By Kenneth G. Eade

Januay 27, 2015

Homeowner’s Associations, created by deed provisions to serve homeowners in condominium developments, are often at odds with individual owners of units. Just last week, news out of New York reported that an HOA was suing a homeowner for parking his own pickup truck in his own driveway. Sometimes these conflicts escalate to the point where the HOA actually forecloses on a homeowner’s interest in the unit, resulting in a total loss to the homeowner. The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, codified in California Civil Code Sections 4300, et. seq., gives an HOA the authority to levy assessments, which become an involuntary lien against the homeowner’s interest when the HOA records a “Notice of Delinquent Assessment, and the HOA has the right to enforce that lien in any manner permitted by law, including foreclosure. Thus, if the homeowner does not pay a delinquent assessment, his or her interest may be sold at either a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure sale, resulting in the possibility of the HOA becoming the owner of the unit and evicting the homeowner from their own home.

This is exactly what happened in the case of Marina Strand No. 1 Homeowners Association v. Pelegrino, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No.s SC112127 and 14R10167. John, a bed-ridden elderly paraplegic, and his wife Nancy, both social-security pensioners, have lost their home to their HOA in a foreclosure, and are now being evicted for delinquent assessments, but they still continue to fight the HOA in a companion case, Pelegrino v. Marina Strand No. 1 Homeowners Association, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. SC122125, which goes to trial in August 2015, and which alleges that the HOA failed to give proper notice of their board’s decision to foreclose, nor did they personally serve notice of that decision as required by the Act.  Read more:

By Cory Doctorow

January 25, 2015

Like many cities, SF asks fancy property developers to create “public spaces” in their buildings to make up for parks and other public sites they displace, and these are usually a joke, hidden away far in the buildings’ depths and deliberately hidden from the public. Now, a proposed amendment to the municipal code will allow those developers to do away with the pretense of public access altogether, by paying a nominal fee in lieu of creating these absurd “parks” within or atop their buildings.

While not widely publicized, over 12,000 square feet of public open space was constructed in the form of two sunny terraces off the fourth and sixth floors of the 31-story Intercontinental Hotel at 888 Howard Street, a condition of the development’s approval and the result of a 1980s-era city policy which requires new South of Market commercial buildings to provide such privately owned public open spaces.Next month, a proposed amendment could be adopted which would allow developers to pay an in lieu fee rather than provide any on-site public open space in their buildings.  Read more:

By Kim Miller

January 14, 2015

A Miami lawyer is facing suspension from the Florida Bar after she pleaded guilty last month in connection with mortgage fraud at the Kensington of Royal Palm Beach condominium in Royal Palm Beach.Rashmi Airan-Pace, 43, entered a guilty plea to the felony charge of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in an operation where she misrepresented information on closing documents and settlement statements, and transferred money through her accounts that she knew wasn’t reflected in loan applications.

A Notice of Determination or Judgment of Guilt was sent to the Florida Supreme Court on Friday asking Airan-Pace be suspended for violating the Florida Bar rules on honesty and trustworthiness.

Airan-Pace was the fifth person to plead guilty to criminal charges stemming from a $25 million mortgage scheme that left the Kensington condominium flooded with foreclosures.  Read more:

By Jeff German

January 23, 2015

Former construction company boss Leon Benzer pleaded guilty Friday in the massive scheme to take over and defraud homeowners associations in the Las Vegas area.

Benzer, 48, who prosecutors say was the mastermind of the corruption scheme, entered guilty pleas to a total of 19 conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion counts in two separate federal indictments.

In his hastily prepared plea agreement with prosecutors, which came together in recent days, Benzer provides a lengthy explanation of his leadership role in the multimillion-dollar scheme.

But his agreement does not call for him to testify against the remaining defendants charged in the HOA conspiracy, which prosecutors allege occurred at 11 HOAs across the valley between 2003 and 2009.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan set an Aug. 3 sentencing date for Benzer, who is free on his own recognizance.

Prosecutors are recommending a reduction in prison time for Benzer because of his acceptance of responsibility for his crimes, but Justice Department lawyer Charles La Bella said there is no agreement on how much time behind bars Benzer should serve. That will be left to Mahan and his assessment of the federal sentencing guidelines in Benzer’s case.

Defendants to stand trial on Feb. 23 include attorney Keith Gregory, Benzer’s half-sister Edith Gillespie and bail bondsman Charles McChesney. A sixth defendant, Stephanie Markham, is being tried separately on charges of lying about her role in the scheme to the FBI and to a federal grand jury.

Benzer, who once owned Silver Lining Construction Company, and 10 others were indicted in the scheme in January 2013. He was indicted again several months later on charges of evading $1.2 million in personal and company taxes. The charges relate to more than $7 million Benzer and his company obtained through a fraudulent contract with the Vistana condominium development to do construction defect work.  Read more:

By Michael Hunter

January 24, 2015

Editor’s note: this week’s column was researched and written by Mr. Hunter’s associate attorney, Michael Tarwater Jr.

We are often asked about pet restrictions in the context of homeowners’ associations (HOAs) and their enforceability with respect to assistance animals for persons with disabilities.

An HOA’s governing documents often restrict the type, size, and quantity of pets allowed. Like all good rules, there are exceptions.

In this case, they come in the form of the federal Fair Housing Act. The act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or familial status in the sale, rental, and financing of housing, mandates that HOAs provide reasonable accommodations to homeowners with disabilities. Read more:

 

By Kelly Humphrey

January 10, 2015

BLUEWATER BAY —  When Lt. Gen. John Crosby retired from the Army, he and his wife, Flo Anne, chose to build their retirement home on the Magnolia Plantation golf  course.“We bought a lot on the golf course because we enjoyed the camaraderie of the people we met while playing golf, and the friends we made,” Crosby said.

It’s a decision he now questions.

The Crosbys, now in their 80s, hoped to live out their years in their 4,000 square-foot home. But in 2011, John suffered a heart attack, and the couple’s daughters and grandchildren in Colorado urged them to move closer.

Eight months ago, the couple put their house on the market. Despite a record sales year for Magnolia Plantation, the Crosbys have yet to receive an offer.

They’ve lowered their price to well below market value.

They have had many people look, but when potential buyers see the overgrown, abandoned golf course directly behind the house, they balk. Read more:

By Joel Landau

January 21, 2015

A Florida family is now scarred with the image of a loved one’s body charred and without chunks of skin after he died while sitting for hours in a malfunctioning sauna Sunday.The family of 68-year-old Dennis Antiporek said the North Miami Beach resident left a note at his home that said he was headed to the sauna at his Eden Isles Condominiums. After a few hours his daughter Lara Antiporek went to the spa to look for him.

She opened the door and said she saw a man whose skin was a dark color. She didn’t realize it was actually her light-skinned father of Polish and Russian descent until she noticed his clothing hanging up nearby, according to CBS Miami.  Read more:

January 20, 2015

By Matiss Batarags

David and Arna Orlando are being sued by their homeowners association for parking their pickup truck in their own driveway.

The Kimry Moor Homeowners Association filed the lawsuit in August of 2013, claiming that the truck was not a personal vehicle. The Manlius, New York, development consists of 84 houses.

Kimry Moor’s regulations state that cars parked in driveways must be “private, passenger-type, pleasure automobiles.” Court documents show that Kimry Moor owns the common areas of the development, which include the driveways of all houses. Technically, the Orlandos can park their truck in the garage.

David says that his 2014 Ford 150 is registered as a passenger vehicle and that he does not even have a commercial license. The Orlandos’ lawyer, Tom Cerio, said: “This is a silly rule. It’s fair to say the association is definitely overreaching. And they are enforcing this rule for a personal-use vehicle, not a commercial vehicle.”  Read more:

By Liz Cooper

January 16, 2015

Homeowner’s Associations are meant to regulate neighborhoods, but they operate with few regulations for themselves.  A proposed bill by state lawmakers would restrict Homeowner’s Associations.

Right now South Carolina doesn’t have any laws how HOAs operate, but some people who deal with HOAs every day say they have too much power and something needs to be done.

State Representative Nelson Hardwick from Surfside Beach is one of close to a dozen lawmakers who sponsored the HOA regulation bill.

“We’re trying to get to the core of the issue. Where if someone has an issue, they have a forum to confront the people they feel are doing them wrong and have a conversation and hopefully resolve it without hiring an attorney,” said Hardwick.

Right now, any disputes between homeowners and HOA board members require an attorney.

Hardwick says the HOAs hire the attorneys using HOA fees.  Read more: