Wikipedia describes The Tragedy of the Commons as “a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action.” But isn’t that just human nature? Don’t we normally make choices and decisions based on our immediate needs and what benefits us? And isn’t that especially true for people who are generally struggling to make ends meet? Can the current model of HOAs and condos function properly for all?
Tyler Berding joins us On The Commons. Tyler is the principle attorney and founder of Berding-Weil, a California law firm. Tyler represents residential associations and has long been concerned about the lack of adequate reserve funding, construction defects, condo conversions and the flawed HOA and condo model. He is particularly concerned about the buildings as they near the end of their useful lifespans. What happens to the buildings that need to be refurbished? What happens to the owners and their assets? Who pays to make the units habitable if the reserves are inadequate to fund it all? Can retirees on fixed incomes and low income owners afford massive special assessments to cover the shortfall? What Tyler is talking about is the classic “tragedy of the commons”. Tyler shares with us his presentation for a summit next month. Tyler also has a blog called Condo Issues with lots of thought provoking blogs covering all things condo.
Tell us your stories in your own words
Tyler is an excellent guest of your show and he clearly knows about construction defects.
My dad owned a construction company and I recall him talking about how dangerous it was the way decks were constructed with wood that could rot behind the walls where there is no easy access to visually inspect the integrity of the wood. His method of constructing decks was different and I wish he was alive today to explain how it should be done. It was more costly on the front end but the risks of collapse was eliminated.
Here’s where I strongly disagree with him. The funding in HOAs fails because the board members are not skilled! So they hire property managers and attorneys to help them make the smallest of decisions. Then they focus on destroying the homeowners or condo owners that question their decisions and waste massive amounts of money on legal bills! No amount of money will ever be enough to fund stupidity and inexperience.
The only way to avoid these nightmares is to never ever buy into an HOA. The death of six students is a sad but perfect example why. Had that been a condo building the condo owners would have been paying the settlements and legal expenses for those killed when the deck collapsed.
Another reality of what happens to the funds in an HOA are the board members and property managers that are embezzling the funds! If the legislators would pass a law that all HOAs must have annual audits and report those to a government agency that would stop the theft of the funds.
In addition if they would pass a law that no HOA can foreclose on a homeowner that would stop them from spending massive amounts of money to foreclose on somebody they are taking revenge on! They would have no choice but to settle the problems and stop these outrageously expensive and ridiculous lawsuits.
Nila this is much needed! We too in our HOA are experiencing this now. It’s sad and unfortunate what the homeowners have to go through financially and emotionally.