreclosure sales. Once that is complete, foreclosures will likely surge later this year.
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I guess the real policy we are adopting de facto is just to bail out the banksters and let people lose their homes. All this talk about helping out the owners seems like empty rhetoric.
The share of the market would likely have been larger this spring if not for a state and federal investigation into faulty paperwork by banks and servicers. The probe has led many banks to delay foreclosure sales. Once that is complete, foreclosures will likely surge later this year.
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I guess the real policy we are adopting de facto is just to bail out the banksters and let people lose their homes. All this talk about helping out the owners seems like empty rhetoric.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Borrowers claim lender knowingly made bad loans, depressing their property values
This is a case in which nearly 250 California customers of Countrywide Financial allege that the mortgage lender knowingly failed to practice diligent underwriting, generating bad loans that led to a liquidity crisis that cratered California's housing market -- and their property values:
The Second District California Court of Appeal isn't buying the argument. It granted Countywide's petition to overturn a trial court ruling overruling its demurrer to the plaintiffs' fraudulent concealment allegation:
In other words, the court is saying, the conduct of a single lender -- even one like Countrywide that had a major segment of the pre-meltdown residential mortgage market in California -- can't be blamed for popping the real estate bubble. It's also impliedly stating that lots of lenders threw underwriting standards to the wind, so no single mortgage lender can be blamed for the resulting crash.
The full ruling can be viewed here.
As a proximate result of the foregoing concealment by Defendants, California property values have precipitously declined and continue to decline, gravely damaging Plaintiffs by materially reducing the value of their primary residences, depriving them of access to equity lines, second mortgages and other financings previously available based upon ownership of a primary residence in California, in numerous instances leading to payments in excess of the value of their properties
The Second District California Court of Appeal isn't buying the argument. It granted Countywide's petition to overturn a trial court ruling overruling its demurrer to the plaintiffs' fraudulent concealment allegation:
We conclude the plaintiffs/borrowers cannot state a cause of action against Countrywide for fraudulent concealment of an alleged scheme to bilk investors by selling them pooled mortgages at inflated values, the demise of which scheme led to devastated home values across California. Due to the generalized decline in home values which affects all homeowners (borrowers of Countrywide, borrowers who dealt with other lenders, and homeowners who owned their homes free and clear), there is no nexus between Countrywide‘s alleged fraudulent concealment of its scheme to bilk investors and the diminution in value of the instant borrowers‘ properties.
In other words, the court is saying, the conduct of a single lender -- even one like Countrywide that had a major segment of the pre-meltdown residential mortgage market in California -- can't be blamed for popping the real estate bubble. It's also impliedly stating that lots of lenders threw underwriting standards to the wind, so no single mortgage lender can be blamed for the resulting crash.
The full ruling can be viewed here.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Walmart Is Dying Because Its Business Model Is Strangling Itself - The Consumerist
Walmart Is Dying Because Its Business Model Is Strangling Itself - The Consumerist
Make sure you read this in a spooky voice in your head: Wal-Mart is dooooomed! At least, the business model it relied on to reach such astronomical growth is now probably putting a choke hold on the company's ability to grow and compete.
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Human institutions often collapse right after a period of explosive growth.
Make sure you read this in a spooky voice in your head: Wal-Mart is dooooomed! At least, the business model it relied on to reach such astronomical growth is now probably putting a choke hold on the company's ability to grow and compete.
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Human institutions often collapse right after a period of explosive growth.
US May Back Mortgage Refinancing for Millions - CNBC
US May Back Mortgage Refinancing for Millions - CNBC
The Obama administration is considering further actions to strengthen the housing market, but the bar is high: plans must help a broad swath of homeowners, stimulate the economy and cost next to nothing.
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I feel as though Obama has waited far too long to seriously address the housing market and the unemployment situation. And if he is thinking about next year's election, it may be too late for these initiatives to make any difference.
The Obama administration is considering further actions to strengthen the housing market, but the bar is high: plans must help a broad swath of homeowners, stimulate the economy and cost next to nothing.
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I feel as though Obama has waited far too long to seriously address the housing market and the unemployment situation. And if he is thinking about next year's election, it may be too late for these initiatives to make any difference.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Homeowner Groups Sue to Force Foreclosures - Bloomberg
Homeowner Groups Sue to Force Foreclosures - Bloomberg
Members of the Vintage East Condominium Association in Miami Beach got tired of waiting for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) to foreclose on unit 9, so they sued the bank in February to take control of the property.
In June, more than four years after the owner stopped making payments, a judge ruled that JPMorgan lost its claim to the $144,000 mortgage. The apartment is now on the market for $87,500, and the association may stave off insolvency with proceeds from the sale and a new owner who pays monthly dues, said Jane Losson, a board member at the complex. Four of the 11 other owners at the property are also behind on dues.
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Thanks to Doug Selby for this link. Maybe it's time to stop coddling the banksters. Just a thought.
Members of the Vintage East Condominium Association in Miami Beach got tired of waiting for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) to foreclose on unit 9, so they sued the bank in February to take control of the property.
In June, more than four years after the owner stopped making payments, a judge ruled that JPMorgan lost its claim to the $144,000 mortgage. The apartment is now on the market for $87,500, and the association may stave off insolvency with proceeds from the sale and a new owner who pays monthly dues, said Jane Losson, a board member at the complex. Four of the 11 other owners at the property are also behind on dues.
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Thanks to Doug Selby for this link. Maybe it's time to stop coddling the banksters. Just a thought.
New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe
New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe
WASHINGTON -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday was kicked off the committee leading the 50-state task force charged with probing foreclosure abuses and negotiating a possible settlement agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage firms, according to an email reviewed by The Huffington Post.
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Why? Apparently because he is too aggressive about it: "He's leading his own investigation into mortgage improprieties, subpoenaing documents from the nation's largest financial institutions and reviewing court records for possible illegal home repossessions."
WASHINGTON -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday was kicked off the committee leading the 50-state task force charged with probing foreclosure abuses and negotiating a possible settlement agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage firms, according to an email reviewed by The Huffington Post.
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Why? Apparently because he is too aggressive about it: "He's leading his own investigation into mortgage improprieties, subpoenaing documents from the nation's largest financial institutions and reviewing court records for possible illegal home repossessions."
Monday, August 22, 2011
AM Alert: Beware the (privatization) beast
A beast is on the loose at the Capitol today -- and we're not talking about Sutter Brown.
A "privatization beast" will be roaming Capitol Park as librarians gather on the south steps to warn of what they say are the perils of privatizing public libraries across the state.
The 11 a.m. presser is being staged in support of Assembly Bill 438, a union-backed bill that would establish a series of hurdles for cities and counties looking to hand over their library operations to private companies. Several California libraries have already signed on with a national contractor called Library Systems & Services.
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Privatizing libraries? That's nothing compared to local government, where entire towns and communities have been privatized into HOA-governed common interest developments in many parts of the nation.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
City of Aurora, CO Proposes Giving Corporation Right to Vote | Move to Amend
City of Aurora, CO Proposes Giving Corporation Right to Vote | Move to Amend
And...the Libertarian Party is opposing it!
And...the Libertarian Party is opposing it!
How to Disband a Homeowner's Association
A quick tour of your favorite search engine's menu on the topic of "disbanding homeowner's associations" sites would be mildly entertaining if inquiries weren't so fraught with rants and anger. A great HOA does nothing but help a community share expenses and responsibility, but when power is abused and members reach a collective breaking point, there's nothing to be done short of cutting the umbilical cord that holds residents to an existing, structured code of conduct.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Scars Left by ‘Great Recession’ Will Be Hard to Erase
One of these permanent marks left by the previous recession is what's happened to neighborhoods hit by a wave of home foreclosures. Peck points to areas in Florida, Arizona and Nevada that are starting to disintegrate — just like what happened to some inner cities back during the 1970s.
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More signs that Privatopia and its privatized local government by HOA that grew dramatically over the past four decades and built to a climax over the past 15 years is on the decline. Peck predicts HOA land will become blighted. Note however another author predicted the suburbs would become the new slums long before Peck: Jack Lessinger in his 1991 work Penturbia: Where Real Estate Will Boom AFTER the Crash of Suburbia.
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More signs that Privatopia and its privatized local government by HOA that grew dramatically over the past four decades and built to a climax over the past 15 years is on the decline. Peck predicts HOA land will become blighted. Note however another author predicted the suburbs would become the new slums long before Peck: Jack Lessinger in his 1991 work Penturbia: Where Real Estate Will Boom AFTER the Crash of Suburbia.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Home | What Went Wrong: The Betrayal of The American Dream
Home | What Went Wrong: The Betrayal of The American Dream
Donald Barlett and James Steele wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning series for the Philadelphia Inquirer back in 1991 about how the Reagan era policies undermined the middle class. Now they are back--and the situation is far worse now.
Donald Barlett and James Steele wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning series for the Philadelphia Inquirer back in 1991 about how the Reagan era policies undermined the middle class. Now they are back--and the situation is far worse now.
Woman’s yard sale to pay medical bills gets shut down | News | Salem News
Woman’s yard sale to pay medical bills gets shut down | News | Salem News
A woman fighting a terminal form of bone cancer is trying to raise money to help pay bills with a few weekend garage sales, but the city of Salem says she’s breaking the law and is shutting her down.
Jan Cline had no idea, but the city of Salem has a clear law that states a person can only have three yard sales a year.
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Thanks to Mystery Reader for this depressing story of mindless rule enforcement.
A woman fighting a terminal form of bone cancer is trying to raise money to help pay bills with a few weekend garage sales, but the city of Salem says she’s breaking the law and is shutting her down.
Jan Cline had no idea, but the city of Salem has a clear law that states a person can only have three yard sales a year.
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Thanks to Mystery Reader for this depressing story of mindless rule enforcement.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Case against MERS reaches Supreme Court « HousingWire
Case against MERS reaches Supreme Court « HousingWire
A controversial case challenging the ability of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems to foreclose on a California man was filed with the Supreme Court Monday, making it the first major MERS case to reach the nation's highest court.
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But the USSC hasn't agreed to hear the case. This is just a petition for a writ of certiorari. The court gets thousands of these every year and ends up deciding fewer than 100.
A controversial case challenging the ability of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems to foreclose on a California man was filed with the Supreme Court Monday, making it the first major MERS case to reach the nation's highest court.
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But the USSC hasn't agreed to hear the case. This is just a petition for a writ of certiorari. The court gets thousands of these every year and ends up deciding fewer than 100.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Libertarian Billionaire Wants Island Nation for Libertarian Billionaires
Libertarian Billionaire Wants Island Nation for Libertarian Billionaires
Awesome. Too bad they won't be taking the rest of the libertarians with them. Most of them no doubt will continue to preach the gospel of Ayn Rand and Ron Paul from Mom's basement..
Awesome. Too bad they won't be taking the rest of the libertarians with them. Most of them no doubt will continue to preach the gospel of Ayn Rand and Ron Paul from Mom's basement..
Hercules Municipal Utility Has Drained City Coffers
Hercules Municipal Utility Has Drained City Coffers
HMU rates are higher because the utility's growth has been balanced essentially on the backs of residential ratepayers and taxpayers. Over the past decade, Hercules has spent more than $16 million building a utility that today consists of little more than nine miles of underground cable, switching boxes and a vacant piece of land that was supposed to house a substation.
It is an enterprise awash in IOUs. In the process of serving 840 customers, the utility has saddled Hercules with more than $13 million in bond debt. And since 2003, Hercules' redevelopment agency has loaned the utility almost an equal amount of money -- this in a town of only 24,000 residents that has a general fund budget of just $14 million.
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Wow. It appears that a city can be run as badly as an HOA.
HMU rates are higher because the utility's growth has been balanced essentially on the backs of residential ratepayers and taxpayers. Over the past decade, Hercules has spent more than $16 million building a utility that today consists of little more than nine miles of underground cable, switching boxes and a vacant piece of land that was supposed to house a substation.
It is an enterprise awash in IOUs. In the process of serving 840 customers, the utility has saddled Hercules with more than $13 million in bond debt. And since 2003, Hercules' redevelopment agency has loaned the utility almost an equal amount of money -- this in a town of only 24,000 residents that has a general fund budget of just $14 million.
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Wow. It appears that a city can be run as badly as an HOA.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Hybrid housing holds appeal | StarTribune.com
Hybrid housing holds appeal | StarTribune.com
This type of housing -- called manor homes, villas, cottage homes or detached townhouses -- is tailored to people who want the privacy of a traditional single-family home with the convenience of a condo. And although it accounts for only a tiny slice of the real estate pie, builders and developers are cautiously optimistic that this hybrid style of house will grow in popularity, partly because it's designed for a growing population: retiring baby boomers.
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This is a puff piece touting a super-paternalistic type of HOA where the association hires all the contractors that service the individual lots. Next step is what? The HOA sends inspectors into your home and makes you pay for repainting your bathroom a different shade of beige?
Anybody who buys into a place like this isn't really a homeowner anyway. They are just tenants with an investment interest.
Thanks to Mike Ramsey for the link.
This type of housing -- called manor homes, villas, cottage homes or detached townhouses -- is tailored to people who want the privacy of a traditional single-family home with the convenience of a condo. And although it accounts for only a tiny slice of the real estate pie, builders and developers are cautiously optimistic that this hybrid style of house will grow in popularity, partly because it's designed for a growing population: retiring baby boomers.
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This is a puff piece touting a super-paternalistic type of HOA where the association hires all the contractors that service the individual lots. Next step is what? The HOA sends inspectors into your home and makes you pay for repainting your bathroom a different shade of beige?
Anybody who buys into a place like this isn't really a homeowner anyway. They are just tenants with an investment interest.
Thanks to Mike Ramsey for the link.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
10 housing markets that will collapse this year - Business - Real estate - msnbc.com
10 housing markets that will collapse this year - Business - Real estate - msnbc.com
As if they hadn't already collapsed? What do you call it when something that has already collapsed once decides to go ahead and collapse again?
As if they hadn't already collapsed? What do you call it when something that has already collapsed once decides to go ahead and collapse again?
Saturday, August 13, 2011
The Horror of Homeowners' Associations
The Horror of Homeowners' Associations
Evan McKenzie, a University of Illinois-Chicago political science professor and author of the book Beyond Privatopia: Rethinking Residential Private Government, recently explained to me that a complicating aspect of HOA disputes is that they often become personalized, "so you can't even resolve them." When board members interpret the rules to suit their own ends, homeowners often must look to the courts to enforce basic standards of accountability—and that can get expensive. "There's no training or actual requirements" for board positions, McKenzie adds, which means that the people in charge often don't understand the most basic requirements of the law. Many homeowners don't, either.
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Followed by 22 horror stories.
Evan McKenzie, a University of Illinois-Chicago political science professor and author of the book Beyond Privatopia: Rethinking Residential Private Government, recently explained to me that a complicating aspect of HOA disputes is that they often become personalized, "so you can't even resolve them." When board members interpret the rules to suit their own ends, homeowners often must look to the courts to enforce basic standards of accountability—and that can get expensive. "There's no training or actual requirements" for board positions, McKenzie adds, which means that the people in charge often don't understand the most basic requirements of the law. Many homeowners don't, either.
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Followed by 22 horror stories.
The Horror of Homeowners’ Associations
Homeowners' associations were supposedly created by Real Estate God to fundraise for and oversee neighborhood maintenance, and to help developers to efficiently manage and market their properties. But it often seems that their true purpose in life is to drive homeowners insane. Governed by boards of directors—homeowners ostensibly chosen by their peers to represent the interests of their communities—HOAs are organizations that have become somewhat infamous for imposing arbitrary fines and liens on unpopular or "rogue" homeowners, making shit up as they go along, treating people unfairly, enforcing strict adherence to their rules, collecting fees, and acting irrationally or illegally. The people who sit on their boards are often petty, vindictive, utterly incompetent, and/or control-freakish.
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The horror...the horror. HOA Apocalypse Now!
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The horror...the horror. HOA Apocalypse Now!
Friday, August 12, 2011
The 10 Housing Markets That Will Collapse This Year
The real estate market is already in the deepest depression in modern U.S. history. If you think it can't get any worse, think again. In several cities, the real estate market is about to drop even more. Home values in many of those cities, such as Las Vegas, have already collapsed as unemployment has shot higher. And with no hope of quick recovery, housing prices are expected to continue to fall. 24/7 Wall St. identified ten housing markets that are expected to drop by at least another 10% by 2012.
* * *
Home prices fell from all-time highs in 2006. Home equity tapped by second mortgages had been a tremendous source of income then for families who used it for retirement saving, education, and simple consumer purchases. Three years later, many of those homes were worth less than their mortgages. A large population of homeowners still owed a second mortgage. The burden of those two home loans happened to come at a time when national unemployment rose from 4% in the mid-2000s to 10%. The mix of unemployment and high mortgage payments ripped the home market apart.
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Note that all of those housing markets with the exception of Detroit are in Privatopia.
The economy is neurotic. Six years ago it was deluded by the irrational exuberance of a housing market that could only go up and anyone who could fog a mirror was considered a good mortgage risk, underwriting be damned. Now we've gone to the other extreme and are hoarding cash in a deflation prone economy paralyzed with fear. Unless we can find a point of moderation, the pain is certain to continue.
* * *
Home prices fell from all-time highs in 2006. Home equity tapped by second mortgages had been a tremendous source of income then for families who used it for retirement saving, education, and simple consumer purchases. Three years later, many of those homes were worth less than their mortgages. A large population of homeowners still owed a second mortgage. The burden of those two home loans happened to come at a time when national unemployment rose from 4% in the mid-2000s to 10%. The mix of unemployment and high mortgage payments ripped the home market apart.
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Note that all of those housing markets with the exception of Detroit are in Privatopia.
The economy is neurotic. Six years ago it was deluded by the irrational exuberance of a housing market that could only go up and anyone who could fog a mirror was considered a good mortgage risk, underwriting be damned. Now we've gone to the other extreme and are hoarding cash in a deflation prone economy paralyzed with fear. Unless we can find a point of moderation, the pain is certain to continue.
Why Illinois Can't Afford its Poor Dead | NBC Chicago
Why Illinois Can't Afford its Poor Dead | NBC Chicago
Illinois officials sent a letter to more than 600 funeral directors around the state to let them know there's no money for funerals for individuals on public assistance..."Now the only viable option --- I don't mean to make light of it -- is to leave the body at the medical examiner office," Szykowny said. "After 60 to 90 days they'll take the body to what's called a potter's field and bury it in a numbered grave."
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Why-Illinois-Cant-Afford-its-Dead-127534403.html?dr#ixzz1UpW6OJCJ
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Illinois officials sent a letter to more than 600 funeral directors around the state to let them know there's no money for funerals for individuals on public assistance..."Now the only viable option --- I don't mean to make light of it -- is to leave the body at the medical examiner office," Szykowny said. "After 60 to 90 days they'll take the body to what's called a potter's field and bury it in a numbered grave."
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Why-Illinois-Cant-Afford-its-Dead-127534403.html?dr#ixzz1UpW6OJCJ
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Thursday, August 11, 2011
Foreclosure filings fall for 10th straight month - Aug. 11, 2011
Foreclosure filings fall for 10th straight month - Aug. 11, 2011
The steep foreclosure drop, according to RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio, was triggered by a foreclosure processing slowdown that was sparked by the "robo-signing" controversy last fall. As a result of the scandal, in which the banks were accused of mishandling paperwork and failing to follow proper protocols, banks are being much more careful and many filings have been delayed.
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Personally I'd like to be watching CNN one day, and see some banksters being frog-marched out the door, down the steps, across the sidewalk, and into a police car. I think that would do more to revive the economy than just about anything else.
The steep foreclosure drop, according to RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio, was triggered by a foreclosure processing slowdown that was sparked by the "robo-signing" controversy last fall. As a result of the scandal, in which the banks were accused of mishandling paperwork and failing to follow proper protocols, banks are being much more careful and many filings have been delayed.
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Personally I'd like to be watching CNN one day, and see some banksters being frog-marched out the door, down the steps, across the sidewalk, and into a police car. I think that would do more to revive the economy than just about anything else.
Moody's warns state and local governments could see credit downgrades - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com
Moody's warns state and local governments could see credit downgrades - Mackenzie Weinger - POLITICO.com
The vicious cycle continues. This could mean more state and local government layoffs, on top of the half million that have already occurred, and that means higher unemployment and less consumer confidence. Onward we march.
The vicious cycle continues. This could mean more state and local government layoffs, on top of the half million that have already occurred, and that means higher unemployment and less consumer confidence. Onward we march.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Scorpions on the loose in Shenzhen -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China New
Scorpions on the loose in Shenzhen -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China New
A REAL estate company was suspected of releasing several thousand scorpions into apartments at a residential complex in Shenzhen to force residents to move out in order to make way for a new construction project.
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So the next time you complain about how bad your condo manager is, remember...things could always be worse.
A REAL estate company was suspected of releasing several thousand scorpions into apartments at a residential complex in Shenzhen to force residents to move out in order to make way for a new construction project.
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So the next time you complain about how bad your condo manager is, remember...things could always be worse.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
The 5 Worst Places to Retire in the U.S.
The 5 Worst Places to Retire in the U.S.
And they are in Nevada, Arizona, California, and Florida. Let's see...what do those four states have in common (no pun intended)...I had it for a moment there...processing...processing...Oh, yes. Now I remember.
And they are in Nevada, Arizona, California, and Florida. Let's see...what do those four states have in common (no pun intended)...I had it for a moment there...processing...processing...Oh, yes. Now I remember.
Man Claims Racist Reception from Royal Oaks
Man Claims Racist Reception from Royal Oaks
Williams leased a home on Stuart Manor. As time went by, things got progressively worse.
"They must be selling drugs so now, it's we're selling drugs in the neighborhood," he said.
But he said that was easy compared to his next experience: 2 weeks ago, all of his guests were denied entry into the subdivision, stopped at the front gate.
All of those guests were African American.
He went to go pick up his cousin who was walking on foot through the gate at the front of the door. That’s when he said a security guard told him the following,
“Look, I'm not allowed to let you guys in. We personally don't have a problem with you, but we'll lose our jobs.”
Read more: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110726-man-claims-racist-reception-from-royal-oaks#ixzz1UM7Z3aqX
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One of the main reasons for creating HOAs in the US was to practice racial exclusion. Some things never change.
Williams leased a home on Stuart Manor. As time went by, things got progressively worse.
"They must be selling drugs so now, it's we're selling drugs in the neighborhood," he said.
But he said that was easy compared to his next experience: 2 weeks ago, all of his guests were denied entry into the subdivision, stopped at the front gate.
All of those guests were African American.
He went to go pick up his cousin who was walking on foot through the gate at the front of the door. That’s when he said a security guard told him the following,
“Look, I'm not allowed to let you guys in. We personally don't have a problem with you, but we'll lose our jobs.”
Read more: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110726-man-claims-racist-reception-from-royal-oaks#ixzz1UM7Z3aqX
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One of the main reasons for creating HOAs in the US was to practice racial exclusion. Some things never change.
Democratic lawmakers launch probe of fired AG investigators | TBO.com
Democratic lawmakers launch probe of fired AG investigators | TBO.com
The two lawmakers are probing a possible connection between the terminations and Joe Jacquot, Bondi's former special counsel who left to become a senior vice president at Lender Processing Services shortly before Clarkson and Edwards were dismissed. Soto and Sobel also are raising questions about Provest, a Tampa-based mortgage servicing company that Edwards and Clarkson were investigating, and about an unnamed LPS executive who previously worked for Scott's former health care company, Solantic.
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See the story below--the probe into Florida AG Pam Bondi (Republican) and her summary firing of two AGs who were investigating mortgage fraud is heating up.
The two lawmakers are probing a possible connection between the terminations and Joe Jacquot, Bondi's former special counsel who left to become a senior vice president at Lender Processing Services shortly before Clarkson and Edwards were dismissed. Soto and Sobel also are raising questions about Provest, a Tampa-based mortgage servicing company that Edwards and Clarkson were investigating, and about an unnamed LPS executive who previously worked for Scott's former health care company, Solantic.
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See the story below--the probe into Florida AG Pam Bondi (Republican) and her summary firing of two AGs who were investigating mortgage fraud is heating up.
MortgageOrb: Content / Mortgage Servicing / Fla. AG Okays Independent Probe On Attorney Dismissals
MortgageOrb: Content / Mortgage Servicing / Fla. AG Okays Independent Probe On Attorney Dismissals
In the November 2010 election a Republican and Fox News blonde legal commentator (they have so many that it's hard to keep track of them) named Pam Bondi was elected Attorney General of the state of Florida.
She fired two AGs who were renowned for aggressively pursuing mortgage fraud. They had exemplary performance reviews and you can hear them speak about their firing.
So now Bondi says she will allow an independent probe of the firings. There is a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, Darren Soto, who is talking about asking for a federal investigation.
In the November 2010 election a Republican and Fox News blonde legal commentator (they have so many that it's hard to keep track of them) named Pam Bondi was elected Attorney General of the state of Florida.
She fired two AGs who were renowned for aggressively pursuing mortgage fraud. They had exemplary performance reviews and you can hear them speak about their firing.
So now Bondi says she will allow an independent probe of the firings. There is a Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives, Darren Soto, who is talking about asking for a federal investigation.
Saturday, August 06, 2011
Lawn Cross Becomes First Amendment Flash Point
Lawn Cross Becomes First Amendment Flash Point
Livingston Township officials say Racaniello's display, which he intended as a celebration of Lent, violated an ordinance that generally prohibits postings on a structure, including a tree, "calculated to attract the attention of the public."
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But it doesn't stop there. This is a multi-chapter sage that isn't over yet. And it is not an HOA. It just plays one on TV.
Livingston Township officials say Racaniello's display, which he intended as a celebration of Lent, violated an ordinance that generally prohibits postings on a structure, including a tree, "calculated to attract the attention of the public."
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But it doesn't stop there. This is a multi-chapter sage that isn't over yet. And it is not an HOA. It just plays one on TV.
Friday, August 05, 2011
Home ownership hits lowest level since 1965
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- As the foreclosure crisis continues to wreak havoc on the housing market, a source of national pride has taken a sour turn. Home ownership is on the decline and, according to a recent Morgan Stanley report, the United States is fast becoming a nation of renters.
Last Friday, the Census Bureau reported that the percentage of people who owned a home had dropped to 65.9% during the second quarter -- its lowest level since the first quarter of 1998 and a far cry from the high of 69.2% reached in late 2004.
Yet, in a research paper issued a week earlier, Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) analysts Oliver Chang, Vishwanath Tirupattur and James Egan argued that the home ownership rate is even lower than the Census Bureau statistics say.
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The rapid growth of HOAs during the past four decades appears headed for a downturn with fewer homeowners to comprise them.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
'Insidious And Persistent' Residential Segregation Called Out In Study
'Insidious And Persistent' Residential Segregation Called Out In Study
The study examined trends across more than 300 American communities over the last two decades and concluded that ethnic identity trumps income as a predictor of where people live. Among minority households, even those with relatively high incomes tend to be clustered in neighborhoods where most of their neighbors are the same race and many are poor, the study found.
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And it appears that racial discrimination in the housing market may be the reason, which wouldn't surprise anybody who has ever read anything on the history of institutional racism in the real estate and banking industries.
The study examined trends across more than 300 American communities over the last two decades and concluded that ethnic identity trumps income as a predictor of where people live. Among minority households, even those with relatively high incomes tend to be clustered in neighborhoods where most of their neighbors are the same race and many are poor, the study found.
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And it appears that racial discrimination in the housing market may be the reason, which wouldn't surprise anybody who has ever read anything on the history of institutional racism in the real estate and banking industries.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Ordinance Holds Banks Responsible For Maintaining Vacant Buildings « CBS Chicago
Ordinance Holds Banks Responsible For Maintaining Vacant Buildings « CBS Chicago
The City Council on Thursday passed an ordinance that holds banks responsible for maintaining properties once they have foreclosed upon them and left them vacant.
The ordinance sponsored by Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) came in response to a growing problem with vacant buildings in the city. The Mayor’s Office says the city spent more than $15 million to deal with vacant buildings last year.
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Of course the poor banksters are whining about it relentlessly.
The City Council on Thursday passed an ordinance that holds banks responsible for maintaining properties once they have foreclosed upon them and left them vacant.
The ordinance sponsored by Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) came in response to a growing problem with vacant buildings in the city. The Mayor’s Office says the city spent more than $15 million to deal with vacant buildings last year.
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Of course the poor banksters are whining about it relentlessly.
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Side Deal With Bank Of America Would Cede Liability In Exchange For Homeowner Relief
Side Deal With Bank Of America Would Cede Liability In Exchange For Homeowner Relief
Federal and state prosecutors are in advanced negotiations with Bank of America in pursuit of a settlement that would forgive the bank for a broad range of past mortgage abuses in exchange for fines that would finance a significantly expanded relief program for struggling homeowners, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter.
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"Forgive the bank." Isn't that ironic? When do banks forgive us?
Federal and state prosecutors are in advanced negotiations with Bank of America in pursuit of a settlement that would forgive the bank for a broad range of past mortgage abuses in exchange for fines that would finance a significantly expanded relief program for struggling homeowners, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter.
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"Forgive the bank." Isn't that ironic? When do banks forgive us?
Monday, August 01, 2011
Anaheim Condo Complex at Center of Free-Speech Debate
Incumbent Brookhurst Village homeowners-association-board director Mohammed Alam campaigned for re-election at a September 2009 meeting. Former Brookhurst board president Veronica Cabrera, though no longer a resident, was there to campaign for a slate of candidates other than Alam.
During the meeting, Cabrera accused Alam of being "a dictator," adding that board funds went missing during his tenure. Alam then rose to ask what happened to a $100 rebate Cabrera had promised while she was president.
Cabrera sued Alam for slander, and the case eventually wound up before the state appeals court in Santa Ana, which found last week that free-speech protections extend to elections for governing boards of condo associations.
The panel added that no evidence was presented that Alam knowingly presented a falsehood--seeing as how the missing-rebates question was never resolved. In other words, all indications were Alam believed he was telling the truth. And he only rose to defend himself amid Cabrera's accusations.
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I haven't read the actual ruling (the link to it in the story is broken) and don't follow California appellate law as closely these days. But it's consistent with a 2000 California Court of Appeal decision in Damon v. Ocean Hills Journalism Club 85 Cal.App.4th 468 wherein the court ruled that letters published in an HOA newsletter critical of the HOA's manager were fair commentary on a matter of public interest and therefore not defamatory.
During the meeting, Cabrera accused Alam of being "a dictator," adding that board funds went missing during his tenure. Alam then rose to ask what happened to a $100 rebate Cabrera had promised while she was president.
Cabrera sued Alam for slander, and the case eventually wound up before the state appeals court in Santa Ana, which found last week that free-speech protections extend to elections for governing boards of condo associations.
The panel added that no evidence was presented that Alam knowingly presented a falsehood--seeing as how the missing-rebates question was never resolved. In other words, all indications were Alam believed he was telling the truth. And he only rose to defend himself amid Cabrera's accusations.
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I haven't read the actual ruling (the link to it in the story is broken) and don't follow California appellate law as closely these days. But it's consistent with a 2000 California Court of Appeal decision in Damon v. Ocean Hills Journalism Club 85 Cal.App.4th 468 wherein the court ruled that letters published in an HOA newsletter critical of the HOA's manager were fair commentary on a matter of public interest and therefore not defamatory.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Homeowners Association Rules 'Jesus' Sign Violates Rules
Phillips has posted a Jesus sign in her yard and there was no reaction from anyone until she received a letter from the Sutton Lakes Homeowners Association telling her having it in her yard is a violation of the covenant
"It is basically telling us to remove the sign, under the bylaws," she said.
Phillips said she did sign the Covenant, Conditions and Restrictions, or CCR, but never agreed to allow the free exercise of her religion to be prohibited.
"I did not give away my freedom of speech, religion, my rights as an American citizen," said Phillips.
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And what about that American flag flapping atop the big pole in the background of the video? More bad press for Privatopia.
Why any debt-ceiling deal will squeeze the states
Among the biggest items on the chopping block in Congress are education and Medicaid spending — federal dollars that make up the largest parts of most states’ budgets. Nearly every state government has already set its budget for the next year — some for the next two years — under the assumption that federal spending would remain more or less consistent. If such money is abruptly pulled, states won’t suddenly be able to change their spending obligations or raise taxes.
“They’re going to have to eat that in some way, and many will pass [the cuts] onto local governments,” said Frank Shaforth, director of the Center for State and Local Government Leadership at George Mason University.
Amid the recession and dropping revenues, there’s already been an uptick of bankruptcy filings by cities, towns and rural districts across the country over the past two months and there could be more if Washington follows through on its promise to slash spending as soon as possible.-------------------------------
This gloomy prediction explains that no matter how the federal fiscal crisis is resolved, Washington's penury will be passed on to states who in turn will shift more services to local governments. Who in turn will shift more services to...let me guess...HOAs? What's that saying about excrement flowing downhill?
Condo Association Arrears Arrest | Condominium | Habitat Magazine
Condo Association Arrears Arrest | Condominium | Habitat Magazine
Shu Bartholomew sent this link. This seems to be one of the nastiest condo disputes around. It has lasted nine years and you need a libretto to understand it, but it makes for fun reading.
Shu Bartholomew sent this link. This seems to be one of the nastiest condo disputes around. It has lasted nine years and you need a libretto to understand it, but it makes for fun reading.
N.J. Supreme Court rules in favor of Hoboken condo association in injury case tied to sidewalk ice removal | NJ.com
N.J. Supreme Court rules in favor of Hoboken condo association in injury case tied to sidewalk ice removal | NJ.com
The Stewart ruling was based in part on the idea that commercial property owners can absorb additional insurance premiums and maintenance expenses as costs of doing business. The condo building is a collection of residences and not revenue-producing, the court said, noting that condo associations collect fees only for property maintenance.
The court said there was no justification to find “that this overwhelmingly owner-occupied 104-unit condominium complex was a commercial entity,” LaVecchia wrote.
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Thanks to Shu Bartholomew for the link.
The Stewart ruling was based in part on the idea that commercial property owners can absorb additional insurance premiums and maintenance expenses as costs of doing business. The condo building is a collection of residences and not revenue-producing, the court said, noting that condo associations collect fees only for property maintenance.
The court said there was no justification to find “that this overwhelmingly owner-occupied 104-unit condominium complex was a commercial entity,” LaVecchia wrote.
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Thanks to Shu Bartholomew for the link.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Garten Polizei: City tries to out HOA HOAs
Ms. Bass lives in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, but her street of red brick ranch houses might be any mature neighborhood in America. Close set and tidy, the homes have front yards that for generations have embodied an iconic conformity of foundation shrubbery and unfenced lawns.
After her front lawn was excavated to repair the sewer this spring, she replaced the grass with five raised beds for vegetables. If she was going to water the yard, she figured, she might as well raise food for her husband and six children. Within a few days, the garden police came calling.
She said she was told to remove the offending garden and replace it with the municipal code's demand of "grass, ground cover, shrubbery or other suitable live plant material."
"We are sticking to our vegetables," she said in an interview.
This disobedience, inevitably, brought the might of the municipality down upon her. Facing more than 90 days in jail, she hired a lawyer. The charge was dismissed while the city studies its law. Ms. Bass says the case could be reopened. Meanwhile, she is harvesting tomatoes, basil and cucumbers.
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The article goes on to note that municipalities while having the power to jail those who run afoul of the garden cops have nothing on HOAs as the "ace guardians of landscape behavior."
Friday, July 29, 2011
Illinois License Plates May Get Corporate Ads - Libertyville, IL Patch
Illinois License Plates May Get Corporate Ads
Sure, but that's thinking small. I think they should just sell naming rights to the counties and other local governments and special districts. Lake County could be Abbot Laboratories County, Cook County could be Allstate Insurance County or maybe United Airlines County, and so forth. Take all those little mosquito abatement districts and name them after exterminators.
And come to think of it, we aren't making any money being called "Illinois." Why not "McDonalds"?
Sure, but that's thinking small. I think they should just sell naming rights to the counties and other local governments and special districts. Lake County could be Abbot Laboratories County, Cook County could be Allstate Insurance County or maybe United Airlines County, and so forth. Take all those little mosquito abatement districts and name them after exterminators.
And come to think of it, we aren't making any money being called "Illinois." Why not "McDonalds"?
BofA Bulldozing Foreclosed Homes - The Consumerist
BofA Bulldozing Foreclosed Homes - The Consumerist
The bank is working with local housing partnerships to donate some of the houses and pay for the demolition of others. BofA will pay as much as $7,500 per tear-down. Some of the houses are worth less than $10,000.
They're giving up 100 properties in Detroit, 150 in Chicago and will be doing the same in nine other cities.
"Donating a house may create an income-tax deduction, said Robert Willens, an independent accounting analyst based in New York. A bank might deduct as much as the fair market value if a home wasn't acquired with the explicit intent of knocking it down," reports SF Gate.
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Always thinking, these banks. Thanks to Mystery Reader for this and the following two strange stories from the world of foreclosures.
The bank is working with local housing partnerships to donate some of the houses and pay for the demolition of others. BofA will pay as much as $7,500 per tear-down. Some of the houses are worth less than $10,000.
They're giving up 100 properties in Detroit, 150 in Chicago and will be doing the same in nine other cities.
"Donating a house may create an income-tax deduction, said Robert Willens, an independent accounting analyst based in New York. A bank might deduct as much as the fair market value if a home wasn't acquired with the explicit intent of knocking it down," reports SF Gate.
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Always thinking, these banks. Thanks to Mystery Reader for this and the following two strange stories from the world of foreclosures.
Angry Homeowners Dump Trash From Abandoned Home - Flash Player Installation
Angry Homeowners Dump Trash From Abandoned Home - Flash Player Installation
The wrong bank for that particular load of trash, maybe, but one would hope the message wasn't wasted on them. Thanks to Mystery Reader.
The wrong bank for that particular load of trash, maybe, but one would hope the message wasn't wasted on them. Thanks to Mystery Reader.
Wells Fargo Forecloses On, Auctions Off House With Dead Owner Inside - The Consumerist
Wells Fargo Forecloses On, Auctions Off House With Dead Owner Inside - The Consumerist
Another story from the bizarre world of foreclosures. Thanks to Mystery Reader.
Another story from the bizarre world of foreclosures. Thanks to Mystery Reader.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Foreclosure crisis persists with little relief in sight
The pace of foreclosures ebbed following the eruption of the "robo-signing" scandal, in which loan servicers approved foreclosures without looking at the underlying documents. Banks halted foreclosures over the last several months temporarily to overhaul their protocols.
But foreclosures are expected to pick up in the months ahead. An estimated 1 million foreclosure actions that should have taken place this year will now happen in 2012, according to Daren Blomquist, director of marketing and communications with Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.
"That's not because 1 million people have avoided foreclosure over the long term, it's because the process has slowed," he said, noting that the time it takes to complete a foreclosure has doubled in the last four years from 154 to 318 days.
Bottom line: The foreclosure crisis is far from over.
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As Teal'c would say, "Indeed, O'Neill."
HOA troubles pitting neighbor vs. neighbor | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper
HOA troubles pitting neighbor vs. neighbor | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper
Of the nation's 300,000 homeowners' associations, more than 50 percent now face "serious financial problems," according to a September survey by the Community Association Institute trade group. An October survey found 65 percent of associations have delinquency rates of more than 5 percent, up from 19 percent in 2005.
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/28/2485901/hoa-troubles-pitting-neighbor.html#ixzz1TPbeuHS3
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A shorter version of Michelle Conlin's AP article from a few weeks ago--thanks to Shu Bartholomew for the link.
Of the nation's 300,000 homeowners' associations, more than 50 percent now face "serious financial problems," according to a September survey by the Community Association Institute trade group. An October survey found 65 percent of associations have delinquency rates of more than 5 percent, up from 19 percent in 2005.
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/28/2485901/hoa-troubles-pitting-neighbor.html#ixzz1TPbeuHS3
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A shorter version of Michelle Conlin's AP article from a few weeks ago--thanks to Shu Bartholomew for the link.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Ranlo family frustrated after HOA foreclosed on their home for unpaid dues
Michelle Roberts says her family fell victim to an HOA board that refused to recognize the financial hardship they were experiencing. The board held them to unfair expectations of paying not only the original dues that were in arrears, she said, but also the charges that mounted from attorney hours, court filings and assessments.
Additional fees have taken the $975 they originally owed for HOA dues and mushroomed their debt to more than $6,000. It’s money they don’t have, she said.
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Times are tough for a lot of people and this situation is repeating throughout Privatopia as the economy struggles to return to health nearly three years after financial markets imploded in the fall of 2008. HOA assessments while typically substantially lower than property taxes can mushroom once delinquent when the community association industry takes its cut.
California households are doing without
The poll found that 37% of Californians were cutting back on household expenses such as groceries and gasoline, while 52% were forgoing luxuries such as concerts and restaurant meals, in order to make their mortgage payments.
And with home prices weak, the poll found that 31% of the more than 1,500 California voters surveyed had put off looking for or buying a new home — and that 50% had set aside investing in home improvements.
Both of those trends are sobering reminders of how hard it will be for California to escape the grip of the devastating economic downturn. Housing has traditionally fueled recoveries, but tepid demand for homes — and even home improvements — is crimping the creation of new jobs in construction and real estate.
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The Golden State economy remains overly dependent on the residential real estate sector that's stalled on both the supply and demand sides. Homes aren't being built, improved or sold while consumers are pulling in their horns and won't spend on these things fearing for their job security -- if they have work. So unless the economy can diversify, economists predict this standoff will continue for the foreseeable with its accompanying high unemployment.
And with home prices weak, the poll found that 31% of the more than 1,500 California voters surveyed had put off looking for or buying a new home — and that 50% had set aside investing in home improvements.
Both of those trends are sobering reminders of how hard it will be for California to escape the grip of the devastating economic downturn. Housing has traditionally fueled recoveries, but tepid demand for homes — and even home improvements — is crimping the creation of new jobs in construction and real estate.
-------------------------------------------------
The Golden State economy remains overly dependent on the residential real estate sector that's stalled on both the supply and demand sides. Homes aren't being built, improved or sold while consumers are pulling in their horns and won't spend on these things fearing for their job security -- if they have work. So unless the economy can diversify, economists predict this standoff will continue for the foreseeable with its accompanying high unemployment.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Getting Sober in the New Economy
Getting Sober in the New Economy
As we stated in the "Affordable Housing Myth," are we really doing families with moderate incomes any favors by encouraging them to buy housing that is poorly built, expensive to maintain, and very difficult to sell? What benefit is there to saddling low and moderate-income families with impossible maintenance burdens? When we sell housing with hidden defects and even normal maintenance costs that greatly exceed expectations, does the buyer really own anything? More likely, we have asked these families to assume a crushing liability. Given the realities of the economy and the shaky condominium economic model, is attached for-sale housing really the best solution for low-cost housing? Could rental apartment buildings be a better answer?
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Tyler Berding takes on a big question: is renting an apartment a better deal than buying a condo?
Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.
As we stated in the "Affordable Housing Myth," are we really doing families with moderate incomes any favors by encouraging them to buy housing that is poorly built, expensive to maintain, and very difficult to sell? What benefit is there to saddling low and moderate-income families with impossible maintenance burdens? When we sell housing with hidden defects and even normal maintenance costs that greatly exceed expectations, does the buyer really own anything? More likely, we have asked these families to assume a crushing liability. Given the realities of the economy and the shaky condominium economic model, is attached for-sale housing really the best solution for low-cost housing? Could rental apartment buildings be a better answer?
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Tyler Berding takes on a big question: is renting an apartment a better deal than buying a condo?
Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.
Couple sued over sign
BOSSIER CITY, La. (AP) - A south Bossier City homeowners association has sued to force a family to remove a front yard sign supporting their son's military service because it violated subdivision covenants.
The Times reports that the Gardens of Southgate filed the suit this month against Timothy and Jodi Burr, who have lived in the subdivision since 2006. The Burrs placed a large multi-colored banner with a picture of their 20-year-old son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Corey Burr, and the phrase "Our son defends our freedom" in January after Corey Burr was deployed to Afghanistan.
Jodi Burr says her family will fight the suit and do not intend to remove the sign.
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The HOA lawsuit that was threatened in May now becomes reality, providing more bad press for this HOA and HOAs in general. To deter these frivolous lawsuits, the attorneys that bring them should be deployed to Afghanistan for one year of judge advocate duty.
The Times reports that the Gardens of Southgate filed the suit this month against Timothy and Jodi Burr, who have lived in the subdivision since 2006. The Burrs placed a large multi-colored banner with a picture of their 20-year-old son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Corey Burr, and the phrase "Our son defends our freedom" in January after Corey Burr was deployed to Afghanistan.
Jodi Burr says her family will fight the suit and do not intend to remove the sign.
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The HOA lawsuit that was threatened in May now becomes reality, providing more bad press for this HOA and HOAs in general. To deter these frivolous lawsuits, the attorneys that bring them should be deployed to Afghanistan for one year of judge advocate duty.
Government Considering Renting Foreclosed Homes - WSJ.com
Government Considering Renting Foreclosed Homes - WSJ.com
The Obama administration is examining ways to pull foreclosed properties off the market and rent them to help stabilize the housing market, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the plans may not advance beyond the concept phase, they are under serious consideration by senior administration officials because rents are rising even as home prices in many hard-hit markets continue to fall due to high foreclosure levels.
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This should have been not just examined, but done, in 2009 about 10 minutes after the inauguration. But I'm sure the almighty banksters will find some reason not do to it. Just pass Congressman Grijalva's Right to Rent Act, I say.
The Obama administration is examining ways to pull foreclosed properties off the market and rent them to help stabilize the housing market, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the plans may not advance beyond the concept phase, they are under serious consideration by senior administration officials because rents are rising even as home prices in many hard-hit markets continue to fall due to high foreclosure levels.
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This should have been not just examined, but done, in 2009 about 10 minutes after the inauguration. But I'm sure the almighty banksters will find some reason not do to it. Just pass Congressman Grijalva's Right to Rent Act, I say.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Data stories: How more Americans are becoming renters
Data stories: How more Americans are becoming renters
And maybe we would be better off as renters...
And maybe we would be better off as renters...
Bankers draw fire for letting Englewood-area homes become magnets for crime - chicagotribune.com
Bankers draw fire for letting Englewood-area homes become magnets for crime - chicagotribune.com
Such legal maneuvers by banks, which in many cases either walk away from properties that aren't worth selling or let foreclosure proceedings languish in an overwhelmed court system, have left thousands of dilapidated vacant houses in ownership limbo citywide.
City officials, frustrated by the detective work needed to nail down ownership of abandoned buildings, are pushing legislation that would force mortgage holders to secure and maintain vacant properties until they're auctioned off. The effort is strongly opposed by the financial industry.
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The banks (the ones who crashed the economy, as you may recall, and then got bailed out with taxpayer dollars) are now pulling the cute little trick of NOT foreclosing on dilapidated and often abandoned properties, leaving the problems for government and the neighbors to deal with the problems.
And they are using their massive lobbying power to stop legislation that would make them act responsibly.
This is when they are not busy handing fake documents to courts and evicting the wrong people.
How about another trillion dollars in bailouts for these solid corporate citizens? What say you, taxpayers?
Such legal maneuvers by banks, which in many cases either walk away from properties that aren't worth selling or let foreclosure proceedings languish in an overwhelmed court system, have left thousands of dilapidated vacant houses in ownership limbo citywide.
City officials, frustrated by the detective work needed to nail down ownership of abandoned buildings, are pushing legislation that would force mortgage holders to secure and maintain vacant properties until they're auctioned off. The effort is strongly opposed by the financial industry.
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The banks (the ones who crashed the economy, as you may recall, and then got bailed out with taxpayer dollars) are now pulling the cute little trick of NOT foreclosing on dilapidated and often abandoned properties, leaving the problems for government and the neighbors to deal with the problems.
And they are using their massive lobbying power to stop legislation that would make them act responsibly.
This is when they are not busy handing fake documents to courts and evicting the wrong people.
How about another trillion dollars in bailouts for these solid corporate citizens? What say you, taxpayers?
U. of C. professor argues privatization of public assets just like borrowing money - chicagotribune.com
U. of C. professor argues privatization of public assets just like borrowing money - chicagotribune.com
Professor Julie Roin studied the privatization of public assets, particularly deals in which governments received upfront payments in exchange for foregoing future revenue streams. Deals such as Chicago's leasing of parking meters and the Chicago Skyway toll road.
She concludes that such transactions are economically equivalent to borrowing money. The public does not understand the nature of such privatization transactions, Roin says, and that has made citizens more accepting of the political decisions to engage in such deals.
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So--some forms of privatization turn out to be a bad deal for local government after all. What a surprise.
The right wingers who came up with all these ideas sold them to policy makers by touting the supposed short-term benefits. But they have always had ulterior motives, such as destruction of unions, cutting taxes on business and the wealthy, and eradicating the social welfare functions of government.
In addition to the bad deal governments have made, another problem is that many of these privatization policies are internally flawed and unsustainable, by which I mean that at some point the private provider of what used to be the public function will simply cease to function.
Professor Julie Roin studied the privatization of public assets, particularly deals in which governments received upfront payments in exchange for foregoing future revenue streams. Deals such as Chicago's leasing of parking meters and the Chicago Skyway toll road.
She concludes that such transactions are economically equivalent to borrowing money. The public does not understand the nature of such privatization transactions, Roin says, and that has made citizens more accepting of the political decisions to engage in such deals.
------------------------
So--some forms of privatization turn out to be a bad deal for local government after all. What a surprise.
The right wingers who came up with all these ideas sold them to policy makers by touting the supposed short-term benefits. But they have always had ulterior motives, such as destruction of unions, cutting taxes on business and the wealthy, and eradicating the social welfare functions of government.
In addition to the bad deal governments have made, another problem is that many of these privatization policies are internally flawed and unsustainable, by which I mean that at some point the private provider of what used to be the public function will simply cease to function.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Capitol Weekly: The next new thing: Infrastructure financing districts get close look
Capitol Weekly: The next new thing: Infrastructure financing districts get close look
Fred Pilot sent this link to a writeup on a new scheme to fund infrastructure in California without property taxation. Proposition 13: the gift that keeps on giving.
Seriously--the initiative process has all but destroyed state and local government in California.
Fred Pilot sent this link to a writeup on a new scheme to fund infrastructure in California without property taxation. Proposition 13: the gift that keeps on giving.
Seriously--the initiative process has all but destroyed state and local government in California.
Community Builder: The Life & Legacy Of J.C. Nichols - Watch the Documentary Film for Free | Watch Free Documentaries Online | SnagFilms
Community Builder: The Life & Legacy Of J.C. Nichols - Watch the Documentary Film for Free | Watch Free Documentaries Online | SnagFilms
Jesse Clyde Nichols (1880-1950) was the principal founder of the Urban Land Institute and probably the single most influential real estate developer in US history. He was a pioneer in the use of mandatory membership homeowner associations to govern his subdivisions. Fred Fischer has discovered this 56 min. documentary about him that starts with a 4 min. commercial. Thanks, Fred!
Jesse Clyde Nichols (1880-1950) was the principal founder of the Urban Land Institute and probably the single most influential real estate developer in US history. He was a pioneer in the use of mandatory membership homeowner associations to govern his subdivisions. Fred Fischer has discovered this 56 min. documentary about him that starts with a 4 min. commercial. Thanks, Fred!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Quartzsite in an uproar, in 'state of emergency' due to video on YouTube
Quartzsite in an uproar, in 'state of emergency' due to video on YouTube
The Western Arizona town of Quartzsite was in a state of upheaval Monday after the Town Council ousted the mayor from power and declared a state of emergency, all because of an online video that shows a woman being arrested.
Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/state-and-regional/article_44751517-4820-500b-b3f6-42d928d5e1c3.html#ixzz1Seqjt8xD
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Proving once again that HOAs don't have the market cornered on wacky behavior. And see below.
The Western Arizona town of Quartzsite was in a state of upheaval Monday after the Town Council ousted the mayor from power and declared a state of emergency, all because of an online video that shows a woman being arrested.
Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/state-and-regional/article_44751517-4820-500b-b3f6-42d928d5e1c3.html#ixzz1Seqjt8xD
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Proving once again that HOAs don't have the market cornered on wacky behavior. And see below.
Arkansas Town Draws a Line on Allowing Clubs - NYTimes.com
Arkansas Town Draws a Line on Allowing Clubs - NYTimes.com
Be careful before starting a Boy Scout troop in Gould, Ark. Or a Harry Potter fan club. Or a baseball team.
The City Council adopted an ordinance last week making it illegal to form any kind of group without its permission
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And that's not all they did. They have been a busy little group of authoritarian jerks.
Be careful before starting a Boy Scout troop in Gould, Ark. Or a Harry Potter fan club. Or a baseball team.
The City Council adopted an ordinance last week making it illegal to form any kind of group without its permission
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And that's not all they did. They have been a busy little group of authoritarian jerks.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Banks Are Still Robo-Signing | FDL News Desk
The Banks Are Still Robo-Signing | FDL News Desk
Two stories yesterday, one from the AP and the other from Reuters, detail the fact that the banks continue to employ robo-signers to accelerate foreclosure processes and commit document fraud.
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So it continues. Huge corporations force consumers to sign boilerplate adhesion contracts and hold them to every jot and tittle, with the full support of the court system. But when it comes to the corporation itself...why, then it is far to burdensome to even have human beings sign documents. We peons must understand that our corporate overlords can't be bothered even complying with the law, much less those silly pieces of paper they call "contracts."
Two stories yesterday, one from the AP and the other from Reuters, detail the fact that the banks continue to employ robo-signers to accelerate foreclosure processes and commit document fraud.
-------------
So it continues. Huge corporations force consumers to sign boilerplate adhesion contracts and hold them to every jot and tittle, with the full support of the court system. But when it comes to the corporation itself...why, then it is far to burdensome to even have human beings sign documents. We peons must understand that our corporate overlords can't be bothered even complying with the law, much less those silly pieces of paper they call "contracts."
Monday, July 18, 2011
AP Exclusive: Mortgage 'robo-signing' goes on
Mortgage industry employees are still signing documents they haven't read and using fake signatures more than eight months after big banks and mortgage companies promised to stop the illegal practices that led to a nationwide halt of home foreclosures.
County officials in at least three states say they have received thousands of mortgage documents with questionable signatures since last fall, suggesting that the practices, known collectively as "robo-signing," remain widespread in the industry.
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Last Halloween's robosigning Frankenstein monster is rising from the dead as the heavily CDO'd and otherwise secondary market derived residential mortgage market fallout from the 2000's continues.
It's probable just one robosigner for a single large lender wreaked more devastation and destroyed property values in Privatopia than any amount of unapproved paint colors, solar panels, antennas, clotheslines, flags flapping from poles or pot bellied pigs could ever do.
San Francisco to shutter courtrooms lay off 40% of court staff
Presiding Judge Katherine Feinstein said the actions were necessary to close a $13.75 million budget deficit caused by state budget cuts. She said the cuts mean it will take many more hours to pay a traffic ticket in person, up to 18 months to finalize a divorce and five years for a lawsuit to go to trial.
"The civil justice system in San Francisco is collapsing," Feinstein said.
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And that will be a huge problem for everybody.I remember when Proposition 13 passed 1978, the right wingers claimed state and local government would get along just fine, and the lefties said it would be a disaster. About a year later all the righties were crowing that nothing happened. The lefties said you have to wait and see. Then there was this period of state and local governments doing all sorts of things to make up for revenues lost to tax revolts. Sin taxes on cigarettes and alcohol; the tobacco settlement; CID housing; special districts; privatization; gambling; deals with sports teams; TIFs and BIDs; and on, and on. And now that the effort to destroy state and local government looks like it has finally succeeded, the right wingers are trying to smash the federal government as well. At this rate, soon we will be living like Mad Max, the Road Warrior.
Glenview mobile home foreclosure: Glenview mobile home park in foreclosure - chicagotribune.com
Glenview mobile home foreclosure: Glenview mobile home park in foreclosure - chicagotribune.com
But in recent years, Selinsky and other residents say, the park's streets have been crumbling, water service has cut out for days at a time and they can't drink the water because it's contaminated. Now, the situation has worsened: Sunset Village is in foreclosure, and residents fear it could be sold and demolished, leaving them with homes they can't afford to move.
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The state legislature is setting up a trust fund for mobile home parks because so many of them are in trouble.
But in recent years, Selinsky and other residents say, the park's streets have been crumbling, water service has cut out for days at a time and they can't drink the water because it's contaminated. Now, the situation has worsened: Sunset Village is in foreclosure, and residents fear it could be sold and demolished, leaving them with homes they can't afford to move.
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The state legislature is setting up a trust fund for mobile home parks because so many of them are in trouble.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Guy Scores Fancy House for $16, Now Has Neighbor Issues
Guy Scores Fancy House for $16, Now Has Neighbor Issues
Not only that--it looks like HOA property to me. Flower Mound, TX, is one of those "smart growth" places. But for sixteen bucks, no matter how it turns out he can't lose.
Not only that--it looks like HOA property to me. Flower Mound, TX, is one of those "smart growth" places. But for sixteen bucks, no matter how it turns out he can't lose.
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