First, I would like to acknowledge that the Developer has done a wonderful job in developing The Villages. It is a great place to live. In fact, most of the time, the Developer’s interests coincide with those of the residents. But there are instances when they conflict.  Over the years, there have been several such […]

In 2016, my family made a life-altering decision to sell our home and move to a cheaper area so my wife could stay at home with our children. We decided to build a home in what I dubbed a “pseudo-retirement” community, as most of the residents are retired or close to it.  The neighborhood is […]

Even in Groveland — where a convicted felon is suing in court to become mayor and staffers sometimes throw one another out of City Hall in spats over who has the job — even here, they understand the value of Little Free Libraries.  Last week, Sentinel reporter Stephen Hudak wrote about a homeowners association in […]

An acquaintance of mine once said a homeowners association, or HOA, “is essentially a microcosm.” He never finished the thought — someone interrupted our chat at a reception — and I wondered what an HOA is a microcosm of. Not enough to track him down, apparently, but wonder I did.  It’s not a miniature U.S. […]

Q: My wife’s gun-loving, AR-15-owning brother is eyeing a unit in our co-op building. As much as I would love to live closer to this lovely man, surely HOA rules wouldn’t allow him to bring his arsenal, right? So he should look elsewhere, right?  Read the Q&A………..

After spending two years as an ombudsman for the state, I definitely agree with state Sen. Debbie Mayfield, who has a bill before the Senate, SB 1530, that offers more protection for condo owners.  A previous bill, SB 1682, was opposed by Gov. Scott as having too much clout against board members who could have […]

What does “proactive management” really represent to an HOA/COA board and their community? According to many HOA/COA industry “experts,” proactive management is interpreted as “taking positive actions, improving work habits and planning ahead in order to avoid (or better manage) situations while also increasing productivity.” How’s any of this supposed to improve the quality of […]

Governments regulate business. But, why? Most often commerce is regulated for consumer protection, employee protection, and environment protection. Real estate agent/broker lobbies have been introducing legislation throughout the country under the guise of consumer protection. The legislation proposed by the real estate lobby arbitrarily and capriciously invokes a cap on fees a community association or […]

South Carolinians are big on flags, and homeowners associations are, well, persnickety about their subdivision rules. So maybe it’s not surprising that a West Ashley homeowner doesn’t see eye to eye with his HOA’s insistence that he ought to take down the Israeli flag that flies daily from his balcony.    Read the Op/Ed……………..

Can a branded vocational vehicle be ticketed for being parked in an employee driver’s home driveway? Or, can it be subject to a fine if legally parked overnight on the side of a street? Before you say no, think again. These discriminatory practices occur regularly when vocational vehicles are parked in residential areas governed by […]

Homeownership is critical to the economy, representing an estimated 15 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Homeownership is also critical to household financial stability. According to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, a typical homeowner’s net worth is $195,000 while that of a renter is $5,400.  Congress is debating revisions to mortgage and homeownership provisions […]

If you own a condo that you actually live in, you might not appreciate the influx of strangers that Airbnb can bring into the building you call home. But the short-term rental service and others like it are here to stay. The City of Vancouver has drafted bylaws that will make some listings legal while […]

There is a dangerous fight going on in Wisconsin right now where legislators are seeking to place a cap on the amount associations charge for disclosure documents. The proposed statutory cap: $30. That is far less than it takes to produce the documents, yet for some reason, some legislators were convinced by Realtors, it was […]

The Arizona Republic is seriously going after the HOA foreclosure situation. I’ve been commenting on the issue for just about forever, and so have a lot of other people. The problem is that CIDs typically have exactly one source of income, which is assessments. The volunteer owner-directors typically don’t have enough training and experience to […]

Residents of the Walnut Tree community in Stokes County have a raw deal, receiving problem-plagued water and sewer service from the town of Walnut Cove but not getting their say at the voting booth. Walnut Tree residents have long wanted Walnut Cove to resolve those problems and others, and have now filed a lawsuit to […]

Good grief my head is spinning. There is so much going on in the world today, and I don’t mean this generation or 2017 – I mean TODAY. Within America’s borders and outside, I do not recall so much going on at one time. I know, I know, I am 35, but last night my […]

In a campaign reminiscent of Rambo: First Blood, a Tallahassee military vet successfully waged his own private media war against the neighborhood rule-Nazis who run Tallahassee’s Southwood homeowners association. At least, that’s the way the story was being presented on Fox News with “PATRIOTISM UNDER FIRE” in bold letters across the screen. Oh, and in […]

Last week I wrote about the lady who came to my door trying to get me to join her in trying to get recently installed basketball hoops removed in our neighborhood. Yesterday, after the National Night Out gathering in our neighborhood on Tuesday where at least 30 kids were playing basketball, those hoops were taken […]