In the article, Condo owners, boards clash over control, we once again see the national lobbying organization, CAI, urging the adoption of UCIOA in NJ that will create the New America under authoritarian, privately chartered governments under the guise of state law by NJ bill, S-805.
UCIOA never had a bill of rights at any time. CAI does not believe in constitutional rights for homeowners in planned communities. As stated in its amicus curiae brief to the NJ appellate court in the Twin Rivers case, CAI warns of “the unwise extension of constitutional rights to the use of private property by members” in the false belief that HOAs are a democratically constituted form of government. This statement reflects CAI’s fear of the judicial application of the Bill of Rights to HOAs. WHY?
CAI sees itself as “the voice of homeowner associations”, but has no HOA membership category any longer. Why? CAI also claims that planned communities represent the voice of the local community that has chosen HOAs, disregarding all those mandatory HOA requirements for new development across the country. Yet, CAI has been active across the country to impose a national law, UCIOA, that in reality replaces the US and state Constitutions as the supreme law of the land.
Section 3.1 of the Restatement Third, Property: Servitudes,, states that servitudes that are unconstitutional are invalid, and that servitudes that violate public policy by placing an unreasonable burden on constitutional rights are also invalid. Yet, in comment (h) in clarification of this section we see an about face with respect to constitutional rights and which right prevails (p. 359): “The question whether a servitude unreasonably burdens a fundamental constitutional right is determined as a matter of property law, not of constitutional law.” CAI’s amicus statement reflects its agreement with the preeminence of property law as the supreme law of the land.
NJ legislators really have no choice in this matter of HOA reforms, but to defeat S-805 and to support S-1608 sponsored by Senators Rice and Turner. The NJ appellate court has already ruled that HOAs are constitutional actors subject to the NJ constitution. As such, UCIOA would be seen as unconstitutional.
For more on this topic, see “10 Myths About HOAs” and “The Truth About HOA Acceptance”.
HOA Constitutional Government 