By Kevin Spear

November 15, 2014

An Orange County family sued in 2012 by a neighborhood association for planting environmentally friendly landscaping is still fighting the civil action. “It’s ridiculous that it has been going on for two years,” said the family’s lawyer, Barbara Billiot Stage. She isn’t alone in her frustration. There is no formal tracking of such lawsuits in Florida, but it isn’t difficult to find associations on the offensive to protect a neighborhood look and embattled homeowners willing to fight to lessen their use of water and fertilizer. The legal actions typically play out for years.

She isn’t alone in her frustration. There is no formal tracking of such lawsuits in Florida, but it isn’t difficult to find associations on the offensive to protect a neighborhood look and embattled homeowners willing to fight to lessen their use of water and fertilizer. The legal actions typically play out for years. The Orange lawsuit was filed against Jeffrey and Renee Parker by Summerport Residential Property Owners’ Association Inc. for replacing St. Augustine lawn with drought-tolerant grass and plants. The Summerport community is near Windermere.  Read more:

Reviewed by David M. Kinchen

November 18, 2014

By Rick Jones

November 18, 2014

Recent decisions in Nevada and the District of Columbia have held that a homeowner or a condominium association’s (HOA) lien may extinguish an existing first deed of trust in the event of foreclosure.  Most recently, in SFR Investments Pool 1, LLC v. U.S. Bank, N.A., the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the foreclosure of a piece of property for $6,000, which satisfied the HOA lien and completely wiped out the $885,000 first mortgage/deed of trust properly held and recorded by U.S. Bank.  The HOA sold the property for little more than its lien.  Someone got a windfall!  How did this happen?  Under the Nevada Common Interest Ownership Act, the HOA was required to give notice to the mortgage lender, and apparently it mailed a notice.  The bank, which was then charged with knowledge of the foreclosure, could have paid off the HOA lien and avoided the loss of its security interest but apparently failed to notice the notice.  As the Nevada Supreme Court said when the bank attempted to undo the foreclosure, the injustice the bank decried was “of its own making.”Really?  We have not reviewed the factual record from the case below to discern the actual content of the notice, but my guess it didn’t scream “pants on fire” and was overlooked.  One can only speculate that it’s pretty easy in the heavy notice traffic of a major servicing platform to miss what possibly appeared to be a mundane and routine communication.  Moreover, in places like Nevada, where there is non-judicial foreclosure, the hammer falls quickly and even a well oiled servicing shop may not pick up the event before the deed is done. Read more:

November 17, 2014

NAPLES (MMD Newswire) November 17, 2014 — The Board of Directors at Village Walk of Naples, a gated community of 850 homes located on Vanderbilt Beach Road in Naples are being sued by homeowner Greg Chumbley, a resident since 2013.

According to Chumbley, he was prompted to file suit in Collier County because the Board of Directors steadfastly refuses to reveal the gross annual salaries of its eight employees, which include the Town Manager, Administrive Assistant, Activities Director, and five maintenance workers. Read more:

By Deborah Noonan

November 14, 2014

CAI makes it abundantly clear they oppose federal regulation of HOAs. Yet the HOA industry has relied heavily on federally backed mortgage financing to support a behemoth HOA housing empire created of, by, and for Developers.

The height of industry hypocrisy is made apparent when we take a close look at federal legislation that the HOA industry promotes before our Congressional leaders.

CAI recently conducted its “August 2014 Recess Advocacy Campaign,” where members were urged to meet with Congressional leaders in their respective District (local) Offices.

CAI is currently focused on three key federal issues. Let’s look at each one, using CAI’s own words, my emphasis added in italics for clarity.  Read more:

By Jeff German

November 3, 2014

A Las Vegas Review-Journal article about secret plea negotiations between Leon Benzer and federal prosecutors in the high-profile homeowners association investigation became the focus Monday of a defense bid to get the criminal case tossed out of court.

Daniel Albregts, who represents Benzer, filed court papers accusing Justice Department lawyers of misconduct that allowed the newspaper to obtain what are now sealed FBI and Las Vegas police reports of the failed negotiations in the summer of 2011.

“The government promised that those statements would not be used against him, yet the government, through its actions, insured that the press would come into possession of the statements and use them to further prejudice Benzer’s right to a fair trial,” Albregts wrote.

Albregts said prosecutors promised lawyers for Benzer’s co-defendant, attorney Keith Gregory, that they would not object if the lawyers filed reports of the negotiations under seal in a related matter in September, but then turned around in court and told a federal judge the reports should be made public.

“This conduct, when viewed in the light of the ceaseless and inflammatory reporting, particularly with regard to this defendant, is the kind of conduct which can only be remedied through dismissal,” Albregts wrote.

Prosecutors will get a chance to respond to Albregts in writing

The four investigative reports were filed under seal by Gregory’s lawyers, but after prosecutors argued to make them public, U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley Jr. ordered them unsealed. Two days later, however, Foley allowed Gregory’s lawyers to withdraw the reports from the public record and file them again, under seal.

The Review-Journal obtained the reports while they were public.  Read more:

By Jeff Vaughn

November 5, 2014

(WXYZ) – Natalie Forte is eco-friendly and loves her Chevy Volt. But, her homeowners association doesn’t share her enthusiasm.  The resident owns a condo along Elizabeth Lake Road in Waterford and says the homeowners association doesn’t have rules against plug-in cars. But the HOA has cut-off power to Forte’s garage.

Forte tells Action News starting in June she would charge up her new car in her detached garage. Electricity to the garages are under shared expenses residents pay as part of their monthly HOA fees. After a few months, the association told Forte the expense was too much and wanted her to pay for the extra electricity.

Forte agreed to pay around $50, the amount she says DTE charged for her added electricity over the five month period. Forte says the HOA wanted $200, and when she didn’t pay, they cut off power to her garage. Read more:

By Donie Vanitzian

November 9, 2014

Question: I owe $1,600 in past due homeowner association assessments, but I made payments that haven’t been applied to my account. Through the management company and association attorney, the board placed a lien on my home to foreclose. The attorney says I owe $10,500 and returns my checks, saying he “will not accept a partial payment.” Despite repeated requests, management won’t provide my payment history and an accurate line-by-line accounting of what I owe. When the board ordered management to provide each owner’s payment history with monthly statements, the company owner threatened to sue. Their signed contract says management “owns” the right to provide titleholder “payment history statements and accountings for a fee.” The board signed that contract making owners hostage to management fees for crucial things like owner payment history. Meanwhile I’m facing foreclosure, and no one will talk to me or accept my payments. Do I have any rights?Answer: Your rights are tied up in a maze of crossover laws subject to interpretation by California courts, coupled with your board’s ability to unilaterally contract them away by signing a management contract — costly enforcement measures for owners to overcome.  Read more:

TAMARAC — The Mainlands 3 in Tamarac used to be a very quiet senior community, packed with retirees looking to enjoy their twilight years.

But now, because of problems with the homeowner’s association, it has become a place where profanity-laced screaming matches are commonplace and where a violent outburst recently broke out, much of it on video.

“Every day is hell in this community,” said one resident.

A large number of residents gathered the necessary signatures to vote out the president and vice president, but they won’t allow a vote, even refusing to hold scheduled meetings.

The fight is now also being waged in the courthouse. See video: