As the number of mandatory membership associations grow so do the problems and issues facing them.  Homeowners increasingly are calling upon their elected officials seeking help.  After all these years, the question isn’t IF something should be done about HOAs but rather WHAT should be done about them.  Every year state representatives across the country find themselves facing various and sundry supposed “fixes”, in the form of proposed bills.  And every year the problems just seem to get worse.  So where do we go from here?  What is the answer to this perennial problem?  Is there an answer? 
 
On The Commons with Shu this week are Jan Bergemann, President of the Florida based Cyber Citizens for Justices www.ccfj.net.  Jan will talk briefly about the conference he and his group are sponsoring for homeowners to be held in Ft Lauderdale in February.  It is the homeowners who will be talking about the issues and the legislators who will be discussing their bills and the programs they are considering.  And in the Studio with me is Frank Short.  Frank, an attorney and well known homeowner and individual rights advocate will be talking about proposed legislation currently being considered by the Virginia General Assembly.  Please join us On The Commons.  We’ll talk about the intent behind at least one bill and whether, if enacted, it will protect the homeowners.

It is well documented that stress can wreak havoc with our physical and mental well being.  Stress destroys our body’s immune system, making us more susceptible to a whole host of problems, from headaches to ulcers, to eating disorders to more life threatening problems including cardiovascular diseases, cancer and ultimately death.  While stress can not be completely eliminated from our lives, what can we do to avoid unnecessary stress?  Is it possible for the stress caused by HOA living lead to chronic health problems and even death? 
 
On The Commons with Shu this week are Elaine Roberts Musser, an attorney with Building Bridges, a California based organization dedicated to preventing elder abuse. And in the studio Shu is joined by Dr Rene Alvir.  Dr Alvir is a retired physician in Northern Virginia who is well versed on how stress affects our health. Please join us On The Commons.  We’ll follow the story of one senior condo owner who had been battling her association for a couple of years and we’ll get a medical opinion on how the chronic and relentless stress she was under could have contributed to her poor health and ultimate death.   Copyright OTC Multimedia 2008.