Lake Holiday News has been on top of this story.
Vogel chose to interfere in an active court case. Her interference was prompted by the request of 1 side, not all sides, and was accompanied by strong and repeated requests by plaintiffs that she abandon her ill-advised plan. Those facts don’t square at all with her own statement that she is not trying to “mess up” the plaintiffs’ position in an active case. That is exactly what her legislation is all about: messing up 1 side for the benefit of the other, which just happens to be that of a big developer. - Lake Holiday NewsI do everyone a disservice to try to get into the nasty details myself considering the excellent coverage and level of detail available on Lake Holiday News, so I encourage people to go read the full story there.
That being said, it is undeniably inappropriate for a state Senator to involve herself in an active lawsuit by pushing legislation specifically aimed to change the outcome of that lawsuit. It goes beyond an appearance of corruption to de facto corruption itself when you consider the personal relationships that lead to the legislation. (See, I told you to go read the original post!)
We in Loudoun would do well to pay attention to both the lawsuit and the legislation. The bill in question appears to shift strength from individual property owners to HOAs, and especially HOAs that are still under the control of the original developer by introducing technical changes to how HOAs charters can be challenged as developments are built out in "phases." Considering the collapse of the housing bubble, most developments in Loudoun will have unfinished "phases" for years, and it seems that this legislation ensure that unfinished phases will give the developer explicit and exclusive judicial remedies against legal action on the part of homeowners going foward.
Considering past developer/owner conflicts in Lansdowne, this bill ensures that the only property rights that matter are large property owners' rights. If you do not own an entire develpoment, but instead only own - say - a house in an "unfinished" development, then your voice should be muted and your rights to redress in our Courts should be reduced.
It can only be hoped that the voters remember this action on behalf of a special interest when Sen. Vogel is up for re-election.
2 comments:
Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel is helping the developer controlled Board running Lake Holiday. The Lake Holiday HOA has very serious internal problems and here’s a comment that I came across on the rip-off report that talks about what’s been going on for 30 plus years. It seems that the Lake Holiday Board never addressed the plight of membership lot owners, and it's no real surprise that things are in court. The Board collected MILLIONS without authorization and even foreclosed on these lot owners. Now they are facing a ruling in a few months and there's even talk of a possible RICO case. Desperate times for the Developer and the Lake Holiday Board call for Senator Jill Vogel to the rescue. Voters need to remember her developer friendly behavior at election time.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/348/RipOff0348526.htm
Beware of the Lake Holiday HOA in Cross Junction, Virginia. I purchased a lot for almost $10,000 in 1975. I am still waiting for utility service to my lot. Can you believe that???? Without utility service my lot is worthless. The Lake Holiday HOA owned until just recently owned the utility company providing water and sewer. The HOA and its President promised getting the utilities to me and probably hundreds of other lot owners. They have collected MILLIONS of dollars in dues from people like me based on the false promise that they would use these funds to improve roads and provide utilities. I have heard numerous times at meetings that the Board was developing a plan to extend the utility lines but nothing has ever happened.
In 2002, the President of the Association said that selling the Lake Holiday Estates Utility Company required a membership vote but a membership vote was never taken on the Utility sale. Then in 2006, the HOA sold the utility built with my dues. After the sale was final, the HOA said they had no responsibility for the utilities and used the proceeds of the utility sale to build a new $1.2 million clubhouse.
My lot sits two lots away from a home with existing utility service. Last year, I learned about an important rule in the utility companys tariff called, Rule 16. This rule has been in place for over 30 years and the accepted method by the SCC to extend utilities to the membership lots at Lake Holiday. This rule was concealed from me and all lot owners waiting for utilities. The President of the Association tried to remove it without even sending me a notice about the change. I learned about this rule not from the Lake Holiday Board but another property owner. I would have made a formal Rule 16 request decades ago. I was tricked into waiting and waiting for Lake Holiday to extend utilities to my lot. Unfortunately, this community has been plagued with endless mismanagement and these problems never seem to get resolved, and just keep piling up.
In a 2 ½ year period, the Board spent over 1 Million in legal fees in a community of 700 homes. Theres a 4-5 Million upcoming dam repair bill, and wasting so much money on lawyers is completely irresponsible! Another low point, a Lake Holiday committee member sent around a 5 page letter mocking another member’s handicap. Unfortunately, the same small group seems to retain control of the HOA board, and nothing seems to ever change at the place.
In January of 2008, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the authority to collect dues has to be in the deed to your property, but in many sections at Lake Holiday theres absolutely no requirement in the deeds to pay dues. Lake Holiday was advised of this problem with the deeds by their lawyers but ignored the advice and collected millions in dues anyway. Like a scared bunny, President Wayne Poyer is making the rounds of the local media outlets shouting going bankrupt to anyone that will listen. Hes so concerned about the place going bankrupt that hes not making any attempt to settle the case - not believable! Hes going to take his chances in court. Hes going to take his chances against 3 recent Supreme Court rulings? This whole mess about the dues was created by the Board. They didnt honestly explain to members about the problems with the deeds and people are sick of their endless lies and mismanagement!
I noticed that another person filed a complaint about Rees Broome of Mclean, Virginia. Lake Holiday used this same law firm to handle collections and general legal work.
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