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.
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.
Scuttlebutt has it that you can’t fight City Hall. I wonder who started that rumor? City Hall perhaps? The same is being said about HOAs. “You’ll never win so don’t bother, the HOA always wins”. Whoever started that rumor must have had his fingers crossed behind his back because the homeowners have been winning and they have been winning big.
This week we talk to another homeowner who also won his case against his Homeowners Association and the developer. I guess you could say it is a double whammy. But it gets better.
Joining us On The Commons this week we have Bill Davis. Bill, a frequent guest and a friend of the show, is a Texas attorney who, because of his experiences, has become an expert in HOA law. Join us as he explains the twists and turns and all the complex nuances that took place over the last 6 years in his case against his association. Along the way we discover some of the hidden treasures that added spice to his story and wonder how it will all end when the dust finally settles.
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.
Home is where the heart is and when that home is part of a homeowner association, sometimes it is very hard to find the heart.
The Landing Condominium in EL Largo, Texas is a perfect example of a housing development without a heart. The Landing had water views from most of the units and was home to 150 families until hurricane Ike came along and damaged some of the homes. But what happened next cannot be blamed on Ike.
Joining us On The Commons this week we have Mitchell Katine. Mitch is an attorney in Houston Texas who represents both homeowner associations and homeowners. He likes to say he represents the law. Mitch. Along with attorneys Andy Taylor and Gregory Cagle represented a dozen homeowners in what is a huge jury award. Join us this week as Mitch takes us through three cases in The Landings and explains how the condominium development went from being a dream home to 150 families to being a big hole in the ground and why the jury awarded the homeowners $1,356,880 in damages PLUS $616,678 in attorney fees. Mitch has a web site at www.lawkn.com
Something really sinister seems to happen to people when they are put in a position of perceived power, especially if they are not emotionally and mentally mature enough to handle the responsibilities that go along with the position. We’ve all heard and read about the horror stories in mandatory membership residential associations but can that really be happening? I mean, this is America, right? People do have rights, don’t they?
Joining us On The Commons is Ward Lucas. Ward is an award winning investigative journalist who came face to face with the beast that resides deep in the heart of every HOA. Shocked at first, he decided to use his talents as an investigative journalist to see if what he experienced was “an isolated incident”. What he discovered prompted him to write Neighbors at War; The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association. Join us as we take an all too quick peek into what is a must read for every American.
Ward also has a website NeighborsAtWar.com and you can email him at [email protected] and his book is available at Amazon.
