Texans are on their way to being able fly their flags without fear
That is, people who live under strict no-flag rules imposed by homeowners’ associations will be able to show their colors if a bill that passed the Texas House today gets approval from the state Senate and a signature by the governor. But don’t expect to fly any flag. Only American, Texas and armed services flags are covered under the bill. House Bill 2779 by Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, prohibits a homeowners associations from restricting the installation of a 20-foot freestanding flagpole to display the flags. “Earlier this year I was outraged to learn that one of our brave Texas Marine Veterans, Mike Merola, was being sued for flying the American flag from a freestanding flagpole at his house,” Bohac said in a statement. “This bill is significant because it preserves our fundamental right to express our state and national pride and protects Texas private property owners from the threat of being sued for supporting our country, state, or armed services.” Bohac said the bill should sail through the Senate. Get more Legislative coverage inside the Virtual Capitol

HOAs taking S.A. homes now getting lawmakers' attention
Boarded up. Deserted. A court notice to vacate. The signs of foreclosures permeate the Lago Vista neighborhood. Foreclosures are nothing new in this new economy.  But when it’s your homeowner’s association doing it to a neighbor, Janet Ahmad with the Home Owners for Better Building says it gets personal.  “This is a money-maker for the industry.  It’s very lucrative,” said Ahmad.  One bill being heard this week in committee, pushed by Houston lawmaker, Rep. Harold Dutton, asks that delinquent homeowners get a written notice of the amount of attorney’s fees and costs they face BEFORE those costs are actually incurred.  Ahmad added, “That would stop attorneys from abusing their authority. And an investigation is key.”  Groups like the Home Owners for Better Building want lawmakers to request the state attorney general look into the practices of HOAs.

Texas Consumers Call for Investigation of Property Management Industry and Attorney Misconduct  
Home Owners for Better Building will be asking the House Business and Industry committee as well as other lawmakers to request Attorney General Greg Abbott to investigate Home Owners Associations (HOA’s), the property management industry and its attorneys. “Obviously there are many communities that can not afford or tolerte an HOA; certainly not at the expense of losing their homes for the enrichment by an aggressive industry,” said Janet Ahmad, National President of Home Owners for Better Building .“Homeowners need more than lawmaking, they need to see justice.  The big business of HOA attorney ‘payment-plan-greed’ makes Pay-Day-Loans look first-class. Homeowners deserve a state investigation,” concluded Ahmad.

Hard-Pressed Homeowners Facing Another Financial Threat
One out of every four California homeowners belongs to a homeowners association — entities that sell property and provide services in residential subdivisions with support from member dues. There are more than 15,000 associations in Northern California, according to Levy, Erlanger & Company, a professional services firm that caters to them. Last year, associations foreclosed on about 300 Bay Area homes — twice as many as five years ago, according to an analysis by New America Media, a nonprofit news organization. The study used data from ForeclosureRadar.com, an independent Web site.

State legislators told of HOA fines, foreclosure threats
A Houston couple may wind up having to pay more than $20,000 after a feud over a $50 ticket for having gray - instead of black - tape on exterior water lines, leaders of a property owners' rights group told the House Business and Industry Committee...Elkins said he wants lawmakers to explore whether foreclosure is only used by associations as a weapon against people who have built up substantial equity in their homes - but only very rarely against a first-time buyer who put little money down...Giddings said she was dismayed by recent stories in The Dallas Morning News about a Colleyville developer who, with his wife and business partner, used five neighborhood associations to dictate everything from how many day lilies to plant in a flower bed to the precise size of coach lamps at entrances.

Texas HOAs under heavy fire in Austin
We’ve heard the complaints for years now… complaints about homeowners’ associations that have gained  too much power, even foreclosing on homes for non-payment of dues, fees and fines.But state lawmakers may be about to strip some of that power away...  Although Greer says he is current on all his association dues, he is being hit with late fees, attorneys fees, fines, and interest totaling more than $700. “But because I didn’t pay exactly on time, they slammed me with fees.

Strict West Valley HOA wants green grass
Letters started going out a few weeks ago to dozens, if not hundreds of homeowners living in Litchfield Park's Dreaming Summit, reminding them that green grass is one of the contract agreements. Homeowners pay upwards of $150 a month to live in the area. Homeowners say they will face fines or even possible lawsuits if they don’t strictly follow the HOA's guidelines.

Raid at Homeowners Association
The Nevada Attorney General's Office, with the assistance of the FBI, served a warrant at the Paradise Spa Homeowners Association on Las Vegas Boulevard South near Serene Avenue.  AG investigators were looking for records of the HOA. Residents allege HOA board members have embezzled more than $1 million of their money. Many of the people who live at Paradise Spa are elderly. They say they pay $160 a month in HOA fees but there is nothing to show for it.

Woman fined for using garage as living space
Marilyn Weber said she usually spends four or five hours a day in her  garage space at Villa Portinifino knitting and watching TV. Neighborhood children and friends said they often swing by for treats and coffee.  Recently, the homeowners association at Villa Portofino fined Weber $50 because she was using the area as living space. For every day she goes without paying the fine, they add on an additional $2.

Big Corporate Business See HOA Non-Judicial Foreclosures as 1,425% Profits for the Non-Profits HOA Empire
The question is; how can a family that owns a 9-year old home valued at $74,000 pay the monthly mortgage and then be expected to pay an additional $150 a month, plus a $20.00 processing fee, plus accruing interest, fines and fees when the original yearly HOA dues was only $150 per year?  The answer is Big Business Payment Plan Greed which makes Pay-Day-Loans look good.

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Texas May Consider a Bill Forcing Losers in a Suit to Pay Opponents’ Legal Fees
Loser pays; everyone wins. It is the perfect sound bite in what could be the next tort reform battle in Texas: a push to require the losing parties in litigation to pay their opponents’ legal fees. Legal scholars also question whether frivolous litigation is even a significant problem, said Charles M. Silver, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. No serious academic study outside of the context of securities class actions has found it to be an issue in the United States, Mr. Silver said. And in Texas, since the enactment of the Legislature’s 2003 tort reform package, which included a $250,000 cap on compensation for noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases, the idea that plaintiffs are now filing suits that are not overwhelmingly meritorious is “just ridiculous,” he said.

Is KB Home's mortgage partner, BofA, getting cold feet?
KB Home fears the joint venture it built with Bank of America is on shaky ground, according to securities filings. The company said BofA came forward suggesting a restructuring of the parties' joint venture. Over the course of the past several years, the joint venture allowed the firms to provide homebuyers with mortgage and banking services.

Is KB Home a Bargain After -86% Belly Flop?
Homebuilder stock KB Home trades at -86% below its July 2005 high at the peak of the U.S. housing boom. With operations in all the overbuilt housing markets larded down with foreclosures – including California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida – it’s hard to imagine a company with worse prospects in the near- and medium-term. In order to stomach the idea of swapping your investment funds for shares in KB Home, you’d have to believe that this company’s future is going to be much brighter than recent statistics suggest. But the odds of KB Home running out of cash are higher than the chances for a quick turnaround.

Citizen Participation Act Takes Aim at Frivolous Lawsuits: Citizens, Journalists and Homeowners Testify in Support
On Monday the Texas House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence held a hearing on The Citizsen Participation Act, a law designed to protect Texans from frivolous lawsuits that target their First Amendment rights. The Citizen Participation Act is a bi-partisan effort at aimed at supporting the rights of all Texans affected by frivolous SLAPP suits....Also testifying was Janet Ahmad, of San Antonio, and the president of Home Owners for Better Building. Ahmad shared details of how she was sued for racketeering by KB homes because she organized protests of the builder. Hearing:Senate Committee on State Affairs Apr 04 advance to 1:07