Villages-news.com: $110 million sweetheart deal for Developer at expense of taxpayers

By Scott Fenstermaker
September 10, 2019

Kudos to the Property Owners’ Association. In two articles in its September 2019 Bulletin, the POA presents a number of interesting facts and figures underlying the proposed huge increase in Sumter County taxes. That issue of the Bulletin should be read by all Villagers.The misleadingly named Villages Homeowners Advocates (the VHA), which is little more than a front organization for the Developer, has been silent on the proposed tax increase. The Villages Daily Sun, of course, publishes no news that could reflect unfavorably on the Developer, who not only owns the Daily Sun but is also the biggest campaign contributor in the area. Thus, the Daily Sun has not described what is really behind the proposed tax increase. Subsequent to publication of the POA Bulletin, villages-news.com, the only independent news publication in The Villages, published an editorial on the proposed tax increase, making some of the same points as the POA articles.Both the POA articles and the villages-news.com editorial allude to, but do not focus on, what appears to be a key factor underlying the proposed tax increase – the sweetheart deal that the Sumter County Commissioners have given the Developer on impact fees. As background for those readers who may not be aware of impact fees, impact fees are a one-time tax imposed on all new residential and commercial construction by local governments to defray the cost of growth’s “impact” on roads and other infrastructure needs. Read more:

https://www.villages-news.com/2019/09/10/110-million-sweetheart-deal-for-developer-at-expense-of-taxpayers/

Miami Herald: Condo boards ‘fatten coffers’ with illegal fees. Residents just won a class-action settlement.
By Rene Rodriguez and Nicholas NehamasSeptember 20, 2019

In a move that could have implications for thousands of Miami-Dade County residents and cost the local real estate industry millions of dollars, a Brickell condominium association accused of charging residents inflated fees in violation of state law has agreed to pay up to $300,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit.The lawsuit, filed by Joshua and Allison Kobasky, argued that The Plaza 851 Brickell Condominium Association had ripped them off, as well as hundreds of others, by charging mandatory, non-refundable “transfer” fees greater than $100 when they applied to lease a unit and move in. The Florida Condominium Act prohibits associations from charging fees greater than $100 per person or married couple in connection with the sale, lease or transfer of a condo unit.  Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article234887852.html

ABC10 NEWS: Accusations of possible financial abuse by former Chula Vista HOA manager

By Jennifer KastnerSeptember 12, 2019

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) – A Chula Vista homeowner’s association (HOA) is dealing with claims of embezzlement, corrupted financial records and a police investigation.

Team 10 investigative reporter Jennifer Kastner tracked down the former HOA manager who’s at the center of the accusations, who says he did nothing wrong.

However, the HOA claims that he was writing thousands of dollars in reimbursement checks every month to himself for alleged maintenance, but didn’t provide basic documentation like store invoices or receipts.

Unlike the idyllic, legendary city of Camelot, the local Camelot at Eastlake Shores is in turmoil.

“It’s not the wonderful place that it used to be,” says homeowner Connie Patrick. She and other homeowners at the Chula Vista HOA are grappling with the news.  Read more:
https://www.10news.com/news/team-10/accusations-of-possible-financial-abuse-by-former-chula-vista-hoa-manager

SG GATE: 7 Common HOA Rule Violations – and How to Avoid Getting Fined

By Ana Durrani

September 9, 2019

Living in a community managed by a homeowners association (HOA) means that you’re obligated to follow certain rules and regulations. Depending upon your HOA, these rules can be very particular—so particular that you may not even know you’re doing something wrong! And if you disobey your community’s covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs), you could get fined.“Fines are a tool to gain compliance, and it is not uncommon for them to be reduced or waived once compliance is achieved,” says Dawn Bauman, senior vice president, government and public affairs, for the Community Associations Institute in Falls Church, VA. She says some rule violations could yield one-time fines of anywhere from $25 to $100, or daily fines of around $10 per day.The best way to avoid fines is to stay in the loop with your community. Familiarize yourself with the CC&Rs, read community documents, attend community board meetings, pay attention to community updates, and ask questions when you think you might be in violation.Curious which requirements tend to trip up homeowners the most? Here are some of the most common HOA rule violations.  Read more:

https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/7-Common-HOA-Rule-Violations-and-How-to-Avoid-14424175.php

Del Mar Times: Brit to HOA:’The flag is absolutely not coming down’

By JOHN WILKENS 

September 1, 2019

Shannon Glover came from England to San Diego almost 30 years ago for a uniquely American reason: She fell in love with Tom Cruise and “Top Gun.”

Now she’s in a dispute that pits the country of her birth against the one she calls home.

Her homeowners association in Carmel Valley has ordered her to stop flying the British flag, the Union Jack, outside her house.  Read more:

https://www.delmartimes.net/news/story/2019-09-01/brit-to-hoa-the-flag-is-absolutely-not-coming-down

abcactionnews: HOA tells Clearwater officer to move police cruiser into her garage or face legal action



By: Heather Leigh
August 27, 2019
EAST LAKE, Fla. — A Clearwater police officer is facing an ultimatum in her East Lake neighborhood: Stop parking her marked police cruiser in her driveway, or pay hundreds of dollars in violation costs.

“The first thought is, it a joke? Like this is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard of,” said Dan Parri, a family friend speaking on behalf of the officer and her husband who is also in law enforcement.

Parri says officers take home their marked cruisers to speed up response times. He says it also deters crime.

“Every place that I’ve ever lived, if I had a police cruiser parked next to me I felt safer,” he said.

State law says HOA’s can prohibit commercial vehicles from parking in driveways but an opinion issued in 2005, by then State Attorney Charlie Crist , a law enforcement vehicle is not considered commercial.

“They don’t have that vehicle for the purpose of profit,” Parri said.  Read more:

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/hoa-tells-clearwater-officer-to-move-her-police-cruiser-into-her-garage-or-face-legal-action

WTOP:  How a Loudoun Co. family’s year-round holiday lights sparked a lawsuit
The Belmont Glen Homeowners Association in Ashburn, Virginia, had sued a family over exterior holiday lights that were up year-round, but Virginia’s Supreme Court has overturned the case. 

By Neal Augenstein

August 26, 2019

After a homeowners association in Loudoun County, Virginia, initially fined and successfully sued a family for keeping its exterior holiday lights up throughout the year, Virginia’s Supreme Court has now overturned the HOA’s lawsuit victory.

In 2018, Loudoun County Circuit Judge Jeanette Irby had ruled in favor of the Belmont Glen Homeowners Association in its suit against SanJay and Sona Sainani for violating the HOA’s seasonal guidelines on the use of holiday decorations.

In ruling for the HOA, Irby found the Sainanis’ “lights were on 24/7” for “at least 300 days a year” in violation of the seasonal guidelines that prohibited leaving lights on after midnight and displaying lights outside of the permitted holiday periods. The guidelines permitted lighting for Halloween, Thanksgiving, winter holidays and the Fourth of July. Read more:https://wtop.com/loudoun-county/2019/08/how-a-loudoun-co-familys-year-round-holiday-lights-sparked-a-lawsuit/

nbcdfw.com: Victim speaks after HOA dispute elevates to bullet wounds

By Ken Kalthoff

August 14, 2019

A woman recovering from gunshot wounds after a shooting that involved her neighbor spoke publicly Wednesday about the suspect and accusations that she has been harassing residents in her neighborhood.Belinda Tucker, who was shot Aug. 4, lives directly across the street from Kenneth Haggarty, the man accused of in the shooting, in the Pleasant Run Estates subdivision in Lancaster.Tucker took pictures from her car on Aug. 4. when she said Haggarty first blocked her from entering their neighborhood with his car, and then got out with a gun and started to shoot at her.”I knew he was going to shoot me in the head, and I put my arm up and he shot me right in my hand,” Tucker said.Tucker sustained wounds to her hand, arm and head.

“I thought he had killed my wife,” Tucker’s husband Anthony Tucker said.

Through their living room window, Anthony Tucker said he could see what was happening, so he ran outside with his gun.

“He started to shoot at me and when he started shooting at me, I started shooting at him,” Anthony Tucker said. “I was amazed. I had avoided him at all costs.”

Through her property management firm, Belinda Tucker has done work for the Pleasant Run Estates Homeowners Association. Anthony Tucker is the HOA president.

Haggarty’s lawyer Heath Harris called it a conflict of interest.  Read more: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Victim-Speaks-After-HOA-Dispute-Elevates-to-Bullet-Wounds-542979761.html?_osource=mobilesharebar

By: The Associated Press

August 15, 2019

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A Florida homeowners association says it’s against the rules for an Army veteran to fly a Puerto Rican flag outside her home.The Rolling Hills Estates HOA in Kissimmee recently told Frances Santiago that flags other than a U.S. flag, a military flag or a sports flag aren’t permitted.She served for 14 years as an Army medic and deployed to Iraq twice, according to a report by Orlando television station WFTV-TV. “I fought for this, to be able to do this. So, I don’t see a problem with flying my flag here,” Santiago said. Santiago told the station that she and her husband, Efrain, decided to fly the flag to support protesters demanding the governor’s resignation in the U.S. territory. Three weeks later, she got a violation notice from the association in the Orlando suburb. “I’m proud of my roots, who I am, [where] I come from,” Efrain Santiago said in the news report. “We’re not offending anyone. None of the neighbors were offended with us putting the flag there.”
The couple says it may be time for the HOA to revisit its rules, especially with Kissimmee’s growing Puerto Rican population. They’ve hired a lawyer and say they have no intention of  lowering their flag.  Read: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/08/14/army-vet-told-to-remove-puerto-rican-flag-from-her-home/

Author: Matt Howerton

August 6, 2019

LANCASTER, Texas — A Lancaster man is facing criminal charges after shooting his neighbor multiple times over a homeowners association dispute, police said Monday. Kenneth Haggerty, 59, was arrested on two charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he shot a woman and fired at her husband, according to Lancaster police Lt. Nate Thompson.
Police have taken multiple reports of fraud involving an HOA in the Lancaster neighborhood where the shooting occurred Sunday afternoon. Officers were called around 5 p.m. to the 1000 block of Rawlins Drive in the Pleasant Run Estates neighborhood. Haggerty pulled in front of his neighbor, Belinda Tucker, while she was in her car on their street, blocking her from going anywhere, Lancaster police said.He got out of his car, and at some point during the argument began firing a gun into Tucker’s car, according to Thompson. The argument centered around a lien that was placed on Haggerty’s home for allegedly not paying HOA fees, Thompson said. Belinda Tucker is married to Anthony Tucker, who claims to be the president of the Pleasant Run Estates Homeowners Association.The woman, who is also a former mayoral candidate, was hit in the arm, head and hand. “I used my right hand to shield his final attempt to shoot me in my head, but I fell over in my seat and played dead and did not move,” Belinda Tucker wrote WFAA in an email Monday. “I’m desperately distraught,” she said. Her husband saw what happened and started shooting at Haggerty. The men exchanged gunfire, Thompson said. When police arrived, both men were taken into custody. However, Anthony Tucker was later released without being charged. Thompson said criminal charges may still be filed against him. Tucker was taken to the hospital in stable condition and was released Sunday night.  Read more:
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/homeowner-shoots-wife-of-hoa-president-over-unpaid-dues-police-say/287-8fb525eb-b615-4e4d-823c-af888c6a4c1f