Nevada is just one of a number of states that is experiencing losses in property sale values as a result of homeowner association foreclosures, according to a recent report by the Nevada Association of Realtors. Statutes in Nevada allow HOAs to foreclose on homeowners for not paying their association dues.

HOA liens are given the higher priority over first mortgage holders, so their debt is first, paid off and then the lender and homeowner are taken out of the equation. As a result, many people are able to get foreclosed homes at auction for a fraction of the price by paying back HOA dues compared to what homes were initially worth. Further, all remaining debt is erased, and borrowers can be stuck paying back mortgages for houses they no longer possess.

Homeowners association foreclosures are a controversial subject in Nevada. According to a report by the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, 77 percent of Nevada residents surveyed oppose HOAs ability to foreclose on homes because of unpaid dues. Eighty-two percent believe that debt to lenders should be paid before debt to HOAs. Read more:

A report from the Nevada Association of REALTORS (NVAR) found that foreclosures by local homeowner associations have reduced property values in the state’s two most populated counties by more than $1 billion.

This was just one of the findings in a report released this week by NVAR about issues surrounding foreclosures by homeowner associations and so-called super priority lien laws that allow HOAs to foreclose on homes in a way that places a higher priority on repaying late HOA fees than repaying the mortgage when these homes are sold following a foreclosure.

As part of its report, NVAR worked with the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at UNLV and with a research firm called SGS that surveyed more than 500 registered voters throughout Nevada to measure their views on HOAs, super priority liens and related issues. The report concluded that “HOA foreclosures in Nevada cause an enormous impact on home values.”  Read more:

http://www.nevadabusiness.com/2017/07/nvar-report-shows-hoa-foreclosures-reduced-nevada-property-values-by-over-1-billion/

SPRING, Texas – A family in Montgomery County is at a standstill with their neighborhood homeowner’s association. The Bender’s Landing HOA Board doesn’t like the very thing Susan Durgapersad says is keeping her family safe.
She called consumer expert Amy Davis for help when her HOA told her she needed to remove the safety fence around her swimming pool.

The fence was installed the same year the home and pool were built in 2014. Their homeowner’s insurance company told Durgapersad they are required to have a fence around their pool. But in 2016, the HOA told the family to take it down, claiming the fence is “not compliant with association guidelines.”

“It provides safety for the entire community and our family,” Durgapersad told Davis. She lives on a corner lot in the subdivision with no perimeter fence around her big yard. Without the safety gate around her pool, anyone could wander into her yard and fall in.

“The pool fence is not an eyesore. It blends into the home. It matches the home.. and there’s probably 50 fences of this same type installed in this neighborhood,” Durgapersad explained.

We sent Channel 2’s chopper Sky 2 over the subdivision to confirm that. In a matter of minutes, we spotted 7 pool fences just like Durgapersad’s.

By email, Bender’s Landing HOA president Bruce Johnson contends that corner lots like Durgapersad’s can only have a non-privacy fence constructed of iron no more than 4 feet tall.

“A privacy fence goes around the perimeter of your yard. A pool fence is totally different,” argued attorney David Kahne. Davis asked him to read Bender’s Landing’s deed restrictions and weigh in.  Kahne pointed out that the subdivision’s deed restrictions make no mention at all of pool fences. Read more:

Article Courtesy of The  Orlando Sentinel

By Beth Kassab  

Published June 26, 2017

A state arbitrator on Friday sided with a homeowner who challenged the way Poinciana’s homeowners association, one of the largest in the state, held its election of board members.

The arbitrator threw out the Association of Poinciana Villages’ results from a February election and ordered the group to hold a new election in August for the sprawling community of 26,000 homes in Osceola and Polk counties.

In question was whether Avatar, Poinciana’s developer and still a significant landowner, could cast one vote for every house it says it could potentially one day build on land it owns that is still undeveloped.

As a result of that practice, Avatar has been able to elect its representatives to the HOA board and maintain control over the 44-year-old community of more than 50,000 people, including the collection of fees, argued homeowner Martin Negron, who filed the complaint against the association.

He claimed he lost the February election because Avatar improperly cast more votes than it should have by claiming it could build hundreds of homes on land that is covered by marsh and wetlands. The association is made up of nine villages, which all conduct elections.

The order said counting so many votes for construction that may not be approved by the local county government “improperly diluted the votes of other members of all the associations.”  Read more:

One of Nevada’s leading law firms not only enabled a criminal conspiracy but also participated in it, according to District Judge Mark Denton.

Kummer Kaempfer Bonner Renshaw and Ferrario was so negligent it enabled contractor Leon Benzer to cheat a homeowners association out of $8 million.

On Tuesday, Denton ordered the law firm now known as Kaempfer Crowell to pay $3.1 million to the Vistana Condominium Owners Association. The judgment is nearly $2.4 million; the rest is interest.

“The judgment could exceed $4 million after costs and attorneys’ fees are added,” said Vistana attorney Richard Haskin, although that’s up to the judge.

Denton’s findings of negligence and breach of duty against Kummer Kaempfer were plentiful and brutal.

A Winter Park woman claims a past-due homeowners association bill for $145 has turned into an astounding demand for $77,000.

Ranya Hamza blames a debt collector that bought old association debts then, she claims, demanded homeowners pay sky-high fees.

Hamza said these are scary times and she fears a debt collector may try to take her home.

Read more (Video):

http://www.wftv.com/news/action-9/action-9-investigates-hoa-debt-collectors/542808934

Tampa Bay Sarasota – Paint your mailbox, pay a $1,000 fine or we’ll foreclose on your house.

That’s the message a Wesley Chapel homeowners’ association is sending to homeowner Joe DeVirde.

The problem is DiVerde says he didn’t get the notice, until it was too late.  Now, an address mix-up and some chipping paint could cost him his home.

“Basically what this comes down to is my mailbox,” says DiVerde.  Diverde never imagined his mailbox could cause so many problems.

“It’s pretty insane. It’s unreal,” says DiVerde.

Associa, the property management company for Seven Oaks subdivision, believed his mailbox needed painting and sent out a warning notice last August.

It would’ve been an easy fix, but the letter went to DiVerde’s ex-girlfriend, who hasn’t lived there in years.  Read more:

Article Courtesy of The  Orlando Sentinel

By Ryan Gillespie and Beth Kassab

Published June 23, 2017

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — Whether you love or hate your homeowner’s association (HOA), you know that when the dues are due, you have to pay. But how much do you know about how that money gets spent?

A group of homeowners in Douglasville, Ga. said they’ve been trying for years to answer that question. They said that for years their dues have been going up with little explanation why.  They asked to see their bank statements and receipts for spending but the board, through its attorney, repeatedly said no.

Four years ago, Iva Wilmott said he was hired by HOA treasurer Kevin Sanders to fix a fence for the neighborhood and paint some of Sander’s personal furniture.  He said both jobs were paid with one check from the HOA account.

 “I didn’t feel too good about it but he paid me, so I said okay,” said Wilmott.

Wilmott reported it to a friend he knew in the neighborhood but didn’t tell law enforcement.  When concerns started to grow on other issues, the story of the “check” surfaced.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office agreed to look into it and subpoenaed 5 years of bank records to help in the case.  In his interview, Sanders told Detective Skinner he paid cash for the personal projects and adamantly denied doing anything wrong.

In the recorded interview, you can hear Skinner ask, “Has there ever been any time, any occasion with the HOA account, where you have siphoned money to, let’s say, $5 or more off the account?”  Sanders responds, “No.”  “No circumstances whatsoever?” the detective asks again.  Sanders repeats his answer, “No.”

Sanders goes on to tell the detective why he believes the allegation was made.  He claimed a homeowner, Sherry Adams, was disgruntled over her HOA dues and wanted to get him removed from the board, believing that would absolve her responsibility to pay.  Read more:

A man has been arrested on suspicion of shooting his homeowners association president at a northwest valley condominium complex.

Eric Leroy, 33, shot at Timothy Rose three times on June 14 in the complex on the 8400 block of Boseck Drive, grazing him on the right side of his face and hitting his left calf, an arrest report shows.

Leroy was upset that Rose had kept possession of his property because of a debt he owed, and had previously threatened to shoot him, the report said.

Read more: