> Corporations have too much power in the US as it is.
In 2015, I prosecuted a Contempt of Court charge against the Madison Hill H.O.A. corporation.
Judge Tammy Greene told me that she was "not inclined" (her words) to hold Officers of the corporation accountable for the crime of the corporation.
At the sentencing hearing a month later, she said that she did not even have the legal authority to do so.
Contempt of Court is a crime that poor people go to jail for every day in this country. But if you are a corporate Officer, you are shielded by the corporate veil.
It makes a mockery of both the Rule of Law ™ and Equality Before the Law ™.
Conversely, if a homeowner fails to comply with a Court Order, he goes to jail.
> Brown Lawn Means Jail Time
> St. Petersburg Times (Florida, not Russia), October 11 2008
> On Friday morning, Joseph Prudente took off his wedding band and put his heart medication in a plastic bag.
> Then his daughter drove him to jail.
> His crime? He had disobeyed a court order that he sod the lawn at his Beacon Woods home.
> His bail? Zero.
> Prudente, 66, must stay in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes until the required sod work is completed, under a September court order signed by Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray.
> "He's in prison for God knows how long because we can't afford to sod the lawn," said his sobbing daughter, Jennifer Lehr.
> Prudente has owned a home in the deed restricted community since 1998. The covenants require homeowners to keep their lawns covered with grass.
> Earlier this year, the Beacon Woods Civic Association took Prudente to court after he failed to install new sod on his browning lawn, which had withered after his sprinklers broke. The association had already sent letters telling him to resod his front and back yards by certain dates.
As some reader pointed out in the comments section there, in stories like this H.O.A. corporations spend more on attorneys and litigation than it would have cost to actually fix the yard.
"I know of associations that have been placed under Court Orders to do things and they just don’t do them. It’s not just that they defy statutory law. But they’re ordered to do something and still not do it. It’s mind boggling."
- Evan McKenzie, former H.O.A. attorney and author of 'Privatopia' (1994) and 'Beyond Privatopia' (2011). “On the Commons”. November 19, 2005.
> Contempt of court is an intentional act--it doesn't just happen. One has to choose to violate or disregard a court order.
Ah, here's where the corporate veil gets even deeper.
The Madison Hill H.O.A. corporation had hired a "professional" management company, L.C.M. Property Management Inc. But since the L.C.M. corporation was not a named party in the original lawsuit, L.C.M. was not the party under Court Order. The H.O.A. president blamed the violation on L.C.M., since L.C.M was in charge of the accounting. Judge Greene accepted this excuse.
Not only was it a case of corporate Officers hiding behind the corporate veil, but corporations hiding behind other corporations. Multiple layers of corporate veils.
But none of that really matters, because Judge Green was _never_ going to hold anyone accountable. Even though this was _not_ the first time the Madison Hill H.O.A. corporation had violated one of her Court Orders by making illegal demands for payments of attorney fees that were explicitly prohibited by her Court Order. They had done so previously from 2009 - 2011 after a prior litigation. (see "Hunt the Lawyer", June 10 2023).
Judge Greene has a pro-H.O.A. bias, according to retired 9News investigative reporter Ward Lucas.
> from: Edward Lucas
> date: Thursday, October 01, 2015
> subject: RE: H.O.A. - Contempt of Court Hearing
> Be real careful of Tammy Greene. She can be a monster. Ward
> from: Edward Lucas
> date: Tuesday, January 12, 2016
> subject: Re: H.O.A. Jefferson County Colorado Court 2014 C 38745
> Hi Robert,
> Tammy Greene was the judge who screwed me in my lawsuit.
> Corporations have too much power in the US as it is.
In 2015, I prosecuted a Contempt of Court charge against the Madison Hill H.O.A. corporation.
Judge Tammy Greene told me that she was "not inclined" (her words) to hold Officers of the corporation accountable for the crime of the corporation.
At the sentencing hearing a month later, she said that she did not even have the legal authority to do so.
Contempt of Court is a crime that poor people go to jail for every day in this country. But if you are a corporate Officer, you are shielded by the corporate veil.
It makes a mockery of both the Rule of Law ™ and Equality Before the Law ™.
"Judge Tammy Greene told me that she was "not inclined" (her words) to hold Officers of the corporation accountable for the crime of the corporation."
Contempt of court is an intentional act--it doesn't just happen. One has to choose to violate or disregard a court order.
But the judge couldn't see that the officers of the corporation were the ones doing the choosing to violate the court order?
No way in Hell was that a legitimate ruling from the bench.
Conversely, if a homeowner fails to comply with a Court Order, he goes to jail.
> Brown Lawn Means Jail Time
> St. Petersburg Times (Florida, not Russia), October 11 2008
> On Friday morning, Joseph Prudente took off his wedding band and put his heart medication in a plastic bag.
> Then his daughter drove him to jail.
> His crime? He had disobeyed a court order that he sod the lawn at his Beacon Woods home.
> His bail? Zero.
> Prudente, 66, must stay in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes until the required sod work is completed, under a September court order signed by Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray.
> "He's in prison for God knows how long because we can't afford to sod the lawn," said his sobbing daughter, Jennifer Lehr.
> Prudente has owned a home in the deed restricted community since 1998. The covenants require homeowners to keep their lawns covered with grass.
> Earlier this year, the Beacon Woods Civic Association took Prudente to court after he failed to install new sod on his browning lawn, which had withered after his sprinklers broke. The association had already sent letters telling him to resod his front and back yards by certain dates.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20081012014514/https://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article847365.ece
As some reader pointed out in the comments section there, in stories like this H.O.A. corporations spend more on attorneys and litigation than it would have cost to actually fix the yard.
"I know of associations that have been placed under Court Orders to do things and they just don’t do them. It’s not just that they defy statutory law. But they’re ordered to do something and still not do it. It’s mind boggling."
- Evan McKenzie, former H.O.A. attorney and author of 'Privatopia' (1994) and 'Beyond Privatopia' (2011). “On the Commons”. November 19, 2005.
> No way in Hell was that a legitimate ruling from the bench.
I agree it was in no way "legitimate" in the normal sense of the word. But it was legal.
What could I do about it?
> Contempt of court is an intentional act--it doesn't just happen. One has to choose to violate or disregard a court order.
Ah, here's where the corporate veil gets even deeper.
The Madison Hill H.O.A. corporation had hired a "professional" management company, L.C.M. Property Management Inc. But since the L.C.M. corporation was not a named party in the original lawsuit, L.C.M. was not the party under Court Order. The H.O.A. president blamed the violation on L.C.M., since L.C.M was in charge of the accounting. Judge Greene accepted this excuse.
Not only was it a case of corporate Officers hiding behind the corporate veil, but corporations hiding behind other corporations. Multiple layers of corporate veils.
But none of that really matters, because Judge Green was _never_ going to hold anyone accountable. Even though this was _not_ the first time the Madison Hill H.O.A. corporation had violated one of her Court Orders by making illegal demands for payments of attorney fees that were explicitly prohibited by her Court Order. They had done so previously from 2009 - 2011 after a prior litigation. (see "Hunt the Lawyer", June 10 2023).
Judge Greene has a pro-H.O.A. bias, according to retired 9News investigative reporter Ward Lucas.
> from: Edward Lucas
> date: Thursday, October 01, 2015
> subject: RE: H.O.A. - Contempt of Court Hearing
> Be real careful of Tammy Greene. She can be a monster. Ward
> from: Edward Lucas
> date: Tuesday, January 12, 2016
> subject: Re: H.O.A. Jefferson County Colorado Court 2014 C 38745
> Hi Robert,
> Tammy Greene was the judge who screwed me in my lawsuit.
> She hates HOA opponents. Ward