Posted on 06/01/2010 9:07:42 PM PDT by Dr. Marten
This is the second time this story has made the rounds but let me just say that The Soldiers and Sailor’s relief act prevents this sort of thing from being done.
He could not have his house foreclosed on while he was deployed and anyone that did is going to find out very quickly that the law protect his rights while he is overseas.
But I do have to say one thing. I think I would probably get along much better with my neighbor if they had a washing machine on their front porch than with an entire neighborhood full of busybodies constantly focused on rigid appearances, who's paying dues and getting rid of the "bozo's" running the asylum.
Maybe I'd even go help her fold laundry while we chat about fun stuff.
I don't live in the country yet, but that's certainly our goal. You can't be too pretentious out there 'cuz those folks will just laugh at ya.
>Shark, good to see you buddy.
Thank you!
>Thanks for posting, our Constitution!
In all honesty, I went to the Texas State Constitution first; using its Bill of Rights as defense against the HOA’s actions would have been iffy — But the Federal Constitution is another matter (and isn’t all transfer of wealth/property either civil or criminal?).
The HOA's are of no value whatsoever. Before HOA'S people lived and got along in neighborhood just fine.
How dare you tell any of us to get off our BUTTS and do something. I have been on a board. GOT OFF TOO mighty quick as NO can stop the ignorant fighting that goes on among the tyrants on those boards, they all think they are important and are definitely elitists. Always know better how someone should live, sounds like Liberal Progressive Democrats to me.
Then from there they may go on to some CITY COUNCIL position, because they have had experience on being a tyrant. Then from there maybe they want to be a state Rep., gosh who knows where they can go, and just from the mighty powerful experience from being on some insignificant HOA board. POWER indeed, dog catchers have sometimes risen to powerful positions as well. rofl.
""""""""Otherwise, go live out in the country or the fringes of town where folks put their washing machines on their front porches and park their old trailer homes in their driveways."""""""""
THAT is just about the most ignorant and arrogant statement I have seen in a long time. Talk about Elitist. my oh my.
OH, and by the way, contrary to your believing in the HYPE of HOA bringing you home values up. WRONG, just the opposite. I am a retired REALTOR, trust me on this one.
Once anyone has been in one of those, they WANT OUT AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE. OK, good for home sales may be the brightest side of the HOA's. ROFL.
Quit being so morally superior. Freepers believe in personal property rights or they wouldn't be on this forum. It's not either or. If you CHOOSE to live in a deed-restricted community, you have to follow the rules you signed to uphold. You may not be able to paint your house day-glo green or have a ratty gravel front lawn, but in return your property values will hold good and there are countless upsides to reasonable community standards.
HOAs deliver responsibilities, some of which you would probably consider onerous, but they also deliver countless advantages....it's up to you to decide which is your cup of tea.
But don't knock those who prefer to live in an HOA community as being non-adherents to personal property rights. That's hogwash and you know it.
Leni
Read the story - that issue was addressed.
>For those who like to scream about judicial foreclosure, it would only make it more expensive for folks to get their homes back, because it raises the attorney’s fees considerably.
I direct your attention to my post 42:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2525769/posts?page=42#42
Housefires do that even when you don’t live in California. lol Unless you live quite a distance from your neighbor (think country life), you are still at risk.
I don’t like the foreclosure bit...we don’t do it and I would never do it. In my market, most of the deadbeats were investors who thought they were going to flip their homes in a year or so and make a bunch of money. by the time we realize we’re not going to get our money, the bank is ready to foreclose anyway. When the bank forecloses, most liens (not all) go away. But certainly the HOA does. This is where it gets really dicey. The bank will pay from the day it takes possession. Some banks pay monthly, some pay it all when the unit sells. But for the period before the banks take it the homeowner is responsible and we take legal actions against them even after they are gone. It is a legal responsibility.
So whenever the government says they’re going to “HELP” distressed mortgages, I cringe. All it does is prolong the inevitable, and HOA’s, like ours, suffer. The remodification thing sucks as well. In order for the bank to even CONSIDER remodifying, you have to show you haven’t paid your bills. So people get to stay in their units, not pay their mortgage, and not pay the HOA dues. Some come to us and tell us that when the bank remodifies it, they will pay, but it doesn’t happen often.
I have a guy right now who paid top dollar for his unit. He is in the process of trying to remodify it. He cannot pay the HOA dues until the bank makes a decision, and you know how long it takes for a bank to make a decision. But he did something else...he had his partner (he’s gay) buy ANOTHER unit in the building for a dirt cheap price. They have no intention of keeping the original unit. So what do I do? I’m really between a rock and a hard place. It’s very complicated. This guy has gads of money...I’m hoping when all is said and done that he pays his obligation. I use that word very precisely. IT’S AN OBLIGATION. If he doesn’t, it’s going to be very uncomfortable around the pool!
“and isn’t all transfer of wealth/property either civil or criminal?).”
Yep. The problem people don’t understand is that Constitution IS the SUPREME law of the land. It’s not as if every law that congress hands down is. The Constitution is THE CONTRACT. Unlike other laws, which can be challenged for constitutionality, the Constitution makes up the core of what this nation is, without it, THERE IS NO NATION. Thus, for example with 2A rights, we get them. No states can infringe the 2A right and be part of the U.S., because the Supreme law of the U.S. is the Constitution.
Only items not outlined in the Constitution and it’s subquent ammendments are left to the states. The Constitution is a take it or leave it contract. It’s all or nothing. Everything else, however, is subject to debate. (See 10th Ammendment for details) :)
Leni
Thank you for saying, quite eloquently, what I’ve been trying to say.
WELL OF COURSE YOU ARE..but when electrical wires are hanging down next falling down wood roofs, the odds go up a tad. But thanks for pointing out the obvious.
Corrected for paragraphs - sorry
“Otherwise, go live out in the country or the fringes of town where folks put their washing machines on their front porches and park their old trailer homes in their driveways.”
Excellent generalization - all country folk are trashy...That is sloppy thinking.
I built my first house in the country and I did have an extremely poor family across the street that had a fair bit of junk laying around, instead of complaining about it, I got to know them and helped them in several ways, not just cleaning. I moved to NM and my wife wanted to live in a “development” with sidewalks and neighbors. After that experience I do not think she will ever want to do that again. We no live in the country again, I honestly can not say if my neighbor has a washing machine on his porch - his house is a half mile away. I guess I am a country boy at heart and would rather listen to nature than people.
“You may not be able to paint your house day-glo green or have a ratty gravel front lawn, but in return your property values will hold good and there are countless upsides to reasonable community standards.”
So your argument is that a loss in personal property rights is acceptable for a little more financial security. Who thinks (s)he’s morally superior now...?
Sorry, individual property rights are morally superior.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
~Ben Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania.(1759)
I’m sorry you feel that you can dictate what one can do with their personal property. Some contracts are illegal. All should be subject to constitutional scrutiny, and this should have been resolved in civil court. Sorry you think you can decide what is legal or not. You can’t, and I hope this HOA gets the snot sued out of them and the fraud who filed the paperwork. Thanks, but no thanks.
If I were you I would not have stated anything about being on some HOA board.LOL
How do you handle this?
You are serving on the Board of an HOA. As a representative of the association, you have a legal obligation to preserve the community, pay the community's bills, and enforce the rules. Failure to do so could get you sued by an angry homeowner.
There's insurance (unless you want to risk paying out of your own pocket for the association's legal fees), landscaping, pool maintenance, electricity, and property taxes. In JDW HOA, those total $10,000 a year. There are 100 homes, so everyone pays $100 each a year. Not too much, just enough to cover the bills.
Five folks have financial trouble and don't pay. Four let you know what's happening, one does not - they just don't pay. You are now short.
Next year, same thing. Now you are $1,000 in the hole for 2 years.
What bill are YOU not going to pay - because these people didn't contribute? The insurance, and run the risk of being held personally liable for any legal fees and damages? The pool maintenance, only to have the State shut down your community's pool? Going to push that mower yourself? Turn "Al Gore" on everyone to conserve electricity?
Easy to judge when it's not you making the decisions.
You're right. It's stupid for someone to lose their home over $800, particularly since is was a $300K home. If the HOA possessed the ability to shut off a "community" the way the electric company can shut off your power, you'd better believe people would take that bill seriously.
But they don't. This is the avenue left open to them. I guess you didn't know that in Texas, there is a right of redemption in most cases (as there was for this soldier's family) that his wife ignored. They could have gotten the home back, but the onset of her mental illness obviously affected her judgement and she ignored this and a bunch of other bills and mail.
This is the HOA's fault, how, exactly?
“I use that word very precisely. IT’S AN OBLIGATION.”
I agree that when you sign the contract you should have read it already, I will say that my HOA contract filled a three ring binder of nit noid rules - some are very justified but arbitraily enforced in the HOA I was part of - and I recieved a copy of the contract at closing andI should have forced them to hold the closing until I found out just what I was getting into. Shame on me, it was my fault for not looking but believe me I will not jump into that situation again if I can help it.
I believe in enforcing contracts, but ones that are created correctly, and constitutionally. This, and taking him to court, would not be an issue if the Big Government wasn’t so interested in bogging down our courts as it is. When one has to wait 7 months to enter a plea for a traffic ticket (Las Vegas), or a year to serve one’s jail sentence (California), things are getting ridiculous. A fair and speedy trial are part of our RIGHTS.
The people, and Freepers perhaps more so than others (because they seem to be more legal beagles and law abiding than the average bear) have dropped the ball on the judiciary system. That’s where our futures wars are to be fought, but they’ve already stacked the system in favor of Big Government, globalists and unions. Watch for it, in the next 2-5 years, it’s going to get hairy.
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