All posts by terrybar

Corruption, Empowerment

Shelly Marshall

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While we were not looking, special interests have taken control of our homes.  Gone are the days when ownership meant enjoying dominion over one’s domain. Those days have been replaced by a new order where every Tom, Dick and Harry has a financial stake in what once was considered sacred territory.  Who are these special interests who have high jacked our once simple and more or less peaceful way of life?  A very short list would include governments, developers, environmental commissions, banks and lending institutions, HOA industry, and the list goes on.  And what do they have to gain by it?  MONEY and POWER!  Cutting off the money supply and the power is the only way to restore healthy families and communities in America. 

Shelly Marshall joins us On The Commons.  Shelly must have been born with a sense of making the world a better place.  She says as  young lady she wanted to save the world with love and ended up sticking daisies in the barrels of police guns.  That spirit of “saving the world” is still very much a part of who Shelly is.  She is a published author, an advocate and the founder of many web sites dedicated to helping people solve their problems. Her latest endeavor is a web site under construction called HOA Lawyer.   This website is designed to provide information and links for homeowners to get started on their own research.  It is also building a listing of attorneys across the country who will represent homeowners who are fighting to protect their property rights. If you know an attorney who  represents owners, please submit their names (with their permission) to the web site.  Let us help Shelly stick daisies all over the country and turn our neighborhoods into fields of daisies.  

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Uncategorized

Julio Robaina

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What a concept!  Build homeowner associations to give municipal governments a sneaky underhanded way of collecting what amounts to free tax money.  This sleight of hand is also known as double taxation.  It works very nicely for local governments – not so well for the homeowners involved.  Developers increase density thus increasing profit margins.  Housing consumers are told that this scheme will protect property values and allow them to enjoy greater control over their immediate surroundings.   To add insult to injury, real governments have adopted a hands off approach, claiming it is a civic matter.  State legislators have enacted legislation empowering associations while  special interest groups reap the benefits.

While the carnage continues, those in a position to prevent these atrocities have front row seats to the modern day Gladiator Games.

Julio Robaina joins us On The Commons.  Julio is a former Florida State Representative who, during his term, toured the State with a task force talking to home and condo owners.  The stories he heard from the owners convinced him that something had to be done to stop horrors.  He introduced legislation that would provide oversight through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, but subsequent legislative tinkering and bureaucratic red tape has all but rendered the program useless.  Not one to give up, Julio, who I nicknamed “The Energizer Bunny” years ago, went straight from the State House into property management where he is still working with the homeowners to put a stop to fraud and embezzlement and to ensure fair elections.  He and his partner have a web page detailing all the problems and the issues, naming names and streaming news clips.  Condo Receiver  is a treasure trove of stories and a must see for anyone who wants to understand just how bad things can get in residential America. And while the stories are about Florida, these stories are replicated nationwide.  And the Energizer Bunny is still fighting!

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Powers of Association, Property Values

Bill Davis

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The earliest deed restricted communities were exclusionary and were honest enough to admit the reason of their existence.  It wasn’t until we got to the mass production of these neighborhoods that we see the entire HOA house of cards was built on a foundation of deceit.  It started as a way of allowing local municipal governments to collect “free” tax money while the homeowners ended up paying twice for the same services.  At one point Declarations started off by saying, “The purpose of this association is to protect property values”.  Unable to substantiate that claim, I don’t think they include that statement any more.  But the “purpose for HOAs” was out there.  And once you start off by telling a lie, more and more lies will have to be told to cover up for the first one.  And of course, every lie will need some form of enforcement mechanism. 

Dismantling this house of cards before the entire system collapses and millions of people are hurt financially and emotionally is a tough job. It is, however,  something that will need to be done.

Bill Davis joins us On The Commons.  Bill, an attorney in Texas, switched his practice to representing homeowners and consumers.  And having made that switch, he has been very busy ever since.  I love listening to his stories about some of his cases.  I am not sure if the “interesting” cases just naturally gravitate towards him or if Bill has a natural talent for zeroing in on the absurdities of HOAs, board members and the attorneys and managers who spend their time propping them up.  I always enjoy talking to Bill and listening to his theories and his stories and this interview is no exception.  

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Legislation

Frank Short

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Right from the very beginning there were problems in mandatory membership Homeowner Associations.  No matter how creative the spin or how big the lies about the illusive benefits of HOA living, the sad truth is, the problems were always there.  Every effort to “fix” them resulted in bigger problems and even more headaches. They, in turn, led to bigger and more unconscionable abuses by the HOAs against their own homeowners. Every subsequent “fix” simply exacerbated the problems.  And contrary to what the advocates of controlled living would have us believe, none of the horror stories are “isolated incidents”. Every state grapples with the same problems every year and every year new laws are proposed, argued over, some enacted, many of the good ones passed over and a year later we are all back trying to “fix” the same problems, yet again. 

After four decades of this charade, you’d think we’d learn, wouldn’t you?

Frank Short joins us On The Commons.  Frank is an attorney with an Irish wit, a strong sense of right and wrong and a very keen understanding of the HOA laws and the inherent issues.  He has been around long enough to have a rich supply of HOA stories.  Frank joins us for our annual St. Patrick’s Day round-up of HOA bills that have been introduced in Virginia.  We look at the bills, talk about what they will do and whether or not they will help homeowners.  We also talk about some very good proposed legislation in Illinois.  And to keep it interesting and fun, Frank regales us with actual tales from the HOA trenches.

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Uncategorized

Jim Lane

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If you ever wonder why we are having so many problems in residential America, all you have to do is follow the bouncing ball.  The trail will lead you to a number of issues that almost every mandatory membership development in every state faces.  When you look at what is happening and then go back to what these associations were supposed to be,  and think about all the platitudes spread around the country like manure in flowerbeds, the stink will be unavoidable.  The flowers that are growing are not for the benefit of the owners but are being plucked by the special interests.

Jim Lane joins us On The Commons.  Jim is a homeowner and activist in North Carolina where he has spent time trying to educate homeowners and has lobbied to have homeowner friendly legislation enacted in NC.  His group is called Coalition for Homeowner Protection and Reform of Homeowner Association Laws  We talk to Jim about some of the issues and the problems and the current laws in NC.  One of Jim’s main concerns is that there really is nowhere for homeowners to turn for help when they find themselves in the crosshairs of the association.  He points out that although the legislature has enacted laws allowing the homeowners some access to books and records, the state has not provided an enforcement mechanism other than costly litigation.  We also discuss what needs to be done and why the HOA system, as it is currently configured, is NOT working FOR the homeowners.  

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Assessments, Municipal Abuse

Chuck Welsh

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Now that mass produced homeowner associations have become the norm rather than an anomaly, we tend to just shrug our shoulders and accept them as a necessary evil.  But why do we have them in the first place?  And why, as time goes on, do we lose more rights in our own homes than we had even a decade ago? Why do HOAs come with a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions?  Why not a Bill of Rights instead?  Or better yet, why not go back to the free form of ownership where the owner is the “king (or queen) of the castle?  Proponents of HOAs gasp and claim we’d end up with utter chaos.  But by stripping away basic, fundamental rights are we even thinking of how this increasingly restrictive form of ownership will affect future generations?  Or are we only concerned about increasing the tax coffers of local municipalities and feeding the insatiable HOA industry beast?

Chuck Welsh joins us On The Commons.  Chuck is a former developer with a lot of experience on the formation of associations.  He has some insights on what goes into turning several acres of raw land into a development where people will live and raise families.  We’ll talk to Chuck and try to get into a developer’s mind to understand what he sees when he looks at several acres of nothing but dirt, stones, trees and shrubs.  What is he thinking and what is he hoping to build?  Chuck was not involved with some of the more massive developments that are larger than some cities but more with the smaller ones.  The ones on a more human scale.  But why inflict a homeowners association on future owners?  Chuck believes that the clean water act of the late 70’s gave birth to retention ponds seen all over the place and their maintenance is ultimately responsible for HOA mandates across the country.  We also talk about property values and the future of homeownership.

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Abuse, Assessments, Fighting Back

Barbara Stage

3 Comments

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Shouldn’t we be trying to simplify life?  With all the technological and scientific advances that have been made recently, we have the resources and the ability to really free up our time, allowing us to devote ourselves to our families and friends and on the things that make us happy.  Instead, we are being bogged down in layers and layers of red tape. If we did get rid of the things that really make no sense, would the abuses simply vanish and would we, in effect, create a kinder, friendlier environment?

Barbara Stage joins us On The Commons.  Barbara is an attorney in central Florida, where she represents homeowners as well as homeowners associations (HOAs).  The slogan on her website reads; “Protecting the rights of homeowners across the state of Florida”.  Barbara recently wrote a letter to the Florida Legislature advocating for greater oversight of HOAs and also for less costly alternatives to preserving one’s rights against their association.  We talk to Barbara about some of the atrocities she has witnessed over the years in Florida HOAs.  We find out what kind of advice industry attorneys give their HOA clients and we talk about HOAs refusing to cash checks from homeowners and sending legal notices to wrong addresses.  And that’s just for starters, there is so much more.  I ask myself again, what on earth are we thinking?

Share your stories on  From the HOA Trenches

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Abuse, Violence

Jerry Berg

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Over the years battle weary homeowners across the country have reached out to share their tales of woe as they try to survive in their own homes.  Some of the stories are sad, others make me mad, some are funny, silly, ridiculous, outrageous, abusive, horrible and even deadly but the one thing they all have in common is that they reinforce my belief that this housing concept is structurally flawed and cannot be tweaked and made into something a little more homeowner friendly.  Nothing short of a major overhaul will suffice to drag it out of the dark ages.

Jerry Berg joins us On The Commons.  Jerry lives in a condominium in Kansas and like many other homeowners in America, Jerry wondered, out loud,  what was happening to all the money the association was collecting from the homeowners.  That was 5 years ago.  His curiosity earned him a severe beating with a crow bar, which landed him in the hospital.  He was jailed a couple of times, fined $100 seventy one times.  One of those fines was for walking his dog “too slowly” across their private driveway.  His court case was recently postponed so he continues to live in limbo, just waiting for justice to be served.  Hoping that justice will be served.  In the meantime he has had more surgery and the insanity in his neighborhood continues.  

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Conflict Management, Empowerment

Wes Rocki

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If I could draw I think I would write the HOA book as a series of cartoons because that’s how my mind tends to work.  Many of those cartoons would be funny, others not so funny.  But over the years never has there been a sumo wrestler in any of my imagined doodles or cartoons – until this interview.  That’s when I started putting sumo wrestlers in the picture .  But a gratuitous, enormous hulking, naked man in what appears to be a diaper, in the middle of a manicured, sterile, characterless, controlled residential association wasn’t quite connecting.  So, I decided to read up on sumo wrestling and sumo wrestlers. And all of a sudden it was a perfect fit, diaper and all.  I discovered, among other things, that although some of these massive men appear to be invincible, they have been toppled by smaller opponents.  A sumo historian is quoted as saying he believes the circular ring was chosen to assist smaller fighters slip away and that the sumo rules tends to root for the underdog.

If you find yourselves in the bullseye of an HOA battle, facing what may seem like a sumo wrestler, grin at the diaper and know that you can win.

Dr. Wes Rocki, MD, PhD joins us On The Commons.  Retired from practicing conventional medicine, Wes now focusses on alternative medicine, including techniques on self help and self healing.  He explains how we can empower ourselves to better handle any conflict.  We talk about how we can step away, mentally and emotionally to get a better grasp of the situation.  Wes gives us a lot of really good advice on how to not only survive being at the center of an HOA storm but how to survive emotionally, reframe the conflict, empower ourselves and win against that massive sumo wrestler in the ring with us.  So many light bulbs went off during the course of this interview.  Listen and be empowered.

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Abuse, Property Ownership, Property Rights

Bonner Cohen

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Claiming to be a 5th generation landowner, Philip Thompson said, “I will do whatever it takes to help preserve the countryside we call home”.  The countryside he calls home is in Fauquier County, Virginia about an hour outside Washington DC.  He inherited much of the land in the countryside he called home,  then proceeded to place a large tract into a conservation easement managed by the Piedmont Environmental Council, (PEC). Much like the Declarations in residential associations, the easements restrict the use of the property. Much like a residential association, power is given to the administrator.  And we all know that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”(Lord Acton) regardless of who has it.

Dr. Bonner Cohen joins us On The Commons.  Dr. Cohen is a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research.  He also serves as senior policy analyst with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow.  He is an author, has spoken at conferences, and appears on TV and radio.  Dr. Cohen, a friend of Martha Boneta, has been following the horrors and abuses taking place in Liberty Farms.  He wrote an article  about the latest round of lawsuits.  We find just what Mr. Thompson meant when he said he would do “whatever it takes…”  And for “before” and “after” pictures of what the farm looked like under the Thomas’s and the PEC’s stewardship, watch Farming in Fear. 

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