Hosted and produced by Shu Bartholomew, On The Commons is a weekly radio show dedicated to discussing the many issues surrounding mandatory homeowner associations, the fastest growing form of residential housing in the nation.
When there are no consequences to bad behavior, there is no limit to how bad people can get. That is the situation in the 300,000 residential associations nationwide. While the residents have been controlled and penalized for violating the most idiotic of rules, those adopting and implementing the stupid rules in these gulags have enjoyed free rein to enjoy their reign of terror. Attempts to impose limits on their powers and authority have been met by cries of horror, “but no one will run for the board if they are held accountable”. And so communities have been transformed into developments where fear, terror and abuse are the norm.
For years frustrated homeowners have been called malcontents and been told their only remedies are to hire an attorney, toss the bums out or move. Well, the FBI has decided to look into some of the allegations of fraud and wrong doing in Nevada. Is the current scope of their investigation limited to construction defect litigation fraud? How serious are they about investigating things like election rigging, improper foreclosures, embezzlement, and all the other abuses associations are capable of? The list of complaints in condo and homeowner associations is endless. Will this investigation find many of the problems homeowners have been complaining about? Will there be serious reforms or will we still hear the same old song and dance about HOAs being a matter for civil litigation? Will property owners FINALLY assert their rights to more choices in housing, better protections under the law and more real remedies than simple placebos?
On The Commons this week we are joined by Senator Mike Schneider. Senator Mikey, as he is known, was one of the first to introduce legislation creating the office of the ombudsman in Nevada. Over the past decade or so, the oversight has gone through many changes to the point where Nevada now has an entire panel to oversee associations and provide a place for homeowners to go for help. One of the biggest problems is that this panel is made up entirely of industry members, people with an interest in protecting the status quo. Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, October 11, 2008. We’ll find out how well this panel has worked and why, with so many people allegedly providing some desperately needed adult supervision, is the FBI investigating HOAs, management companies and attorneys. We’ll also find out whether or not they are all members of CAI. You wont want to miss this one.
