Category Archives: Uncategorized
MARYLAND – Inside one Maryland community, a fight to save backyard basketball hoops
When the second notice came, which identified the hoop as “portable play equipment,” he thought it was a mistake. And when the third notice came, this time threatening a fine, he laughed and threw it away.
Residents in Howard County’s Maple Lawn subdivision, a planned community built in 2005 near Routes 29 and 32, are fighting to save basketball hoops that have adorned driveways, back alleys and front yards for years but have recently become a source of tension. Read more:
NEVADA – Mastermind behind Las Vegas HOA defraud scheme sentenced
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Article Courtesy of Channel 8 — Las Vegas Now By George Knapp and Matt Adams Published August 19, 2018 |
Former construction company owner Leon Benzer will serve 12 more years in federal prison for crimes that were first reported by the I-Team.
Las Vegas has seen a lot of political corruption cases, but never something this big.
Forty defendants were sentenced. Most of them pleaded guilty, Leon Benzer, the ringleader, was the last to be sentenced, and in the front row of the courtroom Friday were the two investigators who started the ball rolling — a Metro detective and a former FBI agent. They wanted to be there for the end. Read more:
NORTH CAROLINA – Concord HOA admits residents’ cars shouldn’t have been towed
CONCORD, N.C. – Residents at Moss Creek Townhomes in Concord couldn’t believe it when they walked outside Friday and saw their vehicles had been removed. At least eight cars were towed after the homeowners association began enforcing parking rules put in place earlier this year.
No one was given any warning about vehicles being towed in front of their homes. HOA rules require that type of notice must be given to residents.
Tracy Amica ran outside panicked after her husband called for her.
“He was going out to, actually, get a haircut and noticed that his car was gone,” she said.
Monica Smith had just gotten home and saw the tow trucks in the neighborhood. She parked and went inside her home.
“Not even five minutes later, I come outside to go get dinner with my 7-year-old and my truck is gone,” she said.
According to the HOA, the cars were towed because they didn’t have a neighborhood hanging tag. Parking at moss creek is at a premium. Vehicles are only allowed in the driveway and must have a hanging tag to park on the street.
Karen McDonald with Fort Mill-based property management company Kuester said it is not a new issue. Read more:
FLORIDA – State regulator accused of hijacking condo association he was assigned to investigate
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The state is investigating one of its own now-former regulators after accusations that he abused his power at a condominium he was assigned to investigate, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation confirms.
Eduardo Iglesias duped residents into hiring not only his own association management company, but also his wife as the condo’s attorney after he’d been called by the state to investigate a complaint at El Dorado Plaza West in Hallandale Beach, numerous unit owners and an active lawsuit allege.
“I confronted him one day and I told him you don’t really belong here,” said 88-year-old Jim Silverman, adding, “All he wanted to do was get our money.”
Iglesias was first assigned last year to investigate alleged wrongdoing at El Dorado Plaza West in May 2017, according to DBPR records, but a lawsuit filed by unit owner Robert Petrasek alleges he instead “hijacked” the community association, beginning with an alleged recommendation to the condo board that it hire Anatalia Sanchez as its attorney, which it did. What residents and the lawsuit allege they didn’t know at the time was that Sanchez was the wife of Iglesias.
Sanchez, who did not respond to a message for comment for this story, then cut a deal condo to to provide legal services for the condo beginning on Sept. 30, 2017. The deal called for her law firm to be paid $2,800 a month, not only for legal services, but also for “outsourced” management services. A request that the investigation be terminated was received by the state on Oct. 5, according to state records, but Iglesias’ involvement with the condo was apparently just beginning.
On Oct. 18, the condo board approved the new management company, Real Asset Management, owned by one Edy Quin. Residents said they didn’t know that Quin, licensed community manager, and Iglesias, state condo regulator, were one and the same person: Eduardo Quin Iglesias. Read more:
CALIFORNIA – Too many California homeowners associations are running amok. Here’s a bill to rein them in.
Forty-three years ago this month, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act to ensure every American can register to vote and cast a ballot, and to make sure that every vote is counted. Unfortunately those cherished protections have not been extended to some of the most local elections in California.
Elections for the boards of local homeowners associations touch the lives and pocketbooks of millions. But there is little oversight of these contests, and reports of abuse are frequent. That is why the Legislature should pass Senate Bill 1265 to ensure fair elections.
California has 55,000 homeowners associations, quasi-governmental entities that have rule-making authority over developments. A development’s covenants, conditions and restrictions set the ground rules for HOA elections, including minimum qualifications for candidates and voters, the voting power of each member, voting periods for elections and restrictions on who handles sealed ballots. Read more:
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article216800690.html
OREGON – Oregon homeowner’s association refuses to let bus come into neighborhood to pick up a girl with special needs: lawsuit
A child with disabilities is suing the Oregon Senate Republican leader and a Salem homeowners association board after it voted to bar a school from picking the child up.
According to The Oregonian, Sen. Jackie Winters serves on the HOA board that is allegedly violating federal and state housing laws.
Parents Erika Hernandez and Paolo Regalado are asking the court to allow the school bus into the Golf Course Estates to pick up their daughter for school and pay unspecified damages and legal fees. They also want the HOA to create a plan to provide equal access for residents with disabilities.
The parents explained that their daughter “has developmental disabilities and attends a special needs school.”
The girl’s school district developed an Individualized Education Plan for her that specifies “due to her disability and the associated concern that she may run into the street, she is to be provided transportation to school in which the school bus picks her up directly in front of her house,” the lawsuit alleges. “(Her) medical providers also found that (her) disability required that she be provided an assisted pick-up and drop-off in front of her home.” Read more:
TEXAS – Texas Supreme Court: “…the homeowner did not violate the restrictive covenants …”
Tarr v. Timberwood Park Owners Ass’n, Inc. (Opinion)
Tarr v. Timberwood Park Owners Ass’n, Inc.
The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court’s decision that a homeowner violated certain restrictive covenants that limit tracts to residential purposes and single-family residents by operating a business on a residential tract and engaging in multi-family, short-term vacation rentals.
The court of appeals concluded that the rental agreements contracted the residential-purpose limitation because the renters’ stays were merely temporary. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the unambiguous restrictive covenants did not restrict the homeowner from renting his single-family residence to occupants to use his home for a “residential purpose,” no matter how short-lived; and (2) therefore, the homeowner did not violate the restrictive covenants by entering into short-term vacation rental agreements. Read:
https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/supreme-court/2018/16-1005.html
FLORIDA – Fountain Gate Condo owners opposed to proposed $20k special assessment fee
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Article Courtesy of First Coast News Published August 2, 2018 |
The Fountain Gate Condominium community was built in the 1980s and now some of the buildings are in need of repair. The wood siding is rotting. Many of the property owners are aware of the need, but there is growing outrage over a special assessment fee to meet that need.
“They feel like we’re being railroaded in this because most of the homeowners are on a limited budget,” said Jody Kilgore, “they’re retired.”
Kilgore owns a unit, she is also a director on the Homeowners Association Board. But Kilgore is against the current proposal to impose a fee on the owners for repair.
“I think we need to listen to the people’s vote,” she said.
She acknowledged the need for the repairs but believes the unit owners are being left out of the decision-making process. Read more:
Florida – A $2,000 HOA fine for a small infraction? Is that right?
FLORIDA – Botched mold removal causes debilitating illness, lawsuit says
Article Courtesy of Local 10 News — ABC
By Amy Viteri
Published July 23, 2018
FORT LAUDERDALE – Annette Davis struggled to understand what was happening to her body.
For some time she had been living with a condition called chronic fatigue syndrome, but she was managing it with medication. Then in 2014, something changed.
“I couldn’t explain it. I just dropped so much weight. I got down to 97 pounds,” Davis said. “I started cracking teeth because I was anemic. I had my hair falling out.”
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HOA Reform Coalition 