Category Archives: From the ‘net
Violence in HOA’s
Opinion
Lola Lauri
From an article in the Seattle Times:
Who would want to subject themselves to such friction by being part of a homeowners’ board? Some are genuinely drawn by the opportunity to volunteer, McKenzie said. But others relish the chance to wield influence over the neighborhood.
“Associations are seen as the bad guys,” Feingold said. “They’ve got a rap for being overreaching and overbearing. In America, we have `My home is my castle.’ You’re really challenging that proposition.”
Read the whole article here. Also, another HOA tragedy, here
We have had members threaten violence at the annual meeting, and at the monthly open meetings. Most times they are simply asked to leave and escorted out. I have often expressed my concerns over our Association not taking these things seriously enough. Let’s not wait for a tragedy here before we take action when someone threatens violence in our community.
Ripples in the Pond
Lola Lauri
I have been doing a lot of reading about Homeowner Associations, and I have found many interesting stories, but this one offers a wonderful lesson for all of us. We are a diverse and wonderful community, full of interesting people from all sorts of cultural, religious and social backgrounds. It is one of the things that makes our community special. There are those who would add rules and regulations solely for the purpose of hiding these differences. Some of my neighbors have beautiful lawns, some have lots of cars, some have big parties, and some come and go only in the dead of night, but they are real people who deserve to live their lives the way they like. Sure, sometimes I can hear the parties, and sometimes I don’t like the way they decorated their rocks, but we all need to be both tolerant and considerate of those differences. The link below will take you to a story about a neighbor who saw this all very clearly and who fought to preserve the freedom and diversity in her neighborhood.
HOA Horror Stories – Cautionary Examples for ELA
Lola Lauri
The decisions made by the Emerald Lakes Boards of the past and present have been the subject of many conversations on our Facebook page. The bylaws revisions were soundly defeated, there is much debate over the new fee for putting our boats into the water, and who can forget the great “cover your propane tank” rule that cost many homeowners hundreds of dollars before it was finally deemed a failure? HOA’s are notoriously difficult to manage, and are often managed by fools. This is not an Emerald Lakes’ problem, it is actually quite widespread. I found some interesting HOA horror stories to share with you all. Some are funny, some are tragic, and many remind me of things that have happened here in our community. Click on the link below and tell me if you notice the similarities too:
http://gawker.com/5830257/the-horror-of-homeowners-associations
Emerald Lakes Free Press 