All posts by terrybar

Janice Fontell

Have you heard the one about homeowner associations being democracy “up close and personal”?  The story goes that members are expected to participate in meetings, voice their opinions and to be part of the “community” which includes being financially responsible for common expenses.  So it only stands to reason that one should be entitled to an explanation of any increases.  But what happens when a member asks a simple question about a dues increase?

On this show we will start at that point – a very small dues increase and when an explanation was asked for the name calling, finger pointing and suppressing information started.  When a simple answer to a simple question is not forthcoming and creates such acrimony, something is wrong.  So when a situation doesn’t pass the smell test it is prudent to dig a little deeper especially when your most valuable asset, your home, is at stake.

But that is easier said then done.

On the Commons with us this week we are joined by Janice Fontell.  Janice is an accountant by trade and she bought into the notion of “carefree living” that her condo promised.  She paid her dues and minded her own business.  Join us as we follow her incredible journey into homeownership, her awakening and subsequent education into what HOA living really is all about.  But that is only the beginning because she found herself learning all about the law and her way around court where she ultimately prevailed – in part 1.  You will want to hear this part of her story.  There is another case pending and we hope to catch up with Janice later on.

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Dennis Kocher

The first time I spoke to Lincoln Cummings, one of the founders of the Community Associations Institute, I asked him; “Why homeowner associations”?  I was surprised when he said because young professionals often left family and friends behind to pursue careers out of state where they found themselves alone and without the support they had at home.  He thought HOAs would provide a sense of community for an otherwise largely transient society.  There is nothing sinister about what he wanted however the “instant community” that was intended to provide that safety net came loaded with unintended consequences.  

Far from what we typically think of when we think of communities, over the years HOAs have morphed into what can best be described as war zones where pettiness, fear and adversity rule.  You need go no further than Auburn, California for an example of what I mean. Not far from Lake of the Pines Homeowner Association is Beale Air Force Base where our young military families live. They are far from home, away from their families and in need of that safety net Lincoln talked about.  One man found a way to support them, one man helped them furnish their homes and when the US government refused to do the job they were elected to do and closed the commissaries instead of passing a budget,  these young families were left without food.  Again, one man helped feed them.

On the Commons this week we are joined by Dennis Kocher.  Dennis is a Vietnam era vet who understands the hardships often endured by young military families. Dennis found a need – and filled it.  For over the last decade, he used his passion and skills for furniture building to furnish the homes of these young military families on base, making their lives  just a little more comfortable and their immediate surroundings a little more beautiful.  As Robert Baden-Powel said; “The most worth-while thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.” I think Dennis would agree with that.  However, as we all know, no good deed goes unpunished and now Dennis finds himself in the cross hairs of some of the people in power in his HOA.  Please join us, we’ll talk to Dennis, find out why trying to bring a little joy and happiness into the lives of the young folks in his community would cause such heart burn in his HOA. 

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Jill Schweitzer

“If it hurts, it must be good for you”. Remember that one? Fortunately we got smart and realized that if it hurt it really was not good for us. Along the same lines of thinking is the other oft repeated canard which is that homeowner associations protect property values. “If your HOA makes you miserable and physically ill, is abusive, is grossly mismanaged, is secretive, etc. etc. etc., it is OK because it protects your property values.” This makes about as much sense as “if it hurts, it’s good for you.” Despite the fact that protected property values claim is totally unsubstantiated, we hear it over and over again.

Maybe it is time to get smart and to stop being so gullible. Next time you are told HOAs protect property values, insist on tangible proof. Preventing a neighbor from painting their front door red is not acceptable and it really doesn’t prove anything.

Joining us On The Commons this week is Jill Schweitzer. Jill is a Real Estate Broker in Scottsdale, Arizona where there are a lot of mandatory membership HOAs and condominiums. She is concerned about all the problems in these kontrolled properties and has taken it upon herself to try to understand what is going on. She actually put pen to paper and did the math. She tracked and analyzed property values in 10 condo projects in Scottsdale over a period of 10 years. Her findings are on her website hoasavers.com. It might come as no surprise that contrary to protecting property values, HOAs can actually devalue property. Tune in, we’ll talk to Jill about a myriad of problems that seem to be part and parcel of HOAs, find out why she decided to look into HOAs and what she is planning on doing to protect her clients’ property.

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Larry Murphree

Have you noticed how often the phrase, “it protects property values” is used to justify the most ridiculous behavior in homeowner associations? It is a one size fits all excuse or explanation for the bizarre, ludicrous, absurd, wacky and outrageous shenanigans by so called kommunity leaders. Over the years we have heard it all – unapproved garden hoses, too many rose bushes, a driveway that is three inches wider than approved, a pudgy pooch or a rogue bird feeder. The list is endless.

It will come as no surprise to you then that at The Tides Condominium at Sweetwater in Florida fully grown adults sat around one day and came up with “flowerpot rules”. When it comes to property values, you see, nothing is too insignificant for these selfless altruists who give so freely of their time and expertise to determine what you can put in your flowerpot. Kompliance with konformity in kondos is of utmost concern as you might have guessed, and violators are sought and penalized lest they devalue property.

Joining us On The Commons is Larry Murphree. Larry lives in Jacksonville, Florida where, by the largess of the kondo leaders, he is allowed to have a flowerpot but the tiny flag tucked in with his flowers is verboten. His flagrant disregard of the rules got him a letter from the kondo kommandos notifying him that there is an “unauthorized object” in his flowerpot. When Larry refused to remove the flag, passionately believing in his 1st Amendment rights as well as his right to have it there, he was fined $100 a day for protecting his rights. Florida law allows fines up to $1000 (bless their hearts) but through some very creative accounting, the kondo threatened to foreclose on Larry’s unit to collect $8000 they alleged he owed. Please join us to learn the details of this absurd situation, find out what the most recent law suit filed by the kondo sought and what the local realtors have to say about why buyers are not beating a path to this particular project’s gate. Also, check out Larry’s website at http://letmeflytheflag.com

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Tom DeWeese

When I started producing the show 14 years ago, I wondered if I would have enough material to cover during the initial 6 month contract. I need not have worried because the HOA wars multiplied like rabbits, homeowners and attorneys on both sides of the battle fields wanted to tell their side of the story and legislators started scratching their heads wondering what to do about all the complaints they were getting from their constituents. I guess that was before the days when the polls decided everyone was madly in love with the idea of being abused and just loved living the kontrolled life.

In my quest several years ago to make sense of the assault on hearth and home in America, I met the gentleman we will be talking to on this show. Tom was fighting a much bigger battle in a much bigger arena and he was making a difference. People in power started listening to what he had to say and some even acted on his advice proving that a small, handful of thoughtful and committed people can change the world.

Joining us today On The Commons we have Tom DeWeese. Tom is the founder and President of the Virginia based American Policy Center. He has been an advocate for freedom, property and individual rights for the past quarter of a century. We talk to Tom about just a few of the successes he has had over the years, learn a little about the important points when initially starting on the road to righting the ills of the world and just how critical having a written plan can be. He is a dynamic speaker who is energetic and passionate about message. He is currently working on webinars you can sign up for on his website: www.americanpolicy.org Check it out, you’ll find lots of other good information there as well.

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Bill Davis

Hot off the presses – there were 328,000 involuntary membership residential associations in America in 2013 according to a new fact book put out by the Community Associations Institute (CAI). I have to wonder just how accurate that number is. We’ve heard about associations that are defunct and the ones that were voluntarily terminated by the members because they found them to be more of a problem then they were worth. Are they part of that number?

On today’s show we visit an association in Texas that, happily, expired a number of years ago. But sometimes even a dead HOA just refuses to die gracefully.

Joining us On The Commons today is Bill Davis. Bill is one of a relatively small handful of attorneys who represents homeowners in litigation against their associations. With his terrific senses of humor and irony, he reports on some of the more bizarre goings on that are missed by the more casual or emotional observer. We’ll talk to Bill and find out just what HOA Board meetings and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings have in common. Perhaps the answer for “rogue boards” is a 12 step program? Join us.

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Sylvia Wright

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There is a saying that you can’t go back home again.  But what if you never left home?  What if “home” consisted of a large family compound that has been handed down over the centuries, where several generations still live, gather to celebrate holidays and family special days and events, support each other and play together?  It is an enviable way of life that is fast disappearing in the name of progress.  

We will be visiting just such a place today.  A family community in Southern Virginia called Hoehns Lake View Farms that has been owned by the same family for centuries, preserved and lovingly tended by those who live there now and by their ancestors before them.  But not all is well in this idyllic corner of Virginia.  While encroachment and property ownership disputes may well be a civil matter more properly enforced by the judicial system, local governments have a duty and a responsibility to uphold the laws and protect the citizens.  When the local zoning department ignores letters of notification that the construction project they have been asked to approve includes property that is not owned by the developer and the police department refuses to protect citizens from trespass even when the property has been properly posted and the lawful owners have done everything to comply with the  letter of the law.  These responsibilities fall squarely in the purview of local governments.  

And when citizens call the police to file a complaint about harassment, vandalism, cruelty to animals, killing family pets, bullying and endangerment to people, the appropriate response is to dispatch an officer or two to protect the innocent.  But maybe the police are too busy arresting homeowners to prevent them from attending HOA meetings to show up when people are in real danger.

Joining us On The Commons this week is Sylvia Wright.  Sylvia is a descendent of the Hoehns family.  She grew up on the family farm, is actively protecting the land she inherited and loves and is happy that her children and grandchildren are also living on the land and growing up the way she and her ancestors did.  But life is not as peaceful as it was when she was young.  Please join us as we learn how life has changed in her peaceful, quiet, beautiful part of an otherwise crazy world. 

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Larry Fletcher

There is a rumor out there that 9 out of 10 owners in homeowners associations are delighted with their living conditions.  Apparently the Community Associations Institute has a hard time believing those numbers as well because they seem to be commissioning a new survey every year or two – just to make sure, I suppose.  The statistics and the numbers are, well, quite incredible but they must be true, otherwise we wouldn’t be reading about them in in every article about HOA horror stories.  

The folks I hear from are not the deliriously happy homeowners the pollsters seem to unearth every year or so.  I hear from people who are being terrorized, bullied, demonized and abused by a housing scheme that is beyond repair.  I talk to people who are terrified of going home, of answering the door or the phone or picking up their mail.  Perhaps that explains why they are not represented in all these happy surveys?  The sorry fact is that HOAs are ruining a lot of lives and destroying a lot of people.

But there is strength in numbers and sometimes that can be a beautiful thing.  
 
Joining us On The Commons this week is Larry Fletcher.  Larry and his neighbors decided they didn’t want to be harassed and abused by a board president with too much free time on his hands and a passion for writing threat letters and issuing fines.  So they went to court and challenged the fines and the nit picky violations and they won their case.  In the process they got a kinder, gentler president.  But that did not guarantee that theirs would be a happy neighborhood forever after.  They realized they were one election away from having another tyrant at the helm so they set out to ensure that they would always have a real sense of community where neighbors cared for each other and celebrated together.  You will LOVE their story and what they did to get there.   You will also understand why Larry sounds like such a cheerful chap.

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Mike Schneider

Homeowner associations are so confounding, confusing and complicated they can be difficult to understand. Proponents of HOAs will have us believe associations are “democracy up close and personal”, that they offer homeowners greater control over their immediate surroundings, that unlike local municipal governments who are more removed, members of an HOA actually have a say in how they live in their neighborhood. Sounds so pleasant, doesn’t it?

Well, homeowner associations are, and can be, very contradictory. What the sales pitch above does not tell you about life in this Pleasant Paradise is that far from being democracy up close and personal, homeowners really have no say in how the association is run, how their money is spent or anything else. The board might have a say or a voice and the only recourse the homeowners have to a bad board is to “vote the bums out”. The other bit of nonsense is that to ensure things are run well it is important to hire licensed professionals to manage you, the owners and your assets.

And of course, the greatest canard of all is that HOAs protect property values.

Joining us On The Commons this week is Nevada State Senator Mike Schneider. Mike has worked with homeowners over the years, has introduced legislation to provide more balance between the actual homeowners and their associations and has, over the years, been available to join us. He has watched as the FBI raided dozens of Las Vegas businesses, confiscating mountains of documents, boxes of paperwork and van loads of records. The investigation is ongoing. Four of the key players in this drama are dead, several attorneys, managers, contractors and other licensed professionals have entered plea agreements with the state. Now that the trial appears to be imminent there is another twist to this multi year drama, defense attorneys are being asked to sign confidentiality statements promising not to make evidence available. We’ll talk to Mike about the hijacked elections, the fraud and the BILLIONS of dollars siphoned out of Las Vegas HOAs by friendly licensed professionals. One answer that will not be forthcoming is just how all this has protected property values.

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Bill Davis

Have you heard the one about homeowner associations being “democracy, up close and personal”?  How about homeowners in HOAs are better able to influence their immediate neighborhoods than their counterparts who live in the real world?  And one of my all time favorites, “If you don’t like the rules, you can change them.” See, there is absolutely nothing to worry about, it is all oh so very civilized.
Or is it?
Some Texas homeowners actually believed all that jazz.  They thought they had a say in their neighborhood and decided bans on fences or fence heights to preserve the view of a nonexistent golf course made no sense.  So, they did what any concerned person would do, they tried to amend the governing documents to change outdated, restrictions and pave the way for a more friendly place to live.
Joining us On The Commons this week is Bill Davis.  Bill, a Texas attorney, represents homeowners who find themselves having to protect their rights and their homes from the associations they have the misfortune of belonging to.  We’ll talk to Bill about a particular association and find out why, as a “legal formality” the association sued 120 members who signed a petition to amend the governing docs.  We’ll also talk about some of the “games” attorneys and associations play to circumvent the rules, and in some cases, the laws.

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