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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Today’s post offers more proof that Community Associations Institute, California Legislative Action Committee — CAI-CLAC is unfriendly to homeowners. If anyone reading this post still believes that CAI represents the interests of more than 60 million homeowners from association-governed communities in the U.S., today’s post should definitely change your mind. At …
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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Take note residents of Missouri: Just in time for midterm elections, the state has a new law that makes it illegal for your homeowners’ association to ban political signs from your yard. House Bill 1887 was passed by the General Assembly and signed by former Governor Eric Greitens on …
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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities CA voters may consider Prop 13 'split roll' tax increase in 2020 In 1978, California's voters passed Proposition 13, a ballot measure that has significantly limited property tax increases ever since. Under Prop 13, a property owner's tax assessment is limited to one percent of a property's taxable value …
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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Homebuyers often assume that a new neighborhood development will be free from defects such as infrastructure failure. Consumers often pay a premium price for the advantages of new construction: an attractive community with smooth roads, and good drainage to prevent flooding & erosion. They expect their new or nearly …
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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities A few weeks ago, a group of unit owners at River City Condominium in Chicago filed a lawsuit intended to halt the $90.5 million sale and condo deconversion of their iconic vintage Chicago riverfront building. River City Condominium Association includes 449 residential units. Since 2016, Marc Realty along with …
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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Across the U.S., homeowners are considering tax districts to help them make essential repairs to their HOA infrastructure. Volunteer-led HOA boards face the difficult task of finding affordable solutions to deal with their busted dams, silt-filled lakes, crumbling roads and bridges, and obsolete wastewater systems. It’s an increasingly common …
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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities As explained in a previous post, in 2016, HUD published a rule that clarified that association-governed boards and their managing agents have legal duty to prevent housing discrimination in their communities. Some industry leaders, including members of trade group Community Associations Institute (CAI), expressed strong disapproval of the Quid …
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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities Have you noticed the a culture war against millions of U.S. residents who live in suburban and rural locations? The war is waged by a small but influential group of city planners, and New Urbanism Think Tanks. In their zest to design and build utopian cities, these urban elitists …
By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities The story of Georgetown Condominium, located near Green Hill, Tennessee, shatters the condo owner’s dream of a low-maintenance, carefree, and affordable lifestyle. The horror story began in June, when Lindsay Bramson and the WSMV I-4 team reported that a dangerous gas leak. That prompted Piedmont Gas company to shut off …
By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities In many golf communities, the course and Country Clubs are privately owned and managed. When the golf business stops making a profit for its owner, the land and related facilities are put on the market, in hopes of finding a willing buyer. However, there aren’t many buyers of …
Continue reading "HOA, condo, coop Golf Community updates (Oct. 2018)"