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Phoenix, Arizona - Additional followup on my post about the widower losing her house for not taking care of her bushes. The facts:
Checking the county records, it shows a 1997 judgment by Lakeview Estates at Westbrook Village Association, with Curtis Ekmark, CAI Legislative Action Committee Chair, as the HOA attorney, ordering Marie Brown to comply with the CC&Rs. It gave the attorney's some $150 in fees, and the HOA was awarded $530. Ms Brown was ordered to "clean up".
In 1999 the HOA went to court again. The attorney's fee was now some $3300. Nothing to the HOA.
In 2000 the HOA went to court with a complaint that the prior order was not complied with by Ms Brown. Court ordered the HOA to enter the property and clean it up, and to bill Ms. Brown. Another $1500 was awarded to Ekmark's firm.
And in 2001 we get a penalty of $1500 for "contempt of court".
SO we have a total of some $6912, with a generous 20% interest comes to some $8,294. I can find no other liens or charges.
In May of this year a sheriif's sale for $52,500 takes place, the buyer being a real estate investor who had been buying numerous homes over the past year.
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As far as I can determine, the HOA probably had the right to require compliance with landscaping rules. It was given the right to correct the situation and bill the homeowner. From what I was able to find, there was no lien placed against Ms. Brown for failure to pay any court granted fees that allowed the HOA to hire landscapers. Apparently, the HOA never bothered to cleanup the landscaping as they insisted the poor widower do. To think that the HOA did pay a landscaper for cleaning up the landscaping and not bothered to bill Ms Brown is outright laughable.
Why didn't the HOA do this? Ulterior reasons? Personal agenda and the use of abusive and unregulated powers? The apparently wanted her out and didn't care if she lost her home and received no equity for it. They wanted her out and they had the legal, but unethical right to do so. And they did.
Real estate "comps" show house values at $135,000 average. Ms brown and her husband bought the house free and clear in 1985 for $85,500. Now she gets nothing. My understanding is that any excess goes to state funds.
Who was there to help her? Not the real estate department. They removed my web site as a resource for buyers seeking info about living in an HOA. Not CAI. Not the Attorney General. Not the Arizona Legislature that refused to hear horror stories.
It is a travesty of justice and the American way.
George K. Staropoli
Citizens Against Private Government HOAs
http://pvtgov.org
602-228-2891 |
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