October 11, 2011 by bobfrank.

By Colonel Robert Frank, USAF (Ret.)–Former Board Member, Sun City Anthem HOA, Henderson, NV 89052

(Revised on Oct 10)  On Sunday, October 9, 2011, at 7:30 PM the weekly KDWN - AM 720 Radio Program by conservative talk show host RAY GRANT launched the first of a planned series of programs about HomeOwner Association (HOA) matters.

This show was the first action by a new “HomeOwnerCoalition.org” (HOC) organization to be fully launched in November 2011.

Many homeowners in US HOAs are working on many other initiatives, and HOC will work to try to help the combination of individual efforts to result in the maximum effectiveness on behalf of homeowners.  The common goals including ensuring that the property and citizen rights for HOA owners as being no less than those who do not own property in HOAs.

HOA unit owners are citizens, pay the same property taxes, and are entitled to equal personal and property rights protections and government services under the US and NV Constitutions.

But, Nevada HOA laws and regulations fail to fully implement all of the protections guaranteed under the Constitutions.  And, even when the laws are written to protect unit owners, the Nevada Real Estate Division and its subordinate Ombudsman Office for Homeowners often fail to comply with laws.

This is a bipartisan problem created in part from campaign financing influence by developers and related businesses interests that profit from being able to control homeowner association boards, funds and business decisions.  The HomeOwnerCoalition.org will try to balance the power and help citizens organize and act more effectively by knowing how to use the power of their votes to obtain equal justice under the laws.

Ray Grant has been on the radio and TV in CA and NV for over 20 years.  Ray is also a former professional baseball catcher for Detroit and a Christian Pastor for decades.  According to independent radio listener ratings systems, Ray Grant’s talk show has about 14,000 local listeners and a 13-State listener base.

Ray and his wife, Natalie, and son own their own shows and operate Diamond G Sports & Entertainment companies. They buy their time and sell the advertisements that run on Las Vegas KDWN–AM 720 every Sunday evening from 7 to 8 PM.

Ray’s show is focused on political issues, and it airs Sundays from 7:30 to 8 PM.  This 30-minute radio program is limited to special guest interviews and does not support call-ins.

The new HOA Problems-Solutions-oriented shows will be every 2nd Sunday evening for the foreseeable future.  (Attached below are 8 MP3 program segments from the initial, October 9th show.)

For this first show, Ray and I invited Dr. Gary Solomon and Mr. Tim Stebbins to be interviewed.  Dr. Solomon was asked about his “Warning! HOA Living Can be Hazardous To Your Health” billboard campaign and about his concerns over unchecked mental abuse of homeowners by bully boards and NV government agencies.

Listen to the below sound clips and hear that Dr. Solomon did not pull any punches.  He expressed his great concerns about past and potential future violence in reaction to unfair and  illegal actions by bully board members, the frequent fraud and abuse by board sub-contractors, and failures of government managers to enforce the statutes.

Tim Stebbins was asked about his experiences in recent years with government failures. Tim was also asked by Host Ray Grant about the failed NV HOA Ombudsman program and its failed NV Real Estate Division management.  When you listen to the clips below, you will hear Tim’s courageous reports and clear recommendations for homeowner actions.

Live (streaming) web broadcasts will be available on the KDWN web site.  Recording of the programs (MP3 format) will available the week after each show at various sites.   The new, HomeOwnerCoalition.org web site to be launched in November 2011 will maintain a long-term archive of the HOA programs.

Our future HomeOwnerCoalition.Org (HOC) site will be featured monthly by Ray Grant’s Program, and HOC will provide links to other related web sites as well–to provide access to documents and media files. This way everyone can benefit from this new media channel, and others will be encouraged to challenge other radio and TV shows to expand their offerings.  Ray is also expecting that businesses who sell products and services directly to homeowners will find it useful to advertise on his program.

Ray has had some of his own unfortunate past experiences with bully HOA boards, and he left the HOA market to live on a small ranch in the LV area. He warmly responded to my request to consider doing a series of radio shows that highlight NV government and regulatory failures, and what must be done to solve the problems.

Ray Grant wants to be sure to give due credit to those individuals and media sources like Ch13 who are helping to expose individuals and boards who are flagrantly abusing homeowners.  He intends to focus on “solutions” on his show and to inform homeowner-citizens about what they must do to protect themselves through better knowledge and activist support of honorable government management and pro-homeowner legislative reforms.

Please contact me for more information about this program in the future. Regards, Bob Frank bobfrank@cox.net  702-505-9959.

———————-

The October 9th show was very popular.  It produced a rating of over 30,000 listeners and resulted in over 3,000 web site hits during the first 24 hours. 

MP3  sound clips of the 8 program segments from the October 9th Show featuring Sun City Anthem Homeowner Tim Stebbins and Calico Ridge Homeowner Dr. Gary Solomon can be played and/or download from the following links.

1.  Segment 1

2.  Segment 2

3.  Segment 3

4.  Segment 4

5.  Segment 5

6.  Segment 6

7.   Segment 7

8.   Segment 8 (final)

Posted in Bob Frank-2011, Outside Politics, Truth Squad, SCA Board, News! | Print | No Comments »

September 26, 2011 by kayfrank.

A Review Journal article dated September 25, 2011 reports that famous Southwest Defense Attorney Cal Potter recently won yet another large financial judgement for police abuse by Clark County law enforcement officials.

You probably are thinking, so what?

Well,  Defense Attorney Cal Potter is a legend in this Southwestern area for his many decades of winning large settlements and law suits from government agencies (and particularly from police departments) for abuse of authority and other law violations. 

Mr. Potter is the attorney of choice for attorneys, business owners and citizens who are wrongfully exploited by local, state and federal government officials.

You might still be thinking, so what?

Well, it happens that Mr. Cal Potter is the attorney representing my husband, Bob Frank, against Henderson’s unjustified criminal arrest for allegedly filing a willfully false police report against certain Sun City Anthem board members for failing to comply with NV forgery law and federal income tax laws. 

And, no one can recall the last time, if ever, that Henderson had filed such a criminal arrest warrant against ANYONE–much less against an honorable, retired Air Force Colonel with a perfect lifetime record of honor and service to this Nation.

Even after Henderson received hard evidence last year of my husband’s innocence when the Internal Revenue Service Audit of the Sun City Anthem Board’s 2007 tax return proved his allegations were true, the City has steadfastly refused to dismiss the false charges and delayed going to trial.

But, after almost a year and a half of delays, that bogus misdemeanor case is finally going before a special judge on October 27, 2011. 

Meanwhile, the legal expenses have piled up for such a high profile attorney.  And, Henderson City officials have recused themselves and contracted with a special prosecutor and special judge.   It was discovered that most of the Henderson City leadership had irreconcilable conflicts of interest with a Sun City Anthem Board Officer (a potential person of interest to the District Attorney) who had been a Henderson Assistant City Attorney and Judge Pro Tem for many years.  The whole matter smells to me like it could wind up being related to the FBI’s broader investigation into other NV HOA corruption.

If you are not familiar with this outrageous case of police abuse and political attacks against my husband, see these links for some details:

1.  http://www.scaview.org/my_first_website/welcome/2010/03/youre-under-arrest-board-politics-and-political-influence.html

2.  http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/05/01/false-arrest-case/

3.   http://www.anthemtoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2597#p4820

Kay Frank

Posted in kay_frank, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Laws & Rules, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

September 26, 2011 by admin.

Nevada Power has received taxpayer “stimulus” money to acquire and install electric smart meters on all NV homes.  This comes after years of installations in other states and growing outrage against such devices.  California home and business owners are particularly outraged and fighting back.   That comes as a surprise  since CA has a reputation for being quite accommodating to new “green” technologies.

There are critical questions about the claimed values, health risks, and purposes of the smartmeter  technologies.  It is questionable on whether the power companies and federal government should be allowed to force homeowners to accept these devices. 

There are unresolved privacy and constitutional issues that could eventually terminate the entire program.  In the meantime, who wants to be the lab rats involved in the early installations?

Here are just a few of the Internet links to videos about the smartmeter technologies. They seem to effectively debunk all of the power company’s claimed “benefits”.

What Is A Smartmeter Doing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpndoSq19BA&feature=related

Darkside of Smartmeters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLeCTaSG2-U&NR=1

Smartmeter Technologies: Armed Spy Devices
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fndf2EciSg&feature=related

Smartmeters Are Not Really Smart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-nmaYU6kek&feature=related

Pres..Obama’s Spin on ”Personal Benefits” of Smartmeters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uyt55mieYw&feature=related

Mark Levin Against Obama’s Speech on Smartmeters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_XG25YKRGc&feature=related

Defeating A Smartmeter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL2JQ0FbgvU&feature=related

Smartmeter Ripoff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZ0Ba0gZQY&feature=related

Refuse Smartmeter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0XnOoLR-u0&feature=related

Opt Out of Smartmeters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTnGMN-kQ64&feature=relmfu

Siemans Marketing Pitch on Smartmeters For Business:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZoWlnEc32Q&feature=related

Itron Smartmeter Marketing Pitch for Businesses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtO6q3FPg8s&feature=related

Comments on WSJ Article– Smartmeter—Dumb Idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUdx79ffjjo&feature=related

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, News! | Print | No Comments »

September 16, 2011 by admin.

The Sun City Anthem (SCA) Board of Directors and certain Sun City Anthem Corporate Treasurers since 2002 and their auditor/tax preparer have been notified by the IRS they have failed to comply with Federal Tax Regulations.

The IRS has initially notified SCA it owes $1.345 Million in back taxes and penalties for the 2002-2007 tax returns.  Subsequent returns prepared in the same manner have not yet been audited.  Meanwhile, instead of following a smart strategy to minimize the back taxes and penalties, the board is following an ego-driven appeal strategy that is apparently wasting tens of thousands more of our dues.

Treasurers for 2002-2007  years were Favil West, Kay Dwyer and Roz Berman.   The Board’s auditor/tax preparer for that period was CPA Gary Lein and the association attorney was John Leach.   CPA Jack Troia was also personally involved as a (self-proclaimed) tax “expert” on the Finance Committee during most of the audit period.

While the involved directors, professional advisers, finance committee members and  community management company leaders are presumed innocent until proven guilty, one has to wonder what they were thinking after the board had been advised in 2008 they were filing false tax returns, and they refused to resolve the disputed issues?

Were any of them monitoring the Department of Justice public information being released about criminal convictions for filing false tax returns?  The following is just one quote from the DOJ tax site.  It describes a case that appears to be far less damaging than the SCA case and the results should be very worrisome to many of the involved SCA individuals.

“Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Baton Rouge, La., Tax Preparer Sentenced to Prison for Aiding in Preparation of False Tax Returns

WASHINGTON - Melissa Edwards was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Brian A. Jackson to 30 months in prison based on her plea of guilty to one count of willfully aiding and assisting in the preparation and filing of a false income tax return, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced today. The court also ordered Edwards to serve a one-year term of supervised release following her prison term and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $56,040. The case arises out of a March 31, 2010, indictment filed in the Middle District of Louisiana.

According to her plea agreement, Edwards, who worked at Jasmine and Melissa’s Tax Service in Baton Rouge, La., prepared fraudulent tax returns for 20 clients that reported falsely inflated telephone excise tax refund (TETR) credits in the total amount of $126,856. The TETR credit was a one-time credit available to taxpayers for the 2006 year. The sentencing court found that the tax loss, including all relevant conduct, was between $400,000, but less than $1 million.

John A. DiCicco, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Tax Division, commended the IRS Special Agents who investigated this case and Tax Division Trial Attorneys Kevin C. Lombardi and Matthew J. Mueller and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rene Salomon of the Middle District of Louisiana, who prosecuted the case.

More information about the Justice Department’s Tax Division and its enforcement efforts is available at www.usdoj.gov/tax/”

 

For more information:

Sun City Anthem CAI IRS Audit Report–$1.345 Million Back Taxes Owed for 2007:

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/02/irs-report-released-boardauditor-has-no-more-excuses/

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/02/19/reject-the-boards-shell-game-on-income-taxes/

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

September 5, 2011 by admin.

The August 30, 2011 Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that federal prosecutors investigating fraud by Nevada HOAs, HOA professional advisers, and government authorities for the past few years have identified 75 to 100 co-conspirators including board members, management companies, judges, attorneys and former police officers (see links below). 

Sun City Anthem is not yet been mentioned on the released FBI list of involved HOAs, but after the 2011 IRS demand for $1,345 Million in back income taxes and penalties from SCA, and after the more than 100 major affidavits alleging law violations with the Nevada authorities in the past few years, we should anticipate that  the SCA directors, attorneys, auditor, and management company are  known to the FBI’s investigative team.

The massive, multi-year FBI investigations have exposed elaborate HOA schemes involving such criminal violations as:
(1) board elections fraud,
(2) construction defects claims fraud,
(3) non-competitive contracts fraud,
(4) fraudulent legal services,
(5) real estate fraud,
(6) self-dealing among boards, management companies and HOA law firms, and
(7) theft. 

So far, about two dozen targets of the investigation are said to be taking plea deals that would ensure their cooperation in the prosecution of higher-level players in the scheme.

Here are a small number of the links reporting on alleged SCA Board Financial misconduct/possible fraud in recent articles:

1.  http://www.lvrj.com/news/las-vegas-businessman-enters-guilty-plea-in-federal-hoa-fraud-case-128691408.html

2.  http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/August/11-crm-1114.html

3.  http://www.lvrj.com/news/las-vegas-businessman-enters-guilty-plea-in-federal-hoa-fraud-case-128691408.html

4.  http://www.stopfraud.gov/

5.  Here are just a few of the previously reported/alleged SCA Board Violations of laws and statutes:

- Suspected Board Election Fraud:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/04/23/can-we-trust-the-sca-election-results/

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/27/emergency-election-statutes-violation-filed/

http://www.scaview.org/ElectionCoverup.html 

-  Suspected Financial Misconduct:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/04/22/should-you-call-911-if-you-are-being-robbed/

http://www.scaview.org/TheCoverUp.html

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2010/03/17/current-list-of-open-board-issues/

-  Suspected Legal Services Law Violations:  
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/04/03/sca-board-says-attorney-general-charges-are-mistaken-really/

-  Apparent Improper Accounting Practices:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/07/why-was-4779709-off-the-books-in-2009/

-  Reported Misconduct in SCA Reserves:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/03/gross-overfunding-of-sca-reserves/

-  IRS Audit Report–$1.345 Million Back Taxes Owed:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/02/irs-report-released-boardauditor-has-no-more-excuses/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/02/19/reject-the-boards-shell-game-on-income-taxes/

-  Villas Neighborhood Reserves Mismanagement/apparent fraud:
http://www.scaview.org/TheConPart4.html

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations | Print | No Comments »

September 1, 2011 by THE VOICE.

Suspended attorney (since 1991), former Sun City Anthem (SCA) Board Vice President, and self-appointed “spokesman/public relations director” for the SCA directors, David Berman said on his blog concerning law violations prosecuted by the Deputy Attorney General against his spouse:

“There is no excuse for allowing complaints of any nature to gather dust for more than three years as this one did, or for matters that can be resolved through discussion, letters of instruction, etc., to be treated as quasi-criminal matters. ”

Right! 

So, why DID the board-president-spouse of a convicted forger/defrocked attorney FAIL for over 3 YEARS to follow the laws and protect the rights of every one of our SCA homeowners?   Did she ignore her spouse’s advice?

After being clearly told and officially opposed by a fellow board member in March 2008, as well as by homeowner Tim Stebbins in May 2008 of her  violations BEFORE she voted (on both occasions), why did Roz Berman willfully act wrongfully?   During the recent hearing, the Senior Deputy Attorney General (DAG) told the Common Interest Communities Commission (CICC) and those in the hearing room that board members can not blame their failures to comply with statutes on bad advice from their “professional advisers”.  The DAG said each director is personally responsible for their bad actions.

So, why did Roz Berman and Mike Dixon FAIL to act to correct their known law violations in 2008 and 2009 after being notified by the State of Nevada in late 2008 that they were being formally charged with violating the laws?

After such a State notification the proper, moral, and legal action would have been to revoke the changed by-laws and CC&Rs and to ask the association attorney for a refund and/or future cash credits.   Instead, the boards played “chicken” with the State and we must presume this was upon advice of the (conflicted) association attorney who had profited handsomely from the whole affair.

Unfortunately, the “victory” celebrations by the accused may have been premature.   The matter may NOT be “over”.   The CIC Commission “decision” may be subject to review and reversal. 

But, as of today, it is clear the NV government Executive Branch Agencies responsible for ensuring HOA justice have universally failed the citizens of this State.  

The indicted board members, the equally complicit/uncharged SCA board members from 2007, the association attorney who advocated and profited by at least $30,000 from the law violation, and the community management company that failed to provide competent “professional” advice may be subject to future indictments/charges from the Real Estate Division and Attorney General. 

The State agencies are not “done” until THEY say they are, and growing public pressure for justice may force this matter to be continued until it is properly resolved.

The facts are that NONE of the involved individuals have ever been properly charged/indicted, and that is why the CICC could not complete its hearing.  A proper hearing still needs to be conducted to determine the guilt or innocence of the alleged violators–as required by NV Statutes. 

The Deputy Attorney General and Real Estate Division are confident they can prove certain SCA directors willfully violated the NRS116 statutes.  And, where there is government will, there are likely ways for those State Agencies to complete their duties.

Furthermore, the four CIC Commissioners who voted in favor of dismissing the case “with prejudice” (without  hearing any of the evidence) could find themselves charged with negligence.  If so, they could be asked to resign by the appointing authority. 

The apparent negligence and toleration of corruption by the CICC on this case taints the credibility of the CIC Commission, the Real Estate Division and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General.  The future on this matter is murky, and the involved board members  and their “professional advisers” since 2007 should not be resting easy.

For additional details, see this prior Anthem Voice Posting:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/06/18/attorney-general-office-removed-bob-frank-from-sca-board-indictment/

Posted in SCA Board, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Lifestyle, Operations, News! | Print | No Comments »

July 27, 2011 by admin.

Are homeowners in HOAs being “farmed” like captive animals by the Community Association Institute and government agencies?   This thought-provoking perspective about homeowner rights has been claimed by Fort Bend, Indiana resident Nancy Hentschel.  She has said:

“Home Owner Association (HOA) and Property Owner Association (POA) living is advertised to promote sales and to manage the homeowner population, but these “corporations” are specifically designed to disenfranchise most if not all the homeowners in the subdivision.

The HOA corporation is frequently controlled by the developers, builders, or even the vendors of the HOA corporation, such as the HOA management company and HOA attorneys.  These entities seek legislation to give the HOA board (and therefore its agents) ever more control over the property belonging to the homeowners.

This latter group has formed their own trade organization (Community Associations Institute), which not only lobbies for anti-homeowner laws but also uses funds from HOA corporation coffers (their “client”) in order to pay for the lobbying expenses. One should note that these HOA funds were taken from the homeowners under threat of foreclosure (from assessments).  The foreclosure power is used primarily to benefit these vendors, not the homeowners of the HOA…

(For brevity, most of this editorial has been supressed.  See the below link for the full article.)

…HOA attorneys are a specialized group of attorneys who are trained by the CAI to know how to turn a $50.00 contested fine into a foreclosure process that can yield the attorney upwards of 20 thousand dollars in attorney fees. The reapportionment of assessments and many other tricks, are never made known to homeowners. In this way, homeowners can be led, one at a time, into “executive sessions,” and the foreclosure process, without alerting other homeowners. Isolated in this way, most homeowners are astonished that this process is legal. If the victim of this abuse speaks out, which is quite rare, due to carefully constructed marginalization techniques, others with an air of protective denial will simply say, “There must be more to their story than that!” Unfortunately, the real story about HOAs is much worse. So how is this possible?  How did the HOA industry turn “servitude” into “membership” and “controlled by” into “belong to” and “corporate interests” into “community associations?” Think back to when you bought your home from the builder and developer.  HOAs prey on people’s natural suspicions of their neighbors as having hidden agendas to paint their home purple or jack up cars in the front yard.

Homeowners are sold these fears in exchange for their freedom. This is not a new idea, is it? Depending on the income and social status of the community, these fears are manipulated to fit the buyer. CC&Rs are sold as tools to keep “others” in line, so that they don’t bring down “your” property values (implied personal status), However, CC&Rs are more often selectively used to target and “farm” people for income to the HOA corporation and its vendors, as well as for racial, religious, and political discrimination and manipulation. In addition, let’s face it, there is always the real probability that at least one board member is simply a bully.

Homeowners inadvertently allow this, because neighbors are kept in a constant state of isolated suspicion about each other. When one neighbor feels targeted, he often innocently points to five other homeowners who have the same violation. The HOA’s vendors, or employees, are paid to go after everyone, and are indeed happy to do so. In this way, targeted and confused neighbors, inadvertently support the HOA’s abusive structure by pointing out their neighbors instead of objecting to the structure of the problem. It is also true that one racist bully in your neighborhood will become a powerful favorite of any HOA management company and attorney. He will often even find his way onto the board.

HOAs also commonly target widows who tend to pay off their homes when a spouse dies. Tax records reveal equity and a skilled HOA attorney can tap into this information.  Some of these cases make it to the news, like Wenonah Blevins, Houston, and Captain Mike Clauer, Frisco, but most do not. When people are targeted by an HOA (remember that they are led to think that their HOA is their neighbors), they usually are either shamed into silence or they desire to move away from such disgusting neighbors. Either way, the HOA‘s secrecy remains intact!”

See this link for the full article…
http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/08/04/47120

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

June 23, 2011 by kayfrank.

(Revised)  Mr. David Berman appears to have made a really big mistake this time.

He commented about SCA’s apparent plan to go to tax court to appeal the IRS audit report:

“… I had significant exposure to this process during my years in the Exam
Division of the IRS, and if it comes to that, you and Mr. Johnson will be proven
wrong.  An appeal of an IRS decision through the Tax Court is simply not the
commencement of litigation or a “civil action.” It is a RESPONSE mechanism, not
that of a plaintiff commencing an action.”

Did David Berman not previously confirm he was convicted of forging a judge’s signature
on tax documents and lost his law license?  And, did he not previously claim to have gone
to work for the IRS as a low-level, UNIX minicomputer system administrator and trainer-
-but, not as an attorney?

If so, how could he now be claiming to have been working in the “Exam Division of the IRS”
as if he had been employed as a tax attorney?  It makes one wonder if he ever disclosed to
the IRS that he was suspended from practicing law after admitting to being a forger?

As a former IRS Auditor, I had to go through extensive personal checks prior to employment.
I  doubt the IRS would have hired him or allowed him to continue being employed if it had
known about his forgery conviction.

It is also unlikely the IRS would have allowed him to participate in legal discussions or have
access to taxpayer records if he had disclosed his forgery record.  And, why would the IRS have
allowed a self-acknowledged/convicted forger and disgraced/suspended attorney to have
access to private tax records for a decade before being allowed to retire?

When I worked for the IRS, any personal history data that was discovered to be missing or
deceptively  submitted could have resulted in termination and prosecution.

So, we need to ask, why should anyone believe anything this disgraced individual says?  Do
we believe he participated in tax law discussions while deceiving the IRS about his being a
forger and having lost his law license?  Or, did he fabricate a false and/or carefully deceptive
story?

———comments added on June 25, 2011———-

By the way, I believe Mr. Berman is dead wrong by saying “An appeal of an IRS decision
through the Tax Court is simply not the commencement of litigation or a “civil action.” 
The final ruling by the IRS appeal process is truly “final” from the IRS perspective.  

The United States Tax Court process is run by a totally different agency.  Going to US
Tax Court is a civil litigation action that NRS116 and our governing documents appear
to require unit owners to approve–in advance.   Ask any of our SCA retired IRS agent/
auditor members or a licensed tax authority for their opinions before accepting anything
that Mr. Berman is spinning.

In the meantime, many members believe that the board is obligated by law to fully inform
every unit owner via the “Spirit Magazine”, “Relay Newsletter” or by a special letter of the
full facts, costs of appeal, projected costs of ligation and projected “savings”.  

The board must also follow Generally Accepted Accounting Rules by establishing a special
reserve account in the 2012 budget in the event the Association has to pay the full costs of
losing the appeals and litigation actions and related court costs and lawyer fees. 

It seems obvious that the total costs of appealing the IRS audit report finding could far
exceed the initial amounts.  History shows that corporations who dare to challenge the IRS
through Tax Court have a disastrous track record (while the involved attorneys get wealthy).
For example, there is a notorious Canadian company that went to Tax Court with a $50
million liability, and emerged 10 years later with a Tax Court ruling of owing $500 Million!

Our members would be truly foolish to allow the board and its self-serving auditor and
attorneys to continue to follow the current path.   It is impossible for me to imagine a
favorable financial outcome for our unit owners.

Kay Frank

Posted in Truth Squad, kay_frank, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations, Laws & Rules, News! | Print | No Comments »

June 22, 2011 by bobfrank.

The Berman Blog has said concerning the charges made by the State of Nevada against former Board President/VP/Treasurer Roz Berman (and other 2007/2008 Directors):  “These types of hearings are held on a regular basis and, while not fun to go through, they have never been labeled “indictments.” In fact, there was a time in the past when Bob Frank himself was facing the possibility of one of these hearings, and you never saw him calling it an indictment.”

Of course, we should expect him to try to cover up for his spouse’s flagrant (alleged) law violations as clearly described in the “indictment” from the Attorney General.   See Anthem VOICE article below for the facts in the actual correspondence from the Attorney General’s Office.  Some might argue the process resembles a Grand Jury process where the Attorney General and Real Estate Division collaborate on the results of an investigation that concludes in the indictments and prosecutions of the accused directors.

While it might be called an “administrative hearing,” it is nothing like the “administrative” reviews some people have witnessed.  The hearing is judged by the Governor-appointed Nevada Commission for Common Interest Communities, and prosecuted by the Deputy Attorney General.  The accused have most of the features and powers of a criminal trial including the rights to introduce evidence, issue subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify, and to cross examine witnesses.  Such hearings (trials) are not scheduled unless there is compelling evidence of law violations.

High-powered defense attorneys  are provided by the board’s Directors & Officers Insurance–with $25,000 deductible authorized for each of the accused directors to defend them against the Nevada Attorney General’s charges.  Convictions could even lead to referrals to law enforcement for prosecution on possible criminal charges.

The State conducts only a few such hearings each year.  Out of 3,000 NV homeowner associations with about 21,000 board members, it is truly a rare occasion for the State to have to go to such trouble to prosecute HOA Director violations. 

Usually the accused directors will respond to State requests to correct any alleged law violations and to promise to not do it again.   But, the SCA Directors and attorney have stonewalled the State for the past 3 years and forced this costly hearing/trial process.  The attorney received about $30,000 for this unlawful work in 2008.  He probably does not intend to admit his guilt and refund the money to SCA unit owners.

So now SCA members will have to pay up to the $25,000 insurance deductible on top of the wasted previous attorney fees. And, no matter how the suspended-attorney-forger-spouse wants to try to spin the truth, this “grand jury-like hearing/trial” is a very serious matter for Roz Berman, Mike Dixon and their associates.

Finally, Mr. Berman lied when he claimed/inferred I previously could have faced such a hearing/trial.  The process never resulted in an “indictment” against me because the Attorney General refused to prosecute.  There was a total lack of valid evidence of any wrong-doing in the 17 allegations submitted by the SCA Board.  All allegations were dismissed/dropped by the State as unfounded.  The record shows that in spite of massive efforts and expenses in 2007 and 2008 to try to force me to resign from the board, or to have the State forcibly remove me from the board, the 2007 Board led by Mike Dixon and Roz Berman failed completely.

Since nothing was valid or substantiated, the Attorney General never charged/indicted me on anything.  History shows that my only mistake was thinking that directors Mike Dixon and Roz Berman (who had also pledged during their board campaigns to fire the Del Webb/Pulte-selected attorney and auditor) would honor their commitments. 

We have all been double-crossed by the boards and attorney since 2007.  And, the windfall profits for the association attorney is believed to have exceeded one million dollars in the past few years.

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations | Print | No Comments »

June 18, 2011 by bobfrank.

(Revised)

This is to report that the Nevada Deputy Attorney General has removed my name from the list of Sun City Directors indicted for violating Nevada laws governing homeowner associations.

See my correspondence requesting to be released from being a respondent, and the State of Nevada Letter in response:

Frank Response to NV Real Estate Division

Frank Response to Deputy Attorney General

Frank Declaration of Innocence

SCA Board Meeting Minutes–27 March 2008

SCA Board Meeting Minutes–12 May 2008

Nevada Release of Frank From Indictment

The revised list of 2007 and 2008 directors under indictment by the State of Nevada are:  Rosalyn Berman, Shirley Cheri, Roger Cooper, Michael Dixon and Carl Weinstein. 

Personally involved in the statute violations, and listed as directors in the March 27, 2008 SCA Board Meeting Minutes cited as evidence in the case, but not included as respondents, are 2007 directors Bob Berman, Elaine Berg and Kay Dwyer,  attorney John Leach, and Community Managers Terry DaSilva and Caren Carrero. 

No reasons have been given for those individuals to be exempted from the charges.   But, we know they are personal friends and/or business associates of at least 3 of the 7 Common Interest Communities Commission members who will judge the  case.

The Deputy Attorney General prosecution of the accused SCA Directors will be on July 6-8, 2011 starting at 9 AM each day in the Grant-Sawyer Building. 

See the following file for more details on the allegations and potential penalties.

Law Violations Included in Indictment Against SCA Directors

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, News! | Print | No Comments »

May 19, 2011 by Norman McCullough.

Why Sun City Anthem was awarded Entry into “The Hall of Shame”
By Resident - Norman McCullough

It’s time to have compassion, and to listen to our seniors who have earned the right to live in peace without being threatened by fines (and worse).  Sun City Anthem is a community of people who deserve better than the abuse that has been the hallmark of the past.  If the newly elected Board members really meant what they said before they were elected, we may see some changes, if not we will all be witness to the next generation of “Hall of Shame” candidates.

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations, Community Affairs, Lifestyle | Print | No Comments »

May 9, 2011 by admin.

SCA Member and AnthemVOICE Founder Tim Stebbins advised the new, 2011 SCA Board Members at their special meeting on May 9, 2011 that the 2010 SCA Board was considered by the Nevada Real Estate Division to be the worst of Nevada’s 3,000 HOA Boards.

Tim Stebbins included other comments for the record/attached to the Minutes as quoted below:

“My name is Tim Stebbins, Arroyo Vista Village.  I will supply a copy of these remarks for inclusion in the minutes of this meeting.  I wish to address Agenda item V, election of officers.

I congratulate the 4 new members of our board and I wish all board members success over the coming year.

As you elect new officers for the next year, those officers and all other directors have a real opportunity to set a new direction for our community.

Nevada state officials have observed the just past board was the worst in the entire state – out of about 3,000 boards.  That is something we should all be ashamed of.

Even though we retain 3 members from that board I hope a new spirit of leadership will change both the operations and the image of our board into one of professionalism, competence and cooperation.

We seem to be off to a good start.  Mr. Terry has already taken it upon himself to attend some of the excellent training classes offered by the Ombudsman.  I believe this shows a sincere desire to learn what must be done to be a good director under the laws of Nevada and how to do it in a professional way. 

I congratulate Mr. Terry for his attitude and dedication.  Of course from now on Mr. Terry will be required to disclose his attendance in all future courses under NAC116.484.  I am sure he will be proud to do that.

I hope all board members will follow the lead of Mr. Terry and gain the benefits of professional training and guidance.

It is worthy to note there seems to be no record of the mandatory disclosure of attending any approved classes by any member of the just past board.  With apparently no interest in gaining professional guidance on how to be a good director that might be one of the reasons that board was so bad.

I offer this suggestion:  At every board meeting we have a presidents report, a managers report and member comment periods.  The agenda for every meeting could also include a directors comment period.

Any director could comment on anything they wish including attendance at approved classes (as required by NAC116.484), attendance at meetings of the Commission, attendance at meetings of the Henderson City Council, or any other meetings or activities of interest to our community along with any comments they desire about what they gained from that participation.

This is done at every meeting of the CICCH Commission with a Commissioners Comments agenda item.  I see no reason why this board should not follow their lead.  Everyone would benefit.”

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations, News! | Print | No Comments »

May 7, 2011 by admin.

Senate Bill 254 (written and sponsored by certain CAI and Common Interest Community Commission members) has called for (among other things) major increases in fines and punishments for homeowners who are determined by the State authorities to have filed false or frivolous complaints. 

But, SB254 failed to specify equal fines and punishments for HOA bully boards, attorneys and other CAI members who could also be found guilty of such things as false and frivolous RESPONSES to valid homeowner complaints.

Sun City Anthem Member and AnthemVOICE Founding Member, Tim Stebbins, notified the Nevada Assembly Judicial Committee on May 6, 2011 that Senate Bill 254 that had previously been passed by the Senate and heavily promoted by leading CAI leaders (HOA business association) was clearly UNCONSTITUTIONAL. 

Mr. Stebbins pointed out that SB254 violated the US Constitution’s XIV Amendment requiring “equal protection” under the laws.   He also emphasized that SB254 must be amended to ensure there are EQUAL consequences under the NV Statutes when individuals on EITHER side of HOA disputes refused to participate in good faith in State-sponsored mediation sessions. 

Although Mr. Stebbins had previously made his statements about the many serious flaws in SB254 during March Senate Judiciary Committee Meetings, his comments had been totally ignored by the Senate majority who voted in favor of the bill.   But, Stebbins’ similar statements given to the Assembly Judiciary Committee seemed to finally get some serious attention. 

Clearly, some of the lawmakers and involved lawyers from the majority party were finally beginning to understand that a valid constitutional challenge to the proposed changes to NRS116 would be possible, and that something had to be done.

Senate Judiciary Committee Sponsor of SB254, Senator Allison Copening (employee of Del Webb/Pulte), and Common Interest Communities  Commission Chairman/Attorney Michael Buckley (Jones-Vargas Law Firm Stockholder), were forced to publicly admit that Mr. Stebbins was CORRECT, and that the bill’s language would HAVE to be changed to comply with Constitutional provisions. 

But, without those word changes immediately available for consideration by the Assembly, how could SB254 be voted upon?  Such changes would significantly change the nature, purpose and intent of the proposed law, and must be considered by both the Senate and Assembly.

An excerpt of Mr. Stebbins’ testimony follows.  His entire statement about SB254 is attached below.

“There seems to be major emphasis on punishments for a party filing a bad faith, false, fraudulent or frivolous claim.  Fair enough.  But there are almost no penalties for any party filing bad faith, false, fraudulent or frivolous response to the claim.

This seems to indicate an extreme bias on the part of who ever authored those sections of the bill.

It has been my experience the response to a claim is more likely to contain bad faith, false, fraudulent or frivolous statements than the claim itself.

If my observations are valid, the authors of such language should be ashamed of themselves.

The XIV Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees equal treatment for all parties involved. All parties are guaranteed equal protection under the law.  The current wording in several sections of SB 254 does not provide that protection.”

Tim Stebbins’ Testimony About Senate Bill 254:

 Stebbins Comments on Constitutional Flaws in SB254

Posted in Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Laws & Rules, Operations | Print | No Comments »

May 1, 2011 by kayfrank.

David Berman has posted the following false claim:

“Commenting on the arrests of Bob Frank and Tim Stebbins on charges of filing a false police report, the newsletter says, “Imagine! Bob and Tim were arrested and jailed because the HOA board claimed they filed a false police report.” THAT, my friends, is a defamatory lie! Before, during and after the investigation that exonerated directors Roz Berman and Roger Cooper, no Board member took any steps to suggest to the police that they should arrest and charge Frank and Stebbins.”

“It was entirely the decision of the police to arrest and charge the two SCA residents. All the Board members told me they were surprised to learn of the arrests, as they all assumed the matter was over and done with upon receipt of the Police Chief’s exoneration letter.   I defy any member of the Friedrich/Frank/Stebbins/Goodman crowd to prove otherwise.    Posted by: David Berman | May 01, 2011 at 07:10 PM”

RESPONSE:  The following shows that Berman is once again guilty of self-serving lying:

1.  Berman is NOT a board member, and the newsletter is not close to being “defamatory”.   He could not have witnessed many, if any, conversations by directors with Henderson City officials–except for his spouse who was suspected of committing forgery.

      And, as a suspended attorney and self-acknowledged forger of a judge’s signature on official tax documents, he has been judged guilty of what in most areas of the Nation would be considered a felony criminal act of forgery.   His opinion is truly worthless.

2.  This “false arrest” case involved well-researched and well-documented support for allegations of suspected criminal violations by certain SCA Directors.  Of course, the board’s position was that the allegations were not true. 

      To the contrary, the allegations were recently confirmed to be accurate by the IRS Tax Audit of the 2007 Return that showed SCA owed $1.345 million in back taxes and penalties for just that one year.

3.  During the January 21, 2010 Board Meeting, a Henderson Police Chief letter was read that claimed the allegations were “unfounded”.  Contrary to Berman’s false claim, the individuals were NOT “exonerated” or found “free of all blame”.  The evidence seems clear  that the Henderson Investigation Division rushed to judgment under heavy political pressure from the SCA Board and its friends and failed to complete its duty.

      At the Board Meeting, Director/Attorney/Former Henderson City Attorney (and potential defendant) Ann Small announced there are consequences for filing a false police report.  Small also said (in a very threatening manner) that as a judge, she knew “the court was not lenient”.   Here is a transcript of her board statement: Ann Small’s Threatening Statement

Just a few days later the City of Henderson suddenly arrested Stebbins and Frank and charged them with “filing a false police report”–a criminal misdemeanor.  And, the Henderson Judge’s arrest warrant included politically-charged statements and subjective allegations that could only have come from the SCA Board Members and its attorneys.

      The City’s disgraceful treatment of these two, retired, elderly men may become yet another Henderson City nightmare when the public and courts finds out what The City did on this case.  Tim Stebbins and Bob Frank were only trying find a way to require the board to comply with the law to refund over $4 million of illegally-held/unneeded dues surpluses owed to 7,144 homeowners.

      These 70-something men were jailed, stripped, perp-walked and forced to be handcuffed behind their backs to a pole for over 4 hours while forced to wait to be the last prisoner of the day to be finger-printed.  They were also forced to post over $600 cash bail before being released from jail and before being arraigned the following week. 

      Imagine such outrageous treatment for these seniors!  In my opinion, this was City Hall’s political retaliation against Stebbins and Frank for daring to challenge the City’s friends on the SCA Board!

      Meanwhile, no one can remember a prior case where Henderson has charged and arrested anyone for filing a false police report.  And, it is not yet clear what happens when the case against Stebbins and Frank is dismissed.  After it is clear the SCA Board lied to the Henderson Police (not Stebbins and Frank), will Henderson arrest the involved board members using the same procedures as above? 

      No one (not even Berman) could miss seeing the direct connections between the board’s claims of being falsely accused, Director Ann Small’s self-serving threats of possible consequences, and the subsequent (false) arrests.

4.  A single Henderson Police Sergeant admitted he had failed to consult any tax experts when he decided to accept only the board’s excuses and then unilaterally decreed the Stebbins/Frank report to be “unfounded”. 

      The Sergeant claimed he had no business degrees, no accounting or CPA training, and that he had to spend hundreds of hours trying to understand the basic business issues.  He admitted to being unqualified to investigate this income tax evasion/forgery case. But, he failed to seek qualified professional help from disinterested parties.

5.  After well over a year of unreasonable court delays and wasted attorney fees being spent by Stebbins and Frank, the Henderson City Attorney and Municipal Judge recently had to admit they had irreconcilable, personal conflicts of interest with SCA Director/Attorney Ann Small.  

      After revealing such compelling evidence of conflicts of interests, the Henderson City participants recused themselves and hired a special prosecutor and special judge for this minor misdemeanor case. 

      In the future, it is possible evidence of inappropriate personal communications between Director/Attorney Small and certain Henderson officials will be revealed.

So, when Berman states “it was entirely the decision of the police to arrest and charge the two SCA residents” he is willfully lying. 

The facts show Berman has no direct knowledge, and his claims contradict the facts in evidence. 

The arrest of Stebbins and Frank appears to have been a “political” act requested by self-serving and DESPERATE SCA board members. 

When the court hearing is finally held, the full truth will come out.   Then we are likely to see the perpetrators of the real crimes having to face the justice system.

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, kay_frank, Truth Squad, Laws & Rules, Community Affairs, SCA Board, News! | Print | 1 Comment »

April 27, 2011 by bobfrank.

This would be my roadmap to solving the SCA Board misconduct problems we have.

1. Practice the “golden rule” and implement community rules fairly, justly and humanely.

2. Resolve all disputes with members internally and avoid forcing them to go outside to seek justice.

3. Replace the discredited professionals and contractors who serve only their greed.

4. Stop the waste and abuse of our hard-earned savings and retirement incomes.

5. Assess dues for only what is needed to run the facilities at top levels, and always return the surpluses.

6. Require the developers to pay what they owe the community.

Imagine what joy we could have if those were the SCA board policies, and if our community refused to allow anyone to serve on the board unless they say what they mean, and do what they say concerning implementing those policies!

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 26, 2011 by admin.

Check out the LV Review-Journal’s revealing articles about HOA Board abuse and how once again, Sun City Anthem’s board is used as one of the worst examples of Nevada board misconduct. 

Here is today’s Review-Journal (R_J) View articles:
http://www.viewnews.com/2011/VIEW-Apr-26-Tue-2011/anthem/index.html

Here is the week-end R-J Business Section article about HOA Mismanagement:
http://www.lvrj.com/business/agency-governing-homeowners-groups-scrutinized-120534784.html

Here is the AnthemToday analysis of the situation:
http://www.anthemtoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2815

And, here you can see David’s Anthem Journal’s pathetic excuses to try to blame “unfair media” for the SCA Board misconduct:
http://anthemjournal.typepad.com/davids_anthem_journal/2011/04/the-latest-media-hatchet-job-on-sca.html

Notice that not one single director, David Berman or his associates have been willing to grant Doris “Penny” Vescio, 86, Shadow Canyon Village unit owner, a permanent variance for her wall extension to protect her small dogs from another coyote attack.    Why is that?  

And, why do they continue to offer the bogus excuse that they “can not comment” on the matter?    Of course they will not comment–no one could come up with a valid excuse for their outrageous misconduct!  Based on Penny’s extensive public statements, it is impossible for the directors to get away with claiming “privacy” considerations as the reason to refuse to comment.

If the board can grant a variance for 2 years, why does the majority of those directors not vote to grant Penny a PERMANENT variance?  It is squarely in the board’s power to stop the madness.  Penny is being forced to escalate the matter until justice is finally achieved.

Forget about Jack Troia and his proven lack of human compassion on so many matters.   His time is way past.  

But, what are those other 6 directors (and particularly those NOT up for re-election) thinking?   Are they just robots or potted plants sitting around the board meetings with no mind, no compassion and no sense of responsibility of their own?  How could they do such a thing?

And, how dare any of those directors claim they CANNOT comment on the case while at the same time complain about Penny’s dissatisfaction with their treating her so dishonestly and shamelessly? 

In the independently published, March 28, 2011 HOA Gazette Newsletter, Johnathan Freidrich reported on false testimony by Celeste Bove, Roz Berman and Kay Dwyer to the Senate Judicary Committee on March 25, 2011.

He said:  “Because in their vain arrogance they insist they are the only ones who are qualified to determine what is a “false or frivolous complaint”.  They have determined all complaints by a petty, insignificant, worthless homeowner against the omnipotent board, by definition, must be false or frivolous because they, as board members, can do no wrong.  One of those women is so conceited, she essentially said to a homeowner: I am a director, and if you don’t like it when I poke a stick in your eye, then you should move.”     (HOA Gazette Source File)            

It appears these people do not realize their names (along with Jack Troia) are candidates for being permanently enshrined in the Nevada HOA Hall of Shame?  Their names might even make it into some future textbooks and business college case studies about “HOA Syndrome” and the kind of HOA board misconduct that can create litigation risks for the association.

Finally, how dare any of those 7 directors and RMI community managers expect to be respected or honored after so conclusively proving on this case (and the income taxes and other issues) that they are unworthy of community support or of future service?

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations, Community Affairs, News! | Print | No Comments »

April 25, 2011 by kayfrank.

Prophetic words that today I can still repeat—”will not cover up or
tolerate illegal secrets.”  

My prayer for each and every woman is that you, too have such a wonderful
life partner.  

Happy Easter to all. Christ is Risen, He is Risen, Indeed.

Kay

———–

A google search for “bob frank nevada” found this link to Ron Johnson’s
2007 blog! You never know what will be found left around on the Internet….

http://www.scaview.org/anthem-view/2007/08/the-sun-city-anthem-board-and.html#comment-88 

September 1, 2007 5:25 PM

kay frank said: 

My husband has never bullied anyone, including Roz Berman. Perhaps she mixes
him up with her husband. Bob is firm but soft spoken and absolutely refuses
to cover up misbehavior, or as Roz puts it “go along to get along”. 

As his life partner of over forty years, we have disagreed often and I have
always found him to be reasonable and flexible in looking at issues, but with
the uncompromising bedrock of ethical behavior. Raised by a single mother and
grandmother, Bob is always kind and courteous, and never patronizing to
women. In expecting Roz and the others to live up to their campaign and
moral duties, yes, he would be firm, adamant and courteous. 

Arthur, I think the judge found it easy to sign the notice to quit for S& D
Cafe. What she probably found remarkable was that our association board was
over two and one half years late. After not being paid rent for three years,
evicting them made sense instead of treating them like a charity case for
millionaires, and letting them stay until the end of the lease. 

Just the three years of expenses incurred in funding the utilities,
insurance, etc. for those millionaires at S&D cafe who were stiffing us on
the rent could have a significant impact on our dues increase.

In the matter of secrecy, the Business Development Club, headed by Bob
Frank, wrested the Trumpets contract out of illegal secrecy and shined the
light on it. If Bob Frank had not done so,I believe that this spring the
Trumpets amendment would have been signed in secret, sealed and delivered by
the old board before the end of their term. We would now be stuck with ten
more years of S&D cafe, with no assurance they would even pay their reduced
rent, and with gambling in our recreation center.

Is it any surprise that Bob Frank will not cover up or tolerate illegal
secrets just because “one of the club” tells him it is secret? 

————————-

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 25, 2011 by admin.

Two (2) Sun City Anthem unit owners, former Board President Favil West and Del Webb VP Randy Watkins, were among the 7 members of the Nevada Common Interest Communities (CIC) Commission accused of misconduct and serious conflicts of interest in the April 23, 2011 issue of the Review-Journal.

Two (2) Other CIC Commissioners with alleged irreconcilable conflicts of interest with Nevada homeowners (and in particular with SCA homeowners) were SCA Auditor/Tax Preparer Gary Lein and Attorney Michael Buckley (a member of the Jones-Vargus law firm involved in SCA HOA construction defects.  Michael Buckley has been a decades-long friend and associate of SCA’s discredited attorney, John Leach.

See this link for details:
http://www.lvrj.com/business/agency-governing-homeowners-groups-scrutinized-120534784.html#blogcomments?submitted=y

Many SCA members will recall that Auditor/CPA Gary Lein is the man who was hired by Del Webb and Pulte a decade ago to provide SCA’s “expert” tax and audit advice.  After recently receiving the IRS audit report that we owed $1.345 Million in back taxes and penalties for just 2007 alone, it appears that SCA is going to be needing a MUCH better auditor–really soon!

So, with 4 of the 7 CIC Commission members having irreconcilable conflicts of business interests in our association, we can see why no board complaint filed during the past 4 years has been reviewed at an open hearing of the CIC Commission and Deputy Attorney General.  That fact alone is compelling evidence of some kind of misconduct or corruption in the system.

Here is are PDF files of the above link:  
Basic Article
25apr11_comments_r-j_blog_cicc-conflicts.pdf

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, SCA Board, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 24, 2011 by bobfrank.

Since this is likely to be a controversial topic, private/confidential emails to me at bobfrank@cox.net would be helpful.

Board election irregularities, and even election fraud, are common in homeowner associations. After the FBI’s reports on HOA election fraud in other area HOAs, no one should be surprised that SCA needs to protect our community from such problems.

Note that nothing has (yet) been said on the berman journal blog.  Since he used to be on the election committee, he is well aware of the weakness of the SCA system, and likely knows why they have been ignored.  No doubt he will get highly defensive about the information being posted;  but, do not expect him to favor spending any money to fix anything.

Also, if something is said on that blog, watch how it launches yet another of his dozens of bogus, personal attacks and works to try to change the subject.

He is likely to claim I have “smeared the reputations” of many directors and election committee members. But, that would be false.

All I have done is point out the obvious ways for fraud to occur in the SCA election system, and openly asked the questions on why such flagrant errors are allowed to exist–year-after-year?

In the past few years, I have privately asked these kinds of questions of directors and election committees, and my questions have been ignored and/or summarily dismissed.

Most candidates are afraid to challenge the election committee on such issues for fear of being sanctioned in some way.  But, the election committee has no authority to sanction any member for anything.

Why would my trying to ensure we have a totally honest, fair and open election be considered unacceptable behavior by those in power?

But, maybe I will be wrong.  Perhaps the Berman Blog will fully support my recommendations?   ;-)

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, SCA Board, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 23, 2011 by bobfrank.

(Revised Version)

We all hope so, but at our ages and experience, we know there can be a few individuals involved in election management or facilities management who can be bribed or otherwise motivated to try to tamper with election outcomes.

Only well-implemented, trustworthy election systems  and procedures can effectively block those who might want to tamper with the ballots.

For example, a list of the 27 alleged statute violations by the 2010 Board and Election Committee and currently under investigation by the State of Nevada (Case IS-10-2182) is found in this PDF file:  List of Alleged 2010 SCA Election Violations

To answer the question for SCA in 2011, we need to list some basic features and characteristics of a “trusted” secret ballot process, and compare SCA’s current components to the desired criteria.

1. BALLOT:  The ballot should contain the candidate names printed lightly on card stock so the printing and marked votes are not detectable when reversed and held up to strong light in a dark room.

The ballot should include unique, sequential serial numbers created for that particular election to deter the preparation and casting of counterfeit ballots.

2. INNER ENVELOPE:  The inner envelope should be of the windowless type often used for mailing checks or other confidential material.

The inner envelope would contain internal tinting so the printing and writing on the ballots could not be detected without opening the envelope. The flaps should clearly indicate if there had been attempts to improperly open or tamper with the seals.

It should be impossible to detect anything printed or marked on the enclosed ballot.

3. OUTER ENVELOPE:  The outer envelope should have inner tinting and tamper-resistant flap seals. It should be impossible to detect anything printed or marked on the enclosed inner envelope.

4. BALLOT “LOCK” BOX:  The containers used to store the voted ballots in the Community Centers during the voting period should be “tamper-proof”.

The ballot “lock” box construction should use tamper-proof screws, tamper-proof door locks, and tamper-evident seals around the access door.

The ballots should not be able to be viewed,  removed or accessed at any time of the day or night until counting time.

5. BALLOT HANDLING PROCEDURES:  Ballots are either inserted directly by members into a Ballot Lock Box or sent via US Mail addressed to a reserved USPS mail box. Only the authorized voting member should be able to touch a ballot between the time it is completed and inserted into a Ballot Box.

6. BALLOT HANDLING PROCEDURES RECEIVED VIA US MAIL:  A special USPS Mailbox should be rented for the sole purpose of receiving ballots during the voting period.

Only a limited number of background-cleared individuals should have key access to the USPS box during the voting period.

Ballots should not be removed from the USPS box before they can be taken directly to, and immediately inserted into one of the Ballot Lock Boxes in a Community Center.

7. BALLOT COUNTING PROCESS:  The process of opening the ballot lock boxes and counting the votes should be in plain sight.

All members should be able to pass by and observe the activities from a distance–not to exceed 10 feet.

Once the outer envelopes had been validated as representing members entitled to vote and the ballot had been removed, the outer envelopes should be sorted in street address sequence and made available for inspection by members.

The outer envelopes should be permanently stored in case there was a question about the member validation process.

Board members and candidates should have priority access to reviewing the outer envelopes.

So, how does the SCA 2011 Ballot Handling Process measure up to the “trusted” criteria described above?

——————

IT FAILS!   None of the SCA Election system components uses any of the trusted criteria.

For example:

1. SCA BALLOT PACKAGE IS VULNERABLE TO TAMPERING.   The SCA ballot and envelopes use the cheapest materials available.

It appears possible to hold up completed/sealed ballots in front of a strong light in a dark room and detect the votes in most, if not all of the ballots.

It appears possible for someone having access to the ballots to destroy some of the ballots cast for certain candidates or groups of individuals. 

The preferred candidates would be certain to win, and the opposed candidates would lose by “reasonable” margins.

The current SCA ballots and election procedures could not detect such tampering and fraud.

2. SCA BALLOT BOX IS VULNERABLE TO TAMPERING.  The SCA ballot boxes are not tamper-resistant.  The construction is of wood with normal screws.

The access door is locked by the cheap type of lock often seen in file cabinets and office desks.

Such locks can be easily picked by a non-expert using techniques readily found on the Internet.

No tamper-resistant/tamper-evident seals are used on the doors, other potential access points, and voting slots to detect unauthorized accesses during late nights and weekends.

No information is provided by the Board on who has restricted access to the ballot box keys or about what kind of 24/7 security/access-prevention is being provided for the ballot boxes.

There are no procedures for detecting and reporting on attempted accesses to the ballots.

After normal hours to avoid being detected, it would be easy for someone to move/wheel the ballot boxes to a more shielded area from the outside and/or remove and inspect ballots via the open slot on top.

3. SCA BALLOT HANDLING PROCESS IS VULNERABLE TO TAMPERING.  Ballots cast via the US Mail appear to be mixed in with regular mail and processed without special handling.

It appears it would not be difficult for employees or volunteer members to gain unsupervised access to the ballots received by mail and to the “extra ballots” made available for members who might need them.

In addition, copies of extra or reproduced ballots can be voted by unauthorized individuals–with little chance of being detected.

An individual may also be able to (a) remove and destroy ballots from the ballot boxes, (b) to cast counterfeit ballots for likely non-voting units (such as rentals or units for sale or for rent), and/or to (c) tamper in other ways with the contents prior to placing seemingly valid ballots into a ballot lock box.

None of that kind of illegal activity is likely to be detected by the current SCA election procedures.

With so few effective security elements and procedures, how COULD the SCA election process be considered “trustworthy”?

The current SCA system is so loose it can not provide any hard evidence of ballot tampering, destruction, or counterfeit submissions, and the “certified” results can not be audited by a 3rd party individual.

So, we must argue it is important to recognize the serious weaknesses in the system and for members to demand they be corrected in the future.

We believe the SCA Board of Directors and Election Committee should care deeply about being vulnerable to suspicions and mistrust by candidates and community members.

Even if no one is discovered taking improper or unfair advantage of the election system, it must always be implemented so that it at least appears to be open, fair, secure and above reproach.  Such capabilities are the foundations of our American Constitution and culture.

SCA Boards and EC members have done little in the past to try to protect the association from allegations of unfair elections.

And, the fact that the board’s preferred candidates have won every open seat for over 3 years is sufficient cause to worry about the integrity of our election system.

We believe a board majority that truly cared about election trustworthiness could repair all of the election  system vulnerabilities in just a few short weeks, at low cost, and permanently ensure that everyone can have pride and high confidence in our election process.

Regardless of the 2011 election outcome, please help us to demand that board action be taken to provide SCA with “trustworthy” elections in the future. 

Our future in hanging on providing open, honest and fair board elections in the future.

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations | Print | No Comments »

April 22, 2011 by admin.

Is the SCA Board “robbing” the membership? 

What do you think about just the following few items?

1. Board retains almost $5 Million of “surplus member assessments” in a slush fund after claiming to the IRS such funds will be “returned” to avoid income taxes.   But, it failed to do so, and is still failing to give that money back to the members.  Instead, the board is spending hundreds of thousand of your dollars to buy time and to try to defend its indefensible acts.   Meanwhile, the members get nothing returned.   How is that different from being “robbed”?

2. The Board has been raising annual assessments at the same time it has been accumulating gross quantities of surplus assessments while it was refusing to refund the previous surpluses.   Meanwhile, the annual budgets have not reflected that the millions of surplus slush funds are on hand, but they are not being credited to the next year’s assessments.  The 2009 tax return even admits that millions of surpluses are being “carried off line”.   How is that different from being “robbed”?

3. The directors have been accused of dozens of major law violations and instead of attempting to resolve such disputes internally, they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on attorneys to confuse and distract the authorities from the core issues.   Meanwhile the boards get away with doing what ever they wish and with wasting hundreds of thousands of our dollars on useless lawyer fees.  How is that different from being “robbed”?

There are major statute violations buried in the misconduct described above.  The SCA boards have exploited our money to pay their attorneys to get away with abusing the trust and access we have given them to manage our resources. 

Could your annual dues be cut by at least $200 each year!  Absolutely!  By the directors refusing to do that, could you consider that as being “robbed”?

The massive, $5 Million surplus accumulation of slush funds on top of the so-called major “dues holidays” prove that annual dues are grossly over-collected.  Could you call that as being similar to being “robbed”?

Of course, there is no hope as long as the community keeps voting in people who favor the developer’s, and the developer-appointed professional’s interests over our unit owner interests. 

We know the enemy–it is US.   It is our voters who are too “busy” to vote, those who vote for the board-favored candidates each year, and those who will not favor a removal election for directors who have proven they can not be trusted.  

Will change come this election cycle?   It seems too close to call.  But, it is not too late to vote and make a difference.

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Laws & Rules, News! | Print | No Comments »

April 10, 2011 by THE VOICE.

 Last week, the board’s blog (normally called “David’s Anthem Journal”)  announced that the golf course owners were in DEFAULT on their loans. 

     — But, we heard NOTHING from the unity directors.

Then, the board’s blog (and 8th board member) reported that things were much worse than originally reported–but not to worry.

     — But, still NO WORD from the unity directors.

Few things could cut our property values and destroy our hoped-for lifestyles more than if the golf courses fail!  Every SCA homeowner (and even all homes in the Anthem community) could be directly affected by the health and future of the SCA-adjoining golf courses. 

All of our properties (not just those adjoining the courses) are significantly valued based on the open space and beauty of our resort-styled community designed around the two golf courses in the valleys.

Unity directors (particularly Ann Small and Jack Troia) have previously said that since the golf courses are not part of our common property, they have no board responsibilities, and have no direct interest or responsibilities for what happens to the golf courses that go through SCA. 

Many members remember that 2 years ago, Dr. Ron Morse, PhD, alerted us to the impending financial problems with the golf courses when he was a board candidate.  But, the “Great Oracle of All Things” (David Berman) and others in his unity group attacked Ron for daring to tell the truth, and most people ignored the obvious.

Worse than that, when a couple of board members tried to find ways to work with the course owners in 2008-2009 to help promote use of the golf courses, former director and Dell Webb/Pulte associate, Favil West, interfered with the action, and successfully blocked the initiatives.  

So, why must our board and members insist on being involved in the future of the courses running amongst us?  Some real estate professionals have said that if/when the golf courses go bankrupt, the most likely benefactor could be a developer.  The developer would most likely pick up the property for peanuts and fill up the land with a few hundred low-cost/highly profitable homes.   What could be worse for SCA?

The Board attitude is what we call GROSS NEGLIGENCE.  It is legal EVIDENCE of DIRECTOR FAILURE to honor their fiduciary duties on behalf of our community association.  

Failure of the golf courses would make previous board failures look small in comparison.  The current Board’s actions to ignore this obvious disastrous problem for our community and lifestyle is reason alone to reject all carry-over directors and all candidates who show disdain and disregard for this major problem.  

While solutions to this complex problem are not easy to formulate, FAILURE TO DO ANYTHING must be considered GROSS NEGLIGENCE by the unity crowd!

Posted in Ann_Small, 2011 Campaign, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Operations, Community Affairs, News! | Print | No Comments »

April 7, 2011 by admin.

Raid at Homeowners Association:

“LAS VEGAS — 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.

Several units were destroyed by two fires in 2009 and 2010 and the insurance
company paid $842,000 but nothing has been repaired.

Eighty-five-year-old Iris Hokanson wants to know what happened to that
money. “I heard it went to California, but it was not used on our building.
They have not rebuilt it, they have not done anything. Then they came and
stole all the guts out of the building,” she said.”

More details are found at this link for Channel 8:

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/14404196/breaking-news-raid-at-homeowners-association

Since so many HOA Boards have been accused of fraud andother kinds of
misconduct, it makes you wonder who is next?

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, SCA Board, News! | Print | No Comments »

April 3, 2011 by admin.

It seems like everywhere one goes these days, members are asking about the “charges”, “indictment” or “allegations” of law violations formally filed by the Attorney General against the 2007 and 2008 Sun City Anthem (SCA) Directors.

What you hear from board members and their friends is that:
…it is just a big mistake by the Attorney General.   No illegal changes were made to the SCA CC&Rs in 2008.  It was just an “update”….

After 3 years of investigations by Real Estate Division professionals, and after extensive verifications by the Nevada Deputy Attorney General, the FORMAL CHARGES are considered by the SCA directors and their association attorney to be just a “mistake”?  Really?

This is coming just a few weeks after the income tax fiasco where the board claimed that IRS made “mistakes” and SCA might be able to convince IRS to back off its demand for $1.345 Million in back taxes and penalties for 2007.  Really?

If you were a betting person, would you make a bet that the SCA Directors, and its notorious attorneys are likely to be correct?  Could both the IRS and Nevada Attorney General be wrong?   We don’t think the chances are much above zero.

The question is, what’s next?   It took about 3 years for the allegations to be investigated, validated, and charged by the State of Nevada against the 2007 and 2008 Boards. 

So, what else is in that huge backlog of dozens of other law violations filed against the boards that could be coming out this Spring and Summer? 

We wouldn’t want to be in former board Presidents Mike Dixon’s, Roz Berman’s or Jack Troia’s shoes!

– Relevant comments from Anthem Today Forum:   ccrs_anthem-today.pdf

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Truth Squad, SCA Board, Community Affairs, News! | Print | No Comments »

March 31, 2011 by admin.

Tenured psychology professor at the College of Southern Nevada, Dr. Gary Solomon, believes recent medical research proves that dictatorial HOA Board abuse against homeowners can create serious mental and stress illnesses–particularly among seniors.

And, the following snapshots of his signs, web sites, and local TV coverage shows he and a group of others with similar interests have set upon a path to do something about it.

Click here for a short article:  HOA Syndrome

See the following websites for more information:

http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/27376288/detail.html

http://www.ktnv.com/story/13966867/hoa-hall-of-shame-sun-city-anthem#

http://www.hoa-busters.com/

No doubt many will consider this to be really bad news concerning the potential adverse affects on HOA homeowner property values where homeowners are making public complaints.

Developers, real estate brokers and some homeowners believe that all such bad news stories must be suppressed to protect community home values, but such self-centered, cover up attempts fail to solve any problems.  They just put off the inevitable and create much worse problems.

The obvious solution is to remove abusive and incompetent board members and work to ensure that only trustworthy directors are elected in the future.

Resolving conflicts to mutual satisfaction WITHIN the community is the only way to achieve exceptional lifestyle opportunities, maintain outstanding community morale, and grow property values ahead of market averages.

Our Sun City Anthem homeowners need to wake up and recognize we have a very serious problem with board misconduct.  Trying to keep a lid on the SCA board’s misconduct has proven to be unworkable.  

A perfect example of what NOT to do is the current income tax fiasco.  Consider the long-term impacts of a case like our Board’s attempting to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of hard-earned dues money to try to bully the IRS into giving us a tax credit for their obvious mistakes.  What an outrageous act of disrespect and dishonor to our homeowners!

At the rate the “unity boards” are going, Sun City Anthem in Henderson, NV will be long remembered for allowing its boards to do such really dumb things as to pay millions of dollars in taxes out of the many millions required to be refunded to members. 

Excuse me?  Give away taxes to the Government on money required to be REFUNDED each year to unit owners?   Even the best of con men can not make any sense out of that garbage!

We have to wonder, will our community become so notorious that it is studied in future management schools and forever ridiculed for electing such dictatorial, insensitive people to the board, year-after-year-after-year?

The question will be:  “Why did we tolerate such mismanagement?”  Were we intimidated and bullied into submission as the HOA Syndrome seems to  suggest? 

It is common for abused people to continue to tolerate abuse until it gets so bad that some type of major blowup occurs.  Let’s hope we can do better in this year’s election and avoid a blowup.  Having to consider calling for a recall election to get the board focused on working for us homeowners is much more work than getting trustworthy people elected in the first place.

Posted in 2011 Campaign, Bob Frank-2011, Ann_Small, Truth Squad, Community Affairs, SCA Board, Operations | Print | No Comments »