By David Acosta

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 4, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ — A circuit court judge has ordered a Central Florida homeowners association to stop its practice of denying homeowner guests’ entry into the community of homeowner as a way of forcing payment of past due assessments.  Judge Marlene Alva issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the practice as a result of a 2011 lawsuit brought by homeowner David Acosta who lives in the gated community known as Alaqua.

 The lawsuit alleges that in 2008 the association began refusing access to his family members, friends and other guests because he was past due on association dues.  After unsuccessful attempts to get the association to work out the disputed balance and restrictions he took them to court.  Acosta says, “They ignored every one of my requests to talk, even formal written requests for mediation.”  Read more:

kxan.com:  Blind man fights with HOA over neighborhood fence

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A legally blind man is planning to sue his homeowners association after they blocked access to a bus stop. Chris Prentice is legally blind. He moved into the Berdoll Farms neighborhood because of the easy access to the bus stop. Then the HOA installed a fence last week, meaning Prentice’s walk is now about a mile long. “We wanted something close enough to the bus that I could get to and from work independently, ” Prentice said.
A year ago, the City of Austin sent a warning letter to the HOA saying the fence needed to be removed because it blocked access for disabled residents. The city also suggested a possible compromise and suggested adding a gate. So far, that hasn’t happened. “I think that’s a possible solution that could work for everyone,” said Andrew Moore with the City of Austin.  Read more: http://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/blind-man-fights-with-hoa-over-neighborhood-fence

By Michelle Rindels, Associated Press

October 30, 2013

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas homeowners association agreed to pay $65,000 to a family after refusing to allow them to park an ambulance they used for their disabled son in the driveway, federal officials said Wednesday.

The HOA admits no wrongdoing in the settlement announced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But the payment will put closure on the disability discrimination complaint that was filed last December.

“Homeowners associations must grant reasonable accommodations that enable residents to meet the needs of family members with disabilities,” Bryan Greene, HUD’s acting assistant secretary for fair housing, said in a statement. “Homeowners associations have the same responsibility as housing providers to follow fair housing laws.”  Read more:

by Drew Karedes / KHOU 11 News

 October 25, 2013

WESTON LAKES, Texas – An affluent gated community is reeling for a man and woman found battered in their driveway on Friday afternoon. A neighbor in the village of Weston Lakes called 911 around 3:45 p.m. after hearing a woman screaming. Investigators arrived to find two bodies laying in a driveway on Watersmeet Street. According to detectives, the man and woman appeared to have been killed by blunt force trauma.  Read more:

http://www.khou.com/home/FBCSO-2-found-dead-in-gated-community-in-Fulshear-229324771.html 
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by Tiffany Craig / KHOU 11 News

October 25, 2013

KATY, Texas — A battle is brewing between a family and their homeowners association (HOA) over a cross being displayed outside their home. Bryce Dehn and his fiancé Jeanette Talasek bought the house in the Morton Ranch subdivision in August and added the cross a couple of weeks later. The purpose of the cross was to dress up a fake shutter bolted to the brick that seemed out of place. “We liked the fact that it’s made out of wood,” Talasek said. “It would complement the wood and the fact that it would fit perfectly.”

The couple was feeling right at home in their Katy neighborhood until a letter arrived this week from their HOA. “They put up an exterior modification and they didn’t apply for it,” said Bill Higgins with Crest Management Co. Crest manages the Morton Ranch Homeowners Association.  Read more:

http://www.khou.com/community/HOA-wants-decorative-cross-removed-from-Katy-home-229343501.html

HoustonChronicle.com:  Advocate: Residents fight tickets for parking on own driveways

By Cindy George

October 5, 2013Driveway tickets have been an issue for Houston residents who continue to ask the Advocate why they get parking citations at home and how they can stop the sanctions. In most cases, city parking enforcement officials or Houston Police Department officers are issuing these tickets to people who have bumper-to-bumper vehicles piled two deep in a driveway. The arrangement is usually obstructing a sidewalk in the public right-of-way. But not always.  Read more:

By Paul Flahive

October 2, 2013

It seems these days everyone has a story about their Home Owners Association (HOA), a hair-pulling, eye-rolling, exasperated story. According to the Community Association Institute, an HOA/Community Association advocacy group, more than 63 million Americans live in communities managed by HOAs, which includes 3.4 million Texans.

HOAs can provide security, ensure people maintain their landscapes, and keep up shared spaces. They are mandatory depending on where a person lives and they levy fees and penalties on homeowners. Where HOAs across the country have run into controversy is in the leveling of fines and raising of fees. The industry in Texas and beyond is largely unregulated and with no state oversight in most places allegations of abuse are rampant.  Read more:

by Drew Karedes / KHOU 11 News

Posted on October 2, 2013 at 10:21 PM

NORTHWEST HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Some people in northwest Harris County believe their homeowners association is putting children in danger. The problem: a tall metal gate to the Champions Point Grove subdivision has been welded shut. Neighbors claim they weren’t notified that this would be happening right before the start of this school year. For more than ten years, kids have been using the opening at the back of their subdivision to get to three different schools.

October 1, 2013

By Bill Sheets, Herald Writer

SNOHOMISH — Dale Carlson doesn’t know if flying his 12th man flag helps the Seattle Seahawks win, but he doesn’t like to take any chances. He raised it on Sunday and the team staged an astonishing, come-from-behind 23-20 overtime win against the Houston Texans. Last season, he flew it every day while the Seahawks were in the playoffs, he said — until he was told that flying the flag without permission from his homeowners association was a violation of its rules. “I had to remove it and took it down, and the following week they lost that game,” Carlson said, referring to Seattle’s playoff game in Atlanta in January.  Read more:

By Denise Dillon, FOX 5 reporter

September 30, 2013

GRIFFIN, Ga. –  A veteran has won his battle to fly two flags outside of his home. For two months, retired Marine Captain Jim Lowe, 73, has waged a campaign to fly the American flag along with his USMC colors at his Griffin home. The homeowners association at the Sun City retirement community said that covenants only allowed one flag to be displayed outside a home.Despite public outcry, the homeowners association stood by their rules and threatened to fine Lowe $25 for each day that both flags were displayed. The HOA even warned about the possibility of placing a lien on Lowe’s home. Capt. Lowe and his wife, Sandy, had promised to move if the HOA wouldn’t bend.  Read more: