As CotoBuzz readers know, we have been in contact with the Orange County DA to discuss the various irregularities in the community. One particular issue that we continue to work on is Justice for Mr. Manian, who was killed by a teen driver March 12, 2006 at the intersection of North Hampton Place and Lexington Way in Coto de Caza
A Coto girl was arrested, charged with vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run and resisting and delaying or obstructing an officer. Under these conditions, the least we had expected was is to have the girl’s legal guardians face certain charges. What, with board sympathizers willing to blame Mr. Maninan “for violating the vehicle code..”, and giving the kid a pass!
In various conversations with Susan Kang Schroeder, Deputy District Attorney, she was always careful to tell us that by law, the DA is unable to discuss the case. So, we tracked down Deputy District Attorney Steve Mitchell of the Felony Projects Unit, who prosecuted the case. We got no information from him either.
We now know that the girl did not spend much time in jail and is attending summer school!
We have also been able to track down Mr. Manian’s next of kin, and expect to publish a brief biographical sketch, to keep his memory alive.
This friends, is Justice, Coto de Caza Style!
RELATED STORIES:
JUSTICE, COTO DE CAZA STYLE
We just had a constructive, and at times very heated, conversation with Orange County’s Deputy District Attorney, Susan Schroeder regarding the tragic accident that occurred March 12, 2006 at the intersection of North Hampton Place and Lexington Way...
Mr. Manian Tragic Death and a Tale of Two Coto’s
On Sunday 3-12-2006, at 1.30 pm, 75 year-old Mr. Manian was riding his bicycle and was struck by a 16 year old female at the intersection of Lexington Way and North Hampton Place. The teen was subsequently arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run and resisting and delaying or obstructing an officer.
COTO DE CAZA ROOTS: USE OF "NON-RESIDENT VOLUNTEERS" April 30, 2006
The current Coto de Caza board of directors came to power with the help of non-resident Paul Young. Young is executive vice president with the CRI. CRI has been accused in the past of financial irregularities, which allegedly triggered an investigation...
Blatant manipulation of 2006 CZ Master Association Elections Continues
When the May 2006 issue of the CA Master Association President's Letter contained erroneous information regarding the number of remaining candidates for the board of directors, we published an errata and called on those responsible for managing the...
INTENSIVE VS. PENSIVE PUBLIC SAFETY: COTO DE CAZA Vs. LADERA RANCH
Intensive Versus Pensive
CZ board member, Metzger has characterized the current Coto de Caza traffic patrol as “intensive” – only after the board was coerced into bringing back the CHP – the problem is that since the association has...
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Orange County DA to Review Complaints against the Coto de Caza local governing body and service providers.
In our continued commitment to public safety within Coto de Caza, and searching for justice for Mr. Morteza Manian, earlier this week (Monday July 17, 2006), CotoBuzz had the opportunity to meet with Susan Kang Schroeder, Orange County District Attorney Public Affairs Counsel and candidly present complaints previously filed with the Attorney General, the California Bar and Freedom Communications Board of Directors (owner of the Orange County Register), against the Coto de Caza local governing body and service providers.
At the top of the list is Depraved Indifference that resulted in two traffic fatalities, including the tragic death of Mr. Manian when he was struck by an under-aged hit-and-run driver (March 12, 2006 at the intersection of North Hampton Place and Lexington Way in Coto de Caza). The kid was eventually arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run and resisting and delaying or obstructing an officer. By law, Susan Kang Schroeder cannot tell us how the case is or is not moving or whether the teen’s parents are being held accountable. Ironically, board sympathizers have indicted the victim claiming that Mr. Manian “violated the vehicle code”!
Although Susan Kang Schroeder was very clear about the Orange County District Attorney can and cannot do (jurisdictional issues as well as workload) in these situations, she did promise to schedule a review of our most pressing issues.
RELATED STORIES:
Coto de Caza Teen Held Responsible for Second Traffic Fatality In Three Months Arrested and Charged - CHP Officer Chris Goodwin has confirmed that the Coto de Caza teen responsible for the second fatal traffic accident in less than three months has been arrested and charged.
Justice Coto de Caza Style IS THIS JUSTICE? - We just had a constructive, and at times very heated, conversation with Orange County’s Deputy District Attorney, Susan Schroeder regarding the tragic accident that occurred March 12, 2006 at the intersection of North Hampton Place and Lexington Way in Coto de Caza, resulting in the death of 75 year-old Morteza Manian
Invitation to First Public Safety Committee Meeting Since First Traffic Fatalities: DaVaro Deception - Law and Order ! - Invitation to First Public Safety Committee Meeting Since First Traffic Fatalities in Last Ten Years
If you care as much as we do about public safety and property values (usually associated with the sate of security in any given community) within...
DaVaro Deception - Law and Order ! We don’t need no stinking law, WE are the law!
VARO/MEZGER/HILL: Hell now, won’t go! – we will not leave the Coto de Caza board under any circumstances!Besides public safety, what has sparked the interest of several Coto Discussion Forum participants and CotoBlogzz readers is the issue of...
DaVaro Deception - From Best to Pest in 60!
The evolution of private security management within Coto de Caza very much follows the evolution of the Coto de Caza board of directors make up - to the incumbent board of directors:
The DaVaro Deception and the Gospel According to Mezger
For years, the DaVaro Deception has led Coto de Caza resident’s believe that public safety was the board’s number one concern, while repressing initiatives designed to prevent crime & vandalism and save lives, and promoting personal agendas.
The DaVaro Deception: Wrong and Misleading Information RE: Coto de Caza Service Provider Performance
The July 2006 issue of CotoVoice (the Coto de Caza subsidized newsletter) extols the virtues of Mosaic, the landscaping consultant by stating that Mosaic “..has been an integral support mechanism that evaluates the landscape contractors non a daily...
Coto de Caza May 2006, Crime and Vandalism Report
The latest C&V report show the total number of offenses for Coto de Caza reached an all time high in May 2006. It also shows that when it comes to suspects profile, age does not seem to matter.
DaVaro Deception: The Involution (yes, not evolution) of the Safety Committee - The Coto de Caza Board of directors meeting held, appropriately on July 13, 2006, provided yet more evidence of the involution of the safety committee
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
Friday, July 14, 2006
Where is Waldo?
It is fair to say that under current business environment, corporate accountability and transparency are extremely important, and corporate officers and legal counsel stay as far away as possible from anything that could be construed as conflict of interest or unethical – more so for non-for-profit corporations.
So, what can we say about a non-for profit corporation responsible for the disbursement of $9,000,000.00 per year, so enamored with secrecy that they demand, as a condition for volunteers to join any committee that they agree to abide by a confidentiality agreement?
Particularly for committees such as the landscape and public safety committees, which combined spend close to 80% of the total yearly budget – yet are prohibited to even discuss details with the rest of the shareholders?
This attitude mostly resembles that of the Chinese government intent on keeping a lid (different lid from that used by Varo/Mezger/Hill) on dissention by encouraging kids to rat on their parents – the ultimate shareholders!
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
So, what can we say about a non-for profit corporation responsible for the disbursement of $9,000,000.00 per year, so enamored with secrecy that they demand, as a condition for volunteers to join any committee that they agree to abide by a confidentiality agreement?
Particularly for committees such as the landscape and public safety committees, which combined spend close to 80% of the total yearly budget – yet are prohibited to even discuss details with the rest of the shareholders?
This attitude mostly resembles that of the Chinese government intent on keeping a lid (different lid from that used by Varo/Mezger/Hill) on dissention by encouraging kids to rat on their parents – the ultimate shareholders!
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
The Orange County Registger Adporting
In the coverage of the Coto de Caza safety committee-of-one held July 11, 2006, the July 14 issue of the CanyonLife reports that “During the meeting Coto resident Ed Caruso asked if reports that the CHP would be fired from conducting traffic patrols within the community were true. Board President Varo stated they were not true and the CHP would not be fired”
What it does not report is that when the same reporter quoted Lyle Schieder, former board member, to the effect that UPS, the Coto private security company, was not providing any patrol service, the Best City Manager Ever (formerly known as the Keystone general manager), simply attributed this to “incorrect reporting”.
It also does not report that in private (we have sworn affidavit to this effect) Varo explicitly stated that he is planning to fire the CHP as soon as the Welcome Home Center is converted into a Sheriff’s sub-station.
Anyone wants to bet that when the public safety committee is finally seated (estimated to be around 2050), they will recommend that the Coto turns into a city and that the CHP be fired?
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
DaVaro Deception: The Involution (yes, not evolution) of the Safety Committee
The Coto de Caza Board of directors meeting held, appropriately on July 13, 2006, provided yet more evidence of the involution of the safety committee:
Just coming off a landmark public safety committee-of-one meeting held July 11, 2007, the Coto de Caza board, in a bold move that assures more due diligence in the selection of public safety committee members, than that exhibited in the firing of the CHP, the firing of the best Security Director (eventually replaced by an OTJ manager-trainee), the firing of the largest private security company in the world, replaced by the yet-to-be-seen compelling program and offer (and fashion and demeanor reserved for private parties), and even the selection of those responsible for the disbursement of the $5,000,000.00 year landscaping budget, is to conform to the following process:
The current public safety committee chairperson is to interview 13 (here we go again with the number 13) potential committee members.
· The chairperson will say either yes or no these candidates and then forward statement of candidacy to the board.
· The board will then interview the selected remaining candidates to see if they can competently uphold the board’s views (as in pursue personal agendas and recommend to fire the CHP)
· The board will then make a final determination as to who ends up on the most important public safety committee
· And just in case anyone is left to fill the public safety committee, the Best City Manager Ever (according to Varo, and formerly known as the Keystone general manager), made it sure that
· "Lets not forget to make sure that the members that the BOD appoints to the Safety Committee, that they sign confidential agreements where they agree that they will not divulge this confidential information to anyone besides the board and especially not talk to the press”
Finally we get it! The selection of the public safety committee IS rocket science, which is why the BOD has deemed it confidential! This is why the CHP is not being used (for free) to hold public safety awareness campaigns- This is Confidential! – The board of directors wants to hold this from the press – Now, THAT is Involution!
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
Just coming off a landmark public safety committee-of-one meeting held July 11, 2007, the Coto de Caza board, in a bold move that assures more due diligence in the selection of public safety committee members, than that exhibited in the firing of the CHP, the firing of the best Security Director (eventually replaced by an OTJ manager-trainee), the firing of the largest private security company in the world, replaced by the yet-to-be-seen compelling program and offer (and fashion and demeanor reserved for private parties), and even the selection of those responsible for the disbursement of the $5,000,000.00 year landscaping budget, is to conform to the following process:
The current public safety committee chairperson is to interview 13 (here we go again with the number 13) potential committee members.
· The chairperson will say either yes or no these candidates and then forward statement of candidacy to the board.
· The board will then interview the selected remaining candidates to see if they can competently uphold the board’s views (as in pursue personal agendas and recommend to fire the CHP)
· The board will then make a final determination as to who ends up on the most important public safety committee
· And just in case anyone is left to fill the public safety committee, the Best City Manager Ever (according to Varo, and formerly known as the Keystone general manager), made it sure that
· "Lets not forget to make sure that the members that the BOD appoints to the Safety Committee, that they sign confidential agreements where they agree that they will not divulge this confidential information to anyone besides the board and especially not talk to the press”
Finally we get it! The selection of the public safety committee IS rocket science, which is why the BOD has deemed it confidential! This is why the CHP is not being used (for free) to hold public safety awareness campaigns- This is Confidential! – The board of directors wants to hold this from the press – Now, THAT is Involution!
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Coto de Caza May 2006, Crime and Vandalism Report
The latest C&V report show the total number of offenses for Coto de Caza reached an all time high in May 2006. It also shows that when it comes to suspects profile, age does not seem to matter.
Source: OCSO as commissioned by CotoBuzz, © CotoBuzz
SHERIFF'S REPORT FOR COTO DE CAZA
COTO DE CAZA CRIME TRENDS Jan-06 Feb-06 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06
Totals Reports (Part I, II & III) 18 22 14 23 24
Part I
Aggravated Assault 0 2 1 0 1
Burglary 2 2 3 3 5
Larceny/Theft 4 2 1 3 3
Part II
Other Assaults 6 1 1 5 4
Fraud 2 5 2 0 0
Other Offenses 1 3 0 1 0
Suspicion 2 0 0 0 0
Vandalism 0 3 0 0 1
Vehicle Violations 0 1 0 0 2
Disorderly Conduct 0 0 1 1 0
Part III - Non-Criminal Incidents
Prank 1 0 0 0 0
Other Non-Criminal 0 3 3 2 0
Mental Inebriates 0 0 1 0 0
Medical Aid 0 0 1 1 1
Non-Criminal 0 3 3 5 4
Assist Outside Agency 0 0 0 1 1
Total Number of Domestic Violence Cases 1 1
Domestic Abuse 1 3 2 0 1
Total Number of Arrests 1 0 0 1 2
Age Breakdown for Suspects Jan-06 Feb-06 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06
17 years and under 0 2 0 0 0
18-20 years 0 0 0 1 1
21-24 years 0 1 0 0 1
25-29 years 1 0 0 0 0
30-34 years 0 1 0 1 0
35-39 years 1 3 0 0 2
40-44 years 1 0 0 0 1
45-49 years 0 0 0 0 0
50 years or older 0 0 3 0 1
The DaVaro Deception: Wrong and Misleading Information RE: Public Safety Within Coto de Caza
The Information being distributed to residents by Keystone (undated and with no title), regarding public safety, like the information provided to the Orange County Register is misleading and plain wrong:
T
he DaVaro Deception and the Gospel According to Mezger
For years, the DaVaro Deception has led Coto de Caza resident’s believe that public safety was the board’s number one concern, while repressing initiatives designed to prevent crime & vandalism and save lives, and promoting personal agendas.
Grup City – Coto de Caza ......Of Peter Pan, Grups and Coto d Caza
As the Coto de Caza board of directors controlled by Varo/Mezger/Hill continue to handle public safety as a Tar Baby, it is only appropriate to consider a tag line for Coto de Caza once Varo/Mezger/Hill accomplish their goal of turning Coto into a City....
COTO DE CAZA CHP TRAFFIC REPORT FOR MAY 2006
The May 2006 CHP statistics for Coto de Caza is consistent with the Coto de Caza board of director’s inaction with regards to public safety: These show an accident rate rapidly approaching the record-breaking 2005 that lead to the first traffic...
Deliverance – the Coto de Caza District Delegate Committee Movie
In an incestuous move reminiscent of the movie Deliverance, Varo/Mezger/Hill, have done what they refused to do with Coto residents concerned with public safety: use association funds to promote their self-preservation:
Bicycle Safety Within Coto de Caza
During the June 8, 2006 Coto de Caza board meeting Yo Orduno described a public safety situation in the Summerfield district including a warning about an increase of rush hour cyclists in and around Vista Del Verde, some even riding pairwise making the...
The Coto de Caza Government Paradox
California is the direct democracy capital of the nation. California uses the direct initiative process, which enables voters to bypass the Legislature and have an issue of concern put directly on the ballot for voter approval or rejection. There are two...
Rhianna Six Month’s Anniversary Mr. Manian’s Three Month’s Anniversary
It has been six months since Rhianna Woolsey died (December 7, 2005) in the first traffic fatality in Coto de Caza in the last ten years. Sadly, this week also marks the Three Month Anniversary of Mr. Morteza Manian’s death, as he was struck by a...
COTO DE CAZA's CZ MASTER ASSOCIATION INTENT TO PETITION TO RECALL MITCH HILL
Despite the many artificial road blocks created by the CZ Master Association Board of directors during the 2006 District Delegate Elections (including tampering with the election process, distributing wrong and misleading information, and using weapons of...
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
The latest C&V report show the total number of offenses for Coto de Caza reached an all time high in May 2006. It also shows that when it comes to suspects profile, age does not seem to matter.
Source: OCSO as commissioned by CotoBuzz, © CotoBuzz
SHERIFF'S REPORT FOR COTO DE CAZA
COTO DE CAZA CRIME TRENDS Jan-06 Feb-06 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06
Totals Reports (Part I, II & III) 18 22 14 23 24
Part I
Aggravated Assault 0 2 1 0 1
Burglary 2 2 3 3 5
Larceny/Theft 4 2 1 3 3
Part II
Other Assaults 6 1 1 5 4
Fraud 2 5 2 0 0
Other Offenses 1 3 0 1 0
Suspicion 2 0 0 0 0
Vandalism 0 3 0 0 1
Vehicle Violations 0 1 0 0 2
Disorderly Conduct 0 0 1 1 0
Part III - Non-Criminal Incidents
Prank 1 0 0 0 0
Other Non-Criminal 0 3 3 2 0
Mental Inebriates 0 0 1 0 0
Medical Aid 0 0 1 1 1
Non-Criminal 0 3 3 5 4
Assist Outside Agency 0 0 0 1 1
Total Number of Domestic Violence Cases 1 1
Domestic Abuse 1 3 2 0 1
Total Number of Arrests 1 0 0 1 2
Age Breakdown for Suspects Jan-06 Feb-06 Mar-06 Apr-06 May-06
17 years and under 0 2 0 0 0
18-20 years 0 0 0 1 1
21-24 years 0 1 0 0 1
25-29 years 1 0 0 0 0
30-34 years 0 1 0 1 0
35-39 years 1 3 0 0 2
40-44 years 1 0 0 0 1
45-49 years 0 0 0 0 0
50 years or older 0 0 3 0 1
The DaVaro Deception: Wrong and Misleading Information RE: Public Safety Within Coto de Caza
The Information being distributed to residents by Keystone (undated and with no title), regarding public safety, like the information provided to the Orange County Register is misleading and plain wrong:
T
he DaVaro Deception and the Gospel According to Mezger
For years, the DaVaro Deception has led Coto de Caza resident’s believe that public safety was the board’s number one concern, while repressing initiatives designed to prevent crime & vandalism and save lives, and promoting personal agendas.
Grup City – Coto de Caza ......Of Peter Pan, Grups and Coto d Caza
As the Coto de Caza board of directors controlled by Varo/Mezger/Hill continue to handle public safety as a Tar Baby, it is only appropriate to consider a tag line for Coto de Caza once Varo/Mezger/Hill accomplish their goal of turning Coto into a City....
COTO DE CAZA CHP TRAFFIC REPORT FOR MAY 2006
The May 2006 CHP statistics for Coto de Caza is consistent with the Coto de Caza board of director’s inaction with regards to public safety: These show an accident rate rapidly approaching the record-breaking 2005 that lead to the first traffic...
Deliverance – the Coto de Caza District Delegate Committee Movie
In an incestuous move reminiscent of the movie Deliverance, Varo/Mezger/Hill, have done what they refused to do with Coto residents concerned with public safety: use association funds to promote their self-preservation:
Bicycle Safety Within Coto de Caza
During the June 8, 2006 Coto de Caza board meeting Yo Orduno described a public safety situation in the Summerfield district including a warning about an increase of rush hour cyclists in and around Vista Del Verde, some even riding pairwise making the...
The Coto de Caza Government Paradox
California is the direct democracy capital of the nation. California uses the direct initiative process, which enables voters to bypass the Legislature and have an issue of concern put directly on the ballot for voter approval or rejection. There are two...
Rhianna Six Month’s Anniversary Mr. Manian’s Three Month’s Anniversary
It has been six months since Rhianna Woolsey died (December 7, 2005) in the first traffic fatality in Coto de Caza in the last ten years. Sadly, this week also marks the Three Month Anniversary of Mr. Morteza Manian’s death, as he was struck by a...
COTO DE CAZA's CZ MASTER ASSOCIATION INTENT TO PETITION TO RECALL MITCH HILL
Despite the many artificial road blocks created by the CZ Master Association Board of directors during the 2006 District Delegate Elections (including tampering with the election process, distributing wrong and misleading information, and using weapons of...
We do not make jokes, we simply watch the Coto de Caza Board of directors, the LA Trash and the Orange Crud Repository and report the facts
Monday, July 03, 2006
DaVaro Deception: An Argument for NO! NO! NO! ON AB SEVEN, SEVEN, OH!
The best argument we can present against AB770 can be found in the performance of Coto de Caza board of directors led by Varo/Mezger/Hill
NO! NO! NO! ON AB770
AB770 is SB551 in drag masquerading as CAI's full employment act
July 03, 2006
By Donie Vanitzian (View author info)
Los Angeles, California -
DEED-RESTRICTED TITLES ARE INFERIOR TO ALL OTHER TITLES
The message is clear: Do not buy a condominium, townhouse, co-operative, mobile home, or single-family dwelling if it is located in a common interest development, has a homeowners association, and a board of directors. Don't do it.
If you have a deed-restriction on your title, sell and get the hell out while you are able. That is, before this legislature passes more bad bills and you are stuck paying for their mistakes and it becomes impossible to extricate yourself from this type of property ownership. If the legislators are serious about giving owners a bill of rights, they need not look far. They must:
1) Codify penalties against boards, management company owners/personnel, and ass. attorneys;
2) Codify the disclosure of "risks and liabilities" to all potential buyers;
3) Enlist the assistance of the State Bar of California to make filing complaints against ass. attorneys less intimidating, and with measures preventing retaliation against complainants;
4) Codify an owner "victim fund" consisting of prompt restitution to the harmed owner because of an association's wrongdoing;
5) Codify a "Lemon Law" that allows a 'no questions asked' 14-day return of deed-restricted property to the seller. This already exists in California time share statutes;
6) Allow owners to tax-deduct all assessment payments made to the association for any reason;
7) At the time of sale, refund to the owner all monies paid into the association's reserve account with interest.
MISUNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF "OVERSIGHT?"
Have you noticed how none of these Senators and Assemblypersons can write a SHORT bill that encompasses only "one section" of the statute? Mullins bill "amends" Civil Code section 1373 to ADD another Civil Code section 1363.7, and ADD another Chapter (11) to the Civil Code.
All of the recent bills are adding bulk to the statutes. They are road hogs eating up space because the legislator wants his or her name in the books. We all PAY the price for their narcissism and arrogance, let alone their sell-out to campaign contributors and contributions and heavy-handed influence in laws WE must LIVE by.
Owners are reminded that such industries do not have a "vested interest" in property. ONLY owners have a "vested interest" in property. Such industries have an interest in getting PAID - BY YOU. The industry's arguments in favor or against such bills, all revolve around industry goals.
It is imperative owners understand that a homeowner's disagreement with a bill is for fundamentally "different reasons" than an industry composed of parasites disagreeing with the same bill for "their own" reasons.
Aside from his inconsistencies, promises, and breaches, one of the unfortunate realities plaguing Democrat Assemblyman Mullin's flailing ombudsman bill is that he chose to adopt the industry's language which is notably attributable to Community Association Institute (CAI) and its long-arm lobby CLAC. Part of the language right out of the ombudsman bill states:
"Anecdotal accounts of abuses within common interest developments create continuing public demand for reform of common interest development law. This results in frequent changes to the law, making it more difficult to understand and apply and imposing significant transitional costs on common interest developments statewide. By collecting empirical data on the nature and incidence of problems within common interest developments, the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson provides a sound basis for prioritizing reform efforts, thereby increasing the stability of common interest development law."
Including that unprofessional and indefinable language shows a blatant disregard for the ownership rights of all residential deed-restricted titleholders. That language alone should be enough to ipso facto kill this bill-but homeowners will look aside and chant the same old tired refrain of "but we need something" or worse yet "something is better than nothing." No. "Something" is NEVER better than "nothing."
FOLSOM PRISON CC&RS. OWNERS BEWARE: YOU MAY GET WHAT YOU ASK FOR
By supporting bad bills, owners are asking for "Folsom Prison CC&Rs." As with much of the bad bills we are witnessing making it to the California Assembly and Senate floors, AB770 is inconsistent with good government.
1) It fails to cap it's "own" expenditures;
2) Is funded only by one segment of property owners (residential deed-restricted owners) which amounts to double taxation without representation for this class of owners;
3) It continues to use nebulous, inconsistent, and indefinable language -- leaving itself open to challenges in court;
4) It prejudices homeowners rather than help them;
5) Worse yet, it "backdoors" the already FAILED Common Interest Development Bureau which was nothing more than a bank for at least ten other State Departments (many were unnamed in the proposed statute);
6) AND constitutes a guaranteed RISK to homeowner personal assets.
Where's the democracy in having bad bills like this rammed down our throats?
OMBUDSMAN LIMITS, SEGREGATES, PICKS AND CHOOSES, TYPE OF DISPUTES
The ombudsman will limit the types of disputes it hears. Proof of this was garnered way back in 2003! At that time, the California Law Revision Commission published its recommendation regarding "Alternative Dispute Resolution in Common Interest Developments." It stated that such "disputes typically fall into one of several categories:" The problem? Though the following are pigeonholes created by the CLRC, they fall short of predicting what the ombudsman office will and will not categorize as "acceptable" disputes. Interesting that the CLRC feels confident that only THEY can determine what category disputes exist but they owners can't. Be prepared to be "pigeonholed" at the ombudsman's office too. They will make owners conform whether they want to or not.
(1) Financial disputes (maintenance, common charges, special assessments, fines and penalties, restrictions on resale or transfer, access to books and records).
(2) Architectural controls (repairs, alterations, painting, decor, landscaping).
(3) Pet issues (barking dogs, wandering cats, animal waste).
(4) Use of private space (leasing/subleasing, commercial or professional use).
(5) Personal interactions (facilities use, parking, noise, rudeness).
Nearly each of those problem areas could have easily been addressed with legislation meant to protect the owners' rights, but not one legislator felt it was important enough.
The California Law Revision Commission also stated that "good information is not available concerning the incidence of disputes of this type in California. They are not uncommon, however. Data is available from other jurisdictions in which there is government oversight of CID operations. That data suggests that a dispute reaches the point where it becomes serious enough to lodge a complaint approximately once per 200 dwelling units per year. In California, with its estimated 3.5 million CID dwelling units, that would yield about 175,000 "serious" disputes in CIDs each year."
Ask yourself, is that a good enough reason to tax deed-restricted titleholders to fund a bureaucracy that gathers data?
ASS. ATTORNEYS HAVE BRILLIANT PLAN: MAKE OWNERS PAY FOR THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION
The goal of AB770 and its stepsister SB551 is to create administrative gridlock that the ass. attorneys and their firms will control and profit from. Logically, where do owners think the education propaganda will be generated? It is unlikely that the industry will allow the ombudsman to order copies of the book Villa Appalling! Destroying the Myth of Affordable Community Living, will they?
NO CAP ON FEES COLLECTED. NO AGENCY OVERSEEING THE OMBUDSMAN
Aside from no cap on spending and no cap on fees collected from owners, there is no agency that owners can file complaints against the ombudsman. Watch for this legislative trick: the legislators will remove the word "fees" or lower the amount of fees in order to get the bill passed, but then add it back into the statute "after" the bill passes.
NO CAP ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING OF FEES COLLECTED
There is no cap on the department's spending. There is no cap on the fee amounts charged. There is no cap on the fee amounts collected. Owners: if there is no cap on these amounts, you will never know by how much your monthly assessments will be raised each month, each year. You will not be able to calculate your risks.
NO VICTIM FUND; NO RESTITUTION
Presumably the ombudsman will be attempting to rectify the wrongs committed against owners who have a vested interest in PROPERTY. However, the ombudsman bill makes no provisions for restitution to owners for their injuries or harm done. Think about this closely. The owner goes to the ombudsman supposedly seeking a "resolution." The resolution might include restitution for injuries caused to the owner. Yet this bill is intentionally silent on that matter.
NO PENALTIES FOR BOARDS
What is so difficult about imposing penalties against recalcitrant boards? This legislature will not do it. Short of that, the legislature should impose a moratorium on building common interest developments and impose a moratorium on adding additional legislation to the Davis-Stirling Act.
NOT BENIGN, AB770 IS DANGEROUS
Read carefully, this bill like its wicked stepsister SB551, professes to have the power to impose fines on associations BUT ONLY IF they LOSE disputes with the owners-the obstacle course laid out in front of owners who might have used the so-called bureau, makes it impossible to accomplish "anything" in a timely manner, let alone get anything of substance actually "accomplished" at all.
Just like Nevada, Florida, Arizona (some defend Arizona's system, I do not for reasons that will not be furthered in this California paper), Virginia, Hawaii, and it goes on and on. All are black holes for unaccountable cash generated by no one else but owners.
Regarding the Nevada Ombudsman's office, someone told me "there is a surplus of several million dollars. The only money being spent is for state funded CAI seminars that work out to something like $5,000 per attendee, but 6, maybe 8 people attend."
After losing, Lowenthal chants the disingenuous democratic mantra: "Let's hear from the homeowners." Excuseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee me! Like he hasn't heard from homeowners! What planet is this guy on? Owners should seriously consider recalling Lowenthal from office.
NO TAX DEDUCTION FOR OWNER PAYMENTS TO THE STATE -- AB770 ASSUMES OWNERS HAVE EXPENDABLE INCOME THAT THEY WILL "D-O-N-A-T-E" TO OMBUDSMAN
This bill makes "fees," er, uh, strike that. This bill makes "donations" payable directly to the Secretary of State! There is no tax deduction for your payments to the Secretary of State for all these fee-reimbursing donations that go toward funding these bureaucracies claiming to help "you." In fact, there is no guarantee they will help you at all or that your grievances will be addressed. That decision will be decided by some bureaucrat who will tell you: "You don't have standing." "This is outside our jurisdiction." Those are the typical government catchall phrases for being able to collect money but not produce the goods.
Just what homeowners need: the bill admits there is a FISCAL IMPACT. The result of a fiscal impact is simple: It costs "owners" money. It doesn't cost the "public" money, it cost "owners" money -- this is not a fee that will be shared with the general public as all other Government Departments do. This is money that owners will pay directly to a special fee-collecting department AFTER they pay their monthly credit card bill$, car and home in$urance bill$, homeowner a$$ociation regular, $pecial, and emergency, a$$e$$ment$, student loan$, college tuition, health in$urance, gas$ water electric bill$, telephone$, ga$oline, car maintenance, car in$urance, doctor bill$, medication$, and on it goes.
NO DISCLOSURE OF RISKS PRIOR TO PURCHASE
Legislators keep asking for solutions, but frankly, THEY created the PROBLEM -- THEY need to FIX IT. One of the first things that needs to be done, is to require definitive and comprehensive disclosures OF EVERYTHING to all buyers. It is the BOARD that must be responsible for this, NOT the homeowner. In that way, the board can be penalized for nondisclosure NOT the owner. The owner can only disclose and provide what they know and have, nothing more. But the liability and risk is placed on the owner. This is unfair because all the evidence is in the custody and control of the board of directors.
LEMON LAW: 14-DAY RETURN OF DEED-RESTRICTED PROPERTY
A lemon law should be codified and applied to ALL residential deed-restricted property purchases, giving the buyers 14 days to "return" the mess back to the owner.
NO PENALTIES AGAINST ASS. ATTORNEYS
You want to resolve disputes without lawyers? The Davis-Stirling Act needs to include the State Bar of California Disciplinary committees to start clamping down on bad ass. lawyers and disbar them. Rather than closing their discipline files, hold those lawyers accountable for their actions.
Owners too, must file complaints against those lawyers whether they hired them or not, and you must keep filing those complaints until the bar gets the message: We are not going to take it anymore. (See http://www.calbar.ca.gov)
DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?
"Ombudsperson to ATTEMPT to resolve a dispute between an association and owner by conferring with the two parties to reach MUTUAL AGREEMENT"?
What does an "ATTEMPT" mean? Owners think that the Ombudsman WILL achieve a RESOLUTION, NOT an "ATTEMPT!"
Homeowners already have the kind of dispute resolution mentioned in AB770, for 'free,' at the Los Angeles City District Attorney's Dispute Resolution Program. Our tax dollars pay for this and there is no limit to the number of mediations an owner can request, nor is there a fee. It is FREE. (See http://www.lacity.org, telephone (213) 485-8324).
Why do owners need a statute to create yet another dispute arena that only WE must pay for?
MESSAGE TO LOWENTHAL AND OTHER LEGISLATORS
If you want to hear from the homeowners then STOP MAKING EXCUSES and ANSWER your damn telephone when constituents call and TALK TO THEM. They put you in office, the least you can do is hear what they have to say without a go-between.
Beating a dead horse. Loser Lowenthal vows to return next year with "enforcement and fines." Ha! Ha! Ha! Fancy that! Next year! He vows to return next year, to do what he could have done ten years ago but didn't have the courage to do; that is, impose penalties against the boards and management companies in the Davis-Stirling Act -- but homeowners don't hold your breath because it's a bunch of hot air.
I'm on the record demanding penalties against boards and management company personnel be written into the Davis-Stirling Act. Each year the legislature fails to do this.
Why do owners need a stinkin' "bureau" to accomplish this one-line item instilling penalties? Because Lowenthal and buddies like Mullins, typical of industry panhandlers, want to pork it up for us-the-owners who generate all the cash they feed off of. They do not want to impose penalties against boards and management companies when they can create a cash cow to fund them and their buddies at our expense. Such bureaus will not create millions in cash to pass around the various departments, they will create BILLIONS in excess revenue.
AB770 PROPAGANDA WRITTEN INTO THE BILL
Statute: "Managing a common interest development is a complex responsibility."
Response: If it is, then the legislature had/has a duty to perform, at its own expense, its own demographic, sociological studies, and pilot projects PRIOR to imposing this type of ownership responsibilities on owners. They also have a duty to impose a moratorium on building.
Statute: "Community associations are run by volunteer directors who may have little or no prior experience in managing real property, operating a nonprofit association or corporation, complying with the law governing common interest developments, and interpreting and enforcing restrictions and rules imposed by the governing documents of the common interest development."
Response:
(a) Why did the legislature make it mandatory that owners belong to the association, and make it mandatory to pay fees at-will, and make it mandatory to lose one's home for failure to pay ANY assessment? It matters not, that the legislature finally addressed nonjudicial foreclosures: it is way too little and way too late. Understand that homeowners have lost their California homes, some for as little as an alleged $150 owing the association, most in trumped up fees and charges. Which makes even more interesting to learn that the Davis-Stirling Act was amended to CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF "VOLUNTEER." These "directors" are now "volunteers-by-the-new-definition" ONLY BECAUSE the legislature wrote that stipulation into the Davis-Stirling Act. The legislature also wrote into the law that association directors MUST be UNPAID volunteers or they will not be insurable, never mind that the ongoing kickbacks and barter campaigns continue unabated. For an association board of directors, "indemnification" amounts to a "License to Lie" that is subsidized by all owners.
(b) There is NOTHING in the Davis-Stirling Act that MANDATES that the owner receive governing documents PRIOR TO SIGNING A PURCHASE AGREEMENT/BUYING, these documents are guarded closely by associations so much so, that some owners even after purchase, still cannot get a copy of them - or worse - the copy they were given is inaccurate. Still, no penalties against boards who fail to follow the law. The only person who gets sued for not turning over such governing documents, IS THE SELLER, that is, the OWNER. Not the board.
Statute: "Homeowners may not fully understand their rights and obligations under the law and the governing documents."
Response: The reason homeowners may not fully understand their rights and obligations is because (a) they have no PER SE rights and (b) the legislature keeps changing the laws. Many owners do not have access to such laws and even if they did, the legislature has now made it so damn complicated that even lawyers and judges can't interpret it.
Statute: "Mistakes and misunderstandings are inevitable and may lead to serious, costly, and divisive problems."
Response: Thanks to the legislature, ass attorneys, boards of directors, and interloper management company owners and personnel, not to mention industry saboteurs such as interlopers like CCAM, CAI, ECHO, CLAC, and their spawn, it is no wonder why this type of living environment has become SERIOUS, COSTLY AND DIVISIVE. ONLY THE OWNER HAS SOMETHING TO LOSE.
Statute: "The Common Interest Development Ombudsperson seeks to educate community association officers and homeowners as to their legal rights and obligations. Effective education can prevent or reduce the severity of problems within a common interest development."
Response: If that paragraph were not so fundamentally serious it would be laughable. How a legislator can actually put pen to paper and have the nerve to write it, boggles the mind. Therefore, I won't dignify it with a response.
Statute: "The principal remedy for a violation of common interest development law is private litigation."
Response: That is just a damn lie. It is a lie because (a) the courts have been influenced by industry to the extent they are unequivocally swayed away from rulings in favor of owners and have consistently without justification granted deference to board decisions no matter how egregious or indefensible those decisions are -- this has discouraged much litigation brought by owners against the perpetrators of fraud committed against them; AND, the legislature has taken even the right to sue away from the owners. The only effective tool, that of litigation, was stripped from us. Owners can no longer sue for construction defects and can no longer sue in general, we are met with major diversions beginning by writing signed-return-requests to the board, then waiting. Writing for Requests for Resolution, then waiting. Writing for a Meet-and-Confer, then waiting. Being diverted to mediation, then waiting. Being diverted to arbitration, then waiting AND prejudicing whatever case we might have had. ALL of this costs money to the owner. Nothing is free. Nothing tolls the statute.
Statute: "The Common Interest Development Ombudsperson provides a neutral, nonjudicial forum for resolution of common interest development disputes. Many disputes can be resolved inexpensively, informally, and amicably through ombudsperson-facilitated mediation."
Response: This bill claims to provide a neutral FORUM -- NOT a NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR. NOT a NEUTRAL MEDIATOR. JUST A ROOM, FOUR WALLS. This is anything but "neutral." The fact that the ombudsman's department exists at all tells you that it is "not" neutral. Owners will be forced to hire an attorney because the ass. will hire an ass. attorney. What is inexpensive about that? What is neutral about that?
OMBUDSMAN OFFICE IS NOTHING MORE THAN ANOTHER "CALIFORNIA LAW REVISION COMMISSION" - ONLY THIS TIME WE PAY FOR IT
The bill states: "The Ombudsperson may convene an advisory committee to make recommendations on matters within the Ombudsperson's jurisdiction. A member of an advisory committee shall receive per diem and expenses pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 103. In selecting the members of an advisory committee, the Ombudsperson shall ensure a fair representation of the interests involved."
Response: Pay close attention to the fact that all the industry buddies will now obtain FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT WITH CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT PENSIONS, HEALTH BENEFITS, VACATION TIME, ETC. Just like the inept California Law Revision Commission, these APPOINTMENTS are payback to industry parasites that will ensure the industry keeps its stranglehold on the laws by skewing data and rigging decisions against owners -- just like the court system. They will receive reimbursements, expenses, and SALARY. Any owner that believes an industry friendly ombudsman will ensure a fair representation of the interests involved, is out of their mind. If it were to be a fair representation, then the owners would pick these individuals, and frankly, there would be no need for an advisory committee.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS CRAP YOU WILL BE FUNDING
Ombudsperson shall report annually to the Legislature, no later than October 1 of each year. The report shall include all of the following information:
(a) Annual workload and performance data, including the number of requests for assistance received, the manner in which a request was or was not resolved, and the staff time required to resolve the inquiry. For each category of data, the Ombudsperson shall provide subtotals based on the type of question or dispute involved in the request.
(b) Analysis of the most common and serious types of disputes within common interest developments, along with any recommendations for statutory reform to reduce the frequency or severity of those disputes. [this statement alone should tell owners that the legislature has not been listening to owner complaints]
(c) On or before January 1, 2009, the Ombudsperson shall submit recommendations to the Legislature on the following topics: (1) Whether the Ombudsperson should be authorized to enforce common interest development law. (2) Whether the Ombudsperson should be authorized to oversee association elections. (3) Whether the scope of application of Section 1380.230 should be narrowed or broadened. (4) Whether the Ombudsperson should provide or subsidize mediation of common interest development disputes.
Then, Civil Code section 1380.130 goes on to state, "On filing information with the Secretary of State every two years, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1363.6, an association shall submit a Common Interest Development Ombudsperson FEE. This FEE IS IN ADDITION TO THE FEE submitted pursuant to Section 1363.6. Failure to submit the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson fee is deemed noncompliance with Section 1363.6. Costs incurred by the Secretary of State pursuant to this section shall be REIMBURSED from the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson Fund."
MANAGERS AND LAWYERS GET TO USE OMBUDSMAN FOR FREE -- BUT OWNERS HAVE TO PAY
Yup! ANYONE can use the Ombudsman.
If ANYONE can use the ombudsman, then why doesn't the legislature make EVERYONE pay through their taxes to fund the ombudsman's department?
"Under the new proposed Civil Code section 1380.300 (a): ANY interested person may request that the Office of the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson provide assistance in resolving a dispute between an association and an owner that involves the law governing common interest developments OR the governing documents of a common interest development." [what's the legal definition of an "interested" person?]
Guess what? That means if the ass. or the ass's attorney wants their fees or costs, the ass. attorney can enlist the ombudsman to assist in collecting attorney fees against you! How stupid is that?! So much for helping HOMEowners.
It also means, that vindictive management companies will be utilizing a tool that was supposedly meant for homeowners, to "target" you instead.
It also means that persons [i.e., "interested persons"] will be utilizing the ombudsman's office that YOU WERE FORCED TO PAY through your association assessments - but that they did not have to pay.
MORE HIDDEN FEES
There are hidden fees everywhere in this bill. Make no mistake, it is inevitable owners will be paying more every year. For instance, "The Ombudsperson MAY, by regulation, adopt a FEE for mediation services of not more than fifty dollars ($50) per mediation." [but no cap written into the statute]
Then another section in the same statute says "The Ombudsperson may contract with private parties to provide mediation services pursuant to this section and under the Evidence Code as it applies to mediation initiated under this section, the Ombudsperson SHALL NOT CHARGE A FEE FOR THIS service."
So which is it, $50 or free? Owners should begin budgeting an additional $100 on up for fees with no end in sight.
As each brilliant legislator wants to add their name to the notches on the Davis-Stirling Act's belt, the fees will keep rising forever.
UNDERSTAND THE PARAMETERS OF A BAD BILL
• CREATES a CID Ombudsman...(creates more problems for owners)
• REQUIRES Ombudsman to provide a website and toll-free number (this is really hard to do)
• REQUIRES association to PAY FEES for each separate interest within the CID (owners apparently don't pay enough already)
• ESTABLISHES advisory committee (just like the useless CLRC)
• REQUIRES Ombudsman to report ONCE A YEAR to the legislature with statistics (report? report WHAT? and WHY? How many damn statistics do they need, they re-publish the statistics every time they add another code to the Davis-Stirling Act, this is preposterous)
• REQUIRES Ombudsman to make RECOMMENDATIONS...AND to certify that directors have read governing documents (imagine! we are paying condo police to report to a government agency on owners READING documents --who could possibly take this bill seriously. It fails to PENALIZE RECALCITRANT BOARDS FOR THEIR BAD FAITH AND BAD ACTIONS, but it can make recommendations, what good are "recommendations" - where's the "enforcement" in THAT!)
• REQUIRES Ombudsman to provide training materials and courses AND CHARGE A FEE FOR THIS "SERVICE" (owners don't need any more pamphlets, let alone training materials provided from the same industry that bankrupts us; we've got enough problems with the real governing documents.)
• ALLOWS but does NOT REQUIRE Ombudsman to attempt to resolve a dispute between an association and owner by conferring with the two parties to reach mutual agreement. (if the owners cannot see what is wrong with this bill by this point, they are in big trouble).
THE CRUELEST HOAX YET
Everything in this bill is subject to "the limits of the available resources."
Response: What an utter, unmitigated, waste of time
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NO! NO! NO! ON AB770
AB770 is SB551 in drag masquerading as CAI's full employment act
July 03, 2006
By Donie Vanitzian (View author info)
Los Angeles, California -
DEED-RESTRICTED TITLES ARE INFERIOR TO ALL OTHER TITLES
The message is clear: Do not buy a condominium, townhouse, co-operative, mobile home, or single-family dwelling if it is located in a common interest development, has a homeowners association, and a board of directors. Don't do it.
If you have a deed-restriction on your title, sell and get the hell out while you are able. That is, before this legislature passes more bad bills and you are stuck paying for their mistakes and it becomes impossible to extricate yourself from this type of property ownership. If the legislators are serious about giving owners a bill of rights, they need not look far. They must:
1) Codify penalties against boards, management company owners/personnel, and ass. attorneys;
2) Codify the disclosure of "risks and liabilities" to all potential buyers;
3) Enlist the assistance of the State Bar of California to make filing complaints against ass. attorneys less intimidating, and with measures preventing retaliation against complainants;
4) Codify an owner "victim fund" consisting of prompt restitution to the harmed owner because of an association's wrongdoing;
5) Codify a "Lemon Law" that allows a 'no questions asked' 14-day return of deed-restricted property to the seller. This already exists in California time share statutes;
6) Allow owners to tax-deduct all assessment payments made to the association for any reason;
7) At the time of sale, refund to the owner all monies paid into the association's reserve account with interest.
MISUNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF "OVERSIGHT?"
Have you noticed how none of these Senators and Assemblypersons can write a SHORT bill that encompasses only "one section" of the statute? Mullins bill "amends" Civil Code section 1373 to ADD another Civil Code section 1363.7, and ADD another Chapter (11) to the Civil Code.
All of the recent bills are adding bulk to the statutes. They are road hogs eating up space because the legislator wants his or her name in the books. We all PAY the price for their narcissism and arrogance, let alone their sell-out to campaign contributors and contributions and heavy-handed influence in laws WE must LIVE by.
Owners are reminded that such industries do not have a "vested interest" in property. ONLY owners have a "vested interest" in property. Such industries have an interest in getting PAID - BY YOU. The industry's arguments in favor or against such bills, all revolve around industry goals.
It is imperative owners understand that a homeowner's disagreement with a bill is for fundamentally "different reasons" than an industry composed of parasites disagreeing with the same bill for "their own" reasons.
Aside from his inconsistencies, promises, and breaches, one of the unfortunate realities plaguing Democrat Assemblyman Mullin's flailing ombudsman bill is that he chose to adopt the industry's language which is notably attributable to Community Association Institute (CAI) and its long-arm lobby CLAC. Part of the language right out of the ombudsman bill states:
"Anecdotal accounts of abuses within common interest developments create continuing public demand for reform of common interest development law. This results in frequent changes to the law, making it more difficult to understand and apply and imposing significant transitional costs on common interest developments statewide. By collecting empirical data on the nature and incidence of problems within common interest developments, the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson provides a sound basis for prioritizing reform efforts, thereby increasing the stability of common interest development law."
Including that unprofessional and indefinable language shows a blatant disregard for the ownership rights of all residential deed-restricted titleholders. That language alone should be enough to ipso facto kill this bill-but homeowners will look aside and chant the same old tired refrain of "but we need something" or worse yet "something is better than nothing." No. "Something" is NEVER better than "nothing."
FOLSOM PRISON CC&RS. OWNERS BEWARE: YOU MAY GET WHAT YOU ASK FOR
By supporting bad bills, owners are asking for "Folsom Prison CC&Rs." As with much of the bad bills we are witnessing making it to the California Assembly and Senate floors, AB770 is inconsistent with good government.
1) It fails to cap it's "own" expenditures;
2) Is funded only by one segment of property owners (residential deed-restricted owners) which amounts to double taxation without representation for this class of owners;
3) It continues to use nebulous, inconsistent, and indefinable language -- leaving itself open to challenges in court;
4) It prejudices homeowners rather than help them;
5) Worse yet, it "backdoors" the already FAILED Common Interest Development Bureau which was nothing more than a bank for at least ten other State Departments (many were unnamed in the proposed statute);
6) AND constitutes a guaranteed RISK to homeowner personal assets.
Where's the democracy in having bad bills like this rammed down our throats?
OMBUDSMAN LIMITS, SEGREGATES, PICKS AND CHOOSES, TYPE OF DISPUTES
The ombudsman will limit the types of disputes it hears. Proof of this was garnered way back in 2003! At that time, the California Law Revision Commission published its recommendation regarding "Alternative Dispute Resolution in Common Interest Developments." It stated that such "disputes typically fall into one of several categories:" The problem? Though the following are pigeonholes created by the CLRC, they fall short of predicting what the ombudsman office will and will not categorize as "acceptable" disputes. Interesting that the CLRC feels confident that only THEY can determine what category disputes exist but they owners can't. Be prepared to be "pigeonholed" at the ombudsman's office too. They will make owners conform whether they want to or not.
(1) Financial disputes (maintenance, common charges, special assessments, fines and penalties, restrictions on resale or transfer, access to books and records).
(2) Architectural controls (repairs, alterations, painting, decor, landscaping).
(3) Pet issues (barking dogs, wandering cats, animal waste).
(4) Use of private space (leasing/subleasing, commercial or professional use).
(5) Personal interactions (facilities use, parking, noise, rudeness).
Nearly each of those problem areas could have easily been addressed with legislation meant to protect the owners' rights, but not one legislator felt it was important enough.
The California Law Revision Commission also stated that "good information is not available concerning the incidence of disputes of this type in California. They are not uncommon, however. Data is available from other jurisdictions in which there is government oversight of CID operations. That data suggests that a dispute reaches the point where it becomes serious enough to lodge a complaint approximately once per 200 dwelling units per year. In California, with its estimated 3.5 million CID dwelling units, that would yield about 175,000 "serious" disputes in CIDs each year."
Ask yourself, is that a good enough reason to tax deed-restricted titleholders to fund a bureaucracy that gathers data?
ASS. ATTORNEYS HAVE BRILLIANT PLAN: MAKE OWNERS PAY FOR THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION
The goal of AB770 and its stepsister SB551 is to create administrative gridlock that the ass. attorneys and their firms will control and profit from. Logically, where do owners think the education propaganda will be generated? It is unlikely that the industry will allow the ombudsman to order copies of the book Villa Appalling! Destroying the Myth of Affordable Community Living, will they?
NO CAP ON FEES COLLECTED. NO AGENCY OVERSEEING THE OMBUDSMAN
Aside from no cap on spending and no cap on fees collected from owners, there is no agency that owners can file complaints against the ombudsman. Watch for this legislative trick: the legislators will remove the word "fees" or lower the amount of fees in order to get the bill passed, but then add it back into the statute "after" the bill passes.
NO CAP ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING OF FEES COLLECTED
There is no cap on the department's spending. There is no cap on the fee amounts charged. There is no cap on the fee amounts collected. Owners: if there is no cap on these amounts, you will never know by how much your monthly assessments will be raised each month, each year. You will not be able to calculate your risks.
NO VICTIM FUND; NO RESTITUTION
Presumably the ombudsman will be attempting to rectify the wrongs committed against owners who have a vested interest in PROPERTY. However, the ombudsman bill makes no provisions for restitution to owners for their injuries or harm done. Think about this closely. The owner goes to the ombudsman supposedly seeking a "resolution." The resolution might include restitution for injuries caused to the owner. Yet this bill is intentionally silent on that matter.
NO PENALTIES FOR BOARDS
What is so difficult about imposing penalties against recalcitrant boards? This legislature will not do it. Short of that, the legislature should impose a moratorium on building common interest developments and impose a moratorium on adding additional legislation to the Davis-Stirling Act.
NOT BENIGN, AB770 IS DANGEROUS
Read carefully, this bill like its wicked stepsister SB551, professes to have the power to impose fines on associations BUT ONLY IF they LOSE disputes with the owners-the obstacle course laid out in front of owners who might have used the so-called bureau, makes it impossible to accomplish "anything" in a timely manner, let alone get anything of substance actually "accomplished" at all.
Just like Nevada, Florida, Arizona (some defend Arizona's system, I do not for reasons that will not be furthered in this California paper), Virginia, Hawaii, and it goes on and on. All are black holes for unaccountable cash generated by no one else but owners.
Regarding the Nevada Ombudsman's office, someone told me "there is a surplus of several million dollars. The only money being spent is for state funded CAI seminars that work out to something like $5,000 per attendee, but 6, maybe 8 people attend."
After losing, Lowenthal chants the disingenuous democratic mantra: "Let's hear from the homeowners." Excuseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee me! Like he hasn't heard from homeowners! What planet is this guy on? Owners should seriously consider recalling Lowenthal from office.
NO TAX DEDUCTION FOR OWNER PAYMENTS TO THE STATE -- AB770 ASSUMES OWNERS HAVE EXPENDABLE INCOME THAT THEY WILL "D-O-N-A-T-E" TO OMBUDSMAN
This bill makes "fees," er, uh, strike that. This bill makes "donations" payable directly to the Secretary of State! There is no tax deduction for your payments to the Secretary of State for all these fee-reimbursing donations that go toward funding these bureaucracies claiming to help "you." In fact, there is no guarantee they will help you at all or that your grievances will be addressed. That decision will be decided by some bureaucrat who will tell you: "You don't have standing." "This is outside our jurisdiction." Those are the typical government catchall phrases for being able to collect money but not produce the goods.
Just what homeowners need: the bill admits there is a FISCAL IMPACT. The result of a fiscal impact is simple: It costs "owners" money. It doesn't cost the "public" money, it cost "owners" money -- this is not a fee that will be shared with the general public as all other Government Departments do. This is money that owners will pay directly to a special fee-collecting department AFTER they pay their monthly credit card bill$, car and home in$urance bill$, homeowner a$$ociation regular, $pecial, and emergency, a$$e$$ment$, student loan$, college tuition, health in$urance, gas$ water electric bill$, telephone$, ga$oline, car maintenance, car in$urance, doctor bill$, medication$, and on it goes.
NO DISCLOSURE OF RISKS PRIOR TO PURCHASE
Legislators keep asking for solutions, but frankly, THEY created the PROBLEM -- THEY need to FIX IT. One of the first things that needs to be done, is to require definitive and comprehensive disclosures OF EVERYTHING to all buyers. It is the BOARD that must be responsible for this, NOT the homeowner. In that way, the board can be penalized for nondisclosure NOT the owner. The owner can only disclose and provide what they know and have, nothing more. But the liability and risk is placed on the owner. This is unfair because all the evidence is in the custody and control of the board of directors.
LEMON LAW: 14-DAY RETURN OF DEED-RESTRICTED PROPERTY
A lemon law should be codified and applied to ALL residential deed-restricted property purchases, giving the buyers 14 days to "return" the mess back to the owner.
NO PENALTIES AGAINST ASS. ATTORNEYS
You want to resolve disputes without lawyers? The Davis-Stirling Act needs to include the State Bar of California Disciplinary committees to start clamping down on bad ass. lawyers and disbar them. Rather than closing their discipline files, hold those lawyers accountable for their actions.
Owners too, must file complaints against those lawyers whether they hired them or not, and you must keep filing those complaints until the bar gets the message: We are not going to take it anymore. (See http://www.calbar.ca.gov)
DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?
"Ombudsperson to ATTEMPT to resolve a dispute between an association and owner by conferring with the two parties to reach MUTUAL AGREEMENT"?
What does an "ATTEMPT" mean? Owners think that the Ombudsman WILL achieve a RESOLUTION, NOT an "ATTEMPT!"
Homeowners already have the kind of dispute resolution mentioned in AB770, for 'free,' at the Los Angeles City District Attorney's Dispute Resolution Program. Our tax dollars pay for this and there is no limit to the number of mediations an owner can request, nor is there a fee. It is FREE. (See http://www.lacity.org, telephone (213) 485-8324).
Why do owners need a statute to create yet another dispute arena that only WE must pay for?
MESSAGE TO LOWENTHAL AND OTHER LEGISLATORS
If you want to hear from the homeowners then STOP MAKING EXCUSES and ANSWER your damn telephone when constituents call and TALK TO THEM. They put you in office, the least you can do is hear what they have to say without a go-between.
Beating a dead horse. Loser Lowenthal vows to return next year with "enforcement and fines." Ha! Ha! Ha! Fancy that! Next year! He vows to return next year, to do what he could have done ten years ago but didn't have the courage to do; that is, impose penalties against the boards and management companies in the Davis-Stirling Act -- but homeowners don't hold your breath because it's a bunch of hot air.
I'm on the record demanding penalties against boards and management company personnel be written into the Davis-Stirling Act. Each year the legislature fails to do this.
Why do owners need a stinkin' "bureau" to accomplish this one-line item instilling penalties? Because Lowenthal and buddies like Mullins, typical of industry panhandlers, want to pork it up for us-the-owners who generate all the cash they feed off of. They do not want to impose penalties against boards and management companies when they can create a cash cow to fund them and their buddies at our expense. Such bureaus will not create millions in cash to pass around the various departments, they will create BILLIONS in excess revenue.
AB770 PROPAGANDA WRITTEN INTO THE BILL
Statute: "Managing a common interest development is a complex responsibility."
Response: If it is, then the legislature had/has a duty to perform, at its own expense, its own demographic, sociological studies, and pilot projects PRIOR to imposing this type of ownership responsibilities on owners. They also have a duty to impose a moratorium on building.
Statute: "Community associations are run by volunteer directors who may have little or no prior experience in managing real property, operating a nonprofit association or corporation, complying with the law governing common interest developments, and interpreting and enforcing restrictions and rules imposed by the governing documents of the common interest development."
Response:
(a) Why did the legislature make it mandatory that owners belong to the association, and make it mandatory to pay fees at-will, and make it mandatory to lose one's home for failure to pay ANY assessment? It matters not, that the legislature finally addressed nonjudicial foreclosures: it is way too little and way too late. Understand that homeowners have lost their California homes, some for as little as an alleged $150 owing the association, most in trumped up fees and charges. Which makes even more interesting to learn that the Davis-Stirling Act was amended to CHANGE THE DEFINITION OF "VOLUNTEER." These "directors" are now "volunteers-by-the-new-definition" ONLY BECAUSE the legislature wrote that stipulation into the Davis-Stirling Act. The legislature also wrote into the law that association directors MUST be UNPAID volunteers or they will not be insurable, never mind that the ongoing kickbacks and barter campaigns continue unabated. For an association board of directors, "indemnification" amounts to a "License to Lie" that is subsidized by all owners.
(b) There is NOTHING in the Davis-Stirling Act that MANDATES that the owner receive governing documents PRIOR TO SIGNING A PURCHASE AGREEMENT/BUYING, these documents are guarded closely by associations so much so, that some owners even after purchase, still cannot get a copy of them - or worse - the copy they were given is inaccurate. Still, no penalties against boards who fail to follow the law. The only person who gets sued for not turning over such governing documents, IS THE SELLER, that is, the OWNER. Not the board.
Statute: "Homeowners may not fully understand their rights and obligations under the law and the governing documents."
Response: The reason homeowners may not fully understand their rights and obligations is because (a) they have no PER SE rights and (b) the legislature keeps changing the laws. Many owners do not have access to such laws and even if they did, the legislature has now made it so damn complicated that even lawyers and judges can't interpret it.
Statute: "Mistakes and misunderstandings are inevitable and may lead to serious, costly, and divisive problems."
Response: Thanks to the legislature, ass attorneys, boards of directors, and interloper management company owners and personnel, not to mention industry saboteurs such as interlopers like CCAM, CAI, ECHO, CLAC, and their spawn, it is no wonder why this type of living environment has become SERIOUS, COSTLY AND DIVISIVE. ONLY THE OWNER HAS SOMETHING TO LOSE.
Statute: "The Common Interest Development Ombudsperson seeks to educate community association officers and homeowners as to their legal rights and obligations. Effective education can prevent or reduce the severity of problems within a common interest development."
Response: If that paragraph were not so fundamentally serious it would be laughable. How a legislator can actually put pen to paper and have the nerve to write it, boggles the mind. Therefore, I won't dignify it with a response.
Statute: "The principal remedy for a violation of common interest development law is private litigation."
Response: That is just a damn lie. It is a lie because (a) the courts have been influenced by industry to the extent they are unequivocally swayed away from rulings in favor of owners and have consistently without justification granted deference to board decisions no matter how egregious or indefensible those decisions are -- this has discouraged much litigation brought by owners against the perpetrators of fraud committed against them; AND, the legislature has taken even the right to sue away from the owners. The only effective tool, that of litigation, was stripped from us. Owners can no longer sue for construction defects and can no longer sue in general, we are met with major diversions beginning by writing signed-return-requests to the board, then waiting. Writing for Requests for Resolution, then waiting. Writing for a Meet-and-Confer, then waiting. Being diverted to mediation, then waiting. Being diverted to arbitration, then waiting AND prejudicing whatever case we might have had. ALL of this costs money to the owner. Nothing is free. Nothing tolls the statute.
Statute: "The Common Interest Development Ombudsperson provides a neutral, nonjudicial forum for resolution of common interest development disputes. Many disputes can be resolved inexpensively, informally, and amicably through ombudsperson-facilitated mediation."
Response: This bill claims to provide a neutral FORUM -- NOT a NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR. NOT a NEUTRAL MEDIATOR. JUST A ROOM, FOUR WALLS. This is anything but "neutral." The fact that the ombudsman's department exists at all tells you that it is "not" neutral. Owners will be forced to hire an attorney because the ass. will hire an ass. attorney. What is inexpensive about that? What is neutral about that?
OMBUDSMAN OFFICE IS NOTHING MORE THAN ANOTHER "CALIFORNIA LAW REVISION COMMISSION" - ONLY THIS TIME WE PAY FOR IT
The bill states: "The Ombudsperson may convene an advisory committee to make recommendations on matters within the Ombudsperson's jurisdiction. A member of an advisory committee shall receive per diem and expenses pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 103. In selecting the members of an advisory committee, the Ombudsperson shall ensure a fair representation of the interests involved."
Response: Pay close attention to the fact that all the industry buddies will now obtain FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT WITH CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT PENSIONS, HEALTH BENEFITS, VACATION TIME, ETC. Just like the inept California Law Revision Commission, these APPOINTMENTS are payback to industry parasites that will ensure the industry keeps its stranglehold on the laws by skewing data and rigging decisions against owners -- just like the court system. They will receive reimbursements, expenses, and SALARY. Any owner that believes an industry friendly ombudsman will ensure a fair representation of the interests involved, is out of their mind. If it were to be a fair representation, then the owners would pick these individuals, and frankly, there would be no need for an advisory committee.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS CRAP YOU WILL BE FUNDING
Ombudsperson shall report annually to the Legislature, no later than October 1 of each year. The report shall include all of the following information:
(a) Annual workload and performance data, including the number of requests for assistance received, the manner in which a request was or was not resolved, and the staff time required to resolve the inquiry. For each category of data, the Ombudsperson shall provide subtotals based on the type of question or dispute involved in the request.
(b) Analysis of the most common and serious types of disputes within common interest developments, along with any recommendations for statutory reform to reduce the frequency or severity of those disputes. [this statement alone should tell owners that the legislature has not been listening to owner complaints]
(c) On or before January 1, 2009, the Ombudsperson shall submit recommendations to the Legislature on the following topics: (1) Whether the Ombudsperson should be authorized to enforce common interest development law. (2) Whether the Ombudsperson should be authorized to oversee association elections. (3) Whether the scope of application of Section 1380.230 should be narrowed or broadened. (4) Whether the Ombudsperson should provide or subsidize mediation of common interest development disputes.
Then, Civil Code section 1380.130 goes on to state, "On filing information with the Secretary of State every two years, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1363.6, an association shall submit a Common Interest Development Ombudsperson FEE. This FEE IS IN ADDITION TO THE FEE submitted pursuant to Section 1363.6. Failure to submit the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson fee is deemed noncompliance with Section 1363.6. Costs incurred by the Secretary of State pursuant to this section shall be REIMBURSED from the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson Fund."
MANAGERS AND LAWYERS GET TO USE OMBUDSMAN FOR FREE -- BUT OWNERS HAVE TO PAY
Yup! ANYONE can use the Ombudsman.
If ANYONE can use the ombudsman, then why doesn't the legislature make EVERYONE pay through their taxes to fund the ombudsman's department?
"Under the new proposed Civil Code section 1380.300 (a): ANY interested person may request that the Office of the Common Interest Development Ombudsperson provide assistance in resolving a dispute between an association and an owner that involves the law governing common interest developments OR the governing documents of a common interest development." [what's the legal definition of an "interested" person?]
Guess what? That means if the ass. or the ass's attorney wants their fees or costs, the ass. attorney can enlist the ombudsman to assist in collecting attorney fees against you! How stupid is that?! So much for helping HOMEowners.
It also means, that vindictive management companies will be utilizing a tool that was supposedly meant for homeowners, to "target" you instead.
It also means that persons [i.e., "interested persons"] will be utilizing the ombudsman's office that YOU WERE FORCED TO PAY through your association assessments - but that they did not have to pay.
MORE HIDDEN FEES
There are hidden fees everywhere in this bill. Make no mistake, it is inevitable owners will be paying more every year. For instance, "The Ombudsperson MAY, by regulation, adopt a FEE for mediation services of not more than fifty dollars ($50) per mediation." [but no cap written into the statute]
Then another section in the same statute says "The Ombudsperson may contract with private parties to provide mediation services pursuant to this section and under the Evidence Code as it applies to mediation initiated under this section, the Ombudsperson SHALL NOT CHARGE A FEE FOR THIS service."
So which is it, $50 or free? Owners should begin budgeting an additional $100 on up for fees with no end in sight.
As each brilliant legislator wants to add their name to the notches on the Davis-Stirling Act's belt, the fees will keep rising forever.
UNDERSTAND THE PARAMETERS OF A BAD BILL
• CREATES a CID Ombudsman...(creates more problems for owners)
• REQUIRES Ombudsman to provide a website and toll-free number (this is really hard to do)
• REQUIRES association to PAY FEES for each separate interest within the CID (owners apparently don't pay enough already)
• ESTABLISHES advisory committee (just like the useless CLRC)
• REQUIRES Ombudsman to report ONCE A YEAR to the legislature with statistics (report? report WHAT? and WHY? How many damn statistics do they need, they re-publish the statistics every time they add another code to the Davis-Stirling Act, this is preposterous)
• REQUIRES Ombudsman to make RECOMMENDATIONS...AND to certify that directors have read governing documents (imagine! we are paying condo police to report to a government agency on owners READING documents --who could possibly take this bill seriously. It fails to PENALIZE RECALCITRANT BOARDS FOR THEIR BAD FAITH AND BAD ACTIONS, but it can make recommendations, what good are "recommendations" - where's the "enforcement" in THAT!)
• REQUIRES Ombudsman to provide training materials and courses AND CHARGE A FEE FOR THIS "SERVICE" (owners don't need any more pamphlets, let alone training materials provided from the same industry that bankrupts us; we've got enough problems with the real governing documents.)
• ALLOWS but does NOT REQUIRE Ombudsman to attempt to resolve a dispute between an association and owner by conferring with the two parties to reach mutual agreement. (if the owners cannot see what is wrong with this bill by this point, they are in big trouble).
THE CRUELEST HOAX YET
Everything in this bill is subject to "the limits of the available resources."
Response: What an utter, unmitigated, waste of time
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