Monthly Archives: September 2017

Property Ownership, Property Rights

Bobbie Goolsby

Individual freedom, along with personal and private property rights have been eroding gradually over the last few decades. This is especially true for homeowners in mandatory membership residential associations.  What is particularly galling about all this is that homeowners are told they knowingly and willingly gave up these rights – they ” agreed” and some go so far as to add “so stop your wining!”  This is a total misrepresentation of the facts.  No sane person in the world would agree to subject themselves to double taxation and the unfettered abuses of an industry gone wild.  The harm that can be done to families, the health and welfare of the citizens and especially the children living in HOAs can easily be demonstrated by this story.

Bobbie Goolsby joins us On The Commons.  Bobbie, a loving grandmother bought her granddaughter, Emma, now 6 years old, a pink playhouse.  This playhouse is Emma’s safe space, it is her world.  It is where she goes to feel safe, to get her therapy, to relax, to unwind and to mend and try to get better.  It is what every home should be.  This is something Emma understands.  It is a concept that the neighborhood HOA does not appear to understand.  Calling it a “metal shed” they demand it be removed immediately or face a court battle.  This, despite the fact that the homeowners were assured, BEFORE buying their home, that the playhouse would not be a problem.

In a candid and heartfelt interview Bobbie tells us about Emma and how they almost lost her.  What she means to the family and the joy this precious, friendly and outgoing child brings them.

Again, I have to ask myself, why do we need HOAs?

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Double Taxation, Political Process

Donna Fossum

There is much to ponder in this interview

Residential America has changed dramatically over the last 50 years.  Gone are the days when housing consumers bought a house or a plot of land and were lords of their mansions, kings or queens of their castles, where their word was law – within the confines of their property, of course.  Increasingly living in residential America is more complicated, more restrictive and more expensive.  Do American homeowners know and understand how and why their lives and homes have changed?

Donna Fossum joins us On The Commons.  Donna is an attorney, a long time resident and condo owner in the City of Alexandria, Virginia.  She was a senior policy analyst at the Rand Corporation, a former member of the Alexandria Planning Commission and a one time candidate for City Council.  Donna, with her analytical background, has written the most comprehensive and complete report on the changing residential communities. After a lot of research, Donna discovers what is essentially two cities in one, divided more or less equally by the east side and the west side of the City of Alexandria.

She explains how this shift resulted in double taxation for approximately half of the homeowners in Alexandria.  But probably one of the most eye opening discoveries she made was the differences in the political process and participation by the citizens of the two different halves of the city.  Tune in and hear her talk about all the issues that significantly affect the way we live in America today and read her report,  Fossum Files .  While her research and analysis centered on Alexandria, the same issues and resulting problems exist across the country.

Tell us your stories in your own words 

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Abuse, Litigation, Mismanagement

Nila Ridings

I keep thinking that there really must be a breaking point.  A point where American housing consumers start digging a little deeper and looking beyond the frills and the pretty upgrades in a house they are considering buying. I hope they start looking for construction inspection reports (if such a thing exists and if not it might be a good idea to turn around and RUN as far away as possible).  They should also find out whether or not there is a mandatory, involuntary membership requirement in a homeowners association.  An upgraded backsplash in the kitchen is not going to make up for a house that is poorly constructed, starts falling down around them and is run and managed by people they would be better off never having met.  The quality of their lives in such a place could very well become material for a horror story.

But, you think, the courts are always there to sort it all out, aren’t they?  Tune in.  It is time to take those rose colored glasses off and take steps to prevent yourself from getting trapped in a real live horror movie.  

Nila Ridings joins us On The Commons.  Nila could be the poster child for what happens when the HOA seemingly has a personal vendetta against a member.  Her story starts many years ago when her driveway started sinking and got lower than the garage floor, causing problems in her house.  There were other construction problems that the HOA chose not to replace on her property, citing inadequate funds as the reason.  Miraculously they found the money to make the repairs on other homes in the development.  He request for access to the financial records of the HOA was, predictably, denied even though this is a basic right of the members.  To understand the twists and turns in her story and the road that led to years worth of very costly litigation and the loss of her house, you will have to tune in and hear Nila explain it and then to find out that at the end of the day, she was even denied her day in court.  Over the years Nila has used the knowledge she has gained from her own battles to help others who find themselves in a war for their home, their rights and their sanity while fighting for her own home.  Her story might help you loosen your grip on those rose colored glasses you have.    

Nila’s sinking driveway – in the early days.

Tell us your stories in your own words 

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Empowerment, Fighting Back

Wes Rocki

I find it ironic that we spend the first 18 – 22 years of our lives learning how to be adults and to make decisions that will affect us and our lives only to end up in an HOA, feeling like we did in when we were in kindergarten.  “Eat your vegetables”, “Wash your hands”, “Pick up your toys”, “Go to bed” and if you don’t behave, it is “time out” or “NO TV”.  Only as an adult, supposedly having been taught how to make the right decisions, in an HOA it tends to be, “Your blinds are the wrong shade of white”, “You have an unapproved garden  hose”, “no cars in the driveway”, “Too many roses in your yard” OR ELSE, “fines” “foreclosures”. and other nasty penalties hurled in our direction.

We’ve all heard the saying, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” .  It makes sense and sounds easy enough but what if life hands us more than mere lemons?  What happens when life comes at us full force, out of the clear blue and knocks us for a loop?  And that can be especially true if we live in one of the nation’s hundreds of thousands mandatory Homeowner associations.  How do we make lemonade out if that mess?  And that is especially true when one of the absolute big taboos is HOAs is “LEMONADE STANDS” ?  Even children trying to be helpful and mature beyond their years have found themselves in the crosshairs of a rather stupid HOA. What to do?

Dr. Wes Rocki, MD, PHD joins us On The Commons.  Wes is a retired physician who has been working in alternative medicine for a while.  Much of his focus has been on self-healing which is something that is sorely needed in every life and especially in what resembles battle zones in our neighborhoods.  We talk to Wes about our natural and normal reactions to finding ourselves being attacked and in harm’s way.  We find out how to protect ourselves or, at a minimum, how to react and even how to put our opponents off balance.  We touch a little on “fear” which is a big part of how we are controlled and put at a disadvantage.  We talk about how we react and can take charge of at least part of the situation.  You will want some of Wes’ advice in your survival tool kit.

Tell us your stories in your own words 

 

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