Using Drones To Enforce HOA Violations

Using Drones To Enforce HOA Violations

See the article below, in which I guess nobody knows whose drone is involved. But be aware that the CID industry, which is basically a whole lot of businesses who want to sell their services and products to HOAs and condo associations, is thinking about droning it up.  Ward Lucas thinks so. See this article from HOA Institute, which I think is by attorney Clint Goodman:



"Since the spike in private ownership of remote-controlled drones, more of us are asking whether homeowners associations can (or should) be using drones to enforce HOA violations.  There are mixed feelings about HOA drones.  Some are worried about privacy.  Others think their use will lead to abuse and “unreasonable enforcement” because it has too much of a “big brother” feel.  Others believe that technology is supposed to make life easier and having drones for their HOA’s code enforcement will significantly reduce the time and expense traditional enforcement brings.  Whatever your opinion is, when (not if) drone enforcement becomes a reality, associations need to be careful that the association uses them with prudence. Right now HOAs cannot use drones “commercially” without FAA approval.  Whether enforcement drones in HOAs are considered “commercial use” depends on who is using them and how.  For example, use of a drone is likely not “commercial” if it is privately owned by the President and used by the President or another director without pay.  Conversely, hiring a company to use drones for code enforcement may cross the line, at least right now.  If Amazon can get permission to do it, I have a feeling we will see the use of drones in the commercial context across the board very soon."

Homeowner’s association puts end to family’s ministry - The Newnan Times-Herald

Homeowner’s association puts end to family’s ministry - The Newnan Times-Herald



This nice Christian family started a volunteer project to collect and distribute household items to needy families, and eventually they incorporated it as a not-for-profit. That's when the HOA struck:



“We started, literally, out of our garage, collecting items. We got a P.O. box, we rented a storage unit which filled up rather quickly,” he said. They have storage space at their church, Vineyard, for linens, a food pantry at Turin United Methodist, and mattresses and beds in the storage unit.



Everything else went into their garage. But not anymore. The Novaks were recently cited by their homeowner’s association for conducting a business out of their home.



The citation, issued April 9, said, “Please do not conduct a business out of your home.”

Exclusive: Brickell Key Woman Says Drone Spied On Her As She Breastfed « CBS Miami

Exclusive: Brickell Key Woman Says Drone Spied On Her As She Breastfed « CBS Miami



"MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Imagine you’re in the privacy of your own home — possibly in a compromising position — and you turn around and  see a drone just a few feet from you. A Brickell Key woman says that’s what happened to her while she was breastfeeding her child earlier this week inside the family’s 12th floor condo."

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I guess with this technology available now we are going to need new laws to protect us, and that's what is happening in Florida:

"Alessi’s privacy concerns are real, says Michelle Richardson with the American Civil Liberties Union. Richardson pointed to a new Florida law that will go into effect this summer — called the “Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act” as a good first step towards regulating drones. Richardson said the law will impose civil penalties on drone users that capture images of unknowing people on private property where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. “When you’re talking about looking into people’s homes and violating individual privacy, it’s an unchartered area,” Richardson said. “And we’re really doing this for the first time in Florida.”

Las Vegas HOA takeover fraudster sentenced

This week a bunch of the 38 convicted criminals involved with the Las Vegas HOA takeover scheme are being sentenced.  This one escaped prison.  I'm going to do a summary of  all this soon.

The message of this is obvious--HOAs and condo associations are fragile institutions that are totally dependent  on the resources of their owners.  By resources I mean money, time,  loyalty, and expertise.  With virtually no governmental oversight and most residents not paying attention, it is  easy for associations  to be taken over by groups of people who don't have the  community's best interest in mind. Some are just petty neighborhood dictators, some are looking to engage in self-dealing to help  themselves and their friends, and some are fraudsters.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/bribe-figure-avoids-prison-hoa-takeover-scheme#st_refDomain=t.co&st_refQuery=/MUnfZTwjSV

HOA insurer not obligated to defend suit against HOA board absent underlying liabiltiy claim, court rules

In the past, insurers were readily inclined to defend most any legal action brought against an HOA board of directors even if there was no underlying claim of liability or damages such a lawsuit seeking equitable relief ordering the board to comply with the governing documents or state or federal law.

That may be changing if a recent Kentucky case is any indication. A Kentucky federal district court ruled an insurer had no duty to defend a claim under an HOA policy's directors and officers coverage, reasoning that D&O coverage is intended to shield corporate directors and officers for personal liability and not to protect the corporate entity itself.

Click here for a summary of the ruling in State Auto Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Highland Terrace Counsel of Co-Owners, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59663 (W.D. Ky. May 7, 2015) by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP.

American condo buyer losing condo in Mexico due to liens

It appears that this unfortunate woman bought a Mexican condo as a retirement home, only to discover later that several Mexican workers had liens on the condo because of a pay dispute with the developer. A judge ruled in the workers' favor, and now they own what used to be her condo.


http://www.kpho.com/story/29096892/mexican-court-takes-away-arizona-womans-condo?autostart=false

Two conversations about constitutional rights

We have two different conversations about constitutional law. One is this hyper-technical purely legal analysis you see from lawyers and judges. The other is what really happens. So in this case, hooray, there are limits on the length of traffic stops, according to the USSC. But the other conversation says that if you get assertive about your constitutional rights in a real traffic stop, they won't let you go. Instead, you might get beaten, tazed, or shot.  The cop will likely face no consequences, just by claiming you resisted, or posed a "threat," or "he reached for his waistband." None of it needs to be true because a "reasonable mistake" is good enough. So, what good are rights if cops don't respect them and get away with violating them, day in and day out? The technological fix being proposed is video--dash cams and body cameras--and that may help, but the overriding problem is that police are drunk with power in this country. They can get away with almost anything and they know it. The can manipulate the on-the-scene situation, they investigate themselves, they have the union and prosecutors and most judges on  their side, and they are professional witnesses. Until that power situation changes, I think these USSC pronouncements are only meaningful in a small number of cases that get fully litigated. For thousands of day to day interactions between citizens and police, these "big decisions" are largely irrelevant.

http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/04/opinion-analysis-traffic-stops-cant-last-too-long-or-go-too-far-and-no-extra-dog-sniffs/

House Republicans want to do away with consumer protections for mobile home buyers

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/04/14/3646494/manufactured-home-loans-shouldnt-be-predatory-but-they-are/

I just listened to (Vice) Presidential candidate Marco Rubio make the argument that Big Government regulation is the reason ordinary people are getting screwed by banks. If you can believe that, you can believe the Republicans have your best interests in mind, mobile home owners:

"The House will vote Tuesday to repeal consumer protections for low-income borrowers in rural America who have seen the promise of affordable housing turned into a financial sinkhole by a mobile home industry that makes pre-manufactured houses far more expensive to buy than they need to be.

The bill is part of the GOP majority’s campaign to chisel away at specific pieces of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul that became law in 2010 but which left many details to be filled in later by regulators. In this case, it was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that did that filling. After long study of both publicly-available data and proprietary information from the industry itself, the CFPB began enforcing new consumer protections for people who borrow money for a manufactured home. When Rep. Stephen Fincher’s bill to roll back those regulations passes on Tuesday, the rules will have been in force for barely 15 months. The mobile home financing market is an esoteric landscape for a battle between consumer advocates, regulators, and politicians. Compared to the American Dream trappings that come with traditional homeownership, families in mobile homes don’t have much cultural cache."

HOA oversight bills die in Florida

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/hoa-oversight-bills-doa-in-tallhassee/nksWS/

"Homeowners hoping for more state oversight of the association boards that rule their communities are out of luck this year as legislation to increase scrutiny of HOAs died for lack of support in Tallahassee.  It’s the second year in a row that proposals to give the Department of Business and Professional Regulation power to investigate complaints against homeowners associations and create educational programs for HOA board members failed to even make it to a single committee hearing."

WTVC NewsChannel 9 :: News - Top Stories - Utah Homeowner Asked To Remove US Navy Flag From Home

WTVC NewsChannel 9 :: News - Top Stories - Utah Homeowner Asked To Remove US Navy Flag From Home: (KUTV) A homeowners' association in Lehi is facing backlash online after sending a letter to a resident and telling her to remove a U.S. Navy flag displayed in her front yard.

Lucia Sandoval says she put the flag up to remember her husband, who is currently deployed with the U.S Navy. But shortly after the flag went up, she received a notice stating it was out of conformity with neighborhood standards.

"In a recent review of the community, it was brought to our attention that you may not be aware of one or more of the rules for the community," the letter from the HOA reads. "Your front yard had a flag displayed not in accordance with the accepted standards. Please remove the flag ASAP."

In the letter, the HOA cites community guidelines, which read, "Flags and flagpoles shall be uniformly placed and consistent in size and shape and shall not interfere with on site utilities."

Sandoval says she didn't understand how her flag violated any of those policies and is refusing to take it down.

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Another flag flap, this one in the Utah sector of Privatopia. Film at 10 on WTVC Channel 9.

The town fascism built

"Nestled in eastern Long Island is a sleepy little town called Yaphank where the streets have cozy names like Oak and Park, names that hide a dark past: they once bore signs like Hitler and Goebbels Streets.Yaphank, in the 1930s, appeared as a haven for Americans--most of them of German heritage--who sympathized with the causes of the Third Reich.

In fact, it was largely founded as a Nazi camp, one of several scattered across the U.S., where the children in the German American Bund (AKA American Nazis) could fish, swim, hunt and learn about things like eugenics."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3033153/The-town-fascism-built-Inside-New-York-hamlet-home-pro-Nazi-camp-street-named-Hitler.html#ixzz3Wtt5bosL 
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Robert Meisner Says Condo/Homeowners Associations Beware: The Michigan Legislature Has Dealt You a Severe Blow

I don't usually reproduce press releases, but I think in this case it bears repeating. I will be looking into the legislation in question, but for now, here is the word from attorney Robert Meisner:

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BINGHAM FARMS, Mich., March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert Meisner, founder of The Meisner Law Group, PC, and nationally recognized as one of the premier community association lawyers in the country, is issuing an alert to anyone living in or thinking about buying a home in a condominium, homeowners association, or a cooperative. In a lame duck session this past December, the Michigan Legislature quietly made sweeping changes to the Michigan Nonprofit Act.

"Here's the hitch," says Meisner. "Every condo, homeowners/cooperative association is a nonprofit corporation, so the new laws apply to them. Among the things these homeowners need to know is that their boards of directors, officers, and others may already be virtually immune from liability and accountability to the association, even for gross negligence and certain intentional acts."

Meisner says that he is also concerned that the changes in the law take away much of the traditional democratic participation of the members of non-profits and make it easier for entrenched directors to remain in office. He says this allows directors to be elected without a meeting, eliminating open debate, passing matters at membership meetings without prior notice and even holding membership meetings without notice to the members. The law even allows the board to turn over complete control of the association to non-members who have no stake in the community.

"It is not just community associations that are affected," Meisner says. "The amendments have the potential to make non-profits of all kinds the tools of fraud and profit for the unscrupulous. I understand that the Michigan Legislature was trying to make the operations of non-profits more streamlined and efficient, but it seems that this legislation was rushed through without careful thought and analysis and without any input from those most affected."

Meisner is advocating that the legislature either modify or revoke the new legislation.

A nationally respected community association law specialist for over 40 years, and adjunct professor of community association law, Meisner has authored numerous legal articles, pamphlets and two books: Condo Living 1 and 2: Authoritative Guides to Buying, Selling, and Operating a Condominium.

For more information on the potential pitfalls of this new legislation, contact Robert Meisner at 248.644.4433 or atbmeisner@meisner-law.com.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/robert-meisner-says-condohomeowners-associations-beware-the-michigan-legislature-has-dealt-you-a-severe-blow-300056151.html

update:  and here is another attorney's summary of the changes.

HOA wins--developer has to pay the electric bill

"An East Naples homeowners association has won its legal battle after a judge agreed Glen Eagle Golf & Country Club didn’t pay their electric bills, leaving 105 homes without streetlights for five weeks after FPL flipped the switch.

Collier Circuit Judge Hugh Hayes ruled that Glen Eagle, the development’s master association, must pay Lago Villaggio Homeowners Association $18,000, with 4.75 percent interest from March 18, 2014, and reimburse the HOA for its lawyer’s fees."

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vko6VujQRQcfuGgblKqKFGBPMye2e6uId_2gJpHKXq4/edit?usp=docslist_api

Man vows to take HOA to court over demolition demands | KOB.com

Man vows to take HOA to court over demolition demands | KOB.com

Judge rules owners can begin trying to take back property from receiver

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/judge-rules-troubled-condo-residents-can-take-back/nkZp9/

Thanks to Ward Lucas for this link.  Across the nation, failing condo projects have been placed in the hands of court appointed receivers who are supposed to make good decisions to get the projects back on their feet, if possible.  Here is one story of a situation where the receiver and  the owners are in major conflict, with allegations that the receiver isn't doing his job.

The Fossum Files--don't miss this!

Would  you like  to read  the most detailed and persuasive analysis of double taxation and differential political  participation of CID owners ever written?  Donna Fossum has just posted it, and it should be read by every policy maker involved in these issuess.  Donna Fossum, J.D., Ph.D., describes herself as follows:  "The author has lived in the West End of the City of Alexandria for over 30 years.  For 23 of these years, she was a member of Alexandria’s Planning Commission.  Professionally, she spent the better part of two decades as a Senior Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation.  She also spent close to a decade as an attorney on what is now the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives and shorter stints as an attorney in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget and a Senior Advisor in what is now the Science and Engineering Statistics Division of the National Science Foundation."

And here is a brief  summary of her detailed empirical analysis---

"This is an analysis of the unforeseen consequences of the City of Alexandria, Virginia privatizing many services that it has traditionally provided to its homeowners.  Alexandria was first settled in the mid-1700s and over the years has been home to the likes of George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors.  Today, after three major annexations of land in 1915, 1930, and 1952, Alexandria now occupies 15.6 square miles directly across the Potomac River from the District of Columbia and is home to an estimated 142,000 people, making it one of the more densely populated cities in the United States.1  On a functional basis, however, Alexandria today is two separate “cities” of relatively equal physical size and population that differ markedly in community structure and political influence.  In one of these “cities,” the average homeowner pays their taxes and receives all their services from City Hall.  In the other “city,” the average homeowner pays their taxes, but receives only some of their services from City Hall."


Here are two links to the page, in case one doesn't work:
http://fossumfiles.org

http://fossumfiles.org.s122990.gridserver.com

"Condos on the road back"

Thanks to Fred Pilot for this story of one Florida condo development that went through the great recession and seems to be coming out of it, mainly because property values are rising again. The human misery that is referenced thoughout the story is something to consider, especially when you multiply it by tens of thousands of condo projects where many hard working people lost everything. The real estate industry is desperate to get us all buying again, so I think the pressure is on the real estate press to crank up the boosterism again.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20150404/article/150409874?p=1&tc=pg

Nevada state legislator proposes to repeal all HOA and condo laws

Ira Hansen, a far-right Nevada state legislator, has introduced a bill through his control of the judiciary committee that would repeal all the Nevada statutes that regulate common interest housing. This article explains that the intent is to somehow magically have somebody else do this, because the state legislature can't be bothered.  This proposal is so dumb that only somebody of Hansen's caliber could have produced it.  Nevada has a fairly comprehensive set of laws on HOAs and condos, and all of it was put in place to deal with real problems.  Now Hansen wants to scrap the whole thing.

http://www.scrippsmedia.com/ktnv/news/Nevada-lawmakers-aim-to-delegate-HOA-disputes-to-lower-level-298479291.html

You can read up on Hansen at Wikipedia. He's a piece of work. Former right wing radio talk show host and columnist.  Here's a taste:
"In his columns, Hansen has written that the Oklahoma City bombing was a false flag operation orchestrated by the administration of President Clinton, that women do not belong in the United States Armed Forces, that President Obama is a "negro", that he owns and flies a Confederate battle flag, that gays are disproportionally prone to engaging in child abuse, that a "grossly disproportionate" number of crimes are committed by Latinos, and that the relationship between "Negroes and Democrats" is that of a "master-slave relationship with the benevolent master knowing what’s best for his simple minded darkies."

Mandatory water restrictions for California

HOA boards take heed. You will allow your inmates to let their lawns turn brown. You will allow lawns to be turned into drought resistant landscape and even hardscape. At least until California makes up its 11 trillion gallon water deficit. And yes, you read that right.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/01/us/california-water-restrictions-drought/

Drones present opportunity, challenge for community associations - Chicago Tribune

Drones present opportunity, challenge for community associations - Chicago Tribune



Drones in the hands of condo and HOA boards?  What could possibly go wrong?



"In the not-too-distant future, community associations could launch camera-equipped, unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, for many routine tasks. They will be able to examine buildings for leaks and damage, check on the performances of contractors and find illegal barbecue grills on upper balconies."

TEPCO not paying for Fukushima cleanup

This is how capitalism works.  Corporations make profits and get to keep them.   Corporations generate huge "externalities," meaning massive costs that hurt others, but those costs get socialized.  In this case, the gigantic utility company that caused the Fukushima catastrophe--which is far from over--has fobbed off the cleanup cost onto  local governments.

"TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. has only shouldered 2 percent of the 76.1 billion yen ($638.8 million) spent on radiation decontamination operations conducted by municipality offices since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, Environment Ministry officials said Sunday. The operator of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has effectively refused to cover the costs of removing radioactive soil and other waste incurred by local governments in areas affected by the disaster, saying it is confirming whether such payments are required by law."

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150330p2g00m0dm031000c.html

Homeowners face HOA fines for children playing in driveway and on sidewalk

No, really.  It's true.  Having solved all other problems, this HOA has decided to prevent children from playing.  Why would anybody, with children or not, live in a place like this?


 "Some Chula Vista homeowners contacted Team 10, furious that their homeowners association is fining them if their children are caught playing outside on the driveway or sidewalk. Under the Agave and Saguaro HOA's rules, there are no wheeled toys -- including, but not limited to, bicycles, scooters, rollerblades, skateboards or roller skates -- allowed to be ridden in the HOA's common areas. Common areas include driveways, sidewalks and streets in the complex. According to the property manager, it's for safety reasons, but resident Karen Deviolini said, "You're fined because you live in a place where kids can't be kids."

http://www.10news.com/news/investigations/chula-vista-homeowners-face-hoa-fines-for-children-playing-on-driveway-sidewalk

Is suburban sprawl stifling the US economy?

This Vox article references a number of studies that suggest the answer may be "yes."


http://www.vox.com/2015/3/26/8291889/suburban-sprawl-economy

What is the most private city in the world?

London?  Dubai?  The new cities in the US that are comprised of private, gated communities?

"The word “private” is derived from the ancient Greek word idiotes, which means somebody who does not participate in public life. In ancient Greece, private life was confined to the home; the public, democratic life of citizens took place in the polis or city, and in the agora or assembly. The contemporary gated community, which focuses on privatising the experience of home as much as possible, fits well within this classical definition of private. There are literally millions of people living in gated communities: they have become the model of choice in the many societies around the world that are subject to extreme wealth inequalities."



http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/mar/26/what-most-private-city-world

How Wall Street used swaps to get rich at the expense of cities

Thanks to a helpful correspondent for flagging this.  Since the late 1970s cities have been trying to find ways to compensate for lost revenue sources.  The property tax revolt, suburbanization, loss of federal grants in aid, globalization of the economy, and other forces have left many cities in  precarious condition. CIDs are one of those compensation strategies.  And here is another one:  cities are getting hooked up with Wall Street investment banks that promise to create gains by engaging in interest rate swaps.  For example,  a city has outstanding fixed rate municipal bonds, and an investment bank--Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, or another one of these financial vampires--proposes to swap them for variable rate bonds that are linked to LIBOR or some other index, that pays the bond holders a lower interest rate.  Sounds good, right?  Except that local governments have been known to lose  a fortune doing it.  Chicago, led by former Wall Streeter and now Mayor Rahm Emanuel,  is in deep on these swaps.  Emanuel thinks he's smarter than everybody. But the swaps aren't turing out  to be such a good deal. Here's a detailed article taking the whole thing apart. 

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/03/getting-rich-expense-cities.html#comments

And for the worst case scenario, consider Jefferson County, Alabama.   After a series of swaps orchestrated by J. P. Morgan to pay for a new sewer system, they went bankrupt.   Until Detroit, it  was the largest local government bankruptcy in US history.

Condo requiring DNA samples of all pets so they can test their poop!

"The Rotunda, a condominium building in Tyson's Corner, Virginia has implemented a policy in which all new pet owners who are moving into the building will be required to have their animal's mouths swabbed in the presence of a building authority. If pet waste is discovered outside of the building, the waste will then be tested and matched up to the guilty animal's DNA."
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Actually this nonsense has been going on for some time.  Obviously people should clean up after their dogs, but somehow in my HOA-free neighborhood everybody nearly always does.  Now there are companies peddling this silly service and of course all the costs end up falling on the owner of the miscreant dog.  Increasingly life for the American middle class is one boondoggle after another--red light cameras, usurious loans, grifting cable TV companies, fake calls threatening IRS suits, and of course chiseling condo associations and HOAs.

http://www.mrctv.org/blog/apartment-building-require-dna-samples-all-pets#tmhmdj:pDFL

Garden City movement aims at accreditation

The Garden City movement was the inspiration for common interest housing. Ebenezer Howard, a 19th century utopian thinker, wanted to build new, self-sufficient cities on undeveloped land that would allow people to have  the best of city and country living in one place under a benevolent managerial government.. Two of these cities, Letchworth and Welwyn, were built, and the idea came to the US, where real estate developers took it in a differert direction. I tell that story in my first book on HOAs.  But the Garden City Movement still exists, as evidenced by this artcle concerning an attempt to create accreditation for "real" Garden Cities.  They even have a Letchworth Declaration that lays out the governing principles.

http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/david-thorpe/1057256/new-alliance-aims-set-accreditation-standards-garden-cities?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=hootsuite_tweets

Colorado Lawmakers Debate Construction Defects Bill CBS Denver

Colorado Lawmakers Debate Construction Defects Bill  CBS Denver

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The quest for the waterproof condo continues. Hint: solutions aren't likely to be found in state legislatures.

4 found guilty in Las Vegas homeowner association fraud trial - www.ktnv.com

4 found guilty in Las Vegas homeowner association fraud trial - www.ktnv.com: LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A federal jury found a Las Vegas lawyer and three co-defendants guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud in a sweeping scheme to fraudulently control homeowners' associations and steer business to favored contractors and attorneys.
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Breaking news in Las Vegas HOA corruption scandal. Film and perp walk at 10. Cuff 'em, Danno.

HOA Rules - Why is it Necessary in Home Buying

HOA Rules - Why is it Necessary in Home Buying

A couple of people flagged this recently, from a 2010 on line article in the International Business Times that extols the virtues of HOAs:



"Each homeowners association has covenants, conditions and restrictions or also known as CCR. They are normally related to deed restrictions or restrictive covenants. All things pointed out in the agreement will firmly be imposed to homeowners in order to maintain the property as well as the value of the community. It restricts the building materials to be utilized in constructing homes and the kind of home upgrades allowed. Moreover, they set the allowable number of occupants per house, the kind of pets that are permitted and the race of persons who can stay in the community." [my emphasis]

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In my first book on HOAs I devoted considerable effort to documenting the close connection between HOAs and enforcement of race restrictive covenants from about 1900 to 1950.  Whenever industry advocates recount the glorious history of HOAs they jump straight from Athenian Democracy, the "golden hills of Rome" and the New England town meeting to the present, and somehow manage to leave out the fact that for decades in the US, one of the main purposes of HOAs was to keep African-Americans from moving into white neighborhoods.

Welcome to 'Libertarian Island': Inside the Frightening Economic Dreams of Silicon Valley's Super Rich

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/welcome-libertarian-island-inside-frightening-economic-dreams-silicon-valleys

"...there is currently a similar movement happening in real life, and it is being funded by another rather eccentric businessman, the Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel. As some may already know, Thiel has teamed up with the grandson of libertarian icon Milton Friedman, Patri Friedman, to try and develop a “seastead,” or a permanent and autonomous dwelling at sea. Friedman formed the “Seasteading Institute” in 2008, and Thiel has donated more than a million dollars to fund its creation. It is all very utopian, to say the least. But on the website, they claim a floating city could be just years away. The real trick is finding a proper location to build this twenty-first century atlantis. Currently, they are attempting to find a host nation that will allow the floating city somewhat close to land, for the calm waters and ability to easily travel to and from the seastead."
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These people are free to shower our elected officials with money in order to protect themselves against taxation and regulation.  This starves governments of the money they need to provide essential services and infrastructure. At the same time, these libertarian gazillionaires are planning on fleeing the society they are currently wrecking.

South Carolina grapples with HOA complaints

http://www.blufftontoday.com/bluffton-news/2015-03-15/sc-grapples-homeowner-association-complaints#.VQeEs2yCOrW

"COLUMBIA — Neighborhood Nazi. Condo Commando. Bullies. The dictatorship.

Those were some of the terms property owners and officials used to describe bad actors in South Carolina’s thousands of community associations on Thursday, as lawmakers debate how to regulate them.

“It has become my worst nightmare,” said Nadine Zacharie of Edgefield County’s Lake Trenton. She used to live in Augusta’s historic Hill section, but has spent the last 10 years in Lake Trenton, calling it “10 years of roughshod bullying.”

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Yet another state moves toward increased regulation of CIDs. 

Police say naked man standing in doorway is not breaking law, ne - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina

Police say naked man standing in doorway is not breaking law, ne - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina: This week, neighbors were able to capture pictures and video of the man standing at his door. They are hoping with these images the Homeowners Association can file some type of nuisance complaint.
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Call the HOA!

Private police, coming to a subdivision near you

Since the early 1980s, this country has been in the grip of the ideology of privatism, which is the moral conviction that anything "private" is better than anything "public."  In practice, that usually means handing over government functions to private corporations, and we call that privatization.  But in other cases, it means that government just abdicates its responsibilities on the assumption that somehow non-governmental actors will take over the function that government is no longer performing.  That's what has been going on with the HOA/condo revolution--local governments and developers set up private associations that everybody assumes will just happily carry out all sorts of government functions, with little or no oversight, training, or other institutional support.  However, in reality there are a lot of problems with that assumption, and the hands-off, out of sight, out of mind attitude toward HOAs and condo associations is being questioned because many associations are disorganized, out of control, underfunded, understaffed, and subject to takeover and manipulation (take a look at all my previous posts on the huge HOA takeover/fraud ring in Las Vegas for only one example). That's why so many state legislatures have been creating oversight frameworks for private governments, including regulation of associations' internal processes, ombudsman offices, and public education.  It's not much, but it does amount to a recognition that a lot of associations are struggling and even failing.

Probably the most dangerous aspect of this HOA takeover of government functions is the rise of private policing in these associations.  Ward Lucas has a post on this referencing this article from  he Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/private-police-carry-guns-and-make-arrests-and-their-ranks-are-swelling/2015/02/28/29f6e02e-8f79-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html

Here in Illinois, in 2013 the state Supreme Court made a truly bizarre decision (Poris v. Lake Holiday POA) that allows HOA private police to make traffic stops and issue citations.  The decision is remarkable for its ignorance.  I wrote a post on it at the time.  The court never  even mentioned the Illinois statutes that govern HOAs, never referenced any of the major cases from all across the nation on the limits of CID private government, and refused even to consider what the limits are of this power. For example, what are the rights of citizens to resist these private security guards?  What force can the citizen and the pseudo-cop  use against each other?

I think nobody learned much from George Zimmerman killing  Trayvon Martin.  Zimmerman was a "neighborhood watch" volunteer that the HOA told people to call.  He was also armed and, we now know, prone to nasty encounters with other people, especially his significant others.  What better example can there be of the risks involved  in these encounters?  Self-appointed vigilantes and untrained security guards--the bottom of the law enforcement food chain--are running around stopping people.  Couple that with the fact that many civilians are carrying concealed weapons. This is a bad mix.

The problem would be solved if  local governments would reclaim their basic responsibility to enforce the law in their jurisdictions.  But law enforcement costs money, and if people don't want to pay taxes to  support public local government, they will get what they are paying for: the George Zimmermans of the world, coming to a subdivision near you.

Nevada Supreme Court justices deny tipping HOA conspirator to FBI raid

The trial judge prevented a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter from asking a defense attorney who the justice was...but six of the seven have said it wasn't them. 

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/state-supreme-court-justices-deny-tipping-hoa-conspirator-fbi-raids

"The identity of the Nevada Supreme Court justice alleged to have tipped off a construction defect lawyer to the federal homeowners association investigation in 2008 remained a secret Tuesday. This came as six of the seven justices on the high court when the late Nancy Quon was thought to have received the tip denied speaking to Quon about the high-profile investigation.

Witness: Nevada Supreme Court justice warned HOA conspirators of raid

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/nevada-justice-warned-hoa-conspirators-police-raids-witness-says

I've been wondering why this entire case has stayed out of the national news media.  How about this, journalists?  Is this enough to get your attention?  A witness testified that a justice of the Nevada Supreme Court tipped off attorney Nancy Quon (who later committed suicide) of the pending FBI raid aimed at the Las Vegas HOA fraud ring.

Nevada justice warned HOA conspirators of police raids, witness says | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nevada justice warned HOA conspirators of police raids, witness says | Las Vegas Review-Journal: A witness in the trial of four defendants charged in the massive scheme to take over and defraud homeowners associations testified Monday that she was told a Nevada Supreme Court justice tipped off the late attorney Nancy Quon to the FBI investigation.

Deborah Genato, who pleaded guilty in the scheme, testified she learned that Quon was alerted beforehand to FBI-led raids across the valley in September 2008. Quon’s law office was among the many sites agents searched.

Genato said her boss, Lisa Kim, who ran a company that managed several HOAs linked to the multimillion-dollar scheme, told her about the tip. Kim, who also pleaded guilty, is on the government’s witness list, but has not been called to testify for prosecutors, who plan to wrap up their case as early as Tuesday.

Four remaining defendants, including longtime attorney Keith Gregory, are standing trial on conspiracy and fraud charges in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge James Mahan.

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This years-long tawdry tale of corruption in Privatopia, Nevada sector, is worthy of a House of Cards-like series.

Colorado moving closer to licensing property managers

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_27663749/colorado-moving-closer-licensing-hoa-managers

On July 1, Colorado will become the tenth state to require HOA and condo association managers to be licensed. It is incredible that in 40 states anybody can get some business cards printed and become a community association manager.  Colorado's legislature was persuaded by "horror stories," as the linked article explains.  The basic model of CID regulation that has emerged in a few states since the mid 1990s has three components:  (1) manager licensing; (2) more detailed state regulation of associations' internal processes, such as elections, document amendments, access to records, meetings, and assessment collection; and (3) a condo/HOA ombudsman who keeps basic records on associations in the state, provides education, and records and/or helps to resolve disputes.  It is a minimalist model that fails to address some major risk factors--the biggest one being association finances--but it is better than the nothing that we had previously. Owners need some basic protections, and caveat emptor doesn't cut it.

Berlin is banning condo conversions

Berlin has had enough of condo conversions. I don't blame them.  If the US had city governments with more independence from developers, we wouldn't have so many condo conversions, either.

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2015/03/why-berlin-is-cracking-down-on-condo-conversions/386929/?utm_source=SFTwitter

Detroit area developer stoked to do condo for car buffs

Detroit area developer stoked to do condo for car buffs



Thanks to Deborah for this link.  The article reads like a press release.  A lot of real estate journalism is really intended to promote the local real estate market, and then of course in return the newspapers get all that nice advertising revenue from the developers.



"This winter's snow and ice can't melt fast enough for Brad Oleshansky, Birmingham car buff and founder of the planned 87-acre M1 Concourse off Woodward Avenue in Pontiac. The sooner construction begins on the $60 million car condo development, aimed at auto enthusiasts, the faster the first 55 luxury garage units can open for gearheads who have paid up to $250,000 each to house their vehicles. We're talking serious car people, with seriously expensive cars — not shade tree mechanics. In addition to their luxury garages, owners will have use of a 1.5-mile on-site racetrack."

Change to HOA law sought after coyote kills family pet - www.ktnv.com

Change to HOA law sought after coyote kills family pet - www.ktnv.com: We talked to Sen. Manendo in January when he was trying to help Marie resolve things with her HOA. She was seeking permission to install fence rollers because Arne was eaten by a coyote that jumped over her wall.

Rollers are recommended by the Nevada Division of Wildlife as a humane way to keep coyotes out and pets in.

"Basically a rolling piece of metal that mounts to the top of a wall so that even if an owner's pet is trying to climb over the wall or if a coyote is trying to come into the yard, they can't get a hold on top of the wall," explained NDOW Spokesman Doug Nielsen.

Both neighbors on either side of Marie's home in Solera at Stallion Mountain agreed to the rollers. But the HOA would not.

Contact 13 inducted them into our HOA Hall of Shame after they denied Marie's request, saying the rollers were not consistent with their design guidelines.

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More bad press for Privatopia as another Las Vegas HOA gets inducted into the KNTV-13 Hall of Shame. Film at 10.

Benzer needed money?

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/153D9AF558859A68?p=AWNB&saved_alert_id=anonymous_alerts_platform_IW_1415028848865

Who doesn't?  How long will the alleged kingpin of the Las Vegas HOA fraud ring spend behind bars? And what will come out of this besides about 40 convictions?

HOA fraud witnesses say they feared for their lives

http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/153DEB0A99182608?p=AWNB&saved_alert_id=anonymous_alerts_platform_IW_1415028848865

Las Vegas HOA fraud trial witnesses recount intimidation

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/witnesses-say-hoa-conspirators-used-cash-guns-and-even-growls-sway-votes

Armed thugs at association meetings, payoffs...just a day in the life of a lot of Las Vegas homeowner associations.

No questions, peasants!

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MAYOR_NO_QUESTIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Randy Brown is the Mayor of Evesham, New Jersey. He's also the kicking coach for the Baltimore Ravens. And he has decided that the public will not be allowed to ask questions at township council meetings.  He's considering a run for governor of New Jersey. If his campaign slogan is "Sit down and shut up!", that might go over well with the voters considering that their current governor says things like that all the time.

HOA denies dying child's wish for playhouse

http://www.ksat.com/content/pns/ksat/news/2015/03/04/hoa-rejects-playhouse-for-girl-battling-cancer.html

Fred Pilot just posted on this, but I decided to add my own thoughts.  Some things never change, such as the propensity of HOA and condo boards to blindly enforce rules regardless of the impact on people's lives and heedless of the potential for bad publicity.  In my first book on HOAs, I recounted an example from the early 1900s when Jesse Clyde Nichols explained how it was necessary to deny a similar request from a dying woman. It's the rules, you see. The rules are more important than any other consideration.

Little girl battles cancer and the homeowner’s association | FOX2now.com

Little girl battles cancer and the homeowner’s association | FOX2now.com



More bad "big meanie" press for Privatopia, Kansas sector. Film at 10 on WIBW, Topeka.

Witness describes payoffs, rigging elections, in HOA fraud trial

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/crime-courts/witness-describes-payoffs-rigging-elections-hoa-fraud-trial

I wonder what effect all this publicity will have on the market for condo and HOA properties. Do most people think it is another "isolated instance," or do they understand how fragile these associations are?

Witnesses testify on roles in scheme to defraud homeowners associations | Las Vegas Review-Journal

Witnesses testify on roles in scheme to defraud homeowners associations | Las Vegas Review-Journal



"Ruvolo, 87, is one of four remaining defendants standing trial in federal court in the scheme, which prosecutors allege occurred between 2003 and 2009 and cost local HOAs millions of dollars. Myers, who pleaded guilty in 2012, died last year without being sentenced. The goal of the scheme, according to Lugo and other government witnesses, was to acquire properties at the larger condominium developments and then pack their HOA boards so that Benzer and Silver Lining Construction could obtain lucrative construction defect contracts. As many as 11 HOAs were targeted."



This massive corruption saga is Exhibit A that proves how fragile HOAs really are.  The over-reliance on owners' resources--money, time, energy, loyalty--and the under-regulation by state and local government makes them vulnerable not just to takeover, but to other types of fraud, theft, manipulation, and mismanagement.  Yet governments, and obviously developers and vendors, profit from them, so they will continue to proliferate, and so will the problems.

Fascinating line drawings of suburbia

http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/02/an-artists-dark-but-loving-graphic-ode-to-suburbia/386309/?utm_source=SFTwitter

This is an article about an artist whose ambivalent feelings about suburbia are reflected in his art.

Neighbor from hell nominations, part deux

From Mystery Reader comes this formidable candidate.  Was she spending too much time watching Fox News?  Stay tuned.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/12/3642246_boise-woman-arrested-on-malicious.html?rh=1

"Marguerite Haragan, 58, pressed her foot into the throat of a Jewish woman while saying she'd "better accept Jesus," an Ada County prosecutor said during Haragan's arraignment Thursday. Haragan's verbal harassment of the woman - identified in court by her initials, "AG" - had been ongoing, including through phone calls, according to the prosecutor. But on Feb. 5, it reportedly escalated to violence.According to the prosecutor, AG reported that Haragan visited her home that day, banged on her front window and yelled that she'd "better believe in Jesus, and that she was not going to leave until she did." AG opened the door to take down Haragan's license plate number and ask Haragan to leave, the prosecutor said. Haragan then allegedly slapped AG in the face, pulled her hair, yanked her to the ground and began kicking her in the stomach and thighs. Haragan yelled that AG needed to believe in Jesus to stop the assault, the prosecutor said.  The prosecutor said Haragan pressed her foot into AG's neck and pulled her hair, causing a neck injury that still pains AG. "Eventually, the victim had to comply" to escape the attack, the prosecutor said.According to the charges against Haragan, she returned to AG's home Feb. 7 and scratched a phrase including the word "death" into her mailbox."

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/12/3642246_boise-woman-arrested-on-malicious.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Turns out Americans don't want tiny homes after all

Which should come as a surprise to nobody.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/26/your-house-is-too-small_n_6762938.html

Many people aspire to being the neighbor from hell. Few achieve their objective.

But sometimes one bold individual rises above the crowd and rings the bell.  To wit, this individual:

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"A California man has become the neighbor from hell by plastering swastika-covered Israeli and American flags across the front of his home and refusing all demands he take them down.

The Sacramento homeowner also fashioned a soldier out of wood and green cloth and strung up a Palestinian flag above the house.

He calls it his art, neighbors say, and there's nothing the police will do about it."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2969779/Neighbor-hell-decorates-home-swastika-covered-Israeli-American-flags-s-police-do.html#ixzz3SpPmqrRP
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2969779/Neighbor-hell-decorates-home-swastika-covered-Israeli-American-flags-s-police-do.html

HOA Hall of Shame inducts Aliante - www.ktnv.com

HOA Hall of Shame inducts Aliante - www.ktnv.com: North Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- It's a case of lost and not found. A homeowners association can't find a couple's money, and now, they could lose their home.

Contact 13 Chief Investigator Darcy Spears has the newest member of our HOA Hall of Shame.

"This is the home that God blessed my husband and I with that we are trying to hard to protect."

Tamela and Edward Ketchmore don't owe their homeowner's association a dime.

"We have never, ever missed a payment."

But their HOA doesn't see it that way.

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Apparently acceptable proof of payment is at the heart of this incident leading to the latest dishonor of a privatopian principality, Nevada sector. Film at 10 on KNTV, Las Vegas.

Study reveals common development pattern in ancient and modern cities

http://www.voicechronicle.com/201502-study-reveals-common-development-pattern-in-ancient-and-modern-cities

The main factor that has driven the rise of common interest housing is that it facilitates increasing population density, which is profitable and efficient for developers and cities.  Residents often become unhappy with these high-density shared ownership arrangements, but here's evidence that these patterns have persisted from ancient to modern times.

"Researchers from the Santa Fe Institute and the University of Colorado Boulder have revealed that a common pattern of development and similar characteristics can be observed in ancient as well as modern cities. Large populations and dense areas are the features of modern cities, which were also exhibited by ancient cities. As per the new study, the inhabitants of ancient cities having bigger and denser settlements were more efficient. The study has been detailed in the journal PLOS ONE."

HOA refuses to let woman charge her electric car

http://www.10news.com/news/hoa-refuses-to-let-woman-charge-electric-car

This reminds me of the San Diego area HOAs that told people they had to rebuild their houses with wood shake roof shingles, after the houses burned down because the wood shake shingles caught fire from flying sparks. By all means, let's not do anything intelligent!

Monica Sadler has passed away

http://www.qconline.com/obituaries/monica-sadler/article_aa78d5a3-18c8-526e-91f4-8fa77efda92f.html

My dear friend Monica Sadler died last week.  She was one of the most tenacious fighters for the rights of HOA and condo owners who has ever set foot in a courtroom. We fought a number of legal battles together and she didn't know the meaning of "quit."  She was also a true friend and one of the most considerate and giving people I have ever known.  I will miss her, and so will Shu Bartholomew and many other people who knew her.

Here is the obituary, and following that you will find a piece I wrote for the Cyber Citizens for Justice website about the case we took to the United States Supreme Court. If you want to read the petition for writ of certiorari, it is linked from the CCFJ page:

Monica J. Sadler, 58, of Moline, passed away Friday, Feb. 20, 2015, at her home.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 27, at Rafferty Funeral Home, 2111 1st St. A, Moline. Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Entombment will be at St. Mary's Cemetery, East Moline. Memorials can be made to the Rock Island County Humane Society.

Monica was born Oct. 22, 1956, in Dayton, Ohio, the daughter of James and Betty Anderson. She married Jim Sadler on Feb. 15, 1986 in Tulsa, Okla.

Monica attended Calvary Church of the Quad Cities, Moline. She had a passion for gardening and fishing and loved her dogs, Tinker Bell, Tillie and Buddy. Monica had a heart of gold and never thought twice about helping a stranger. She loved being outdoors and was surrounded by wonderful friends and a loving family.

Survivors include her husband, Jim; son, Andrew (Amy) Sadler, Moline; mother, Betty Anderson, Sunrise Beach, Mo.; and sister, Donna Braddom, Dayton.

Condolences may be left at RaffertyFunerals.com.

http://www.ccfj.net/USSupremeCourtMJSadler.html

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District

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PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI

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The Story Behind Monica J. Sadler v. Illinois Commerce Commission

By Evan McKenzie

Published September 17, 2007

How would you feel if you had to pay a water bill every month, but your property was not even connected to the water system, and your CC&Rs said you didn’t have to pay for water until that connection was made?

This is the situation that faced Monica Sadler and thousands of other owners at the Oak Run development in eastern Illinois .  It had been going on in Oak Run for over 25 years when, in 2005, Aqua Illinois filed a request with the Illinois Commerce Commission to raise the water rates in Oak Run, including the charge for “availability” of water to thousands of lots that weren’t even connected to Aqua’s water system.

You may be asking yourself, “Didn’t the HOA object to this rate increase?”  The Oak Run Property Owners’ Association challenged various aspects of the proposed increases.  But they didn’t raise the basic unfairness of forcing people to pay charges that appeared to be prohibited by the terms of the covenants—especially when they weren’t even receiving any water.  The board of directors of ORPOA was controlled by people who had homes in Oak Run with water meters, not “availability” customers who owned undeveloped lots.

As soon as she understood the situation and realized that the ORPOA wasn’t going to protect the interests of availability customers, Monica took it upon herself to go to Springfield and point out to the ICC that there were contractual provisions in the CC&Rs prohibiting the availability charges. An ICC employee suggested that she raise this issue by intervening in the ongoing rate proceeding. 

All by herself, Monica began to review the 6000 page electronic record of the rate proceeding and research the rules for intervening in an administrative action.  Soon she had a Petition to Intervene on file in the rate increase proceeding before the ICC.  In the petition, she made it clear that her reason for intervening was to introduce in evidence the CC&Rs and ask the ICC to rule that the availability charges were a violation of the terms of these contracts.

The Administrative Law Judge eventually granted her Petition to Intervene.  But in the same order, he marked the record of the proceeding “heard and taken” two days before the date of her intervention. That meant that, while Monica was now a party to the proceeding, she could not present any evidence.  The contracts would not be allowed into the record.

Of course, this frustrated the entire purpose of her intervention. She was in the action, but she couldn’t prove the claims that were her reason for intervening.  She filed motions to challenge this ruling. She cited sections of Illinois law that required the utility to introduce all relevant contracts, that allowed the Administrative Law Judge to request that such evidence be produced, and that required all rate setting proceedings to be fair to consumers.  She also argued that these proposed rate increases violated the constitutional rights of availability customers.  The U.S. Constitution prohibits states from impairing the terms of private contracts, and from depriving people of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.  She raised “contract clause” and due process claims before the ICC. 

Every claim that she raised was denied.  The Administrative Law Judge ruled that she had intervened too late in the proceeding, and that hearing evidence and argument from both sides on the contract claims would take too much time.   Acting on his rulings, the Illinois Commerce Commission raised water rates in Oak Run, including the availability charges.

Monica then retained my services, and we appealed from this ruling to the Illinois Court of Appeals for the Second Appellate District.   We raised a variety of issues of Illinois administrative law and also, of course, the constitutional claims of impairment of contract and due process of law that had never been considered by the ICC because Monica was not allowed to place the contracts in evidence.

The appellate court ruled against us, and accepted the argument that the ALJ had discretion to rule that it was too late to hear more evidence.  But, amazingly, the court also held that Monica had not even raised the constitutional claims before the ICC.  In a petition for rehearing, we pointed out with infinite specificity the exact locations in the record where she raised these claims. She had even gone so far as to quote the entire text of the contract clause, word for word, in motions before the Administrative Law Judge, and all this was in the record of the administrative proceeding.

The petition for rehearing was denied.  We then petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court for leave to appeal. That, too, was denied.  The Illinois Supreme Court has the power to decide which cases it is going to hear, and it declined to hear this one without ruling on the merits one way or the other.

The only avenue left was the United States Supreme Court. 

Consider the position Monica found herself in.  She had by this time asked the Administrative Law Judge, the Illinois Commerce Commission, the appellate court, and now the Illinois Supreme Court just to read and consider the contracts that appeared to prohibit the availability charges that people had been paying for decades. She had tried to get these agencies of state government to at least consider that these charges violated the contracts and constitutional rights of thousands of Oak Run residents.  But every arm of state government had refused even to hear that claim.  The rate proceeding was like a railroad train speeding down the tracks, and it seemed that a statutory and constitutional claim brought by a single property owner was not going to be allowed to stand in its path. 

Monica decided that she wanted to petition the Supreme Court for a Writ of Certiorari, and we have done so.  We argue in the petition that the ICC and the Illinois courts have violated Monica’s rights under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.  We contend that the state has misinterpreted its own administrative law rules in order to avoid having to consider an important federal constitutional claim. 

We know that the Supreme Court receives almost 10,000 petitions every year and ends up granting full review with briefing and oral argument to fewer than 80 of them. Another 100 or so will be summarily decided without oral argument. The rest will just be denied review, without explanation.  Petitioning the Supreme Court is always a long shot, no matter who you are.  The Supreme Court has enormous discretion to hear whatever cases it chooses.  The Court does this by having law clerks read the petitions and make recommendations to the justices, and then the justices take a vote. It takes four votes out of nine for the Court to review a case.  The decision to review a case is not based on whether an error appears to have been committed, because the Supreme Court is not in the business of correcting errors by lower courts. The Supreme Court is a policy making court.  The decision to take up a case is based on the importance of the issue to four members of the Court.   We have tried to convince the Court that this case matters, because the Court should protect the rights of individuals who dare to stand up to a powerful utility company, a powerful state agency, and a powerful state court.

We know that the odds are long. But Monica is one of those rare people who are guided by a strong sense of right and wrong.  She refuses to accept injustice if there is any way to fight it.  Most of all, she stands up for other people who are victims of injustice and for whatever reason are not able to stand up for themselves.  And her view of this situation is that thousands of Oak Run owners, without their knowledge or understanding, have been gouged for decades by a regulated utility company, in violation of their contracts and their constitutional rights. 

Their homeowner association is not going to represent their interests or defend their rights. Neither are the state regulators or the Illinois courts.  So, Monica has petitioned the highest court in the nation to correct what she sees as a massive injustice. 

Reform the condominium

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/opinion/reform-the-condominium.html?_r=1

This op-ed by urban planning professor Matthew Lasner follows on the hells of a series the New York times published on a bizarre trend in the condo market:  very rich people, some with shady backgrounds, buying condos in NYC behind shell companies so nobody knows who they are.  Even the condo association doesn't know who the owners are. And the city has been subsidizing this trend because they want more rich people having their pied a terre in New York City. There's a lot more wrong with the condo model than this op-ed describes, but for a short piece it is excellent.
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"FROM New York to Miami, from South Padre Island, Tex., to Park City, Utah, the American condominium has become the hot new investment for global capital. In Manhattan, the trend is so pronounced that a whole new category of real estate has emerged around the southern edges of Central Park: supertall, ultraluxury buildings, with more than half of the homes being sold to anonymous buyers (some perhaps looking to stash ill-gotten gains) who rarely, if ever, occupy them. The city, meanwhile, struggles to produce sufficient housing for those who do live here."

State of Florida subsidizes golf course conversion

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-golf-course-brownfield-incentives-20150125-story.html

This raises some interesting benefits to being a real estate developer in these supposedly "free market" states.  Everybody is supposed to pull him/her self up by bootstraps we don't have except developers, bank, insurance companies, auto manufacturers, and on and on.  It would be one thing if these boondoggles worked, but often it turns out that projects like these are risky and would never be built if the developer couldn't offload a huge tax burden on the rest of us.  For example, as the article points out, the market for golf course developments is old people.  Then there is the environmental risk of such developments, which many buyers are reluctant to bear.  Thanks to Deborah for this link.

"The rolling fairways at DeLand Country Club are about to become shops and houses with the help of state incentives to clean up polluted areas known as brownfields. Developers say Florida's tax credits were essential in transforming the weedy course into Country Club Corners shopping center, anchored by a Publix. It's one of a handful of Florida golf courses that have been redeveloped with financial assistance from the state, and it could signal redevelopment opportunities for owners of struggling and closed courses....State-designated brownfields are a "redevelopment tool" aimed at sparking construction, jobs and green space, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. In exchange for cleaning up a site, developers get corporate-income-tax credits, which they can sell. Developers' incentives increase if they build affordable housing and health-care facilities on brownfield sites. In addition, the state allows $2,500 for every job created on the property and breaks on sales taxes for construction materials."

HOA spat gets nasty as meeting door slammed on owner | TBO.com and The Tampa Tribune

HOA spat gets nasty as meeting door slammed on owner | TBO.com and The Tampa Tribune: Walz said she was standing in the doorway of the meeting room, lodging her protest, as the board members told her to leave.

“I was at the threshold and I said, ‘If he’s allowed to stay here, then I should be allowed to stay,’” Walz said, referring to Calcagni. “Mr. Calcagni must have gotten upset about it.”

Walz said Calcagni rose from his chair and shoved the door closed. She said she shoved back, but the property manager prevailed, and the door shut on her foot. Mitchell said he witnessed the incident.

“He takes his body and pushes his full body weight against her foot,” Mitchell said.

According to the sheriff’s report, Walz told a dispatcher the door shut on her foot but she declined an offer to call emergency medical services.
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HOA managers sometimes act as bailiff in executive sessions. Extra omnes!

Association rules force veteran to remove flag pole

Association rules force veteran to remove flag pole: Foster says she reviewed the View Harbour Neighborhood Association's rules and did not see any restrictions on flags or flag poles.

"When you look through the covenants, the words "flag pole" and "flag" are not here," she said.

So she installed the flag pole in her front yard.

Board members then told her she is allowed to hang flags outsider her home--just not with a pole. They asked her to remove it and to then ask the board for written permission.
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Sometimes a flagpole is just a pole...except in Privatopia.

York County woman fed up with homeowners association - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC

York County woman fed up with homeowners association - WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC: INDIAN LAND, SC (WBTV) -

Taking on a persistent homeowners association is a battle many have faced before, but one York County mother says she's had enough.

24-year old Betty Lapore and her family bought a house in the Windsor Trace development last year. Since then, she says the homeowners association hasn't left her family alone.

"We moved here from a really bad area in Fort Bragg so our kids could have a good life. And I'm not trying to cause problems, i'm just trying to hangout with my kids all day," Lapore said.

Lapore tells WBTV it all started when she decided to paint her front door red, which instantly caught the attention of the HOA.

"They fined us 350 dollars. They threatened to put a lien on our house for that much," Lapore said.
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Yet another HOA channeling Mick Jagger: Sees a red door, wants it painted black. No unapproved colors any more; we want it painted black.

Five major forces driving down mortgage interest rates

http://blog.metrotrends.org/2015/02/major-forces-driving-mortgage-interest-rates/
And they are:
Slow growth and turmoil abroad
Upheaval in the oil market
The US economy is steadily improving
Low Treasury rates, low mortgage rates
Reduced demand for mortgages

Another Florida crumbling condo

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2945412/Squalid-crumbling-Tymber-Skan-condo-community-renters-turn-trapped-slum-lord-owners

Another example of how fragile condominium housing really is. It's not just the ticky tacky construction. It's the over reliance on the owners resources. Many associations were obviously unsustainable from the start but they were profit centers for the real estate and financial sector so they were built and sold anyway. Now the remaining owners and renters are stuck in awful circumstances, others lost their shirts. 

Florida county wants to privatize practically everything

http://highlandstoday.com/hi/local-news/commissioners-following-privatization-goals-20150207/

Highlands County, Florida goes full-on privatization. 

Woman jailed for having messy yard

http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2014/10/16/woman-sent-to-jail-for-overgrown-yard/#.VEK9ehB65yg.email

Thanks to Mystery Reader for this link.  You think your HOA is bad? Try Lenoir City, TN.

Lenoir City, Tenn. (CBS ATLANTA) – An East Tennessee woman who fell behind in her yard work was sent to jail for not complying with city regulations regarding the maintenance of her overgrown lawn.