No one looks forward to a bank foreclosure. It’s miserable for the people being kicked out of their homes, it’s miserable for the law enforcement folks who have to do it, and it’s expensive as hell for the banks.

Nevada bankers have discovered something even worse than foreclosure: not being able to foreclose themselves because the homeowners association got there first:

Like lenders, homeowners associations can foreclose on homes to recoup delinquent payments, an option that many have taken after waiting years for lenders themselves to foreclose, a scenario that has left homes without dues-paying owners and some HOAs strapped for cash. Nevada and about 20 other states have laws that allow HOA liens to get priority over first mortgages.  Read more:

In the Tampa Bay area, as in booming city centers all across America, residents are voicing concern, even anger, over planned or anticipated high-end projects that would block their views or increase traffic or both.

In Tampa, the owner of a 15th-floor condo complains he no longer will be able to see the Hillsborough River if a 36-story apartment tower goes up nearby. In St. Petersburg, residents of one luxury high-rise warn that the design of another luxury high-rise could threaten pedestrian and vehicular safety. Read more:

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation also found that Ryan, at one point, purchased a car in Michigan with association funds, altered condo records and violated board election rules at the Georgian Court North.  Read more:

That’s because the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s approval is no match for the local homeowners association. At the end of August, a bunch of anonymous Frisco homeowners, described by their attorneys only as the Board of Directors for the PR2 Homeowners association, filed a lawsuit against City House, alleging that providing shelter to homeless teens violates the HOA’s covenants.  Read more:

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga —

Plans to install solar panels on a home in Kentfield are up in the air after the Kent Woodlands Property Owners Association said the panels are the wrong color.

Betty Segars, of Kentfield, said she has been working since July to have solar panels installed on her home by San Francisco-based Sunrun Inc., a residential solar electricity company. After spending about $500 on deposits and application fees, she said the homeowners association objected to her plan based on aesthetics.

“This is really not right and I’m really very frustrated,” Segars said.

She said the association disapproved of the white backsheet, which encapsulates the back side of the solar panels and can be seen outlining each solar cell. She said the association wanted her to use a black backsheet, but the company she has contracted with doesn’t source that type of panel.

“I’ve done a lot of research into solar, and this is one of the largest and best corporations,” Segars said.  Read more:

A Korean War veteran from Greenfield, Indiana, is in a dispute with a local homeowners’ association over a flagpole he set up in his yard this summer.

Robert Willits’ flagpole features two flags: a U.S. flag, and a black POW/MIA to honor the brother he fought alongside.

While Willits was injured in the war, his brother, Lester, never came home from the war. The homeowners’ association maintains that the flagpole is a violation of the neighborhood rules. Willits, however, isn’t backing down.  Read more:

Reno – I read how surprised Somersett owner, councilwoman and director of Truckee Meadows Water Authority Neoma Jardon was after discovering a leaking toilet in her home was the cause of an enormous amount of water being wasted.

One can only wonder how surprised she would be to learn that some 2,000 fellow members in her homeowners association are being forced to waste a colossal amount of water because they must choose grass (lot of water required) or fire-hazard juniper (less water required) for their curbside mow strips. Many would like to install only decorative rock with maybe a boulder or two instead (no water required). Yes, mandated mow strip trees would remain (on drip).  Read more:

GREENFIELD, Ind. — It’s a fight over a flag pole, and now lawyers are involved. A central Indiana veteran said his homeowners association wants his flag pole gone. But the man isn’t backing down, and he’s getting community support.

With scarecrows and flowers Bob and Judy Willits’ yard in Greenfield’s Fieldstone subdivision is neatly landscaped. But the flag pole in the corner, if you can believe it, is a cause for contention. “I’m not mad at them, but I’m still not going to take my flag down,” said Bob. He put it up in July. Soon after, the Fieldstone homeowners association (HOA) let he and his wife know the flag pole was against the rules.

“We had it for 22 years in the last place where we lived, and we just moved here 8 or 9 months ago. So, we had no idea they would be so hostile about the flag in our yard,” said Judy Willits.  Read more: