Category Archives: Uncategorized
TEXAS – Houston condo owners sued their board after foreclosures, a big assessment, and other issues. But state law gives them few options.
Houston Chronicle
By Olivia P. Tallet
August 10, 2019
The letter literally took her breath away.“Notice of foreclosure sale,” Aurora St. Andrassy read as a friend drove her home from work in August 2016. The letter informed her that her home in the Sugar Branch Condominiums in southwest Houston would be sold at auction due to about $11,000 she owed to the homeowners association.“I felt a block of rocks fell on my head, my heart pounding,” recalls St. Andrassy, now 85. “I could hardly breathe. I had to be helped, almost carried, from the car to my doorstep.”St. Andrassy’s debt was based on missed monthly maintenance payments .
She is among over 30 former and current Sugar Branch property owners who sued the Sugar Branch Condominium Association in state district court. The plaintiffs allege that the association’s board members are committing fraud and conspiring to drive homeowners into foreclosure by assessing excessive, arbitrary fees so they can buy the units for themselves at below-market prices.
A group that acquired control of the association board in April 2016 — an attorney, her father, her brother and her boyfriend — has purchased more than half of the development’s 180 units, buying many at bargain prices in foreclosure auctions the board members initiated, a Houston Chronicle review of public documents shows. These board members say the acquisitions have given them enough votes to push through a “special assessment” totaling $450,000 for the community, much of which was earmarked for board members for various services. Read more:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-condo-owners-sued-their-HOA-board-after-14294254.php?p?
FLORIDA – Lawsuit accuses Aventura condo board of election violations
The Real Deal: Lawsuit accuses Aventura condo board of election violations
By Francisco Alvarado
July 31, 2019
For Harry Catton and two unit owners at the Turnberry Village North condominium in Aventura, their two-year effort to force new elections for the building’s board of directors has been a futile exercise – even with the assistance of state regulators, according to a recently filed petition in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.The trio are seeking a court-appointed receiver to take over the board’s duties for holding an election and monitoring the results, alleging the condo association’s current directors have violated Florida law by repeatedly canceling annual meetings when unit owners can vie for vacant seats.Franklin Zemel, the attorney representing Catton, David Harari and Mark Massry, said an independent election monitor is the only way to ensure legitimate elections for the Turnberry Village North condo board. State legislators have sought to criminalize condo fraud, which is rampant in South Florida.“The self-proclaimed board of directors has not had an election from 2013 to 2016, and then cancelled the 2017 election in order to make an eligible candidate illegible,” Zemel said. “We often read about fraud in condominium association elections and my clients are more than concerned with the actions of the current board.” Read more:
https://therealdeal.com/miami/2019/07/31/lawsuit-accuses-aventura-condo-board-of-election-fraud/
NORTH CAROLINA- Raleigh veteran evicted after unpaid HOA fees gets keys to home back
by Michael Hyland
August 6, 2019
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A veteran who got evicted from his home for failing to pay his homeowners’ association fees, got the keys back to his home this week thanks to help from CBS 17 viewers.Keith Williams Jr. lived in his home in southeast Raleigh for 10 years. A few weeks ago, he said the sheriff’s office came to his house, told him he had to leave and changed the locks.“It started off as a nightmare,” he said. “Homeownership is what America is all about.”As CBS17 previously reported, the situation started in January 2018 when he failed to pay his annual HOA fee, which at the time was $177. He said at the time he was trying to help support his daughter and pay other bills as well, including his mortgage.In the year-and-a-half since then, the situation got out of control as attorneys’ fees mounted and he lost his job.Wake County court records show the HOA, Chastain of Raleigh Community Association, put a lien on his home in May 2018, at which point he owed $526. “And if the lien is not paid, the homeowners association may proceed with a foreclosure against your property in like manner as a mortgage under North Carolina law,” the document reads. Read more:
https://.cbs17.com/news/local-news/wake-county-veteran-evicted-after-unpaid-hoa-fees-gets-keys-back/
Florida – Condo owners need protections from deep-pocket buyers/Editorial
Tampa Bay Times: Condo owners need protections from deep-pocket buyers/ Editorial
Published July 19
Florida should not allow billion-dollar real estate companies to bully condo owners into selling their homes, especially at unfair prices. But that’s exactly what’s happening around the state and in the Tampa Bay area thanks to a faulty law. Legislators have tried to mitigate the problem, but if they really care about property rights and fundamental fairness they have to do more.Lawmakers appeared well-intended in 2007 when they passed legislation that lowered the portion of condo owners needed to approve repairs or terminate a condo association from 100 percent to 80 percent. The idea was to ensure that condo associations could respond quickly to damage caused by hurricanes and other catastrophes, or disband if the complex was beyond repair. But there were unintended consequences — well-healed real estate companies saw an easily exploited loophole. The 80 percent threshold made it easier to take control of condo complexes, even ones never affected by storms, and then force any stragglers to sell at low prices. Read more:
https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/condo-owners-need-protections-from-deep-pocket-buyers-editorial-20190719/
MICHIGAN – Family says request to remove Virgin Mary statue from front yard is ‘an attack on our religion’
Family says request to remove Virgin Mary statue from front yard is ‘an attack on our religion’
Hope Schreiber, Writer
Yahoo Life Style
July 11, 2019
A Michigan family believes that they are being unfairly discriminated against by their homeowners association (HOA) for their faith.
The Samona family, who lives in Novi, Mich., is now considering taking legal action after the HOA requested they remove a Virgin Mary statue that has stood in their yard since 2003.The statue is more than just an ornament for the Samonas. According to the Detroit Free Press, every time a member of the family leaves their home in the Tollgate Woods neighborhood, they stop to pray to the statue, and when they return home, they stop again.On Tuesday, however, the family received a letter from Kramer-Triad Management Group, the managing agent for the Tollgate Homeowners Association, requesting that the family mow their grass, trim the weeds and remove six statues from their yard – including the one-foot tall Virgin Mary.”There is no doubt in my mind that this is an attack on our religion,” Joseph Samona, who lives at the home with his parents, told the Detroit Free Press. Read more:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/family-says-request-to-remove-virgin-mary-statue-from-front-yard-is-an-attack-on-our-religion-213026270.html
NORTH CAROLINA – Woman says she was harassed, assaulted, and then put on trial, sparking 15-year court battle
Port City Daily: Woman says she was harassed, assaulted, and then put on trial, sparking 15-year court battle
By Benjamin Schachtman and Johanna Ferebee
July 1, 2019
NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Nearly twenty years ago, Virginia Radcliffe moved into Avenel, a neighborhood just north of Wilmington with tree-shaded houses, a pier onto a floating dock onto the intracoastal, and a homeowners association.Radcliffe had recently completed her studies at Yale University where she had earned a four-year graduate degree in divinity. Radcliffe moved to the Wilmington area looking forward to a career as a minister; she had become a certified candidate for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church and had also worked as a volunteer Guardian Ad Litem (an officer of the court representing the “best interest” of children) and in the chaplain’s department of a men’s medium-security prison.A year later, that HOA informed Radcliffe her property was in “non-conformance” with the association’s guidelines, a violation that came with the potential of daily fines. What followed was a series of disputes between Radcliffe and the HOA’s other members, including the HOA president, who Radcliffe claims sexually harassed her. According to Radcliffe, what began as arbitrary violation letters escalated into harassment, threats, and ultimately physical assault.Over the next several years, the situation would go far beyond a dispute between neighbors, ultimately involved law enforcement – but it was Radcliffe who found herself facing criminal charges. Read more:
FLORIDA – Unfinished business: Incomplete homes in community west of Boynton rile residents, plummet values
| Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post By Mike Diamond Published June 21, 2019 |
John and Lisa Glennon fell in love with The Estates of Boynton Waters.
The location near the Jog Road and Boynton Beach Boulevard intersection west of Boynton Beach was ideal. Their home was customized, which most builders of developments won’t do. There was no golf course to maintain. The amenities — two tennis courts, a clubhouse, a gym — were appealing. So they bought a house in October of 2006 from builder John Kennelly for $790,492.
| Big mistake, they say. That’s because Kennelly has left 22 homes out of 130-plus in various stages of completion the past 10 years. Some have no roofs; others have no doors or garages. And still others are nearly finished but no effort has been made to obtain a certificate of occupancy (CO) for them. Five homes without a roof are so unsafe the county at this point is looking for a contractor to demolish them. If it receives “responsive” bids on June 20, it expects the demolitions to begin around August 1 but residents say they’ll believe it when they see it. The demolitions were supposed to take place in 2016 but County Building Department Director Doug Wise, over the objections of homeowners, gave Kennelly a two-year extension to obtain COs. That was supposed to happen by May 11, 2018. It didn’t and, as a result, the county authorized Wise to take the homes down. “We cannot understand why county government has ignored us for so long,” said Hess, who claims residents first began complaining to the county in 2009. |
Wise sympathizes with the residents. The county hired him in 2013 and he says he became aware of issues in 2015. He said it is a very time-consuming process to get the necessary approvals and permits to demolish structures. Read more:
http://www.ccfj.net/HOAFLUnfBusiness.html
SOUTH CAROLINA – Myrtle Beach businessman arrested after stealing thousands from HOA, police say
MyrtleBeachOnline.com: North Myrtle Beach businessman arrested after stealing thousands from HOA, police say
By Anna Young
June 14. 2019
A North Myrtle Beach businessman, already under fire for allegedly embezzling close to $100,000 from clients over the last year, found himself in jail last week after stealing thousands from a Homeowners Association for personal use, according to an arrest warrant.North Myrtle Beach police arrested Walter Pigg, 39, on June 7 and booked him at J. Reuben Long Detention Center that afternoon. He was released the next day on $10,000 bond.
According to the warrant, Pigg failed to deposit funds from the Island Palms Homeowners Association into a nonprofit account, an account he was entrusted with managing and safekeeping, at BB&T Bank between September and December last year. Pigg instead withdrew more than $17,000 through an ATM and debit purchases, without HOA approval, to spend at The Big “M” Casino in Little River and Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee, North Carolina, the warrant states. Read more:
https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/crime/article231553583.html
FLORIDA – Condo Adopts Gag Rule To Block You Tube Videos
| Condo Adopts Gag Rule To Block YouTube Videos |
| Article Courtesy of The Key News By Tony Winton Published June 12, 2019 Residents of Key Biscayne’s largest condominium complex now face fines and other penalties if they videotape board meetings of their own association and then post them to YouTube, part of sweeping new rules adopted at the urging of Key Colony President Antonio Camejo. Other rules make it more difficult to request condominium records and impose strict time limits for owner participation. A condominium law expert and an owner’s rights activist questioned the video rule, saying publication bans in Florida do not appear to have ever been tested in court. Condominiums have a “wide berth” to make reasonable rules, said Dana Goldman, a condominium law attorney and also a member of the Sunny Isles Beach City Commission. Goldman has been conducting a series of seminars in Miami-Dade County to educate condo residents about their rights, but sees Key Colony’s rule as breaking new ground. “I think the rule is a little restrictive,” she said. But, she said could not opine about how a court would rule. “It’s a clash of the policy interest of the board versus a First Amendment right to publish,” she said. Jan Bergemann, who heads the property rights advocacy group Cyber Citizens For Justice, blasted the Key Colony rule. “These are dictatorial board members who don’t want the public to see the underhanded measures they are using,” he said. He predicted the rules would prove unenforceable. Read more: |
FLORIDA – Indigo Lakes residents are united in their effort to try to prevent the owner of their community golf course from building homes on the greens and fairways.
| Indigo Lakes residents are united in their effort to try to prevent the owner of their community golf course from building homes on the greens and fairways. |
| Article Courtesy of The Daytona Beach News-Journal Published June 3, 2019 DAYTONA BEACH — More than 150 Indigo Lakes neighborhood residents jammed into a meeting room Wednesday night to talk about plans for their community’s idled golf course really only had one point of contention: How quickly they should hire an attorney. There appeared to be a universal rejection of Indigo Lakes golf course owner Colin Jon’s proposal to build more than 530 new residential units on the greens and fairways and shrink the 18-hole golf course down to nine truncated holes. The group of neighbors decided to get a petition drive moving, raise money for attorneys’ fees through a GoFundMe account, keep everyone informed on a neighborhood website and meet with a few lawyers before deciding who they might retain. “If we unite, it’s amazing what we’ll accomplish,” said Tom Hollman, one of the neighborhood’s homeowners’ association presidents. Within the next two months presidents of the seven homeowners’ associations within Indigo Lakes will decide when to kick off their fundraising drive, and soon neighborhood residents will try to come to an agreement on whether it’s best to hire an attorney as soon as possible or wait until Jon officially files plans with the city. There were passionate arguments on both sides at the nearly 90-minute meeting. “We can’t force them to do anything,” one woman said. “We’ll probably have to reach some sort of compromise. I’d rather see him put it to a reasonable use than look like a bankrupt community, which is what it looks like now.” “No plans have been filed with the city,” another woman shouted out. “You’re asking to raise hands to support an attorney when we don’t know what we’re fighting.” Read more: |
HOA Reform Coalition 