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                   Can you apply RICO laws to associations?

On the way back to the Facility in the Middle of Nowhere, Spring [1] and I
stop off at the local Wal★Mart Superstore to pick up a shower curtain for the
master bath (the master bath in Condo Conner is a shower stall). We enter the
store and run into Mark [2], Gerald and a couple Gerald knew.

Turns out Gerald's friend is moving out of her condo because of the
association there and if anything, makes our condo association look like it
has a laissez-faire attitude.

I think she lives in one of those high-rise condo buildings since otherwise
some of this doesn't make sense (not that it makes sense to begin with). One
of the rules: you can't bring anything into the building past 4:30 pm. Tools,
groceries, anything you don't normally carry on you is verboten. She got into
trouble trying to bring home a toolbox someone borrowed. It was past 4:30
(something like 4:35) and nope. Couldn't bring the toolbox inside the
building. Leave it outside, in the car, whatever. It's not going in the
building.

She took it in anyway and got fined $250.00 for the priviledge of keeping her
toolbox. $150 fine for bringing in items past 4:30 pm. Another $100 for
making a public spectacle.

She she's moving.

To move, she has to pay $250.00 plus $25/hour to move out. That's not the
price of the movers; that's the price she has to pay to the association to
move. You know, moving is so unsightly, what with all the furniture and boxes
and stuff. But for her money, she gets someone to monitor the move and make
sure nothing goes amiss (and believe me, if something does, I'm sure they'll
bill her plenty for it).

To me, that sounds like racketeering and should be prosecuted under the RICO
[3] laws. But these type of things take money, and the association has more
money than any one person under the association, since any costs will be past
on to the association members. Sigh.

But I find it incredible that anyone would live under such idiocy. Paying
money to move out? Oh, and it's the same cost to move in too (although when
she moved in, it only cost $100.00 flat rate). Sad to say, but it is in her
best interest not to mention that fee until after she sells the unit. I don't
know of anyone that would voluntarily pay such a fee.

Extortion, I tell you! Extortion!

[1] http://www.springdew.com/
[2] http://www.conman.org/people/myg/
[3] http://www4.law.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/htm_hl?DB=uscode18&STEMMER=en&WORDS=18+c+1961+&COLOUR=Red&STYLE=s&URL=/uscode/18/1961.html#muscat_highlighter_first_match

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