American homeowners once enjoyed complete sovereignty over property they owned. Home truly was their castle where they raised their families, entertained friends, hosted get togethers and surrounded themselves with the things that meant something to them. Sadly that way of life gradually evaporated. Over the last three or four decades that right of ownership has eroded, leaving homeowners confused, shocked, upset and often in unimaginable trouble. Inordinate amounts of money are spent on the most legal ridiculous legal battles with neighbors and local governments.
How did that happen? How did a simple and sane concept devolve into the battlefields that were once our residential neighborhoods? What happened to our “communities” where neighbors not only knew your name but were ready and willing to help.
Tom DeWeese joins us On The Commons this week. Tom is one of the nation’s leading advocates on private property rights. He is the founder and president of The American Policy Center headquartered in Warrenton, Virginia. Tom is a prolific writer, and speaker, he is energetic, outspoken and passionate about educating citizens, politicians and organizations about the many threats to our personal freedoms and our property rights. He warns us that special interests are all too proficient at convincing politicians to enact harmful legislation and to adopt policies designed to alter the way we live. With upcoming elections, candidates will be appearing and speaking at a number of public events. He has devised 3 questions to ask political hopefuls about the environment, education and eminent domain. Tom demonstrates how all these issues are part of the bigger picture, including residential associations.
In my former life in a communist country, we were herded into 5-story apartment complexes made of concrete blocks and reinforced steel after our former homes were confiscated by the government. We had nowhere else to go; therefore we were a very captive audience.
Once renters in these 300 square feet tiny apartments, we were forced to form a Home Owners Association, paying dues for all the repairs to the building, plumbing, roof, grounds and stairwell maintenance. We were not really owners of the building or of the apartments, we paid subsidized rent to the communist government, but we were responsible for any kind of repairs the building or individual apartments needed. Each family had to pay an equal amount of monthly dues which varied from year to year. And if that was not bad enough, we had to take turns to sweep and mop the hallways, maintain the common areas outside, mow the grass, weed, and plant trees and bushes.
I am not sure if the HOAs in this country were modeled after the communist HOA or vice versa.
– Ileana Johnson Paugh
“Everybody Loves to Hate Home Owner Associations”
November 26, 2013
at http://ileanajohnson.com/2013/11/everybody-loves-to-hate-home-owner-associations/
Ileana Johnson Paugh emigrated to the United States from Romania in 1978. She is the author of “Echoes of Communism” (2011), “Liberty on Life Support” (2012), “U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy” (2012), and “Communism 2.0: 25 Years Later” (2015).
Why has this woman not been a guest on your program? She writes for the “Fairfax Free Citizen” web site. According to her F*c*book profile, she lives in Virginia, so she may not be that far from you.
In your latest e-mail to me, you asked me to listen to this episode. I did. “On the Commons” is your radio program, and you’re certainly free to have whoever you want on it as a guest. But I’m not sure how giving your scarce air time to folks like Tom DeWeese and Bonner Cohen helps advance the rights of owners of H.O.A.-burdened property. To be blunt, nothing I’ve heard from Messrs. DeWeese and Cohen makes me believe that they give a damn about the privatized oppression that goes on in corporation controlled communities (or, alternatively, “corporation controlled community plantations”, C.C.C.P.s, where the home owners are the crop to be harvested for the benefit of Tom Skiba’s henchmen). Ms. Paugh has actually taken a position against H.O.A. corporations, and I believe she would be a far more effective and credible ally in your cause.
Plus, as you are aware, I am a big fan of comparisons of H.O.A. corporations to communism, as is Ms. Paugh, who actually lived under a Communist regime. H.O.A. corporations represent, literally and not figuratively, the collective ownership of a home owner’s private property via perpetual liens and unlimited liability. It’s why I coined the word “communisty” to reference the Irony Curtain that has descended across America’s neighborhoods, where the wretched political aims of communist regimes are enforced by ruthlessly efficient capitalist means (e.g., Communisty Associations Institute). Since “soviet” is Russian for “council” (e.g., workers’ councils before and during the revolution were called “soviets”), an H.O.A. board of directors could be called an “H.O.A. soviet”. And, of course, “Living in an H.O.A. means вы выезжаете из Американского сектора”.