HOA Hall of Shame president back in the news

Article and Video Courtesy of Channel 13, Las Vegas

By Darcy Spears

Published December 6, 2010

 Watch VIDEO

President of the HOA Hall of Shame is too kind a title for the man profiled in last week's Contact 13 Investigation.

That's what you're saying about Joe Bitsky.

And you've flooded our website, Facebook page and e-mail inbox with comments about him.

Chief Investigator Darcy Spears has some of those comments and a new discovery about how Bitsky's HOA board has been breaking the law.

You may remember Joe Bitsky.

"You're sticking your tongue out at me!" Spears says to him in disbelief.

The president of the Autumn Chase HOA in North Las Vegas is hard to forget.

"You see, you want to make it controversial!" Bitsky accuses Spears.

Joe, we can't make you any more controversial than you've made yourself.

"You come here to degrade me," he again says accusingly.

"I just came here to ask questions," Spears responds.

Since our story first aired, many of you have sent us comments calling Bitsky a "bully," a "train wreck," "borderline postal" and a "megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur."

One even said "he shouldn't just be president of the hall of shame, he should be crowned emperor for life of the hall of shame."

"Wait a minute it's not how I deal with the homeowners..." Bitsky says, defending himself.

"You're dealing with me the same way," Spears tells him.

"Look, it's how I deal with jerks," he says by way of explanation.

"Are you calling me a jerk?" Spears asks.

"Yes, ma'am because you won't listen! Alright? I deal with jerks in that manner. Alright? Alright!"

The other people he's calling jerks are the group of homeowners who filed a complaint against him with the Nevada Real Estate Division.

In the complaint, homeowners question Bitsky's use of a credit card in the association's name.

And, according to an email from viewer Lisa, "there has never been an audit of the books."

Nevada law requires all HOAs to do annual audits.

Contact 13 just called Bitsky about that and he admitted there'd never been an audit at Autumn Chase.

Then he contradicted himself by sending a fax saying the "books were done in the beginning of 2008 by a CPA."

But he didn't provide any proof of that.

Either way, Autumn Chase is in violation of state law.

After our story aired, the president-elect of Community Associations Institute Nevada sent us an email.

That's the industry group representing HOAs across the country.

Pat Taylor wrote, "Unfortunately, Mr. Bitsky's 'performance' is the exact polar opposite of what we are trying to accomplish with CAI. He is so wrong and incorrect on so many levels with what he was saying, and his demeanor was beyond embarrassing for our industry."

Autumn Chase homeowner Joe Salvatore says they've tried to boot Bitsky from the board, but can't get enough help from other homeowners because so many are scared.

"The main thing is he picks and chooses people who he wants to fine or make out to be bad people," Salvatore says.

An anonymous Autumn Chase homeowner agrees with Salvatore and directed this comment to Bitsky, saying "The homeowners that have not come out and told you that they don't like what you are doing are afraid that you will start to attack them and put them on your list of people to harass for your own personal gain."

The State has a message for those who have been willing to take Bitsky on.

"Be patient," says Sharon Jackson, supervisory compliance investigator for the Common Interest Communities section of the Nevada Real Estate Division.  "Understand that we have a huge number of complaints that are coming in and we are working very actively at trying to resolve those as quickly as we possibly can."

Jackson says the HOA caseload is up 40-percent over last year, with only five investigators for the entire state.

"There's just only so much that we can do."

Viewer Tammy wrote,  "I am happy this is being brought into the public light. These kinds of HOA board abusive antics are going on more often than one thinks. I hope this a catalyst for new laws to reform those controlling and egotistical HOA Boards."

In our original investigation, one of the homeowners talked about how Bitsky wouldn't let her and others leave his home during an October HOA meeting after he learned they were recording the meeting.

North Las Vegas Police have been investigating and late Thursday afternoon, we learned they've passed the case on to the City Attorney for prosecution on two misdemeanor counts of coercion stemming from that incident.


PART I

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