Confucius said,  “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home”. Given the lack of integrity in residential America and the ill health of our homes, I would say the strength of our nation is in serious jeopardy.  We have talked about the health risks of stress on our bodies, the problems with living in leaky, moldy and poorly constructed housing, the financial affects of mismanaged associations, the assault on our individual and private property rights and the absolutely abusive and unfair conditions we are raising our children in. I think it is fair to say we have a lot of problems. 

It is time to learn how to deal with all these problems and to find a way out of the abyss so we can start rebuilding our homes and strengthening our nation.  

Dave Russell joins us On The Commons this week.  Dave is a manager in Arizona who works hard to make sure that the rules in his condo association are adhered to while ensuring that individual and private property rights are respected and not trampled in the process.  Dave acknowledges that it can be a delicate balancing act but he assures us that it can be done.  He also admits there is precious little adult supervision once an association is developed and sold to real people but he reminds us that we do have some help out there.  We talk about at least one Federal law that is designed to protect some of our most vulnerable neighbors – the Fair Housing Act.  Dave explains the law, how it relates to the controlled developments, shares some great ideas and tools and tells us about free training and how to file a complaint if necessary.  This won’t fix all the problems with the HOA concept but if it makes inroads into augmenting the integrity of our homes, we might help strengthen our nation as well.