Category Archives: Uncategorized
FLORIDA – Tampa firm probed by Attorney General Pam Bondi accused of fake bidding in foreclosure auctions
At the online public auction, someone bid on the property but failed to pay. Another auction was scheduled, and again the high bidder defaulted. That happened three more times, for a total of five invalid sales in eight months.
The repeated delays hurt the association, which was unable to collect thousands of dollars in fees needed for maintenance and repairs. But they were a boon to HOA Problem Solutions, a Tampa company that had been renting out the house for the whole time that foreclosure proceedings dragged on.
Now, the company is accused of causing the delays itself.
HOA Problem Solutions “is intentionally impeding the judicial process by submitting false bids” in order to scuttle foreclosure sales and keep collecting rent on the house, Monique Parker, an attorney for Quail Ridge Villas, alleged in a lawsuit filed in Pasco circuit court. Read more:
SOUTH DAKOTA – The HOAX will be screening on Friday, May 6
The HOAX will be screening at the Black Hills Film Festival in Rapid City, SD:
Friday, May 6 – Journey Museum – 10 am
USA, Feature Documentary, 76 min
Produced & Directed by Rodney Gray
Touted as a protection of homeowner properties, the Homeowners Association (HOA) industry is actually riddled with abuse of power and lack of regulation, which is independently examined in this film.
2016 Black Hills Film Festival Schedule:
http://www.blackhillsfilmfestival.org/#!2016-black-hills-film-festival/p6ehi
MASSACHUSETTS – Leominster condo owners stuck with big debt as ex-association president, son charged in theft
LEOMINSTER — Last summer, Joe Butkiewicz was doing what he had been doing monthly since he and his wife, Kim, bought a condo at Pickwick Manor in 2007: paying their monthly condominium fees on time.
But this time, condominium manager Judith Remy told Joe Butkiewicz that she would need a $1,000 assessment from each owner because there were insufficient funds to pay National Grid for utilities.
This got the wheels turning for those closest to Remy.
Hector Bedard, an association trustees, said the request drove him to investigate the association’s finances. What he found prompted him and other owners to alert authorities.
Arthur Conrad — who has since become condo manager — and condo trustees Ronald Carroll and Bedard met with officers in August to discuss multiple bank statements from Leominster Credit Union showing a man they identified as Raymond Remy, Judith’s son, allegedly cashing fraudulent checks for years, amounting to more than $100,000, according to a police report. Read more:
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_29748574/bitter-pill-swallow
FLORIDA – What happens when resident vs. homeowners association? Ave Maria homeowner finds out
A handful of neighbors start rolling up Wilson Ospina’s driveway each day in the late afternoon, after work lets out.
Some arrive by foot, others by minivan. Silently they get to work, pulling out rowing machines from Ospina’s two car garage — a garage that’s been turned into the dream weight room of the soft-spoken retired Navy corpsman, neatly organized with kettle bells, free weights, pullup bars and charts.
For the last three months Ospina has been organizing intense one-hour workouts out of his garage for his neighbors in Maple Ridge, one of the largest and fastest growing communities in Ave Maria.
Then the homeowners association told him to stop. Read more:
TEXAS – Garden Oaks homeowners group challenged in state court
A judge will decide the fate of the group that enforces deed restrictions in Garden Oaks and the power it holds over residents there, after a trial that began with a dispute over the size of a garage.
CALIFORNIA – HOA HOMEFRONT: How to conduct disciplinary hearings
THE PRESS ENTERPRISE: HOA HOMEFRONT: How to conduct disciplinary meetings
- Be reasonable. Neighborly conduct is the goal and the board should be reasonable as it enforces the governing documents.
By Kelly G. Richardson -(Kelly G. Richardson is a member of the College of Community Association Lawyers.)
April 5, 2016
In a perfect world, disciplinary hearings would be unnecessary because all members would be focused on being good neighbors to each other. However, disciplinary hearings are occasionally necessary and if disorganized can be a negative experience for both the board and homeowner. Consider these suggestions toward improved disciplinary and reimbursement hearings.
- Give fair notice. Civil Code 5855(b) requires that disciplinary or reimbursement hearing notices contain at least the “date, time and place of the meeting, the nature of the alleged violation … or … the damage to the common area and facilities for which a monetary charge may be imposed and a statement that the member has a right to attend and may address the board …” Many associations do not inform the member of the alleged violation. How can the member meaningfully discuss the issue with the board without knowing in advance what it is?
- Have a published schedule of fines. Civil Code 5850(a) requires associations have a list of fines and that the list be part of the Annual Policy Statement Packet (see Civil 5310). All too often, associations lack a written fine schedule, which jeopardizes its ability to impose fines and is also unfair to members. Read more:
http://www.pe.com/articles/member-798969-board-hearings.html
ARIZONA – HOA Is Easier Target
Here’s a an auditor from Pima County, Arizona who apparently opted to steal from the HOA rather than the taxpayers. Joshua Bonillas was the HOA bookkeeper for Presidio Villas 2. His day job as county auditor paid him $60,000 per year. He admits to stealing $45,000 from his neighbors via the HOA bank account by forging the treasurer’s signature on the checks.
I have a few questions for him. He’s claiming he stole the money because of his ill children. Did he not have health insurance for him and his family through his county job? If so, how did he end up needing $45,000 to pay medical bills? Why didn’t he put that money on a credit card? Or take a second mortgage on his house? Or set up a GoFundMe account? And why didn’t he steal from the taxpayers instead of his neighbors?
Here’s my opinion of why he chose the HOA for his piggy bank. I’m one who believes if a person will steal one thing they will steal anything. In this case, I don’t think he thought he’d ever get caught stealing from the HOA. As a county auditor, he knew if he stole from the county funds his risks for getting caught and going to jail were much greater. So, he opted to steal where his could play the “my kids were sick” card on his neighbors so as to pull their sympathetic heartstrings and appease them with an “I’m sorry” and walk away with a promise to repay the HOA. Repay when, Mr. Bonillas? In this lifetime or your next? We all know HOAs rarely recover anything when a thief steals the cash. It’s always chalked up to the “we should have known better” or “it was our fault” for not having two signatures required on the checks. In this case, he was not only stealing the money he was forging the signature. I just wonder if the $45,000 was the total he stole or if there’s more to the story? Read more:
MASSACHUSETTS – Former condo manager ordered to pay restitution, placed on probation
LOWELL — A Dracut man admitted on Tuesday he stole more than $95,000 from the condo association of the Parkview Place Condominium Complex in Lowell to feed a gambling addiction.
An apologetic Nicanor F. Bada Jr., 42, of 456 Mammoth Road, Apt. 10, admitted in Lowell District Court to sufficient facts to one count of an association officer embezzling more than $250.
“I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done,” Bada said in court. Read more:
http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_29698896/former-condo-manager-ordered-pay-restitution-placed-probation#ixzz44Qw0Lzln
COLORADO – Homeowner says Colorado Springs house party got out of hand before gunfire
The owner of a home involved in a double shooting Sunday morning said it started because they were closing down a house party.
Frederick Ammon said they started telling people to leave around 1:30 a.m. after the party got out of hand. They’d only invited a few friends using Facebook. But when people they didn’t know started showing up at 3150 Harpy Grove they discovered their party page had been shared publicly.
At one point, Ammon said he believed about 200 people were crammed into his 1,013 square-foot townhouse and garage. “We couldn’t control the party anymore. We were trying to get everybody to leave,” Ammon said. “You couldn’t walk through the garage, kitchen or living room.”
Amid shouts for people to leave, someone hit his friend in the head with a frying pan, Ammon said. Then a man pulled out a gun, aimed it at Ammon and his friend and fired. The bullet missed the two but shattered part of the front window behind them, Ammon said.
That’s when the shooter started “unloading,” Ammon said.
Four shots were fired in the living room and another five in the garage area, Ammon said. Read more:
WASHINGTON – Grant PUD accused of violating homeowner’s association rules for property use
QUINCY – The Sunland Estates Homeowner’s Association near Crescent Bar doesn’t want the public using two properties for public recreation.
The association filed a civil lawsuit against Grant PUD in Grant County Superior Court.
The association’s attorneys are claiming the utility violated a contract when they added two pieces of property to plans for public recreation.
The lawsuit involves two properties in the utility’s public recreation plans. Lot 51 is a piece of property owned by the utility, the other is the Sunland Community Park, which is owned by the homeowners association.
The utility purchased lot 51 in July 2001, and reportedly hasn’t used it until 2015, according to the complaint.
“In 2015, (the PUD) identified lot 51 as a public access point from which members of the public could access (PUD) property adjacent to the Wanapum pool of the Columbia River,” according to the plaintiff’s complaint. “(PUD) intends to develop certain project-related recreational uses in the vicinity of the Sunland Estates development.” Read more:
HOA Reform Coalition 