After 4 years of spinning and being proven wrong by the IRS concerning failing to return end-of-year surplus assessments to SCA owners, one would think certain past and current board members would be trying to do the “right thing” and avoid personal litigation risks.  

But, such does not seem to be the case.  Past and present directors seem determined to ignore the case that SCA homeowners have the right to demand payment of the lost/un-returned surpluses since 2002.  Members simply do not have to accept the board’s negligent losses and succumb to unjustified special assessments. 

Members have remedies for dealing with certain director’s and finance committee member’s apparent knowing violations of various laws, statutes and federal regulations.  For example, this week a Sun City Anthem Director incorrectly reported the following concerning the next steps on the SCA 2007 income tax bill for $1.3 Million back taxes and penalties as follows:

“We have 90 days after we receive a note of deficiency — if we receive one.   Since we will not be initiating litigation but rather entering into an administrative appeal, we would not need a vote of the owners. I may have the description wrong but the spirit is correct in our understanding. 

I’m sure if it comes to that point this Board will be sure we have sound advice and impeccable legal standing for whatever action we vote to take.” 

But, the truth (as stated by a national expert on IRS procedures) is as follows:

“All of the process from the examination by an agent to the conclusion of the trial in the US Tax Court is done before tax is assessed.  It must be assessed before collection efforts happen.  I’ll try to break this down into steps:

1.  When the examination of a tax return concludes the agent issues a Revenue Agent’s Report (RAR).  The taxpayer can agree and pay the tax.

2.  The cover letter to the agent’s report says, “If you are not in agreement you have thirty days to file a protest”  you file that protest and it, along with the RAR, go to the Appeals Division.

3.  You make your presentation to Appeals and at the conclusion the Appeals Officer informs you of his/her decision at which time if it supports the agent you have the option of paying the tax!

4.  If you do not indicate your agreement with the Appeals Officer a report is issued with a cover letter.

5.  The cover letter says you have 90 days to agree and pay the tax or….. file a petition with the US Tax Court.  If you don’t voluntarily pay and don’t file a petition within the 90 day period you will be considered to have waived your right to take the matter to the Tax Court, the tax is assessed and collection procedures ensue.

It is interesting that the first thing that is checked on a petition is “was this timely filed”.  People tend to put this off… if filed on the 91st day it is too late and the tax is legally assessed and collected.

These are the steps in the process.  The time limits are only on the taxpayer not the government.

As you have seen when this examination was concluded the board was required to enter their disagreement (request for an Appeals hearing) within 30 days.  It was about six months before the government got around to scheduling the Appeals hearing.  

Now the confusion.  The Appeals Officer has informed the board that their appeal was denied, the Revenue Agent’s position is being sustained.  Apparently the AO stated it would be about three months before the “90 day letter” would be issued.  It could take five or six months…. there is no clock ticking on the government.  I know this seems like a long time but the step is a statutory… but clerical step.  It’s just waiting to be typed up.

When the 90 day letter (statutory notice of deficiency) is issued, the taxpayer will have ninety days from the date of that letter to either file their petition with the Tax Court or they will be considered to have waived their right and the tax will be assessed.  If not received timely it is not given notice by the Tax Court and waiver is presumed.

The same process has been in place since around 1929.  If you think it’s a little out of date….. it is! “

So, why would board members still be trying to pretend there is still hope to beat the IRS in tax court and claim they do not have to get membership approval via a ballot before being legally allowed to sue the IRS?

In case you missed it, check out Ron Johnson’s comments in this regard.
http://www.scaview.org/MoreLegal.html

Why are at least some of the new directors not rushing to pay what is owed and trying to minimize further taxes and penalties by making all of the required amendments to previous tax returns?  Could they have been threatened to keep their mouths shut or risk legal action from the old board members?

Can all of the past and present directors truly believe they all can avoid possible federal tax fraud charges in the future?  Historically, trying to bluff the IRS when you have a bad hand is not smart.

Are some directors just so hung up with their egos they are incapable of knowing the truth, or do they truly not care how much of our hard-earned money they waste?   Perhaps it is both?

We will continue to receive such grossly disrespectful treatment as long as we tolerate it.   And, as competent real estate professionals can advise, failure to disclose to potential buyers the details about the many unresolved SCA financial problems can create significant liabilities to sellers.  It can also impact the declining property values resulting from sustained SCA board misconduct.

It also means that tens of thousands of dollars for interest and penalties accumulating since the audit as well as the estimated $100,000+ paid to the “expert legal team” to process the appeal have all been wasted.

Here are the words from SCA Board President/Attorney Long’s announcement:

“IRS appeal denied. We received notice late last week that the IRS Appeals Officer assigned to our Association’s administrative appeal of the 2007 tax audit has denied our appeal and upheld the findings of the IRS examiner. We expect the IRS to issue a statutory notice of deficiency within the next several weeks. After this occurs, we will have 90 days to file a petition for judicial review of the IRS decision. We have asked the Ad Hoc IRS Audit Task Force appointed at the May board meeting to recommend a course of action for consideration at the February board meeting.“

For our reader’s convenience, we would like to recommend for review a series of comments on that matter posted recently on Rana Goodman’s forum at this link:

http://www.anthemtoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3552

An Anthem VOICE founder, Kay Frank (and former IRS Auditor) added the following comments to the above link:

“I can find no evidence that the IRS has ever been reversed on this statute after forty years.  Jack Troia called that “old” law, but competent attorneys call it “settled law”.

The IRS has pulled the records for the ensuing years.  Although they have not addressed them yet, they will–especially since we lost the appeal.  The best chance is to pay up and try to cut a deal on the ensuing years.

An expression of good faith is to show a reduction in 2012 dues by immediately crediting accumulated surpluses instead of forcing a net increase in assessments for 2012.   The boards have never accounted for the millions of unreturned surpluses and we must demand a clear accounting for the whole amount by the new auditor.

Homeowners are not forced to make up for the financial failures of the boards.  The board and/or a SCA homeowner coalition should seek recovery of all reported to the IRS accumulated surpluses from the insurance of our accounting firm, law firm, RMI and SCA liability insurance.   We do not have to accept punishments for the board’s willful failures.

Norm (McCullough) quoted Carl (Weinstein) as citing (Auditor/Tax Preparer) Gary Lein’s reservations about the return–however, they both are individuals who signed  and/ voted approval of the return.  In my opinion they have even more responsibility since they have self-admitted their lack of assurance that they were correct, but signed anyway.

When the current president of the association made a nasty personal remark about the IRS auditor at a board meeting, he was just asking for the IRS to show no leniency.  The least a SMART lawyer could do is keep nasty opinions private.

…just a few of my thoughts.

Kay ”

But, by hiding behind the “so-called” Business Judgement Rule (BJR), HOA directors are told they can get away with almost anything (short of flagrant embezzlement) and not be held personally accountable.

So say association attorneys John Leach & Ed Song, auditor/tax preparer Gary Lein, community management company contractor RMI (headed by CEO Kevin Wallace), Nevada Real Estate Division Administrator Gail Anderson, and the NV Commission for Common Interest Communities and Condominiums (7 members appointed by the Governor from the HOA trade association (CAI) including 3 with obvious Sun City Anthem board conflicts of interest–auditor Gary Lein, Del Webb/Pulte executive Randolph Watkins and 6-year SCA Board Treasurer/President Favil West).

However, while directors are expected to consult “professionals” when making their board decisions,
the NV Attorney General has notified directors that corporate laws prohibit them from blaming the professionals for providing poor and/or illegal advice.

The obvious conclusion is that individual Sun City Anthem Directors are personally responsible for their past mistakes and toleration of financial misconduct, law violations, income tax fraud, community property losses, contractor failures and over-charges, and cruel abuses of community members without justification and without following due process rules. 

It is truly illegal and immoral for current directors to refuse to deal with past gross financial errors which can be corrected  on behalf of our members.

Special accountability for fraud and abuse rests on the backs of SCA Presidents since 2005.   The SCA contract with RMI grants exclusive/sole authority to the SCA board president to direct all RMI employee and related contractor actions. 

In other words, board presidents are the first persons to be held personally accountable for board wrong-doing and gross negligence.  Second in the accountability chain under corporate law would be the Board Treasurers and Secretaries   Actions to enforce accountability should start with those officers.

But, what can be done?  Have any of them committed real crimes as described in Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 205?   Read the laws for yourself from this online record and see what you think.
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-205.html

It is clear that if the evidence showed a director used a lethal weapon (such as a gun or knife) to threaten one or more SCA members to give up hundreds of their dollars, such a director could be charged and convicted under felony crimes for armed robbery and theft.

But, if the same director exploited HOA rules and hid behind the BJR to force members to pay exorbitant annual dues so the money could be wasted on untrustworthy sub-contractors where board members might receive hidden benefits or kickbacks for themselves, could they not also be held accountable by law enforcement agencies for what seems to be similar felony crimes?

We have hundreds of highly experienced members of this SCA community including some currently elected to positions as Clark County and Henderson Judges. 

No doubt such expertise could be used to find ways to enforce accountability–if such professionals would do their duty and stop looking the other way while crime flourishes all around us.  

If you know of such professionals in the financial, legal, and law enforcement businesess, please approach them and ask them to get involved–for their own sake as well as the whole community’s lifestyle and financial future. 

And, in the process, remind them that ignoring such crimes only encourages more of the same….

Look at the following chart for some basic evidence (extracted from page 53 in the report) of the serious privacy violations possible with such devices.   

Imagine if a smart meter was reporting to Nevada Energy every few minutes or less on what power you are consuming.  Imagine if it was easy to detect what spikes are generated by what kinds of appliances.  Would it not be easy for criminals to discover when a person normally takes a bath or showers or sleeps or works or is away for hours, days or weeks at a time?  

And, why would you want to allow the power company to detect, collect, report, store and analyze such personal and private information about you, your family and visitors?  Is there anyone who could truly believe the power company could be trusted to have and keep such private information collected every few minutes of your future life?  It seems crazy to me for them to even try to bully us into accepting such an outrageous concept!

The report is two years old, exceptionally detailed, and appears to provide devastating evidence in sworn testimony by national experts against the safety, security, health and privacy claims by Nevada Energy for its Smart Meter Program.

Unless the owner, resident or visitor grants specific authority for such wire-tapping/unauthorized surveillance actions by the power company, there are major law violations being planned by the smart meter program.  Is this not conclusive evidence of fraud and other crimes by the PUCN and NV Energy?

Clearly, this Attorney General/BCP report proves that customers must be allowed the right to Opt-In.  And, if choosing to refuse the smart meters, they must not be required to pay a penny (directly or indirectly) for anyone else’s decision to use the smart meter programs.

This is not the only damning report against the smart meter program by the Bureau of Consumer Protection.  After you have read this and the other reports, you may want to participate in the efforts to demand that the Attorney General and the Governor direct the District Attorney to investigate why the PUCN’s smart meter program is being allowed to be implemented.  It is outrageous.

Meanwhile, we all need to be meeting with the BCP and getting more facts before the PUCN January 18th hearing about the apparently bogus/illegal “opt-out” proposal by Nevada Energy.

In conclusion, the enclosed BCP report and related evidence is clear.  There are no legal or economic justifications for implementing a smart meter program in Nevada.   No matter how much money has been wasted to date, we simply can not allow hundreds of millions more being wasted while our privacy and constitutional rights against unreasonable surveillance are willfully violated by the State. 

This smart meter program must stop.  All citizens have obligations to themselves and their families to tell the Govenor to terminate it immediately.

Our initial concerns have been validated.  Some HOA statutes and regulations clearly deny constitutional rights to property owners/share holder members of homeowner associations.  The evidence suggests that such violations and statute defects have been crafted by the state and local government agencies and trade association to enable both the government agencies and the HOA business interests to obscenely benefit from their controls of HOA boards. 

As a result, there are no “fair dispute resolution” processes available from the NV Judicial Branch.  The HOA situation is a case of a decade of truly shameful actions by the Executive and Legislative Branches, and shameful neglect by the Judicial Branch.

Anthem VOICE has documented many examples of such misconduct over the years, and more cases will be reported on in the near future. 

Meanwhile, the following article by George Staropoli in AZ is one of many available at his site showing how tens of millions of trusting and apathetic HOA members have been allowing themselves to be “farmed/milked” of their hard-earned savings, retirement funds and American freedoms.

Evan McKenzie is another nationally-recognized author reporting on the shocking losses of constitutional rights and democratic practices due to unfair/dictatorial HOA laws and regulations.  (http://www.evanmckenzie.com/)   His list of current major HOA problems and necessary actions are quoted here:   Dr Evan McKenzie Quote

———-QUOTE———

Link to this Article & Website:  http://pvtgov.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/2783/

“HOA-Land — the failure to democratize

QUOTE

Note: The following is an excerpt from my paper, “Are the American people rejecting democracy at the local level?”

HOA-Land — the failure to democratize

Will the acceptance of authoritarian private local governments in the US result in a weakening of democracy in America, and destroy “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”?  

“Democratization” describes the processes underlying “the emergence, the deepening, and survival of democracy” in a society.  Democratization is also concerned with the forces that affect the sustainability of a democracy.  And that’s the issue before us:  Has the First American Experiment with representative democracy succumbed to the “emergence and acceptance of a quiet innovation in housing,” the Second American Experiment? This New America of HOA-Land?[i] 

In his “Theories of Democratization”,[ii] Christian Welzel presents a case well applicable to HOA societies.  Welzel believes that, “Democratization is sustainable to the extent to which it advances in response to pressures from within a society.”  It appears that HOA-Land dwellers feel no need to pressure for change, just like Mayer discovered with his interviews after WW II.

People power is institutionalized through civic freedoms that entitle people to govern their lives, allowing them to follow their personal preferences in governing their private lives and to make their political preferences count in governing public life.

Since democracy is about people power, it originates in conditions that place resources of power in the hands of wider parts of the populace, such that authorities cannot access these resources without making concessions to their beholders. But when rulers gain access to a source of revenue they can bring under their control without anyone’s consent, they have the means to finance tools of coercion.

 The above amply defines the dynamics of political machines and power cliques that operate, more or less, within all HOAs from benevolent dictatorships to rogue boards. And with respect to voting as the sole indicator of a democracy, it is well known that HOAs are woefully deficient in fair and just elections, with no “fair elections” laws in effect. Welzel goes on to say,

Many new democracies have successfully installed competitive electoral regimes but their elites are corrupt and lack a commitment to the rule of law that is needed to enforce the civic freedoms that define democracy. These deficiencies render democracy ineffective. The installation of electoral democracy can be triggered by external forces and incentives. But whether electoral democracy becomes effective in respecting and protecting people’s civic freedoms depends on domestic factors. Democracies have become effective only where the masses put the elites under pressure to respect their freedoms.

 Once again we are told that there’s a need for pressure from within, from those living in HOAs, to uphold their Constitutional protections.  Even if state governments decide to enforce constitutional protections and the equal application of state laws, it remains with the HOA-Land residents to defend our system of government.  Welzel reaffirms this essential requirement, “It is only when people come to find appeal in the freedoms that define democracy that they begin to consider dictatorial powers as illegitimate.”

 Welzel offers a path to victory to stop this erosion of democracy within America that is highly applicable to the social movement for HOA reforms.

 As social movement research has shown, powerful mass movements do not simply emerge from growing resources among the population. Social movements must be inspired by a common cause that motivates their supporters to take costly and risky actions. This requires ideological ‘frames’ that create meaning and grant legitimacy to a common cause so that people follow it with inner conviction.

This is why values are important. To advance democracy, people have not only to be capable to struggle for its advancement; they also have to be willing to do so. And for this to happen, they must value the freedoms that define democracy. This is not always a given, and is subject to changes in the process of value transformation.

 And what about our elected officials?

However, although Welzel writes that “elites [those in power, the cliques] concede democracy even in the absence of mass pressures”, it is only “when these elites depend on the will of external powers and when these powers are pushing for democracy.”   But, with respect to HOA regimes, Americans cannot accept this state of affairs by state legislatures, especially not with respect to these fundamental issues of democratic governance — the very soul of this country.  The absence of legislative support, sua sponte (on their own), for HOA reforms throughout the country is inexcusable! 

UNQUOTE

Here is the leading graphic for this web article.   See quote below concerning why this writer accuses the power companies and PUC of “extortion”.   Since this article has been up since October 2011, the very serious allegations made must ring true or he would have had to remove it.  Here is a link to the entire (copyrighted) article from which some excerpts and the graphic are quoted below.
http://ppjg.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/cpuc-and-pge-misinformation-misrepresentation-and-attempted-extortion/

So, if you have been ignoring what is happening in the world concerning smart meters, then you might want to think again. Massive backlashes against smart meters is a global phenomenon.   Nevada is just late to the “party” and most of our citizens are just too trusting of those in power.  Searches about “smart meters” reveal thousands of very useful articles.  Here is one that summarized the whole situation.
http://morphcity.com/home/104-smart-meter-slavery

For example, see this Canada Free Press article reporting on Nevada public testimony in opposition to smart meters.  See the included quote from Anthem VOICE’s Bob Frank that was ignored by the Nevada media.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/43248

Here is a report on members of the Maine Legislature who are championing the removal of the “mandatory” claims by Maine’s power companies.  The word “extortion” also is mentioned in Maine.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111113/NEWS/111130338/-1/NEWSMAP

And, in case you  missed it, recently there was a near-riot in CA when a group of elderly women paid to have their “mandatory” smart meters replaced with the old analog meters and PG&E cut off the power to the participants.
http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/12/13/pge-shuts-off-power-to-sickened-families-2-weeks-before-christmas/

And, finally for today, here is what conservative talk radio host Dr. Mark Levin had to say about “smart meters”…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_XG25YKRGc

———————-

Mike Hazard

on KDWN, AM 720, Sunday evenings from 7:30 to 8 PM has continued to feature HOA Issues and Solutions Program as moderated by Anthem VOICE’s Bob Frank during the past few months.

The December program will be tonight, December 11, 2011 at 7:30 to 8 PM.  Ray Grant and Bob Frank will be interviewing
Nevada Assemblyman Lynn Stewart (District 22) 

and Nevada State Director of  Business and Industry Terry Johnson

Assemblyman Stewart has earned great respect from Nevada homeowners as a champion in support of legislation and services to help protect HOA unit owner property rights.

Director Johnson was appointed by Governor Sandoval to lead the Business and Industry Department.  One of his major responsibilities is to directs the activities of the Real Estate Division, led by Administrator Gail Anderson, where all NV Homeowner Association policies, procedures and justice processes are managed.

During tonight’s December 11th program, the focus will be on matters of concern to Nevada HOA unit owners and what improvements can be envisioned for the future.   Discussions will focus on the increasing numbers of HOA board abuses of authority and the many concerns raised by the FBI’s 4-year investigations into Nevada HOA fraud and abuse.

KDWN is at AM 720 and live streams over the Internet at this link:
http://www.kdwn.com/streamer/

Sound clips of the December 11 program will be mounted on this site in the near future.

————–previous info—————-

The October 9, 2011 program featured Sun City Anthem HOA unit owner Tim Stebbins and Calico Ridge HOA unit owner Dr. Gary Soloman, PhD.   

Tim Stebbins responded to questions about critical HOA management problems and reported on his experiences with Nevada Real Estate Division failures to provide fair and balanced support services to both HOA unit owners and HOA board members.

Dr.  Soloman reported on his professional research and experiences concerning health problems caused by abusive, dictatorial HOA Boards and explained his rationale for putting up billboards on the freeways around Las Vegas such as illustrated below.

See the previous Anthem VOICE article for more details.
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/31/could-living-in-an-hoa-be-hazadorus-to-your-health/

In November, Bruce Baxter from a HOA North of Las Vegas and Bob Frank were interviewed by Ray Grant on topics that elaborated on the points made during the October program.   11 sound clips in MP3 format from the November 13, 2011 program are attached at the end of this article.

—————-

Here are the sound clips in MP3 format from the November 13th program.

1-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
2-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
3-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
4-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
5-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
6-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
7-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
8-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
9-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
10-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3
11-13nov11-hoa-kdwn.mp3

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-king-of-all-vegas-real-estate-scams-12082011.html

In the meantime, it remains a mystery why so many Sun City Anthem unit owners continue to ignore the signals of our board and sub-contractor misconduct.  How many times have you heard a resident say “Oh, I can’t believe any of our board members or community managers could be involved in crimes!  They seem like SUCH nice people….”

Of course they do–seeming like a “nice person” is a key characteristic of a confidence artist.  See this link:  http://money.howstuffworks.com/con-artist.htm

“You might think you can spot a con artist because he’s someone you instinctively “don’t trust.” But the term con artist is short for confidence artist — they gain your confidence just long enough to get their hands on your money. They can be very charming and persuasive. A good con artist can even make you believe he is really an old friend you haven’t seen in years.”

Has Sun City Anthem been bilked by fellow homeowners and the commercial partners?  What do you think of the following list of apparent losses of millions of dollars by SCA boards since 2005?

1.  Developer non-payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars due to rejected reserve studies in 2006, and developer refusals to pay for reserve study shortages identified by the board’s “look back” reserve study in 2008.  Why has the association attorney failed to protect the financial interests of the association while the developer profits from not having to pay its obligations?

2.  Board failure to collect over $250,000 due from the Trumpets Lease in 2006 and 2007?  Why did certain former SCA board members assist the failed lessee escape having to pay for unpaid lease funds and repair of the heavily damaged  SCA restaurant facilities after being evicted in 2008?

3.  Why did the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 boards fail to collect the $1.3 Million owed by the developer for the 2002 Co-Gen Contract Deal?

4.  Why did the boards accept the association attorney’s advice (originally appointed by the developer) to wait until the statute of limitations had almost expired before filing a claim for about $13 Million?  How much has the developer saved in interest and cash flows since 2005 by being allowed to endlessly delay the very large payments for missing reserve funds and construction defects obligations?

5.  Why did the boards and the association attorney allow the developer to deliver an incomplete facility for Recreation Center #3?   How many hundreds of thousands of dollars have SCA members been bilked out of while the board spent member assessments to finish the building?

6.  How much was added to the developer’s profits as result of not having to pay for the unneeded “Green” features and not having to deliver a completed facility?   How much was added to the sale prices of thousands of SCA homes built after the 2002 change in the Anthem Master Plan to pay for the 3rd Recreation Center that the developer failed to spend on its construction?  Why did the boards, association attorney and community management company allow SCA members to seem to get bilked in this way?

7.  Why have the SCA boards, Finance Committees, and Tax Preparer/Auditor played high risk games with the Internal Revenue Service by failing to return millions of dollars of member surplus assessments each year as they claimed to have been doing?

While there are many more signals that something is very wrong with how our association has been managed since 2005, the biggest mystery is why so many members ignore the obvious?  Tolerating such apparent gross negligence and mismanagement has only emboldened the leaders to become more open in their apparent misconduct.

However, it must be remembered that:
(1) the IRS delivered an audit in 2010 claiming SCA Directors had violated federal income tax regulations in 2007 (and possibly since that time) and about $1.3 Million was owed in back taxes and penalties; and
(2) a former SCA Community Manager employed for over 20 years by Del Webb/Pulte/RMI was recently convicted of willfully and knowingly violating State Laws. 

Both cases indicate that State and Federal criminal charges might eventually be filed against certain individuals for what appears to be serious law violations. 

Although new SCA Directors have been consistently advised by the attorney and community management company to never look back at past board failures, it is becoming increasingly clear that waiting for the FBI to look into some of these matters is the worst possible strategy for the individual directors as well as our homeowners. 

Where the FBI has gone into HOAs, the property values have tended to sink below average.  It is our member’s fault if we sit by and allow that to happen in this “paradise”.

See:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0

Our AnthemVOICE article dated March 7, 2011 reminded Sun City Anthem members that the SCA Board’s 2009 Federal Tax Returns had reported $4.8 Million of untaxed and un-refunded surplus member dues held in a working capital (slush fund) account.  

Here is the page from Sun City Anthem’s 2009 budget planning presentation reporting the $4.8 Mil. surplus.
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/__oneclick_uploads/2010/07/surplus-build-up-2002-2009.pdf

But, when Finance Committee Chair Candance Karrow was asked during the November 2011 Annual Membership Meeting why assessments were being increased by $714,400 in 2012 when there was such a large accumulated surplus account balance, she stated that all of the surplus had been spent. 

When asked “what for” she just shrugged her shoulders, and claimed she did not have the details!  Even worse, not a single board member was willing to answer the obvious questions about the missing millions of surplus funds.

Imagine a corporate board and its finance committee responsible for the assessments, collections, accounting and spending of a 2-year total of $16 Million of member assessments plus an additional $4.8 Million for expenditures of unidentified “stuff” and they have refused to explain such outrageous over-expenditures!

Imagine that all seven board members, all community managers, and the association attorney  just sat there and said nothing to help Ms. Karrow explain where the missing $4.8 Million had gone! 

And, imagine that the former board member and disgraced attorney tried to misdirect the audience from the hard questions during member comment period by reminding people of the 4th quarter 2008 “$100 dues holiday”. 

Anyone who can use simple math can readily see that such a $100 reduction in the 2008-mandated $160 increase in annual assessments had absolutely nothing to do with the reported $4.8 Million surpluses carried over and declared during the 2009 budget year.  In fact, one has to wonder how in spite of the $714,400 “dues holiday”cut in 2008 assessments it was possible to report an increased total of $4.8 Million accumulated assessments a year later in August 2009!

Come to think of it, one has to wonder what kind of serious conflicts of interest that man might have for so often seeming to work to cover up the mismanagement of past and present board members?  Year after year, on advice of counsel and RMI, the boards have refused to clean up the past financial disasters while the former VP creates smoke screens and misdirections to keep members confused about the essential facts.  As many say, follow the money through independent forensic audits, and we will find the truth.

So, where’s the “beef” (missing surplus funds)?   Since embezzlement has been found so often in national HOAs and during the current Nevada FBI investigations of HOAs, prudent/ethical people will not allow such major questions involving apparently missing millions of dollars to go unanswered.  Honorable directors cannot continue to tolerate such obvious signals of past and current financial mismanagement.

Even if the boards can eventually prove they legally and properly spent all those millions in such a short time in such secret ways, how will they explain away the apparent waste and abuse of funds that were required by federal and state laws to be refunded to our members?  It is absolutely required that the boards return those millions of surpluses or ask the members to vote via formal ballots to authorize the boards to pay the income taxes and spend the resulting funds on clearly identified capital improvement projects.

Considering the FBI’s ongoing investigations, this matter would seem to be an extremely high priority for the board to resolve.  Each serving director in recent years could face criminal allegations if nothing is done.  It will be truly painful for all directors and SCA members if we wait to act until the FBI announces an interest in SCA’s financial and board election affairs.  Out of self-interest, our members must stop ignoring the obvious signals of serious problems.

———————-

FYI:   For those who have not been following the “over-charged dues/slush-funds–working capital funds/False Income Tax Reports” fiasco since it was first identified in 2007, the following links contain some details.   

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/

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/02/11/irs-audit-finds-sca-owes-1345-million-in-back-taxes-for-07/

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2010/09/18/dues-holiday-is-bogus-tell-the-board-you-know-the-truth/

The accused person is long-time Del Webb, Pulte and RMI employee, Terri Da Silva.

The Nevada Commission for Common Interest Communities and Condominium Hotels (CICCH) will hear the formal prosecution by the Deputy Attorney General during a session scheduled at 9 AM for December  6-8, 2011. 

The PDF case report is attached at this link:   Da Silva Prosecution by Attorney General

This hearing/trial for alleged law violations in 2008 follows by only a few weeks the previously scheduled prosecution against certain 2008 SCA Directors (led by 2007 and 2008 Board Presidents Mike Dixon and Roz Berman) where the individuals were excused from trial due to a surprise technical error in the State’s paperwork. 

But, because the facts of the previous case were never heard by the Commission, AnthemVOICE hears that the State is considering resubmitting revised charges in 2012. 

That case was reported on in the previous AnthemVOICE and LV Review Journal articles at these links:

http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/06/18/attorney-general-office-removed-bob-frank-from-sca-board-indictment/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/09/01/did-defrocked-attorney-berman-mean-to-disclose-the-truth/

http://www.lvrj.com/business/2008-case-tossed-in-sun-city-anthem-hoa-dispute-128659613.html

Coming so soon after the IRS issued its 2011 audit findings against the 2007-2008 SCA Boards claiming SCA owed $1.3 Million in back taxes and penalties, 2012 looks like it could be a hard year for some former SCA board members, auditor, attorneys and collaborating community managers.  Link to one of the reports on IRS Audit:
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/02/irs-report-released-boardauditor-has-no-more-excuses/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/03/12/what-are-the-odds-of-success/

Finally, since there have been dozens of extremely well-documented State Law violation complaints filed by SCA members against SCA Boards and RMI Community Managers since 2008, perhaps there could be some distant hope for homeowner justice, after all?  

At this point, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg of potential State prosecutions against the SCA Boards and contractors.  Meanwhile, the FBI criminal cases of HOA fraud, abuse and racketeering are reaching an ever-wider group of involved board members, community management company employees, and public officials.  

Besides this AnthemVOICE (blog and archival sites) operated by a group of residents, there are 3 other forums/blogs operated at no cost to residents by Ron Johnson (the original SCA community web site), Rana Goodman, and David Berman.

All 4 services have been running successfully for many years without any help by the SCA Board and without commercial support.

But, in spite of having an $8,000,000.00 annual budget with dozens of contracted staff, dozens of volunteers on various committees, a highly competent SCA Computer Club with hundreds of members, and numerous full time RMI staff assigned to this function, none of the SCA Boards of Directors since 2005 have launched a community web site with all of the needed services required by our 7,144 households.

Why not?   Some people describe this abysmal record as “tragic incompetence”.  Others call it “GROSS negligence”.  Still others call it “fraud and abuse of authority”.   Finally, some members consider the board’s annual demand for dues increases without delivering the web services promised to be a case of “theft”.

What ever you call it, after 6 years of total failure, members have to be considered stupid and lazy for putting up with this ridiculous game!  No wonder we seniors are considered senile when they see this sort of scam being tolerated–for years!

Evan a unity-apologist for the board has to admit that no organization has ever spent more time and more money to accomplish less in terms of SCA web services than our Boards and the RMI Community Management staff.  Maybe this fiasco qualifies for the Guinness Book of Records–or at least a mention in the Channel 13 Hall of Shame?

Why have the boards failed so consistently?  Board excuses for failing, year after year, has not yet included “the dog ate their plans”, but the crappy excuses we have heard from the boards and RMI are no less juvenile and insulting.  Nothing they have said makes any sense when you look at what the rest of the world is doing with web services.  A start-up business can launch a really professional web site within a few weeks and only spend a few thousand dollars.  Clearly we have the wrong people with the wrong plans billing time against SCA!

Contrary to their lame excuses, it is clear the SCA boards, RMI and professional consultants have no interest and no intent in using web services to keep all SCA members informed on policies, procedures, activities or  lifestyle matters.   It is clear the board is practicing the “mushroom” strategy of keeping members in the dark and covered with dung.  The boards want members to be uninformed and afraid of being personally attacked to make it easy to get away with their mismanagement and deceptions.

So, our community will have to continue to depend on private, free web services to serve the community unless or until we finally get mad as hell and demand the community management company be replaced, force there be a large reduction in dues, and/or fire the board members for such failures of their fiduciary duties.

But, maybe you have had enough of the board insults with having to tolerate the lousy web services they are providing?  Ready for a petition drive and public demonstrations to force the boards to deliver?

If not now, when?  Just as in the case of the constantly failing restaurant operations,  we know that nothing will get better until the failed board members and their failed contractors are fired, and we get competent people elected and appointed to our leadership positions.  At least, that is how we see it.

See these links if you are not familar with the background on that situation.
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/09/26/should-you-refuse-smartmeter-installation/
http://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/10/20/ca-counties-cities-prohibit-installations-of-smart-meters-why-is-henderson-refusing-to-act/

And, here is are parts of our citizen member filings with the PUCN representing 2 of over 50 official objections to Nevada Energy’s/PUCN smart meter programs:

mike-hazzard-complaint-to-pucn.doc

ltr-for-docket-11-10007.pdf   
exhibit-a-overall-comments-on-docket-11-10007.pdf
exhibit-b-safety-concerns.pdf
exhibit-c-health-concerns.pdf
exhibit-d-privacy-legal-concerns.pdf
exhibit-e-smart-meter-silent-killer.pdf
exhibit-f-smart-meter-prog-conflicts-with-arra-eo.pdf
exhibit-g-privacy-issues-convert-to-opt-in-policy.pdf

But, “smart meters” and the “smart grid” are only the latest attack on our privacy and health.  The so-called “progressive” agenda to eliminate our privacy and bankrup our nation by massively increasing utility costs, government fees and taxes is just the latest outrage.

The following article fills in some facts on many other similar actions to give the govenment total control over ever aspect of our lives.In case we have not noticed it, this is a civil war to 

“Every Breath You Take, Every Move You Make –

14 New Ways That the Government Is Watching You

End of the American Dream

If you live in the United States today, you need to understand that your privacy is being constantly eroded. Our world is going crazy, government paranoia is off the charts and law enforcement authorities have become absolutely obsessed with watching us, listening to us, tracking us, recording us, compiling information on all of us and getting us all to spy on one another. If you doubt that we are rapidly getting to the point where the government will monitor every breath you take and every move you make, just read the rest of this article. The truth is that the government is watching you more closely than ever, and they are spending billions upon billions of dollars to enhance their surveillance capabilities even further. If our society stays on this current path, we will eventually have zero privacy left. At this point, it is not too hard to imagine a society where we will not be able to say anything, buy anything, sell anything, assemble with others or even leave our homes without government permission. We truly are descending into a dystopian nightmare and the American people had better wake up.

Sadly, most people living in the United States and in Europe do not realize what is happening. Most of them think that everything is just fine. The “Big Brother control grid” that is being constructed all over the western world squeezes all of us just a little bit tighter every single day, and most people don’t even feel it.

But when you step back and take a look at the big picture, it truly is horrifying.

The following are 14 new ways that the government is watching you….

#1 In many areas of the United States today, you will be arrested if you do not produce proper identification for the police. In the old days, “your papers please” was a phrase that we used to use to mock the tyranny of Nazi Germany. But now all of us are being required to be able to produce “our papers” for law enforcement authorities at any time. For example, a 21-year-old college student named Samantha Zucker was recently arrested and put in a New York City jail for 36 hours just because she could not produce any identification for police.

#2 The federal government has decided that what you and I share with one another on Facebook and on Twitter could be a threat to national security. According to a recent Associated Press article, the Department of Homeland Security will soon be “gleaning information from sites such as Twitter and Facebook for law enforcement purposes”.

Other law enforcement agencies are getting into the act as well. For example, the NYPD recently created a special “social media” unit dedicated to looking for criminals on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

#3 New high-tech street lights that are being funded by the federal government and that are being installed all over the nation can also be used as surveillance cameras, can be used by the DHS to make “security announcements” and can even be used to record personal conversations. The following is from a recent article by Paul Joseph Watson for Infowars.com….

Federally-funded high-tech street lights now being installed in American cities are not only set to aid the DHS in making “security announcements” and acting as talking surveillance cameras, they are also capable of “recording conversations,” bringing the potential privacy threat posed by ‘Intellistreets’ to a whole new level.

#4 More than a million hotel television sets all over America are now broadcasting propaganda messages from the Department of Homeland Security promoting the “See Something, Say Something” campaign. In essence, the federal government wants all of us to become “informants” and to start spying on one another constantly. The following comes from an article posted by USA Today….

Starting today, the welcome screens on 1.2 million hotel television sets in Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn and other hotels in the USA will show a short public service announcement from DHS. The 15-second spot encourages viewers to be vigilant and call law enforcement if they witness something suspicious during their travels.

#5 The FBI is now admittedly recording Internet talk radio programs all over the United States. The following comes from a recent article by Mark Weaver of WMAL.com….

If you call a radio talk show and get on the air, you might be recorded by the FBI.

The FBI has awarded a $524,927 contract to a Virginia company to record as much radio news and talk programming as it can find on the Internet.

The FBI says it is not playing big brother by policing the airwaves, but rather seeking access to what airs as potential evidence.

Potential evidence of what?

This is very creepy. Why is the FBI so interested in what is being said during Internet talk radio programs?

#6 TSA VIPR teams are now conducting random inspections at bus stations and on interstate highways all over the United States. For example, the following comes from a local news report down in Tennessee….

You’re probably used to seeing TSA’s signature blue uniforms at the airport, but now agents are hitting the interstates to fight terrorism with Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR).

“Where is a terrorist more apt to be found? Not these days on an airplane more likely on the interstate,” said Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons.

Tuesday Tennessee was first to deploy VIPR simultaneously at five weigh stations and two bus stations across the state.

#7 Thermal imaging face scanners are becoming much more sophisticated. Law enforcement authorities in the western world are getting very excited about “pre-crime” tools such as this that will enable them to “prevent crimes” before they happen. The following is from a recent BBC News article….

A sophisticated new camera system can detect lies just by watching our faces as we talk, experts say.

The computerised system uses a simple video camera, a high-resolution thermal imaging sensor and a suite of algorithms.

Researchers say the system could be a powerful aid to security services.

But face scanners are not just a tool that will be used in the future. The truth is that face scanners are being used all over the United States right now. The following comes from an article posted on Singularity Hub….

Law enforcement continues to adopt new technologies in an effort to make their jobs easier and keep us safer. The latest gizmo attaches to officers’ iPhones and turns them into biometric face scanners. The scanners have already been street tested in Massachusetts. Pretty soon cops all across the US will be using them to ID suspects.

Before long, technology like this will be all over America. In fact, the FBI has announced that it will be activating a “nationwide facial recognition service” in January.

#8 Another “pre-crime” technology currently being tested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) program. The following description of this new program comes from an article in the London Telegraph….

Using cameras and sensors the “pre-crime” system measures and tracks changes in a person’s body movements, the pitch of their voice and the rhythm of their speech.

It also monitors breathing patterns, eye movements, blink rate and alterations in body heat, which are used to assess an individual’s likelihood to commit a crime.

The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) programme is already being tested on a group of government employees who volunteered to act as guinea pigs.

Do you want government officials to pull you aside and interrogate you just because you are feeling a little bit nervous one particular day?

#9 Sadly, “pre-crime” technology is even being used on our children. The Florida State Department of Juvenile Justice has announced that it will begin using analysis software to predict crime by young delinquents and will place “potential offenders” in specific prevention and education programs.

How soon will it be before this type of things is applied to adults?

#10 Our children are being programmed to accept the fact that they will be watched and monitored constantly. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending large amounts of money to install surveillance cameras in the cafeterias of public schools all across the nation so that government control freaks can closely monitor what our children are eating.

#11 The U.S. government is also increasingly using “polls” and “surveys” as tools to gather information about all of us. In previous articles, I have noted how government authorities seems particularly interested in our children. According to Mike Adams of Natural News, the CDC is starting to call parents all over the U.S. to question them about the vaccination status of their children….

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which has been comprehensively exposed as a vaccine propaganda organization promoting the interests of drug companies, is now engaged in a household surveillance program that involves calling U.S. households and intimidating parents into producing child immunization records. As part of what it deems a National Immunization Survey(NIS), the CDC is sending letters to U.S. households, alerting them that they will be called by “NORC at the University of Chicago” and that households should “have your child’s immunization records handy when answering our questions.”

You can see a copy of the letter that the CDC has been sending out to selected parents right here.

#12 As I have written about previously, a very disturbing document that Oath Keepers has obtained shows that the FBI is now instructing store owners to report many new forms of “suspicious activity” to them. According to the document, “suspicious activity” now includes the following….

• paying with cash
• missing a hand or fingers
  
• “strange odors”
• making “extreme religious statements”
• “radical theology”
• purchasing weatherproofed ammunition or match containers
• purchasing meals ready to eat
• purchasing night vision devices, night flashlights or gas masks

Do any of those “signs of suspicious activity” apply to you?

According to a report on WorldNetDaily, this document is part of a “series of brochures” that will be distributed “to farm supply stores, gun shops, military surplus stores and even hotels and motels.”

#13 In some areas of the country, law enforcement authorities are pulling data out of cell phones for no reason whatsoever. According to the ACLU, state police in Michigan are now using “extraction devices” to download data from the cell phones of motorists that they pull over. This is taking happening even if the motorists that are pulled over are not accused of doing anything wrong.

The following is how a recent article on CNET News described the capabilities of these “extraction devices”….

The devices, sold by a company called Cellebrite, can download text messages, photos, video, and even GPS data from most brands of cell phones. The handheld machines have various interfaces to work with different models and can even bypass security passwords and access some information.

#14 The government can spy on us and record our conversations seemingly without any limitation, but in many areas of the country it has become illegal to watch them or record them in public. For example, one 21-year-old man down in Florida was recently arrested for trying to document a confrontation that he was having with police on his iPhone. But if we can’t record them, how can we prove our side of the story in court?

America is becoming a much different place.

Our privacy is being eroded in thousands of different ways.

National governments and big corporations know far more about you than you probably ever would imagine.

Yes, there will always be “security threats”, but we should not have to throw away any of our rights in order to be “safe”.

America is supposed to be about liberty and freedom.

America is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

If given the choice between living in “1984″ and living in “1776″, I know what my choice would be.

I would choose 1776.

I would choose liberty and freedom even if it meant that the world around me was a little bit less “safe”.

What about you?

What would you choose?

Reprinted with permission from End of the American Dream.

November 7, 2011

Copyright © 2011 End of the American Dream” 

Scroll down to the public comments.  Some of them provide revealing details about the failed HOA system in Nevada, and SCA even gets an occasional mention.

Here are just a few of the growing list of HOA fraud reports by the FBI:

 http://www.lvrj.com/news/hoa-fraud-investigation-may-last-months-133736343.html#blogcomments?submitted=y

http://www.lvrj.com/news/property-management-employee-becomes-10th-to-plead-guilty-in-hoa-case-133629953.html#blogcomments?submitted=y

http://www.lvrj.com/news/federal-probe-into-valley-hoas-broadens-117482798.html

Note the most commonly reported problem found by the FBI is fraudulent ballots and bogus ballot handling procedures prior to the vote counting processes.

SCA directors would be well-advised to review the previous election complaints in 2009, 2010 and 2011 to be sure they have corrected all of the alleged violations.  Since the IRS is part of the FBI’s team, it could be that SCA past board election problems that seemed to be similar to the examples found by the FBI will attract official interest.  It might be a problem for the current board if the 2012 elections had repeat violations.

See links for some details:

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://blog.anthemvoice.org/2011/02/11/2010-sca-board-election-was-corrupted-will-2011-be-better/

Note it is a direct conflict with the Membership Meeting and the
Nov. board meeting.  Members are entitled and encouraged to attend
all Membership Meetings and board meetings. 

This is obviously distracting to that because many are also interested
in the Neighborhood Watch program.  Plus the HPD has scheduled time and
personnel.  

This is just another example of the incompetence of RMI and another
big reason the Membership Meeting and even the board meeting should be
postponed.  

Tim Stebbins

A. “Prosecutors place another piece in construction defects puzzle” by RJ News Reporter John L. Smith
http://www.lvrj.com/news/prosecutors-place-another-piece-in-construction-defects-puzzle-133677218.html

B. “Woman says Quon helped direct HOA scam” by RJ writer Jeff German:
http://www.lvrj.com/news/property-management-employee-becomes-10th-to-plead-guilty-in-hoa-case-133629953.html

If so, could the Sun City Anthem Director’s votes and RMI’s concurrences to continue using this attorney’s advice (in spite of receiving hundreds of SCA member complaints over the years) be shown to be examples of malfeasance?

Some SCA members (led by Retired USN Commander Nelson Orth) have asked the Henderson City Council to intervene on behalf of our citizens, but the City claimed to have no authority to act.

But, how is it that California Counties and Cities appear to have the authority to protect their citizens?  Are Nevada cities and counties truly powerless to protect our citizens or is this yet another example of government misconduct?

See these web sites for more information:

1.  FAQ:  http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/10/18/announcing-stop-smart-meters-faq/

2.  Blocked:  http://stopsmartmeters.org/how-you-can-stop-smart-meters/sample-letter-to-local-government/ca-local-governments-on-board/

“The following is a list of local governments within California who are opposed to the mandatory wireless  ‘smart’ meter program.

Names of cities and counties are linked t0 news coverage or official council minutes that substantiate each city or county’s inclusion.

Those local governments in red have passed ordinances that have made ‘smart’ meter installations illegal within their jurisdictions:

Counties (10)

Humboldt County (pdf)

Lake County

Marin County

Mendocino County

City and County of San Francisco

San Luis Obispo County

Santa Barbara County

Santa Cruz County

Sonoma County — AB 37 Support Letter (pdf)

Tehama County

Cities and Towns (36)

Arcata

Belvedere

Berkeley (pdf)

Blue Lake

Bolinas

Buellton

Camp Meeker (pdf)

Capitola

Clearlake

Cotati (pdf)

Fairfax (pdf)

Fort Bragg

Grover Beach

Lakeport

Marina

Mill Valley

Monterey (pdf)

Monte Sereno (pdf)

Morro Bay (pdf)

Novato

Pacific Grove

Piedmont (pdf)

Richmond (pdf)

Rio Dell

Ross

San Anselmo

San Rafael (pdf)

San Luis Obispo (pdf)

Santa Cruz

Sausalito

Scotts Valley

Seaside

Sebastopol (pdf)

Solvang

Watsonville (pdf)

Willits

Other Jurisdictions (1)

Big Valley Rancheria/Tribal Community of Pomo Indians

Total CA population represented:  2,695,947

Missing anyone?  Please e-mail us at info@stopsmartmeters.org”

Instead, the HOA system appears to be intended to provide high profits to certain businesses in return for supporting and protecting financial mismanagement, flagrant violations of contract law and constitutional rights, fascist behavior, and systematic corruption of American principles of justice.  

Find that difficult to accept?   Check out some of the evidence in this regard found at “Citizens For Constitutional Local Government” by George K.Staropoli.

After over a decade of fighting and carefully documenting the issues and results of the struggles on behalf of HOA homeowners in Arizona, it will take one more than a week to read all that he has documented on his web site.  But, a few items can be called to our reader’s attention as a start.   For example:

1.  10 Myths About HOAs

2.  HOA History

3.  “New American of HOA-Lands”

4.  Proposed:  truth_in_hoas_act.pdf

5.  Videos of Legislative Actions

6.  A Quote from Mr. Staropoli’s latest article:  
http://pvtgov.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/legal-academic-aristocrat-advocate-exchange-on-hoa-bad-faith-conduct/

“I ask the legislators, the public interest organizations and policy makers to consider the following questions:

1. Is it proper for the state to create, permit, encourage, support or defend a form of local government of a community of people, whether that form of government is established as a municipal corporation or as a private organization that is not compatible with our American system of government?

2. Is it proper for the state to permit the existence of private quasi-governments with contractual “constitutions” that regulate and control the behavior of citizens without the same due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment; that do not conform to the state’s municipal charter or incorporation requirements; or do not provide for the same compliance with the state’s Constitution, statutes or administrative code as required by public local government entities?

3. When did “whatever the people privately contract” dominate the protections of the US Constitution? The New Jersey Appeals Court didn’t think so. Does “constructive notice”, the “nailing to the wall”, the medieval method of notice, measure up to the requisite level of notice and informed consent to permit the loss of Constitutional protections?

4. Please state what, if any, are the government’s interests in supporting HOAs that deny the people their constitutional rights?”

In the future, AV will be reporting on more and more of the massive numbers of web sites reporting on the facts concerning how HOA laws and regulations serve and protect facist/bully board behavior all over the nation. 

We will be participating in a new “HomeOwnerCoalition.Org” organization being established to help homeowners who are willing to fight for their rights and for the quiet enjoyment of their HOA units as promised in their governing documents.

And, we will be working with members of all three Branches of NV government to identify the proper language for a proposed “Truth In HOAs Act” for Nevada.

 —————————

WARNING:  Reading and understanding the above articles may enable you to more effectively debunk the lies and distortions heard at your homeowner association meetings and the propaganda  called “news” in your monthly association newsletter or magazine and emails!  

Your pro and con thoughts and comments are encouraged.   We only ask that you identify your true self when registering, be civil, and respect the rights of others in the fight against TYRANNY within the HOA system.

(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)

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

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

“From: dom addonizio

To:
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 1:12 PM
Subject: IRS audit of the association

It was revealed by one of the directors at today’s Board of Directors meeting that resident Bernard Silver complained to the IRS about the association, and that this precipitated an audit of the association by the IRS.  The audit is still on-going.  Dom Addonizio”

Sun City Summerlin has always used the same, Del Webb/Pulte-recommended auditor/tax preparer as Sun City Anthem (Mr. Gary Lein, CPA).    As a reminder, Mr. Gary Lein is also a long-time member of the Governor-appointed Commission for Common Interest Communities and Condominiums. 

More details will be provided when available.

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/

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

“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/