Hosted and produced by Shu Bartholomew, On The Commons is a weekly radio show dedicated to discussing the many issues surrounding mandatory homeowner associations, the fastest growing form of residential housing in the nation.
 
It is ironic that HOAs were created to give municipal governments a means of shunting off their responsibilities onto the private sector, while still collecting those precious tax dollars.   And now, some four decades into this experiment, more bureaucracy is being created to supposedly control them.  With time, and the belief that you can’t fight City Hall, HOAs have become a prominent part of the American housing landscape.  But all is still not well in home and condo associations.  The problems mount and the complaints are too loud to ignore so state legislators grapple with ways of dealing with the many problems with them.  Unfortunately, attempts thus far to tame the beast have failed.  Is there a magic pill or a potion that will protect the rights of the individuals in HOAs?  Should there be more oversight or should we be framing the debate around whether or not this is a viable form of housing and if so, are they worth the added expenses?
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by Pia Trigiani.  Pia, a principal with the newly established law firm, MercerTrigiani has been named Chair of the newly formed Common Interest Community Board in Virginia.  This board was established in July to oversee management, promulgate more rules and provide some “help” to the homeowners.   Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, December 20, 2008.  We’ll find out more about the CICB, who sits on the Board and just what kind of help Virginia’s association homeowners can expect to get, and probably more importantly NOT get from them. 
 
Since law makers across the country seem to be totally clueless as to how to handle the growing problems in HOAs and the homeowners are never asked for their ideas of what should be done, we are soliciting your input.  How should we handle the growing problems in HOAs?  Send your thoughts to onthecommons@cox.net