Problems in HOAs? Really? Ask anyone, your problems are easy to fix if your problems are with your HOA. 1) you can move and 2) you can “throw the bums out”. We’ve all heard those simple solutions, right? Recall a board? There ought to be a law about it. There was.
Joining us On The Commons this week is Julio Robaina. Julio has long been a friend of homeowners, first as a legislator in Florida and now as a partner in a management company, Pazos, Robaina & Zapata Management Group working in the private sector. We catch up with Julio, talk about the laws he put in place as a legislator and the laws that are being overturned now. We talk about the problems homeowners face and we discuss what the homeowners need to do to ensure that they are protected. As I drove home from the studio the tune From Both Sides Now kept playing in my head. Tune in and you’ll understand why.
HOA and Condo horror stories have been around as long as HOAs and condos have been part of the American housing scene. Every great once in awhile some brave reporter has dared to venture onto the battlefields to report on the goulash events but those stories have been few and far between and have represented just the tip of the iceberg. Under cover of darkness, the abuses continued. But the internet made “The Fifth Estate” possible and “citizen reporters” have taken matters in their own hands.
Joining us On The Commons this week is Ward Lucas. Ward is an award winning TV News anchorman and investigative journalist who experienced the horrors of HOA living firsthand. He wrote a book called Neighbors at War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association. He also maintains a blog at http://neighborsatwar.com We’ll talk about the world of beige and the limitless possibilities of the Fifth Estate.
It is common knowledge that stress affects our health adversely. It is an equally well known fact that we react differently to situations when we are under stress than we would otherwise. So it is not such a great stretch to realize that stress can be used to undermine someone in an adversarial situation. Is there anything that can be done to mitigate the damage caused by these dirty tactics?
Joining us On The Commons this week we have Dr. Karen Huffer. Dr. Huffer is an author, associate professor, researcher, speaker and consultant. We will talk about the effects of stress not only in our daily lives but how stress can affect us in specific situations, including tactics used in court to dehumanize individuals. She will share some tricks on how to handle those specific situations. She has devoted her career to ensuring that people with disabilities have equal access to services. Her website with information about her books and webinars can be found at http://www.equalaccessadvocates.com
Does a homeowners’ association board have a duty to know and understand the authority they are granted by the laws and governing documents and the duties they have to the association and its members? When a board exceeds its authority and starts enforcing rules they never had the ability to adopt in the first place, the members of the association end up having to pay the price. And some homeowners in particular pay an even bigger price.
Joining us On The Commons this week is Jean Winters. Jean is an attorney in Florida who appears to follow the letter of the law and represents homeowners. In a recent court case win she managed to unearth a number of wrongs that had been ongoing for almost a quarter of a century. Join us to find out about the particulars of the case, the laws in Florida and the sad story about one of the victims of a board who strayed outside the lines of their authority.
In our quest to make everyone a homeowner and provide affordable housing to those who could not otherwise afford a mortgage, after several decades the hens appear to have come home to roost. During the housing boom, apartment buildings were turned into condos to meet the demand of affordable units and now, after massive failures, condos are being turned back into rental apartments. Artificially lowering the upfront costs of homeownership neglected to take into account the long term costs. We are now faced with answering the tough questions of whether or not they are a viable form of ownership. Even the most ardent proponents are starting to have second thoughts.
Joining us On The Commons this week is Tyler Berding. Tyler is an attorney in Northern California who represents HOAs and maintains a blog at www.condoissues.blogspot.com where he has been sounding the alarm about the inherent problems in condos. We will talk about the current situation in the rather topsy turvy world of older and not so old condominiums and find out where we go from here. Are other cultures more successful at managing condo style living. Tune in to find out.
Political speech is the most protected form of speech there is. When a candidate for public office places a campaign sign on his property in a condominium and is told to take it down, his right to free speech is being violated. When a candidate for his association board is prohibited from campaigning in the association, his right to free speech is being violated. Proponents of controlled living would have us believe that we voluntarily gave up our First Amendment rights when we bought into a residential association. Did we? Fortunately some courts do not agree and still hold the notion that the First Amendment is alive and well, no matter where you live.
Joining us On The Commons this week is Professor Frank Askin. Professor Askin is a law professor at Rutgers University where he established the Constitutional Litigation Clinic, involving law students in actual cases. The students have been involved in working on several cases involving HOAs and are currently working on a very comprehensive proposal to ensure fair elections in associations. Their motto is, “While others learn the law, we make the law”.
It is commonly accepted that stress causes psychological, emotional and physical harm. The effects of stress and our reaction to stress seems to be changing the world we live in. We encounter stress from morning till night. Getting up in the morning, getting the kids off to school, catching public transportation, sitting in traffic trying to get to work, dealing with congestion, road rage, an irate boss, non performing employees. The list goes on and on. But what happens when there is no escaping stress? What happens when even your home is subject to stress from the neighborhood bullies?
Joining us On The Commons this week is Dr. Gary Solomon. Dr. Solomon is a professor of psychology in Las Vegas, Nevada. He wrote a paper on the effects of stress due to homeowners associations and coined the term HOA Syndrome to describe how the unnecessary stresses of HOAs affect us. Tune in to this fascinating interview with Dr. Solomon where he talks about the stories that are grabbing the headlines, puts thoughts and ideas that are not yet on the national radar in what to expect as a result of the controlled living . The fallout of HOAs can be huge. You won’t want to miss this interview. Dr. Solomon also has a terrific web site with lectures and articles check it out http://hoaacademy.com .
Condos and HOA housing has appealed to local governments because it is an easy source of funds without the hassle of having to do anything for that money. The idea being that owners would govern themselves, maintain the common elements and essentially become an island upon themselves. However, after several decades of trial, and mostly error, we are beginning to see the concept unravel and fail quite miserably, reminding us that there really is no such thing as a free lunch.
Joining us On The Commons this week is Professor Evan McKenzie. Evan is the author of Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government and his more recent book Beyond Privatopia: Rethinking Residential Private Government. He maintains an active blog at privatopia.blogspot.com/ as well as a web site at www.evanmckenzie.com. We’ll talk about some of the failures and find out what the City of Chicago is doing to address the many failed condominiums.
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.
Every year, on or near St Patrick’s Day, the Leprechauns give us their perspective on the sorry state of affairs in homeowner associations in America. This year is no exception. In addition to their rather irreverent and whacky behavior, they have a couple of very important lessons for HOA Board members and attorneys who represent the associations. Their lessons, however, are very serious.
Joining us On The Commons this week we have our chief leprechaun, Frank Short who is joined by Taylor Reardon and Matt Kafami. We’ll learn about the lessons mentioned above, have a giggle or two and oh, yes, the leprechauns have a treat for you, all the way from Ireland, a soulful rendition of a new song written just for HOAs.
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.
Housing consumers who buy into an HOA controlled development are told that by signing the settlement papers that they have entered into a contract with the association. What does that mean? Proponents of HOAs, in the event of a dispute or a more serious problem, are quite happy to explain simply by saying, “Oh, but you agreed!” In other words, homeowners, you have no rights because you signed them all away.
But wait…
Black’s Law Dictionary defines contract, in part, as “An agreement between two or more persons which creates an obligation to do or not to do a particular thing.” Does that mean that the association has limits and obligations to the homeowners? Or can associations do anything they want?
Joining us On The Commons this week we have Patrick Batt and Rudy Grom. Pat and Rudy live in Manchester Oaks, a townhouse development in Northern Virginia where both households were being discriminated against when it came to using common parking spaces. Trying to resolve the problem with their board of directors got them nowhere so they decided to enforce the provisions of the “contract” through the courts. Their case went all the way up to the Virginia Supreme Court and they won. Join us as we get the details of this case.
