By Priyanka Dayal McCluskey

July 23, 2014

State legislators are being urged to toughen a law governing condominium boards so condo owners will have better access to basic financial information. Current rules require condo associations to make insurance policies, balance sheets, and other documents available to homeowners, but there are no penalties for failing to comply. Condo owners often need their associations’ financial information to refinance or put their homes up for sale. Before approving a refinancing, a lender generally wants to know how many units are vacant and how many are rented, along with other details, said Bruce Spitzer, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bankers Association.

A bill that has already passed in the Senate would require associations to pay legal expenses if a condo owner has to go to court to obtain documents. But with a little over a week remaining until the end of the legislative session, the measure is stalled in a House committee.  Read more:

Chicago – – A condominium unit owner in the Edgewater community north of downtown Chicago is suing his condo association and its former president over claims he and his family were wrongly evicted. Viorel Berar is seeking $1 million. His lawsuit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court on July 8. Berar owned a unit at Thorndale Beach North on Sheridan Road for more than 20 years. During that time, he says Sigrid Ingold, president of the condo association for nearly 20 years, harassed him and fined him unfairly for violations he did not commit.For five years, Ingold was also the building’s property manager, a part-time job that paid $43,000 per year. She claimed to have once been the director of Roycemore School, a private school in Evanston, but the school denies this. When he could not pay the fines, the association sued Berar on September 28, 2010, for $5,846, and won. He was evicted on April 4, 2013.  Read more:

By Kate Briquelet

July 20, 2014

By Joseph Hosey

June 25, 2014

A New Lenox man was jailed Wednesday for allegedly embezzling more than $150,000 from the Windermere West Homeowner’s Association.Bob Dorosz, 42, was being held at the Will County jail in lieu of $500,000 bond. Dorosz’s listed address is 1015 Southgate Road in Windermere West but county jail records say he was homeless at the time of his arrest.

The website Entity Source listed Dorosz as the president of Windermere West III Condominium Association.

Dorosz started stealing the money in January 2007, according to county records. A criminal complaint was filed against him in March, according to court records, and a grand jury indicted him in May.  Read:

By Darcy Spears

July 15, 2014

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) — A homeowner left high and dry with no water wonders why she’s footing a big bill she said her homeowners association should pay. “Hall of Shame?” said homeowner Tony Stone. “This is despicable. You should have the all stars of the Hall of Shame for this HOA. Just absolutely despicable behavior.” “It’s just really, really frustrating,” added homeowner Jennie Thomas. Ignoring problems and shirking responsibility. That’s how neighbors in Forest Hills describe their HOA. The problem in this east valley neighborhood near Flamingo and Sandhill starts at ground level, and goes deeper.

“It’s just awful. You can see the roadway sinking. There’s huge potholes,” said Jennie. She had an, “Oh no, here we go again,” moment last month. “I went to take a shower and I had no water and I said, ‘Oh no.’ So I sent my my boyfriend down there. I said there’s probably a flood down at the end of the street. And sure enough, he came down here and there was a flood.”
The same thing happened in January when she went without water for two weeks. It was four days more in June.
“The HOA refuses to take responsibility for this roadway. This roadway has caused my pipe to burst on two occasions.” Read more:

By Alex Mahadevan

July 16, 2014

By David Migoya

July 16, 2014

Colorado’s largest foreclosure law firms — The Castle Law Group and Aronowitz & Mecklenburg — were slapped with massive civil lawsuits Tuesday by attorney general investigators who say the lawyers operated a multi-million-dollar scheme that defrauded tens of thousands of homeowners, banks, investors and, ultimately, taxpayers.

Principals of the Aronowitz firm, which is second to Castle in the number of foreclosures handled in Colorado, immediately agreed to pay $10 million to settle the case, and will either sell or close its Denver-based law practice in the next six months, according to copies of the settlement filed in Denver district court.

Castle, led by attorney Larry Castle, is expected to fight what is likely to be a long court battle over an investigation that lasted more than two years. Attorney general investigations into the practices of other foreclosure law firms in Colorado continue. It’s unclear how far the reverberations from the Colorado cases will be felt, but several of the illegal practices alleged in the lawsuits are widespread across the foreclosure industry nationwide.  Read more:

By Sarah Obeid

July 17, 2014

HUNTERSVILLE – Sam and Gay Fragale, residents of NorthStone Country Club, never had a problem with the neighborhood’s homeowners association until they were forced to file a lawsuit to restore their property value. After almost five years of going back and forth with the HOA, the Fragales now have the view of the golf course they have wanted since moving into the neighborhood in 2003. “We chose our house and NorthStone because we are golfers and loved the view of the 10th fairway and hole,” Gay Fragale said. The backyards of the Fragales and their neighbors, the Hutchinsons, are directly on the NorthStone golf course. According to the Fragales, the Hutchinsons put up a screen of trees on their common property line at the end of 2005 or early 2006, which grew to completely obstruct the Fragales’ view of the golf course.

Based on the NorthStone HOA Architectural Control Committee Design Guide, “Golf course lots shall have an unobstructed view of the golf course along the side yards as viewed from the street. The covenant also states a setback line of 30-feet from the rear lot line of the golf course lots for all improvements to the lot shall be established for the purpose of creating a natural viewing (passageway).” The Hutchinsons received approval to plant some of the trees, but the approval of the trees they requested did not match what they actually planted along the property line, Gay Fragale said. “The Hutchinsons got approval to plant shrubs and bushes, but they planted trees that were 25-feet tall. They put up Leyland Cypress trees that are not appropriate for this type of community based on its location between homes on the property line,” Sam Fragale said. “It blocked our view, and we became aware of how much it devalued our property.”  Read more:

By Alan Pyke

July 10, 2014

San Francisco – When she was 97, Mary Phillips answered the door of the San Francisco apartment where she’s lived for 50 years only to be served with eviction papers. Now Phillips is 98 and still fighting Urban Green Investments’ attempt to kick her out of her home, and she’s getting some help from her community.

A group of “several dozen” protestors rallied outside Urban Green Investments’ headquarters on Wednesday, according to KRON-4 in San Francisco, to protest the company’s evictions of Phillips and other longstanding tenants. “I’ve been very happy here and I’ve always paid my rent,” Phillips told the station. “They’re going to have to take me out of here feet first.”  Read more: