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.
 
It is ironic that HOAs were created to give municipal governments a means of shunting off their responsibilities onto the private sector, while still collecting those precious tax dollars.   And now, some four decades into this experiment, more bureaucracy is being created to supposedly control them.  With time, and the belief that you can’t fight City Hall, HOAs have become a prominent part of the American housing landscape.  But all is still not well in home and condo associations.  The problems mount and the complaints are too loud to ignore so state legislators grapple with ways of dealing with the many problems with them.  Unfortunately, attempts thus far to tame the beast have failed.  Is there a magic pill or a potion that will protect the rights of the individuals in HOAs?  Should there be more oversight or should we be framing the debate around whether or not this is a viable form of housing and if so, are they worth the added expenses?
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by Pia Trigiani.  Pia, a principal with the newly established law firm, MercerTrigiani has been named Chair of the newly formed Common Interest Community Board in Virginia.  This board was established in July to oversee management, promulgate more rules and provide some “help” to the homeowners.   Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, December 20, 2008.  We’ll find out more about the CICB, who sits on the Board and just what kind of help Virginia’s association homeowners can expect to get, and probably more importantly NOT get from them. 
 
Since law makers across the country seem to be totally clueless as to how to handle the growing problems in HOAs and the homeowners are never asked for their ideas of what should be done, we are soliciting your input.  How should we handle the growing problems in HOAs?  Send your thoughts to onthecommons@cox.net

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. 
 
Almost four decades ago residential America began to change.  No longer were Americans living in their own castles but instead, at the end of the day, found themselves going home to neighborhoods where the neighbors made all the decisions.  This brave new blueprint for our communities was to deliver lifestyles beyond the reaches and wildest dreams of most Americans.  Homeowners in these newfangled developments would have access to sparkling pools, tennis courts, hiking trails, golf courses, bridle paths, ponds, lakes and yes, even gazebos.  The cost?  A few dollars a month.  But wait, there is more.  In addition, these new experimental developments promised to not only protect property values but enhance them as well.  And the cost?  A few dollars a month ……. and complete control of that property. 
 
Has this new experiment delivered everything it promised?  Are American homeowners happier and better off today than they were before HOAs became the norm rather than the exception??
 
On The Commons this week we welcome back Professor Evan McKenzie.  Evan is the author of the best selling book Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government.  He teaches Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Common Interest Community Law at the John Marshall School of Law.  Evan is also a practicing attorney and maintains an active blog at http://privatopia.blogspot.com/ .   Please join us On The Commons.  We’ll skip all the usual pudgy pooch, dusty mailbox horror stories that seem to grab the headlines and go right to the heart of what is happening in today’s climate of economic uncertainty.  Are condo and homeowner associations surviving and just how secure are America’s 60 million HOA owners?  As a keen observer of associations, politics and current events, Evan puts HOAs right in the middle of the big picture.  You won’t want to miss this one. 

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.

From the very beginning, homeowners associations have had problems – and the unfettered power their boards and managers have been given have cause untold problems for the homeowners. The first “solution” was to “educate all involved” but over the past three decades that education has only exacerbated the problems. Then it was thought that “disclosure” would serve to warn consumers about what they were getting before they bought that controlled unit they had their eyes on, but that turned out to be nothing more than a lot of hot air and in fact put the owners in a more precarious position than they had been before they were warned. When the legislature got involved, they only mucked things up even more which gave the judicial system the perfect dodge – the “business judgment” rule, leaving the owners a lot poorer and in worse shape than they had been in before they went to the court house. So what is left? Where can homeowners turn for help in protecting their property rights and their greatest asset?

On The Commons this week we check back in with the folks in Houston In October the homeowners from all corners of Texas gathered for an intense session on identifying the problems in homeowners associations and prioritizing the ones they wanted to concentrate on first. In this broadcast you will hear Bill Davis talk about some of the issues he and his neighbors have been dealing with. We’ll also hear from Gwen Gates explaining 990’s and Shu talking about The 3 P’s. Please join us On The Commons We’ll listen in on three more “speeches” given at the conference in Houston.

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. 
 
From the very beginning, homeowners associations have had problems – and the unfettered power their boards and managers have been given have cause untold problems for the homeowners.  The first “solution” was to “educate all involved” but over the past three decades that education has only exacerbated the problems.  Then it was thought that “disclosure” would serve to warn consumers about what they were getting before they bought that controlled unit they had their eyes on, but that turned out to be nothing more than a lot of hot air and in fact put the owners in a more precarious position than they had been before they were warned.  When the legislature got involved, they only mucked things up even more which gave the judicial system the perfect dodge – the “business judgment” rule, leaving the owners a lot poorer and in worse shape than they had been in before they went to the court house.  So what is left?  Where can homeowners turn for help in protecting their property rights and their greatest asset?
 
On The Commons this week we check back in with the folks in Houston  In October the homeowners from all corners of Texas gathered for an intense session on identifying the problems in homeowners associations and prioritizing the ones they wanted to concentrate on first.  In this broadcast you will hear David Kahne go through more of the list of over 20 problems, talk about them and explain the options they had.  You will also hear Bob Adolph, a member of the Adolph family who have spent countless hours tracking the foreclosure filings by homeowners associations in Harris County and posting the information on their web page, www.hoadata.org .  Please join us On The Commons.  We’ll listen in as the homeowners share  their problems and talk about possible solutions.  We’ll also get an update on the foreclosure activity for the last several years and find out just who has been filing all these foreclosures.

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. 
 
You can’t paint a pretty picture on a dirty canvas anymore than you can build a community on a foundation of corruption.  Yet beneath the thin veneer of outwardly pristine neighborhoods, where every blade of grass is of a uniform length and color, lies the structure that makes it possible to chip away at the very heart of what these developments are supposed to represent.  Stories of embezzlement, once quietly hidden, now grab the headlines, along with tales of election fraud, bully tactics, fines, foreclosures and all the other horrors that have become a part of daily life for so many American unit owners. 
 
But finally someone started asking the tough questions and now the FBI is investigating the way some HOAs and condos do business in Las Vegas, Nevada.  While it appears that the focus of the investigation at this time is limited to construction defect litigation and election rigging, is there more that is contributing to the demise of our neighborhoods?  Should the FBI expand the scope of their investigation to include other areas of possible fraud?
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by Mari Parlade. Mari, an attorney with a huge heart in Las Vegas,  is one of a handful of attorneys who represents homeowners in cases against their associations.  Mari has been on the receiving end of threats by association attorneys, has had bar complaints filed against her and has otherwise seen, first hand, what it is like to be in the cross hairs of those who run residential America.  In the process of fighting to protect her clients’ homes and fighting for her career, she discovered yet another giant scam sucking the life out of communities and money out of owners’ pockets  Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, November 1, 2008.  We’ll hear her story and talk about another huge problem in HOAs that needs to be investigated.  You will want to hear this one.

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.
 
Residential America is anything but a peaceful, quiet, safe haven for American homeowners who live in one of over 300,000 mandatory membership homeowner associations nationwide.  Empowering boards and HOA professionals to run the homes and lives of all who live within the boundaries of the association has created problems.  How do individual homeowners protect their rights and their property from the abuses of those in power?  Is the answer always to go to court?  Are there other ways of returning some semblance of fairness to our neighborhoods?
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by David Kahne.  David, a Houston, Texas attorney is one of the few attorneys who will represent homeowners in a case against their homeowner associations.  David is experienced and knowledgeable about HOA law and understands perfectly well how lopsided and frustrating it can be to be in the crosshairs of the powers that be in HOAs.  Please join us On The Commons  We’ll talk a little about the Houston conference and also about two homeowners who fought the (HOA) law and won. 

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. 
 
Over the past four decades property ownership has changed – and not necessarily for the better.  In the old days one’s home was considered one’s castle and came complete with all the inherent rights of ownership.  The owner was free to live in relative peace and quiet.  But those days are long gone.  In today’s brave new world folks live in “units” where all the decisions pertaining to their house and a portion of their private lives is made by other people.  The owners in many homeowner associations are not free to exercise their right to choose the plants in the yard,  the color on the house or the type of window treatments.  Even such things as garden hoses, mulch and plants must be “approved”.  Some people think it is OK to live like that.
 
But not everyone……
 
Homeowners across the country are fighting to regain control over their own lives and their own homes.  Many homeowners have become involved with in the legislative process and some grass roots organizations have hosted conferences – for the homeowners.  On October 11, 2008 Texas homeowners from all over the state met in Houston to talk about their homes, their rights and their lives.  Despite the fact that hurricane Ike had knocked out power lines, collapsed houses, punctured holes in roofs, uprooted trees and otherwise disrupted lives leaving many without electricity and internet connectivity for several weeks, the Texas folks still managed to get together and talk about their problems and how they wanted to have them solved. 
 
On the Commons today we will drop in for a little while and eavesdrop on some of the conversations that took place.  We’ll hear about a partial list of the issues homeowners all over the country face and listen to some of the ideas they have of how to fix things.  Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, October 18, 2008.

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.

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 single day there is at least one HOA/condo story in some part of the country.  Whether the headline grabber happens to be someone who is denied the right to fly Old Glory, or exercise the right of free speech, or freedom of religion or a homeowner who neglected to get a hose approved, or shutting down children’s lemonade stands on common areas for fear of “lowering property values”.  Proponents of all the rules, regulations, restrictions, penalties, foreclosures and fines, to name just a few,  would have us believe that living in fear and misery is good for us and the only way to protect property values.  But what do the homeowners have to say about it?  Do people want to be harassed, abused, penalized?  Do they really want to live in fear of losing their homes and live in absolute terror of what their associations would do to them?
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by Jan Bergemann. Jan, the tireless president of the Florida based Cyber Citizens for Justice (www.ccfj.net ), has done some pretty amazing things for the members of his organization.  CCFJ has recently conducted a survey of people who have an interest in HOAs in Florida.  The participants include industry professionals as well as homeowners.  Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, October 4, 2008.  We’ll find out about the survey and what the results reveal.  We’ll also find out whether or not Americans want to live under such harsh and dictatorial conditions. 

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. 
 
The opposite of order is, I am told, chaos and heavens, we really can’t have that.  Therefore, in an orderly society we follow the rules.  So rules are rules and we are to obey them.  At least that is what the rule books all say.  There are harsh penalties for violating some rules. I am not talking about laws here, but rules.  And in a civilized society I quite agree with the notion of adhering to certain norms and accepted standards but does that mean we have to obey every single rule that some bright spark entered into a rule book someplace?  And what about the rules that are so ludicrous?  If the rules harm us, are we required to endanger ourselves for the sake of a rule?  And how on earth do we end up with such stupid rules in the first place? 
 
On The Commons this week we are joined by Kent Nauman. Kent, a condo owner,  has experienced firsthand what happens when he violated a leash rule adopted by the board of his association.  The rule limits the length of pet leashes to 4 feet but a short leash on his two dogs would cause him to fall.  We’ll  hear more about this particular rule and we’ll find out how it affects Kent, why following it would cause him harm and the next step in this 6 year battle.  During the second half of the show we are joined by Jean Winters.  Jean is a Florida attorney who got her law degree after having had a long career as an electrical engineer and now is in a select group of attorneys who represent homeowners, as well as some homeowner associations.  Jean has a lot of insight in what is happening in Florida’s many condo and homeowner associations.  Please join us On The Commons this Saturday, September 27, 2008.  We’ll find out about stupid rules, abusive boards and attorneys who try to make some sense of it all.