But there are no legal grounds, Solomon said, for the association to change locks and move in another tenant

I don't think those people care about the law. sounds like someone lost big in the housing crunch and is playing hard ball to get out of whatever fiscal hole they dug for themselves.

In 2010, Spector was unapologetic about how the association is dealing with the challenge.

"I'm paying on a $400,000 mortgage when someone else walks in and pays $140,000 for the same house," Spector told the Tribune.


Translation: I bought the "houses never decrease in value" schtick hook, line, and sinker, and am now butthurt that I overpaid by such a large amount for my house which is now completely under water, and I am going to take my anger out on those who didn't fall for this trap and are therefore paying much less.

Weaver95: But there are no legal grounds, Solomon said, for the association to change locks and move in another tenant

I don't think those people care about the law. sounds like someone lost big in the housing crunch and is playing hard ball to get out of whatever fiscal hole they dug for themselves.

Sounds more like someone is acting out their dictator fantasies.

Also, just wait when it comes out that he's been stealing from the HOA.

Just watch. You know he's doing it.

In 2010, Spector was unapologetic about how the association is dealing with the challenge.

"I'm paying on a $400,000 mortgage when someone else walks in and pays $140,000 for the same house," Spector told the Tribune. "We have people who haven't paid a payment in four years, and they want us to let them out of their bad debt. That's not going to happen."



I had to actually go back and read that bit again. the anger, rage and bitterness from just that one statement alone tells you all you need to know about what's going on here.

Was such a possibility in the contract? Then they should be upheld in court.


/same with mortgages

How can the HOA kick the current owner's tenant out of their house and put in their own tenant if they don't legally own the house? Why isn't the current homeowner ripping the HOA a new asshole in court? If I lived in that HOA, I'd be figuring out a way to disband the HOA or replace the board members. Also, I'd request a full auditing of the books. You can smell the corruption in this HOA.

Weaver95: In 2010, Spector was unapologetic about how the association is dealing with the challenge.

"I'm paying on a $400,000 mortgage when someone else walks in and pays $140,000 for the same house," Spector told the Tribune. "We have people who haven't paid a payment in four years, and they want us to let them out of their bad debt. That's not going to happen."



I had to actually go back and read that bit again. the anger, rage and bitterness from just that one statement alone tells you all you need to know about what's going on here.

This also tells you how the HOA feels about those who are buying post-bubble:

In one case, a prospective buyer was told two days before closing that he had to pay $14,000 in fees for cosmetic work or the association would quash the sale. The buyer, who said he wanted to do the repairs himself, walked away from the sale.

If the seller's HOA told me 2 days before closing I would have to cough up $14,000 additional, I'd do exactly as this buyer did and tell them to go pound sand. If the HOA is doing this to prospective buyers, you know how they treat current owners.

/Doesn't live in a HOA neighborhood

That trebuchet doesn't seem like such a bad idea now, wouldn't you say?

That's what you get for living in Florida. (Or anywhere with a HOA)

It occurs to me that developments with HOAs are the Tea Party ideal. A community with a fully privatized government! Choose your political leaders from the choices offered by the Free Market! And if you don't like it, just abandon your home and underwater mortgage and move under a bridge 'cause you aren't renting anywhere with what the bankruptcy did to your credit rating.

dustman81: If the seller's HOA told me 2 days before closing I would have to cough up $14,000 additional, I'd do exactly as this buyer did and tell them to go pound sand. If the HOA is doing this to prospective buyers, you know how they treat current owners.

this sounds like an HOA run like the mafia. if you aren't careful that's exactly what can happen to your neighborhood. some HOA's are run by petty tyrants but most just pay the bills, make sure the snow gets shoveled off during winter and hold bake sales and organize golf outtings on the weekends.

in THIS case tho, i'd seriously wonder if the idiots running the show were stealing money from the association in order to cover their losses. I can't think of any other reason for an HOA to drive off potential buyers...well, other than just being a pit of insane rage of course, which is kinda what the association president sounds like.

/Doesn't live in a HOA neighborhood

I do and the entire time i've been there they pestered me exactly one time...and that had to do with Dad smoking in a breezeway when he shouldn't have been there in the first place.

dustman81: Why isn't the current homeowner ripping the HOA a new asshole in court?

It's Florida. Court is probably backing the HOA.

GAT_00: dustman81: Why isn't the current homeowner ripping the HOA a new asshole in court?

It's Florida. Court is probably backing the HOA.

And yet another reason to never live in florida is revealed...

I never really understood the existence of these crazy HOA's. My house is technically in an HOA, but I don't think they ever do anything except make sure common areas get mowed, replace dead trees at the front of the neighborhood with saplings, and stuff like that. There are dues but I don't think there are penalties if you don't pay them. There are also rules about what you can and can't build, but no one follows them and no one cares. You can't have a shed that isn't attached to your house, but almost everyone has one.

It's been that way as long as I can remember. Thank god. I can't imagine living somewhere like the hellhole in the article.

Weaver95: GAT_00: dustman81: Why isn't the current homeowner ripping the HOA a new asshole in court?

It's Florida. Court is probably backing the HOA.

And yet another reason to never live in florida is revealed...

Hey, it's a free market!

GAT_00: Weaver95: GAT_00: dustman81: Why isn't the current homeowner ripping the HOA a new asshole in court?

It's Florida. Court is probably backing the HOA.

And yet another reason to never live in florida is revealed...

Hey, it's a free market!

And it can go right ahead with it's bad self. any HOA that's run by a guy who thinks he's gotta stick to people who DIDN'T get shafted by the housing market implosion just ain't gonna be a happy place to live.

You know, I try to feel sorry for people who buy a house in an HOA, but I can't.
They know what they're getting into. The stories have been told for over a decade now.
But they buy into the HOA because they want to control 'those people'. Those people being anyone other than themselves.

Chinchillazilla: I never really understood the existence of these crazy HOA's. My house is technically in an HOA, but I don't think they ever do anything except make sure common areas get mowed, replace dead trees at the front of the neighborhood with saplings, and stuff like that. There are dues but I don't think there are penalties if you don't pay them. There are also rules about what you can and can't build, but no one follows them and no one cares. You can't have a shed that isn't attached to your house, but almost everyone has one.

It's been that way as long as I can remember. Thank god. I can't imagine living somewhere like the hellhole in the article.

All it takes is one or two people moving into your neighborhood to change that.
Someone with the desire to be dictator for the neighborhood and get a couple people on board to show up and vote and the HOA meetings and you'll be singing a different tune.

If an HOA was to go insane we knew it would happen in Florida. Everyone there is already insane anyway right?

Chinchillazilla: I never really understood the existence of these crazy HOA's. My house is technically in an HOA, but I don't think they ever do anything except make sure common areas get mowed, replace dead trees at the front of the neighborhood with saplings, and stuff like that. There are dues but I don't think there are penalties if you don't pay them. There are also rules about what you can and can't build, but no one follows them and no one cares. You can't have a shed that isn't attached to your house, but almost everyone has one.

It's been that way as long as I can remember. Thank god. I can't imagine living somewhere like the hellhole in the article.

It's all about some people being complete assholes.
your front yard is a shiat hole and is destroying the neighborhood? fine.
but take your house???? farkem

the rules really are insane. shudder.
This could be fun, find a house in HOA, talk about making an offer, get the report from the HOA and walk away laughing

Chinchillazilla: I never really understood the existence of these crazy HOA's. My house is technically in an HOA, but I don't think they ever do anything except make sure common areas get mowed, replace dead trees at the front of the neighborhood with saplings, and stuff like that. There are dues but I don't think there are penalties if you don't pay them. There are also rules about what you can and can't build, but no one follows them and no one cares. You can't have a shed that isn't attached to your house, but almost everyone has one.

It's been that way as long as I can remember. Thank god. I can't imagine living somewhere like the hellhole in the article.

I have lived in a condo for 15+ years. A condo association is required. common roof, sidewalk, front door, walls, drains, water, etc ...
Makes total sense. Assuming that the board keeps the reserves in shape and doesnt run crazy spending money on BS.

The down side of NOT having a HOA is jerk moves, turns house into a crack den, lowers property values, everyone moves away, jerk buys property cheap, fixes everything up, makes a killing.
LOL

Wow, thats insane.

Why are HOA still allow to operate with such extreme powers? This is something you would see in a communist system with common ownership, not a country that prides itself upon private ownership and due process of law

When does the shooting start?

Holy shiat. What kind of petty, vindictive, egomaniacal tin-pot dictator wannabe is this guy? And why is he still running things? I would assume he'd have been strung up on a decorative raffia noose from (only) an oak tree no more than 18" above the ground, as measured from the grass which must be no more than 2" in length, and not visible from the street.

cman: powers

Why? Simply because nobody has hired a lawyer to go after them. In our system, you can pretty much anything on the civil size until someone spends the money to stop you. As long as you haven't broken a law, the police can't do anything.

cman: Wow, thats insane.

Why are HOA still allow to operate with such extreme powers? This is something you would see in a communist system with common ownership, not a country that prides itself upon private ownership and due process of law

You have seen what's happened in this country since 9-11, right?

Don't Troll Me Bro!: cman: Wow, thats insane.

Why are HOA still allow to operate with such extreme powers? This is something you would see in a communist system with common ownership, not a country that prides itself upon private ownership and due process of law

You have seen what's happened in this country since 9-11, right?


Nothing to do with 9-11.

It has all to do with people worrying about their 'property values' and how 'other people' will drive them down.
Notice how it's never their fault, it's always a vindictive HOA. Notice how few of them cared when it was happening to their neighbors house.
Because those people were driving down the value of their home. Like if farking matters.
People need to stop treating a house like an investment. It's not.
It's a home you live in. I don't give a fark if my house value is increasing daily. If it's not a place I enjoy living in and doing things in, I don't want to live there.

But because people have their perverted view of what suburban living should be, how they should be able to dictate what others do in their home, HOAs run rampant. People put up with because of the stupid fear of someone moving in and turning one house into a crack den. Now suddenly they can't sell their house at all. All because of that one person.

The problem with HOAs isn't HOAs. It's people.

I for one welcome our new HOA overlords.

No HOA for me!



_{'Fort building' as a child is now a survival skill.}

Headline is confusing. 'HOA goes insane.' That would infer that at one point they were 'sane.'

It's nothing a few feet of chain, a couple gallons of gasoline and a match can't solve.

/it's like C4 but with the option to roast hot dogs

This would never happen in a state with a "make my day" law, but it'd be pretty awesome if somebody tried.

If people are so worried about a crack den in their neighborhood, shouldn't they call the farking cops?

I would never live anywhere with an HOA. Ever. And this is a prime example why.

That's fine. I will of course take the private law into my own hands as well and actually murder several people on the HOA or their families and burn down said houses with or without people currently residing in them.

Not kidding. There will be blood.

I feel bad for anyone who wants to buy a brand new home though...unless you are building a custom home out in the woods, most new homes are part of this breed of overpowered HOAs. You really don't get a choice for new homes.

I think when we were buying this last round, only one new home wasn't part of an HOA. And it was way out in the sticks. I ended up getting an older one in probably the last neighborhood built before HOAs took over.

A dude like that has to have some depraved porn, or something, on his computer.

shiat, just break in one day, steal it, and post it all over the internet.

It's Florida.

1. Homeowner hangs out around his (former) house until someone complains.
2. Tin-pot dictator shows up to run them off.
3. Homeowner stands his ground.
4. Profit.

RobertBruce: Was such a possibility in the contract? Then they should be upheld in court.

There is an expectation of reasonable obligations in a contract. This, there is reasonable to assume the HOA has any ability to evict nor rent the property. HOAs are able to lien a property, call code enforcement, and in general be busybodies, but nothing else.

Not a surprising article. HOA people are nuts.

In the town I'm in, the HOA folks are among the most politically active, even though they're a minority of the population. For a lot of citizen involved committees, no one shows up but the HOA folks. So guess who controls the zoning commission and code enforcement?

I've been going to watch commission meetings lately, to prep for changing a few things next time elections happen... it's a cross between entertaining and terrifying how those people think.

Seriously, chain saw the HOA chief's head off.

namatad: The down side of NOT having a HOA is jerk moves, turns house into a crack den, lowers property values, everyone moves away, jerk buys property cheap, fixes everything up, makes a killing.

There are middle grounds. For example, locally-designated historic districts are usually overseen by a government commission. The commission can make sure you paint your house, keep it looking nice, prevent changes that destroy the character of the neighborhood, etc. But because it's a government commission, they're accountable to your rights in a way that HOAs just aren't. They can't stop you from exercising your freedom of speech, for example, and because it's a government commission, the courts give them much less leeway.

/I know, I know Fark Independents, more government is never the answer

Chinchillazilla: I never really understood the existence of these crazy HOA's. My house is technically in an HOA, but I don't think they ever do anything except make sure common areas get mowed, replace dead trees at the front of the neighborhood with saplings, and stuff like that. There are dues but I don't think there are penalties if you don't pay them. There are also rules about what you can and can't build, but no one follows them and no one cares. You can't have a shed that isn't attached to your house, but almost everyone has one.

It's been that way as long as I can remember. Thank god. I can't imagine living somewhere like the hellhole in the article.

That's exactly how an HOA is supposed to work. Occasionally, however, an HOA gets take over by a power hungry madman (or woman) who can't get laid so is going to make everyone else's life miserable.

If I understand the article correctly, the HOA fees weren't being paid, and the HOA had a lien to exercise in such a case. It may even be that an arrangement was struck whereby the HOA was also paying the mortgage in anticipating of getting rent from the occupant, but was not being paid any rent at all.

It's not the best-written article.

I know how to handle this problem - we'll adopt traditional solutions to power mad pocket dictators.



/Also, the insane thing here was buying a house with a HOA in the first place.

All things considered, maybe this was the intent of Florida's "stand your ground law".



You want my house? Come get it motherfarker.

Smeggy Smurf: It's nothing a few feet of chain, a couple gallons of gasoline and a match can't solve.

/it's like C4 but with the option to roast hot dogs

I'm honestly shocked that more HOA or Bank evictions don't end with the former owner deciding to just burn the house down as a final fark you. When you have nothing left, might as well go down swinging.

Mark sounds like another victim of little man syndrome. Next thing you know, this guy is going to change his name to Mark M. Spector and run around creating frivolous lawsuits.

Never move somewhere with an HOA. At least that's what I have learned from Fark. Even if you have a wife or husband who you think can take over the board remember that like in the Game of Thrones, losing has a price.

And this is where I have a problem:

The association had demanded that the tenant stop paying rent to McCarn and pay it instead.

So, the legal rights to the house are hers but the HOA is stepping in to collect? Will they also be paying the mortgage, HOA and tax fees?

/Already know the answer is no.

Bunnyhat: You know, I try to feel sorry for people who buy a house in an HOA, but I can't.
They know what they're getting into. The stories have been told for over a decade now.

It's getting to the point that not living under HOAs is as practical as finding a telecom without a binding arbitration clause.

1) Choose lame-ass suburban home in a lame-ass subdivision with an HOA
2) Willingly sign the HOA's contract
3) Break the contract cuz you're a rebel! not a lame-ass suburban dork! by golly!
4) Complain when they remind you of the contract you signed

You sign a deal with the devil and then don't like the terms later.