Goings On In North County

Forgotten Victims of Foreclosure

2008-09-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

With the rising number of foreclosures around the nation and right in our own neighborhoods, our sympathies go to the families that will leave their homes behind and out of desperation move on.

The question I pose is, what about the pets? The number of family pets that are left behind is staggering. The family pet, once part of the family, is now abandoned and trapped in an empty home, with minimal or no food and water.

The people to arrive first to a foreclosed home i.e. the junk haulers, Realtors, bank inspectors, and neighbors typically do not have the authority to remove the animals. Once the Humane Society has been called, it can take several days to respond to the foreclosed house due to the volume of other cases.

One of the Humane Society employees, who has personally responded to about 1,000 foreclosure calls last year, tells of finding the animals chained up, or running loose in the house. The Humane Society does not keep numbers on how many animals are found in foreclosed homes. The pets are simply listed as abandoned. Animal cruelty charges are rare in foreclosed cases because it’s hard to prove malice involved in leaving the pet behind.

The before mentioned Humane Society employee has found 15 dead animals in foreclosed homes and has filed charges in each of those cases. When he found a boxer tied to a tree in the backyard next to a pile of trash, no charges were filed. And nothing was done to the owners of a yellow lab who left the dog chained to a water faucet.

He states, “Once the family has been tracked down the first thing they tell you is, ‘Man we loved our dog, but we just couldn’t take him with us,’” Personally, there is no reasoning that I can wrap my head around to justify leaving your beloved pet behind. And if the family is moving into a place that does not accommodate pets, then why not drop them off at a shelter? At least that gives them a chance, even though the numbers are climbing at the shelters and due to overpopulation almost half of incoming animals are euthanized.

A majority of the pets found are in poor health, some can be rehabilitated, but approximately 15 percent are euthanized. As more families are forced from their homes, the fallout is painfully clear at the animal shelters nationwide. Experts say a dog will become dehydrated within 24 hours without water and could die in extreme heat within a few days. Like humans, dogs and cats can go for a long time without food but will quickly die without water.

How Can You Help Save Abandoned Pets?
In most states, by law, pets are personal property, which means they have little or no rights. Personal property left behind by home owners are subject to seizure by the lender that has taken the home back in foreclosure, but most REO lenders don’t want to take care of pets. Some laws do not allow for forfeiture of personal property until a certain period of time has passed, so lenders are prevented from removing pets, and often discourage others from intervening.

If you know that a home in your neighborhood is being foreclosed upon, why not ask the occupants if they have made plans for their pets?
Some homeowners might willingly turn over their pets to an animal welfare agency that specializes in rescuing stray and abandoned pets, if they knew where to take their pets.
Leave animal rescue literature with the owners; it’s better to offend and apologize than to do nothing.
After the owners have moved, check on the home to see if any pets were left behind or tied up in the back yard.
Call your local Humane Society to find out how you can help to rescue abandoned pets.
Call a local real estate agent and ask the neighborhood specialist to inspect the home for abandoned pets. Most will gladly oblige at no obligation.
In some states, animal cruelty is against the law, If you suspect animal cruelty, call the police.
If you find a dehydrated pet, provide a small amount of water under supervision—some pets can become so thirsty and weak that they can drown in a water bowl—then call a vet before administering food.

Because if you don’t speak up for these helpless animals, WHO WILL??????
If this blog has moved you in some way, please take a look at the nopawsleftbehind.org website… It is a nonprofit that helps the pet owners find shelters. Please take a look and see how you can become proactive and help the forgotten victims of foreclosure.

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HOA...friend or foe?

2008-08-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

In my line of work I hear many conflicting opinions about homeowners associations. Unfortunately, most home-owners view their homeowners associations as the “Neighborhood Mafia” or the “Secret Police”.

You may find yourself asking a lot of questions. “Why can’t I put up a fence? Who cares if I park in the road? Who are you to tell me to mow my lawn? So what if I put a basketball net on the ground! I own this house, who the heck are you to tell me not to change my oil in the driveway? My house needs to be painted – why do I need to ask permission if I want to change the color? This is my property, I pay the mortgage, my taxes and my HOA dues, I can afford to do so by working out of my truck, but I cannot park it in my driveway!”

Does this sound familiar? I am sure it does. We as homeowners spend a lot of money on our homes and we want to live the way we want to. We all purchased our homes because it is good to invest in real estate. We all wanted the American dream of homeownership and now we have it. But why is it not what we hoped for?
The truth of the matter is that we are taught that you can’t lose by purchasing real estate. The problem with this concept is that it is not true. As we are seeing in today’s market, property values are not always on the rise and some areas are hit harder than others. So what do property values have to do with irritating HOAs? In a word…everything!

First, what we need to realize is that homeowners associations are bodies of mini-governments that are put into place to enforce covenants and restrictions placed on the deed of the property that you purchased.

Although you own your property, you purchased it along with the responsibilities and restrictions that have been legally placed on the deed. Covenants and restrictions are placed on a property to protect the neighborhood values. When you purchase a home, you choose it for several reasons. One reason should have been because you liked the neighborhood and feel that it is a safe place to live as well as a solid investment. Whether you realize it or not, the covenants are laws that you accept and agree to abide by when you consummated the purchase of a home that has restrictive covenants.

These laws specifically address items that affect the visual appeal of the neighborhood. Lawns, fences, parked cars, and cleaning up after pets are usually the hottest topics of conversation. The reason is because these items most affect the value of the entire neighborhood. When someone is shopping for a home, their first impression is the neighborhood. Lawns that are browned out, full of weeds, or are overgrown give a home buyer the impression that homeowners do not care about the neighborhood. Many times, a buyer may pass a house they love because the neighbor may have and overgrown lawn, a poorly constructed fence, siding that is showing wear that needs painting, or even parking in the street.

So, how does this affect the value of the entire neighborhood? What will end up happening is that the sellers will have to lower their price in order to get their home sold? Consequently, the price of every home that is sold will be determined by the most recent home sale in the neighborhood.

The bottom line is that HOAs are here to protect you. Don’t hold it against the president of the association or any member of the association for that matter. Be respectful of your neighbors and abide by the rules. If you don’t like the direction the neighborhood is moving in, go to the HOA meetings and voice your opinion. Better yet, volunteer to become a member of the board.
In the end, if you don’t like the rules of the neighborhood, purchase a home that doesn’t have restrictive covenants. You will be able to park your RV in your yard, but on the flip side, your neighbor is allowed to park a 1952-model school bus with no windows in theirs.

Not In My Backyard...The Hall Property Debate

2008-08-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Before becoming a Cardiffian , I had lived in Olivenhain, both communities of Encinitas. Both with very different views on the proposed project consisting of 44 acres, located adjacent to I-5 on the west side of the highway and south of the Von’s shopping center off Santa Fe, commonly referred to as the Hall Property. My daughters have played on the Encinitas soccer teams since they were small and I have coached for that league for a number of years also. The Hall property issue has been circulating for almost as long as my family has been involved with Encinitas Soccer. I was one of those gung-ho parents that were signing petitions or standing in front of Henry’s having others sign. It was my opinion that The Hall Property was going to be the perfect place for my kids and their friends to ride their skateboards, Swim at the aquatic facilities, hang out at the teen center as well as having an amphitheatre, dog park, trails and gardens, toddler parks, all of this accompanying the 5 athletic fields for baseball and soccer.

I realize now that I had a very narrow utopian point of view. This was not going to affect my neighborhood, if this proposition was going to take place at the end of Lone Jack or Fortuna Ranch the people of Olivenhain would be against the magnitude that this proposed project is threatening also. A few of the major issues are; 1. Traffic, the parking on their streets from the spillover from the parking lots that accommodate 419 parking spaces and a projected 1500 cars per day, but up to 3000 per day for tournaments. 2. The proposed lights on the 5 sports fields will be over 90 feet tall and 60 feet tall on the swimming complex. These will be the tallest structures in Encinitas and will be visible from many parts of the city, especially when turned on. The lights are currently proposed to be on until midnight on weekends, with permits. The lights when coupled with coastal fog and low clouds will cause a cloud of light over Cardiff. 3. The noise levels, the competitive sports activities planned for the park will create noise for the neighbors. The intensity of activity planned for the park may create an intrusive level of noise for the neighborhood. This can go until midnight on the weekends. It appears as if everyone wants another sports park, Cardiff is merely asking for it to be scaled back. Cardiff already has a sports park within 1 mile of the Hall Property.

I would not be surprised of the negative response if the shoe was on the other foot so to speak. It is my opinion that a compromise has to be reached. If everyone will put down the signs and have a meeting of the minds, it is not that hard to figure out Cardiff doesn’t need any more traffic than necessary , and the amount of cars parking on the streets will bring trash and litter to our neighborhoods. All of which can have a negative impact on the property values for those who live in the immediate vicinity of the park.

Source: Hall Property Draft EIR
Traffic analysis by Smith Engineering Management, Traffic consultant
The entire draft environmental impact report of the Hall Park is available on the city’s Web site at:
http://www.ci.encinitas.ca.us/Government/publicD/Hall_Draft_Program_EIR/. For more information on Friends of the Hall Property, visit www.hallpropertypark.com