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.
 
Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it!  We’ve all heard those words of warning.  And those of us living in a mandatory membership association, tend to do a lot of wishing.  Over the years some of these wishes have been “granted” – or we have made them happen but did they achieve the results we wished they would?  And what are the chances that what we thought we wanted turned out to be even more detrimental than we ever imagined?   Can the fix for the one thing that bothers us most now come back and bite us in the behind?
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by Jan Bergemann. Jan is president of the Florida based Cyber Citizens for Justice www.ccfj.net  and one of the hardest working people I know.  He is a prolific writer, a tireless advocate for the owners, the Go To man in Florida for all things association and he has recently added blogging for the Sun Sentinel to his list of daily tasks. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/condos/.   Please join us On The Commons.  We’ll talk about one the most wished for things by homeowners – “adult supervision” and we’ll find out whether there are any adults involved in the Florida model.  Tune in, it will help you figure out what you really want to wish for.

There is much confusion about the very nature of a residential association.  With all the municipal mandates effectively eliminating the choice of whether to live in an association or not, along with the new trend towards increasing density and building up rather than out, the existence of an association in any residential areas is a given.  Despite the lack of housing choice, owners are often surprised to find that”they agreed” to a whole host of restrictions and rules when they bought their homes. The other fact they didn’t bargain for is that they would be trading in the lawn mower for other “duties” and HOA living is not quite the “care free” living they thought they were getting. 
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by Tyler Berding. Tyler, a California attorney who specializes in common interest development law, is a  prolific writer about all things condo related.  His alarming, but candid articles can be read on his blog http://condoissues.blogspot.com/ and also on the firm’s web page http://www.berding-weil.net/.  His concerns cover condo conversions, unfunded reserves, lack of active participation by owners to the legal definition of the relationship between the owners and the association.  Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, August 15, 2009.  We’ll talk about “the contract” and the current HOA model.   Would a different model of common ownership that works well in other cultures work here?  Tune in and find out.