Increasingly in America homeowners are treated like incompetent idiots who are incapable of managing their own lives and their homes. Members of the HOA industry have gone as far as to equate the owners as “children who do not know what is good for them”. Naturally they are more than happy to make all our important decisions for us- and leave us with the bill! To add insult to injury, the false advertising and misinformation that, under most other circumstances, would be punishable by law, is swept under the rug and ignored. Unit owners in homeowner and condo associations are often ridiculed, harassed and penalized for demanding transparency or even questioning the actions of the association. Their duty is to not ask why but to pay up and shut up.
Well, times they are a changing. Slowly but surely more and more talented people have had enough and are starting to move mountains, one stone at a time!
John Sellers joins us On The Commons this week. John has worked in the banking industry for years and knows just where to look for any irregularities. So when things just didn’t smell quite right, he put his talents to work and started digging. What he discovered is quite incredible. Not only are the people who are supposed to be protecting your rights turning a blind eye to all the shenanigans going on behind closed doors, but they are also using YOUR tax dollars to cover up some missing funds in HOA banks. John continued digging and was told to “get a hobby”. Fortunately for us, he took that advice to heart, expanded his search criteria and started a blog called ArizonaHOA where he intends to not only share information but to also gather information from other homeowners. He estimates there have been 3,000 court cases involving HOAs in Arizona. Chances are those did not happen because associations were doing such a wonderful job, as proponents of HOAs would have you believe. Tune in, it is an eye opening interview.
Thank you John–very interesting. I don’t understand how the banks can get away with it–But snce we don’t really know its happening, then I guess its easy!
John Sellers is great! And his contributions I believe are going to bring results.
Now regarding Shu’s statement that realtors are in bed with the CAI…do you mean realtors in general? Many of the agents here agree that the HOA industry needs massive change. Appx half of the 552 participants on this survey were realtors, and clearly, they want change. http://www.hoasavers.com/briefcase/30242_68201611722PM98356.pdf
Now if you meant the lobby group, Association of Realtors, the working real estate agent has no control over what they are doing and where they stand…can you get them to issue a public comment on their position?
One problem agents have is that they haven’t been educated on HOAs, that education has been missing the entire 25 years I’ve been an agent. Here is an intro video trying to share education on the industry, and it’s basic info all agents should know. https://youtu.be/_m5sPb4OrCk
I really think instead of throwing agents in general under the bus, maybe homeowner advocates can join the movement to educate realtors and the public. Here is a link to an HOA Industry Advisory, that I think would be helpful in bringing in a new generation of buyers that know they must be involved, and not just trust the info provided by the money makers. http://www.hoasavers.com/briefcase/30242_5192016105559AM13699.pdf
With legislators not making laws to protect the public, knowledge is power. Education is key to bring wider exposure on the HOA issues.
When CAI opposes licensing, they recommend credentials…they are ALREADY credentialled, so this means nothing. Our legislators need to have this pumped into their brains, that the public is not stupid, and licensing/regulations are needed thru out the US.
Jill,
You are correct, I did mean the Association of Realtors. Their lobbyists along with the management, another CAI subgroup and CAI do work together, at least here in VA. I also know that the realtors, like the homeowners, are left out of all political debates. Many realtors are now beginning to understand what they are dealing with. They too have been misled.
Since this program was 4 1/2 years ago – July 2016 – what is the current status?
The link above to John’s “Arizona HOA” blog no longer works. It now points to a Google log-in page.
Nor do Jill’s links to “HOA Savers”. The current site appears to be in Chinese or Korean.