Category Archives: Uncategorized
NORTH CAROLINA – NC Woman May Be Evicted From Mobile Home Park For Flying American Flag
BREITBART.COM: NC WOMAN MAY BE EVICTED FROM MOBILE HOME PARK FOR FLYING AMERICAN FLAG
By William Bigelow
October 8, 2015
A North Carolina woman, fiercely defending her right to fly the American flag, may be expelled from a mobile home park for refusing to comply with the park’s demand to remove it.
Teresa Greene, who resides in the Cato Mobile Home Community in Belmont and flies a large American flag outside her mobile home, received a letter from the park stating:
We are contacting all homeowners with a flag attached to their home. Due to our office being approached for authorization to erect or just erecting a flag that is offensive, could be offensive, or is derogatory for the community we are requesting that all existing flags be removed and refrain from erecting another flag on the home.
At this time, we are going to allow the small garden-styled flags to remain. However, if the same situation arises with those flags, we will have to reconsider.
Greene, who also flies a smaller American flag and a breast cancer victim support flag, was incensed, asserting, “I’m just going to leave it until she comes and takes it down,” in reference to a property management employee. She added, “It’s crazy that you can’t fly an American flag here in America. Last I figured, Belmont, North Carolina, was in America.” She contacted WBTV to assert she would not leave the park. Read more:
FLORIDA – Bear-wise rules in Wingfield Reserve aim to protect people, bears
CCFJ.NET: Bear-wise rules in Wingfield Reserve aim to protect people, bears
“bear-wise” (HOA) rules (to) require residents to use lock-top bear-resistant trash containers
Article Courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel
By Stephen Hudak
Published October 7, 2015
Bears that lumber into Jay Exum’s yard in Seminole County get their picture taken.
Remote, tree-mounted cameras around his property which backs up to the Wekiwa River conservation area often capture images of bruins snooping for food, sometimes wrestling, or just passing through.
The candid footage is fun to watch, but the videos also helped Exum, a wildlife biologist and an ecological consultant, persuade his homeowners association in Wingfield Reserve to adopt “bear-wise” rules that require residents to use lock-top bear-resistant trash containers.
The pictures are “definitely awe-inspiring and it’s definitely reflective of a great feeling that I have that the bear population is doing fine,” said Exum, who recorded his comments for presentations to the HOA board, a wildlife group and for his website, http://www.exumassoc.com Read more:
FLORIDA – Sunny Isles Beach condo tower cited after explosion injures 6
CCFJ.NET: Sunny Isles Beach condo tower cited after explosion injures 6
Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald
By Carli Teproff
Published October 9, 2015
The developer and general contractor of the luxury Sunny Isles Beach condo tower where there was an explosion in the boiler room last week were cited for the improper “purging of [the] gas piping system.”
“The fuel was vented into a confined space with sources of ignition,” Sunny Isles Beach’s building inspector wrote in the citation issued to the Château Beach Residences Monday. “Precautions were not taken to safely purge gas piping.”
A complete report from the city’s building official about the explosion on the 34th-floor that injured six people, including at least one worker and two firefighters, will not be available for about a week, said Sunny Isles Beach Mayor George “Bud” Scholl. Read more:
NEVADA – Ex-strip dancer convicted in HOA scheme
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Ex-strip dancer convicted in HOA scheme
By Jeff German
September 30, 2015
A federal jury convicted a former Strip dancer Wednesday of lying about her role in the massive scheme to take over and defraud Las Vegas-area homeowners associations.
Following a three-day trial, the jury took roughly an hour to find Stephanie Markham guilty of three felony counts — making a false statement to the FBI, perjury before a federal grand jury and obstruction of justice.
U.S. District Judge James Mahan set Markham’s sentencing for Jan. 5.
Markham, 57, showed no emotion as the verdict was read, and her lawyer, Robert Langford, said afterward he was considering an appeal.
Markham, who once danced in the Lido de Paris production show at the Stardust and with famed magicians Siegfried & Roy, turned down a deal to plead guilty and took to the Internet to raise money for her defense. She collected more than $5,000 to, as she put it, “fight the big guys vigorously.”
She was the last defendant in what is regarded as the largest public corruption case federal authorities have brought in Southern Nevada. A total of 42 other defendants either pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial.
The investigation, which lasted nearly eight years, was overseen by the Justice Department’s Fraud Section in Washington. It became public in September 2008 when the FBI, Las Vegas police and IRS conducted valley-wide raids.Read more:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/ex-strip-dancer-convicted-hoa-scheme
GEORGIA – HOA dispute pits residents against neighborhood rules
GAINESVILLETIMES.COM: HOA dispute pits residents against neighborhood rules
Planners say widened driveways violate zoning standards
By Joshua Silavent
October 3, 2015
For many residential property owners, homeowners’ associations are like a tetanus shot required after stepping on a nail. They serve a purpose, but can sting nonetheless.
Hall County resident Ralph Isabella is finding this out firsthand.
HOA’s often have strict guidelines that regulate everything from the length of grass to the color of each home to the design of mailboxes.
Isabella was cleaning out his garage in the Copper Springs neighborhood in Oakwood one day recently and squeezed his three cars onto the driveway. And that fateful mistake has launched a war of words and, possibly, more.
Isabella was informed that his driveway was too big and that the HOA would have someone tear it up to reduce its size, he said.
However, Isabella insists he was given permission by the HOA about six years ago to expand it. Read more:
ILLINOIS – Is your condo board or HOA run by Captain Bligh?
LOOPNORTH.COM: Is your condo board or HOA run by Captain Bligh?
By Don DeBat
One of the myths of condo and HOA shared-community ownership is the so-called “carefree living.” There are no yards to maintain, grass to cut, snow to shovel, windows to wash, decks to stain, or roofs to repair. However, the condo lifestyle isn’t always pretty.
5-Oct-15 – Imagine you are British seaman Fletcher Christian serving under the lash of the evil Captain William Bligh while on a 1789 voyage to Tahiti in the South Pacific.
Historians and Mutiny on the Bounty buffs would view Captain Bligh as an over-bearing monster and Christian as a tragic victim.
Fast forward to 2015, when some condominium and homeowners association (HOA) residents say they feel as if Captain Bligh is reigning over their community association – imposing hefty fines for rule violations, then taking them to court to collect, and possibly foreclosing if they don’t pay up.
A new national survey by the Coalition for Community Housing Policy in the Public Interest (CHPPI) found that 77 percent of all respondents said they have been involved in a significant dispute with a condo or HOA.
“The president ran the HOA like Captain Bligh,” said an owner in an HOA community in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. “He imposed fines, doubled them, and then took me to court. He ran out my tenant prior to Christmas because he didn’t like him. It took four months to find a new renter and my house was near foreclosure.” Read more:
NEVADA – A Must-Read From Las Vegas!
Long-time readers of this blog know that the most corrupt Homeowners Associations in the country are in Nevada. We know that from the 41 or more organized crime racketeering convictions earlier this year in Las Vegas. Just as I predicted, despite the tens of millions of dollars in losses all but one of these HOA mobsters got less than 18 months in federal prison.
That being said, there are some shining lights of honesty in that area. Dr. Gary Solomon, Jonathan Friedrich, Colonel Robert Franks among others. Sadly, the corruption is so rife within the Homeowners Association movement that the system works hard to stomp out those who sacrifice to help others.
Today, Bob Franks sent out the following letter to explain to his legions of admirers why he has to step back in the fight for homeowners’ rights:
My appointment to the HOA Commission is completed. I did not request
reappointment for a normal 3 year term. So, I can now move on with the
satisfaction that CICCH Commission records show I did my best to make a
difference on behalf of unit owners.
Regretfully, the record shows that legislative and executive branch
authorities do not appear to want the CICCH (HOA) Commission to
effectively perform its statutory mission on behalf of all home
owners. It is under the tight control of industry and government
interests–to the serous detriment of unit owners and other occupants.
The record of the past decade shows that well over 95% of unsettled law
violation complaints filed with the state by unit owners against HOA
boards and licensed managers are summarily dismissed by the state. The
division does not have to show or defend the merits and results of its
secret, multi-year investigations with board presidents and their
attorneys. The division’s dismissal decisions are not subject to
anyone’s review or dispute unless high cost civil lawsuits are
initiated. This is gross injustice for unit owners. Imagine if the
courts only tried 5% of the valid complaints filed with them? Read more:
TEXAS – HOA theft victims ‘We’ve been kept in the dark for years’
Last Thursday, authorities arrested Letha Anna Thomas for theft of approximately $30,000 that was reported as stolen from the Big Wood Springs Homeowners Association (HOA) bank account. Thomas served as the treasurer for the HOA.
Residents in this Winnsboro lake community of about 85 homes say the missing funds and arrest left them blindsided.
“We’ve been kept in the dark for three years,” says Susan Humphreys who has been serving as the new treasurer for the past few weeks. “Now, it’s all about building trust again.”
Susan and her husband Sam Humphreys say for over a year they asked to see bank statements showing exactly where their monthly home owners association dues were going. After being given excuses, Sam says a special HOA meeting was called.
“The [former] HOA president tells us that [Thomas] had resigned and all of the money is gone, we are broke,” Sam says. “It made me feel kind of sick and really misled.” Read more:
UTAH – Murray HOA tells neighbors to remove their American flags
Salt Lake City — (KUTV)Drama exploded in Murray Thursday evening as a Homeowners Association refused to back down from telling residents to remove their American flags.
Some neighbors living in the Chestnut Place neighborhood have received fines for keeping their flags up after being told to remove them.
Residents thought they’d have a chance to air their concerns at a HOA meeting that was scheduled for Thursday evening.
They were wrong.
The HOA president abruptly canceled the meeting, much to the anger of the crowd that had gathered. Read more:
NEVADA – HOA foreclosure abuses may be curbed under new law
There are currently 40,000 vacant homes in Las Vegas – many in or close to legal limbo.
When homeowners fail to pay HOA dues, the associations can foreclose on the property and sell it at auction, with homes going as low as 25 cents on the dollar.
Now a law change – effective Thursday – may stop the real estate madness.
Home Owners Associations that want to foreclose for unpaid dues first have to give the banks 30 days’ notice of the foreclosure.
The hope is that will give the banks time to pay the lien and foreclose on the property themselves.
Getting vacant homes filled, without the potential suit. Read story:
HOA Reform Coalition 