Category Archives: Uncategorized
OHIO – Homeowners to shoulder costs of sewer work
LAGRANGE TWP. — When a new sewer system is installed in the Pheasant Run housing development over the next year, homeowners there will be responsible for helping to pay off the cost of the project, with most shouldering an assessment of $14,679.48.
That bill won’t come due immediately, Lorain County Administrator Jim Cordes said, but will instead be put on property tax bills for the next 20 to 30 years. Exactly how long hasn’t been decided yet.
If the length of time to pay back the loan is 20 years, it will mean homeowners are paying $733.97 per year. If the term is 30 years, the cost would drop to $489.32 annually. Read more:
FLORIDA – Riverview neighbors upset about abandoned home owned by HOA
RIVERVIEW, Fla. – Neighbors in a Riverview neighborhood are raising major concerns about an abandoned home that’s owned by their homeowner’s association.
Neighbors say the property at 13522 Fladgate Mark Drive has been vacant for years, but 4 months ago the South Fork of Hillsborough County III HOA purchased the home, according to the property appraiser’s website.
The outside of the home has several broken windows, mildew and other stains on the walls, and a dead and weed infested lawn among other problems.
The inside of the home is covered in splattered food, feces and clothes. Vandals have destroyed many rooms. One wall was almost completely bashed in. Read more:
FLORIDA – Riverview couple may get reprieve from foreclosure over $150 association fee
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CALIFORNIA – Bank of America fined $45 million for ‘brazen’ and ‘heartless’ actions
Bank of America will face a $45 million fine for its alleged treatment of a California couple, which a bankruptcy judge called both “brazen” and “heartless.”
Though the bank has not yet appealed the decision, spokesman Rick Simon said on Tuesday that the decision is “unprecedented and unsupported,” though he does admit that “regrettably, the customers had a challenging experience,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Read more:
Florida – Condo feud boils over as neighbors sic city on neighbors
Since September, the city has received almost 60 anonymous code complaints against individual unit owners accused of doing remodeling work without a permit. The 40-year-old, 21-story structure at 2841 N. Ocean Blvd. has 174 units.
“In my time as mayor, it is the most complaints I’ve seen in any one building, and the highest percentage of complaints,” Mayor Jack Seiler said. “There’s a lot of people in the building that are upset at other people, and they’re turning them all in.”
So far, city code enforcers have brought cases against four units and are requiring their owners to get the work properly inspected and permitted. Read more:
FLORIDA – Homeowners’ association treasurer gets 3 years for stealing $122,779
Article Courtesy of The Ledger
By Suzie Schottelkotte
Published March 21, 2017
BARTOW — The 60-year-old former treasurer of Cimarron Homeowners Association near Medulla was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for stealing $122,779 from the group over an 11-year span.
Martha Beard, who still lives in the 72-home community, told Circuit Judge Wayne Durden during Friday’s hearing that she had intended to pay the money back, but the debt became too great.“This was a major error in judgment on my part,” she said, “and I take full responsibility.”
Her son, 33-year-old Matthew Beard, a freelance sound technician for entertainment venues, was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for his role in the theft. His mother allowed him to use the association’s debit card, as well, piling up about $20,000 of the total that was taken.
They did repay $12,622 in four deposits before the theft was discovered. Including that money, they stole a total $135,400.
Both apologized to homeowners in the courtroom Friday, and Durden said he believed their remorse to be sincere. He also said he recognized the association’s need to get the $122,779 back through restitution.
But that need paled, he said, when balanced against the ongoing theft.
“I don’t think the need for restitution outweighs the need for punishment,” he said.
Daniel Santangelo, president of Cimarron Homeowners Association, said he agreed with Durden’s assessment.
“There are a lot of angry people,” he said. Read more:
ILLINOIS – Are hundreds of millions of dollars of condo and homeowners association money – on deposit but not FDIC insured – at risk?
20-Mar-17 – Condominium and homeowners associations (HOAs) currently have an estimated $50 billion on deposit nationwide in banks to stash operating account and reserve funds, experts say.
Is it possible that hundreds of millions of dollars on deposit by the estimated 50,000 condo associations and HOAs in Illinois could be at risk if these accounts are not protected by Uncle Sam – the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation?
“My homeowners association bank accounts are titled in the name of the management company and my HOA,” noted John Sellers, a banker, consumer advocate, and HOA resident. “I can’t figure out if the management company is commingling the money with other accounts. If my HOA board of directors are not signers on the bank account, is the money really ours?”
A concerned homeowner recently wrote to the FDIC and asked for clarification. Read more:
FLORIDA – Pasco panel okays golf course conversion in Wesley Chapel
Article Courtesy of The Tampa Bay Times
By C.T.Bowen
Published March 17, 2017
DADE CITY — The mulligan requested by the owner of Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club proved to be successful.
As golf’s popularity wanes, here’s the new look of one Tampa Bay golf course: luxury apartments
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FLORIDA – Miami-Dade lawmakers want criminal penalties for fraud and abuse by condo directors
Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By Brenda Medina and Erika Carrillo
Published March 13, 2017
After decades of struggling against a condo regulatory system that experts say perpetuates impunity and makes it easy to commit fraud, thousands of condominium owners in Florida may finally see substantial changes in state laws
The plan classifies falsification of documents, an offense that now carries no legal consequences, as a third degree felony and sets prison terms. It also criminalizes electoral fraud, such as the falsification of signatures on ballots for condo boards of directors, and refusing access to administrative records with the intent to cover up crimes. Read more:
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FLORIDA – Riverview family’s loss in court shows how HOA lawyers pile on fees
Article Courtesy of The Tampa Bay Times
By D’Ann Lawrence White
Published March 7, 2017
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Joelle Ann Ober has upheld the sale of the Riverview home where Tina and Luis Lopez have lived 12 years and raised their two children. The home was sold to an investor at a public auction for $19,000 and a new certificate of title has been issued.
Tina Lopez shared the bad news with her 16-year-old son, Anthony, but hesitated to tell 8-year-old daughter, Jessica.
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HOA Reform Coalition 