HOA Hires Taser Wielding Guards for 3AM Eviction

HOAs and Condominium corporations when dealing with delinquent fees, and after following the correct steps, can foreclose on the property to recoup outstanding amounts. In foreclosing, sometimes you need to evict the owners or tenants.

Apparently, for the Jasime  Homeowners Association, California, simply knocking on the front door during daylight hours, and communicating the need for eviction isn’t their chosen approach. Instead they hired a security company to perform a 3am raid on the tenants.

After the guards entered the premises, awoke everyone, forced them into the street in underwear and then ransacked their stuff, the tenants had an opportunity to show lease and utility payments. This proved that the tenants were actually renters (with rights) vs. what the HOA claimed – squatters. With the new information, the guards allowed the tenants back into their homes.

The tenants are suing the HOA (and it seems rightly from the report) for a variety of charges. I would have to say that all this could have been avoided if the HOA had made sure that clear, and proper, notification of eviction had been given. Say, during daylight hours.

The best part, one of the security guards hired is quoted as saying:

between you, me and the lamppost, the homeowners’ association is over-zealous.

Really? Over-Zealous. Say it isn’t so!

When Considering a Condominium Purchase, Check How Long the President Has Ruled the Roost

If you are looking for a condominium that you’ll feel comfortable with, check how long the current board has been in power. If the board doesn’t turn over, it’s the same names year after year, then add additional caution when purchasing in the condominium or HOA.

I’ve read, and had some personal experience, about too many “lifer presidents” (an example here) that over time begin to treat the board as their exclusive play grounds. Where most elected bodies recognize the threat to good governance elected lifers create – even the President of the United States has term limits – no such measures exist for community associations.

The risk is, and it seems to come to fruition, that over a period of time the basic principles of the board get eroded.

Take for example the board of President Lorraine Walsh, who has held her title for over 20 years at the Deveonwood, Hercules California, condominium. According to one resident the board hasn’t held an election since 2005. Further, though there is a vacancy on the current board and an owner volunteered to fill it till next election – the current board voted down the appointment 4 to 0.

Other shenanigans appear to be happening there as well: holding in camera executive sessions in the middle of public meetings. That’s clearly a method to shut down the meetings.

Often long serving boards tend to use fining as a heavy handed method to enforce compliance, or threaten owners financially if they raise trouble. For the Deveonwood, first time violations carry $350 fines and have been handed out for improper window coverings and poor garden pot locations.

Sometimes I wonder if the property management firms hired by these long term boards are somewhat responsible for the condominium’s or HOA’s decline. If there really hasn’t been an election since 2005 the property management company should resign or make public notice that the board is failing to abide by all rule and regulations. The problem is management companies can fear failing to comply with the board will result in a non-renewed contract. It’s hard to protest the board that pays you. For the Deveonwood, one owner appears to have asked for the record of past elections to confirm when and how the last elections were held, and the management company denied to fill the request.

Condominiums are great places to live, but like any organization they benefit deeply from a regular turnover of the board, and a rotation of the roles. There is nothing scared or amazingly difficult about being on a board, and normally a management company will ensure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed. I have yet to see a new board, with none of the old guard remaining, mess up a community.

98 Unit Condominium None Larger Than 350 sq. Feet

I have always walked through IKEA and marvelled at their model mini living spaces. Your whole life can be had in a compact space! It’s a marvel of both modern life and IKEA!

So I have always toyed with the idea of a whole complex built around micro condominiums – that is the developer has purpose built the units to work for a small space, not just sectioned off square footage into smaller and smaller units.

In doing some research I stumbled over the Cubix Yerba Buena in San Francisco (3.5 min video / pictures). With no unit large that 350 sq feet, the 98 units fill a very interesting role. Small living spaces called lofts (really meaning on combined living space with a separated toilet area) are the heart of this building. To help with the claustrophobic feeling one could get, there’s a giant roof top garden.

Talking with neighbours in my own condominium, we often talk about the opportunities to move – but realize that many owners spend little non-sleep time in our homes. With the exception of being unconscious, most of the rest of the time in the condominium is getting ready to leave or getting ready to sleep – with the rest of our lives being at work, hanging publicly with friends, or just “being out”. If one really spends so little conscious time in your condo, why would one need a lot of space?

Current rates go for 250k for 282 sq feet, and several units available to low income for about 99k.

County Bans Smoking in All Multi-Unit Residences

Sonoma County, North California, banned all smoking in multi-unit residences. This includes not only common property (hallways, parkades, grounds, common rooms and laundries, and more) but private units as well.

It will be phased in over 16 months – with common areas falling under the smoking ban in 180 days, new units a bit later, and then already built private units on 12 January 2013.

I’m a committed non-smoker, but I still find this kind of blanket smoking ban on private residences heavy handed and intrusive. I’ve commented before (here and here) that this is something that should be done at the condominium or HOA level, but not at the municipal level. And even then I’ve been hesitant to support this at all.

It’s rhetorical and silly but I add “should they look at banning ethnic food or outdoor bbqs” – specifically where bbq smoke has been identified as carcinogenetic, and I’ve been well known to whip up a whole kick-ass cloud of that fatty black soot for my neighbours to inhale.

The ruling is good news for the 85% of non-smokers (according to Sonoma County), but I can not wonder if this action is too much an intrusion, and if exemptions can be granted for medial smoking (which is not indicated in the motion).