Gov. DeSantis signs bill that bans HOA restrictions on police vehicles

Article Courtesy of ABC Action News By Heather Leigh Published February 24, 2020  CLEARWATER — Law enforcement officers in Florida are now allowed to park their work vehicles in their driveways, despite what HOA has to say about it.  On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed S.B. 476 — the law enforcement vehicles law — which protects law enforcement officers from being told by their HOA they can’t park their work vehicles in their own driveways. This comes after ABC Action News reported the story back in August of 2019. Holiday Isles Management is the company that manages the HOA. They told ABC Action News in October 2019 the company can make recommendations and consult for the HOA, but they say final decisions lie with the HOA’s board. The HOA of Eastlake Woodlands sent the Clearwater police officer and her husband a letter that threatened them with violation costs if they didn’t stop parking a marked police cruiser in their driveway. The family told the HOA they were grandfathered in by a former board president but the HOA did not recognize that letter at first. After ABC Action News reported on the story twice, the HOA changed its tune and decided to honor the grandfather letter but told the family if they sell the house, they must inform the next owners of the HOA rules. “My gut reaction was ‘this can’t be real, this flies in the face of common sense,’” Chris Sprowls, a House Rep. for District 65, previously told ABC Action News. Sprowls posted about it to Facebook and linked our article saying it’s time to clarify the law. Ed Hooper, State Senator in District 60, agreed.Read more: http://www.ccfj.net/LEGSESS20SB476Law.html

connectingvets.radio.com: A vet put a flag on his porch 7 years ago — he’s still in court for it today

FEBRUARY 21, 2020 – 1:51 PM

ELIZABETH HOWE

It’s been seven years since Air Force veteran Larry Murphree put an American flag in a flower pot on his porch — he’s still appearing in court over the issue today. “I took a small 4-inch by 6-inch flag and put it in my flower pot on the front porch. I was in a condo complex, but we could do that no problem,” Murphree said. At least he thought he could.

“I got a violation letter from the HOA that the American flag was an unauthorized object. And I lost it.”The homeowner’s association (HOA) fined him $100 each day the flag was in the pot, which eventually ran up $1,000 in fees. So, Murphree enlisted the help of lawyer Gust Sarris, who filed a lawsuit in federal court. Sarris says the HOA settled in 2012 and the two sides agreed that the flag could fly. But the fight didn’t end there.

“Two weeks later they implemented new rules about where you could put a flag and what you could put in a flower pot. Obviously, my flag didn’t make the cut,” Murphree said. “They decided they weren’t going to regulate flags, but flowerpots,” Sarris said. “Some people call this the ‘Larry Law.’” For years, the violation notices have continued — and the HOA has expanded the fight beyond just the flag. Once the HOA sent a violation because the lights wrapped around his outside tree were solar-powered when the HOA requires them to be battery-operated. Another time, they complained that the lights on his bushes were too bright, and cited Murphree once again because his car was not parked directly in front of his garage door. “It’s been seven years. It’s gone on and on. We’ve been to county court, state court, circuit court, federal court. It’s a cash cow for the law firm. But there’s no end to it,” Murphree said.   Read more:
https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/veteran-fighting-hoa-over-his-porch-flag-still-in-court

WFTV9:  Elderly blind man says homeowner’s association fined him $2,020 for weeds in his yard

February 14, 2020

Jose Torres is 79 years old and legally blind. He faced $2,200 in homeowner association fines for weeds.“I don’t understand what they’re doing. I don’t understand,” Jose Torres said.

Jose Torres relies on friends to read his mail. He found out last May that the Chickasaw Trails Homeowners Association fined him $184 because his yard had more weeds than grass. His friend, Dorothy Torres, sent the HOA a letter last May after reading the notice, explaining his disability and asking the HOA to include her on all correspondence.

She said the association attorney ignored her.

“You didn’t even make an attempt to respond to the letter and say we’re not authorized to talk to you,” Dorothy Torres said.

Eight months later, Dorothy Torres said the association’s attorney went to court claiming Jose Torres refused to mediate rules violations and he faced fines and legal fees totaling more than $2,200.

“I find that unethical, unprofessional and an abuse of seniors,” Dorothy Torres said.

The family contacted Action 9’s Todd Ulrich.  Read more:

https://www.wftv.com/news/action9/elderly-blind-man-says-homeowners-association-ran-up-2000-fines/UCUD6LBKLZAQFJWNQ7Y6SHRC5I/

CCFJ.Net:  $400K reportedly embezzled from PCB condominium

Article Courtesy of  My Panhandle By Karla Tucker   Published February 4, 2020

  PANAMA CITY BEACH — A Panama City Beach woman is facing multiple charges after deputies say she embezzled more than $400,000 dollars from a Horizon South Condominiums Homeowners Association.

Cynthia Hayes, 55, reportedly stole the money while working as a bookkeeper for the resort. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office started its investigation at the beginning of 2019 after reports from several homeowner association members, deputies say. News 13 spoke with Sergeant Stephen Rhinehart on Friday morning about the investigation he says that dates back to 2012 or 2013. He says Hayes was terminated from her position after the investigation started. “From that point on, they had a forensic audit conducted on all their accounts because the homeowners association is a whole giant entity and then it’s got a lot of small entities inside of so they had to go through everything throughout the entire HOA bank accounts to figure out exactly what was going on,” Rhinehart said. Rhinehart says the search had to be extra thorough due to the level of access Hayes had.“She was the bookkeeper and had access to all the funds, dozens of bank accounts involved so she had taken out credit cards, she had taken out loans, moved money from accounts in people’s names.”While the amount of money reportedly stolen was significant, Rhinehart says Hayes used it for day to day expenses.  Read more:

http://www.ccfj.net/HOAFL$400KEmb.html

NBCMiami.com: Manager Stole Hundreds of Thousands from Sunny Isles Beach Condos:  Cops

January 28, 2020  

A property manager for two Sunny Isles Beach condominiums is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from condo boards that was spent on gambling at a local casino, authorities said.Georgina Pineda, 56, was arrested back in November on a first-degree grand theft charge, and was arrested again on Monday on a similar charge, according to jail records and arrest reports.According to the reports, Pineda had worked as the property manager at the Eden Roc Condominium on N. Bay Road, as well as a condo association manager at the King David Condo on Atlantic Boulevard.

While working at the Eden Roc, Pineda had access to the condo’s four bank accounts. The condo board president said he had continually requested a full accounting of board’s operating funds and Pineda made excuses until he went to the bank himself and discovered that hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds had been depleted, the reports said.When the King David did a financial audit of their accounts, it was discovered that between $140,000 and $400,000 in condo funds had been embezzled by Pineda using electronic fund transfers and debit card withdrawals at Miccosukee Gaming and Resort, the reports said.Pineda even transferred bank funds from an Eden Roc account into the King David’s account “and then emptied those accounts as part of the scheme,” the reports said.Pineda remained held on $20,000 bond Tuesday, jail records showed. Attorney information wasn’t available.  Read:

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/manager-stole-hundreds-of-thousands-from-sunny-isles-beach-condos-cops/2182987/

ABC ACTION NEWS: HOA orders teen out of grandmother’s 55 and over community after both his parents die

 January 16, 2020

Prescott, Arizona (WPVI) — A story is gaining a lot of reaction in Arizona after a homeowners association forced a family to move because of who was living there.

Melodie Passmore lives in a 55 and over community in Prescott, Arizona where the rules dictate no children are allowed to reside.

When Melodie’s 15-year-old grandson moved in with them, she knew it was a violation, but she was still shocked to get a letter from the HOA ordering him or them to move out.

Her grandson Collin had been tragically orphaned by the sudden death of both of his parents.

The HOA told them it had to balance the interests of all parties not just the Passmores.

Although, after the story went viral, the HOA changed its tune.

They are now saying they are working with the family to resolve the living situation.  Read:

https://6abc.com/5856444/

KTNV-13:  Homeowner beats HOA in fight that went to Nevada Supreme Court

By: Darcy Spears

January 13, 2020

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Alongside the American flag and patriotic bunting, a banner unfurls across the roof-line of Jonathan Friedrich’s home.

“Somebody finally has to stand up against these HOAs,” said Friedrich’s attorney Joel Hansen. “He fought hard for what was right. For truth, justice and the American way!”

The banner proclaiming the Rancho Bel Air HOA is guilty of fraud proves Friedrich is not one to shy away from a fight.

Tune in to 13 Action News at 11 p.m. on Jan. 13 for part 2 of the investigation. Darcy Spears’ looks into on the cost of fighting for your rights.

“When you’re right, you’re right!” said Friedrich. “It’s that simple.”In addition to the banner, there are a couple of other new residents in Friedrich’s front yard: large metal birds painted pink. The pink flamingo is an iconic anti-HOA symbol.  Read more:
https://www.ktnv.com/13-investigates/homeowner-beats-hoa-in-fight-that-went-to-nevada-supreme-court

Aspen couple to get $50K after dog housing lawsuit 

By THE SENTINEL

January 10, 2020

ASPEN |  The U.S. attorney’s office has ordered an Aspen-area homeowner’s association to pay $50,000 to a couple after they violated the Fair Housing Act by failing to allow a woman to stay in the complex with her emotional support dog.

A judge approved a consent order resolving the dispute between Creekside Condominium Homeowner’s Association and Creekside owner Jason Neilson and his partner Kirsten Swick, The Aspen Times reports.

The argument was over whether Swick’s emotional support dog met the association’s criteria for reasonable accommodation against its no-dogs policy, officials said.

The order also requires the association to also participate in Fair Housing Act training and adopt new accommodation and animal assistance policies and guidelines, court officials said.  Read more:

Aspen couple to get $50K after dog housing lawsuit

SC homeowners have fallen victim to companies exploiting HOA foreclosure loophole

By Jessica Holdman 

Jan 3, 2020 

COLUMBIA — His family didn’t know it at the time, but in 2013 John Wynne was suffering from the early stages of dementia. He had always been the one who paid the bills, but he started to miss a payment here and there, his wife, Kay Wynne, said.  One of those bills was for their homeowners association.

The Wynnes said they paid Caroline Springs Homeowners’ Association $1,200 and thought they were caught up. Then a notice showed up posted on their door saying their home had been foreclosed on and sold at auction.  “Everything we have really is in our home,” Kay Wynne said. They were panicked.

A company called State Street Holdings bought their home, worth $165,000, for about $3,100 in December 2014. State Street took ownership of the home, but not the mortgage.  The Wynnes hired an attorney to fight their case in 2015 and the judge overturned the sale, but they learned others in South Carolina had lost their homes for failing to pay HOA fees.

South Carolina does not require including mortgage companies in lawsuits when homeowners associations foreclose over unpaid fees. Most states allow for HOA foreclosures, a process which takes 9 months to a year on average. South Carolina does not, but have some statute governing mortgage foreclosures said Dawn Bauman of the Community Association Institute. This leaves it to the courts’ discretion.

State Street is among a few real estate companies that have taken advantage of this loophole to turn a quick profit over the past decade, Brian Boger, a Columbia attorney who specializes in fighting HOA foreclosures, said.  The buyers of HOA foreclosed homes can make money off their bargain auction purchases by renting the home — either to new tenants or to the existing homeowners — or selling the houses back to the original homeowners for thousands more than the auction price.

These HOA foreclosures happen without the knowledge of the banks, since auction buyers don’t take over the mortgage, said Boger, who has represented a number of homeowners in these cases, including the Wynnes. This leaves now-former homeowners with a tough choice: continue paying for a house they no longer own or stop paying the mortgage and risk having their credit destroyed.

“I get the sense from owners that perhaps they do not fully understand HOA workings and ability to foreclose after they purchase their home,” said Lexington County Master-in-Equity James Spence. “Perhaps greater education in this area would be helpful.”

Legislation has been introduced in the Statehouse for this coming session that would prevent foreclosures by HOAs on homes that are primary residences. And a recent state Supreme Court ruling also could slow the practice by asking judges to consider the amount of equity in a home when determining the fairness of an auction sale price.

“People are losing their homes over less than $1,000,” Boger said.

In the case that reached the state’s high court, Devery and Tina Hale’s $128,000 home of more than 20 years in Irmo was sold for $3,000 at auction over what started as $250 in unpaid HOA fees.  Read more:https://www.postandcourier.com/business/sc-homeowners-have-fallen-victim-to-companies-exploiting-hoa-foreclosure/article_becc8984-227b-11ea-acd7-7ba9ed8c5697.html

THEDENVERCHANNEL.COM:  Disabled woman fights in court to keep her home after foreclosure sale

By Adi Guajardo

December 19, 2019

LOVELAND, Colo. – A disabled woman from Loveland fought in court to keep her home after her homeowner’s association foreclosed on it when her dues payments stopped.

Since Contact7 first reported the story, Damien Bielli, with Windsong HOA, confirmed they reached an agreement with Martha Hummel to repay the two years’ worth of dues she owned. But instead of a closed case in court on Thursday, the attorney for C&C Investments, Craig Stirn, the company that bought the home, argued to uphold the house sale. The company purchased the house for $19,000.

Hummel says her home is worth more than $350,000. “They stole my house from me,” Hummel said.

Hummel says her HOA payments were automatically withdrawn, but they stopped when the management company changed. She says she didn’t realize her payments stopped going through until she received an eviction notice.  Read more: https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/contact7/disabled-woman-fights-in-court-to-keep-her-home-after-foreclosure-sale