Author Archives: Beanie
TEXAS – Sugar Land woman says HOA crossed the line
Last winter, Sugar Land resident Eleanor Burgess put an 18-inch decorative Christian Cross in her front yard garden as a memorial to her 92-year-old mother who passed away in December.
Burgess, who lives in the Commonwealth subdivision in Sugar Land, received the cross as a gift from relatives in East Texas at her mother’s funeral.
She was surprised last March to receive a letter from the Commonwealth Homeowners Association (HOA), saying that the cross violated the neighborhood’s deed restrictions.
“It was infuriating that I can’t have something so meaningful and non-offensive in my front yard to honor my mother,” Burgess said. “The HOA’s power has exceeded their usefulness. I never thought I’d be breaking any kind of rule. It never entered my mind that I was being any kind of rebel. Crosses are so much a part of our family.”
As per HOA policy, Burgess was given the opportunity to state her case during an HOA board meeting in March.
“They were so defensive and ready to (oppose) me from the minute I walked in—they weren’t going to be swayed,” said Burgess, who has since reluctantly moved the cross to her backyard where the HOA has no issue with it.
State law allows people to have any type of religious item on their front door, but individual HOAs have the discretion on whether to allow what they describe as “yard art.” Read more:
TEXAS – Homeowners of ‘African Descent’ Unwelcome in Subdivision
Dodd said other homeowner used Jim Crow tactics including racial slurs. He said he bought a property and began renovations but now the place has been vandalized beyond repair.
Dodd showed a deed restriction from the Clearwater Bay Subdivision that prohibits selling property to African Americans. Read more:
NEVADA – State lawmakers should heed federal warnings on housing issues
As the Nevada Legislature wraps up its 2015 regular session, state lawmakers will be addressing several issues important to homeowners and the local housing market.
One of the most crucial, and perhaps most complex, issues deals with foreclosures by homeowner associations.
Groups representing HOAs are fighting any legislation that could threaten or eliminate the so-called super priority lien that allows HOAs to collect up to nine months of unpaid HOA assessments when a bank forecloses on a home in an HOA. Super priority liens also give HOAs the authority to foreclose on delinquent homeowners and give associations first shot at collecting proceeds from the sale of a foreclosed home, ahead of the traditional first-lien position held by the mortgage lender.
This has been a contentious legal issue in recent years that has reached as far as the Nevada Supreme Court, pitting HOAs and companies that manage them against lenders and real estate investors.
The Nevada Association of Realtors is working with state lawmakers to clarify these issues and balance the needs of homeowners, HOAs, lenders and others. Like state Sen. Scott Hammond, R-Las Vegas, we support legislation that protects the interests of Nevada homeowners living in associations without wiping out the legal interests of federal entities that help homeowners secure mortgage loans. Read more:
TEXAS – S.A. homeowner fighting back against HOA attorney fees, threats of foreclosure
A single San Antonio mother with a sick daughter said she’s been told her homeowners association intends to move forward with proceedings to foreclose on her home because of late payments in attorney’s fees.
She calls the situation wrong and she’s fighting back.
Tuesday, the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid filed a lawsuit on her behalf citing, unreasonable fees and violations of the Texas Property Code and Texas Debt Collection Act
“I never had an issue with the HOA. I thought an HOA was a good thing,” said Daniella Breach-Pedrin.
Breach-Pedrin said her feelings toward her HOA have now changed. She bought her home in far-northwest San Antonio in 2003. She said in 2008, she inadvertently fell behind by $200 in HOA dues. She paid it off but claims the HOA attorney charged her an additional $400 in collection fees at the time, which has multiplied ever since. Read more:
NATIONAL – Homeowner associations liens cause problems for buyers
FLORIDA – Miami Beach Condominium Reportedly Being Used As A Hotel
MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – They are tourists who have traveled from Tennessee on vacation in the heart of glamorous Miami Beach. Their choice of vacation digs? The Octagon Towers Residential Condominium. “It’s been great,” they told CBS4’s Chief Investigator Michele Gillen who met them outside the building at 1881 Washington Avenue. As seen in photos advertising, the apartment they were staying in, the building sits directly across from the Miami Beach Convention Center and just blocks from the beach.
Their excitement over the upcoming trip was shared on Facebook in postings that described the trip as a one-week vacation in Miami beginning Sunday April 19th and lasting through April 26th. How did they find their Octagon vacation rental? “Internet,” all three declared to Gillen. Read more:
NEVADA – Former Republican official gets prison in HOA fraud case
Longtime political strategist Steve Wark was sentenced to 366 days in federal prison Monday for his role in the massive scheme to take over and defraud Las Vegas-area homeowners associations.
Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George also ordered Wark to serve three years of supervised release after prison. He is to surrender to federal authorities on Aug. 10.
Wark, a former Nevada Republican Party chairman, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud in August 2011.
He was the first in a long line of HOA targets to strike a deal to cooperate in the largest public corruption case ever brought by federal authorities in Southern Nevada. In all, 38 people pleaded guilty in the multimillion-dollar scheme, which involved as many as 11 HOAs between 2003 and 2009, according to federal prosecutors. Read more:
NORTH CAROLINA – Wounded Marine faces foreclosure after HOA decision
By Bianca M. Strzalkowski
May 15, 2015
An injured Marine’s family say they may be facing foreclosure after their homeowners association denied their application to use a program designed for wounded warriors.
Sgt. Keith McEwen, 29, and his wife Lindsay received news that they were approved for the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) — which provides monetary relief to wounded, ill or injured service members by purchasing their home — after unsuccessfully trying to sell their home for nine months. McEwen is medically retiring from the Marine Corps because of injuries sustained while deployed on his third tour to Afghanistan and found out about the program while attached to the Wounded Warrior Battalion.
ARIZONA – Valley couple can’t afford HOA demand for house painting
A lot of us live in areas with Homeowners Associations or HOA’s. And we usually don’t deal with them, unless there’s something wrong and the HOA issues a violation. That’s what happened to Joanne Rodriguez and her husband Eddy. They received a notice that their house had to be painted. Now, as you look around the Rodriguez home, there’s no denying that it could use a coat of paint. But Joanne says they don’t the money. She and Eddy rely on Social Security. “It’s just not enough as all seniors know, to survive today,” Joanne says. There are times she says, she can’t pay all the bills every month. And part of the reason, is Eddy’s health. Read more:
CALIFORNIA – Carlsbad woman battles with HOA over drought resistant landscaping
CARLSBAD, Calif. – A Carlsbad homeowner says she had to jump through hoops to replace her grass with drought resistant landscaping, and her home owner’s association fought her every step of the way.
Tracee Buck’s yard was beautiful over a year ago, then she let it die and after thousands of dollars and a seven month fight with her homeowner’s association, she finally has the water-saving yard she wanted.
“Aggravation. It’s crazy. I want them to work with us,” said Buck. Read more:
HOA Reform Coalition 