HOAs as a “failed experiment”?

“Failed experiment” was discussed on OnTheCommons internet talk radio show (http://onthecommons.us) with Evan McKenzie and Shu Bartholomew, its Host.  I’m happy to see that they recognize the HOA legal scheme of privatized government as an experiment.  Unfortunately, after 40 years it has proven to be a successful experiment and a well entrenched American institution, at the expense of the Constitution and our individual rights and freedoms.  And, sadly, pronouncements in support of private property rights and contract sanctity by the public interest organizations fail to recognize the denial of individual liberties by HOAs. (See The impact of ideology on the HOA legal scheme).

 

For a discussion of my Second American Experiment Commentary of July 21, 2008, see Homeowners Associations: the Second American Experiment.  Below is an excerpt from my new book, Establishing the New America (see http://starman.com/starpub for more information). 

 

 

1.1  The fall of the American Experiment 

Historians have referred to the American Revolution as the “American Experiment”, because it introduced a modern, as of that time, form of a democratic republic.  Would such a government based on the principles, beliefs and values of our Founding fathers survive the passage of time?  

. . . .

However, over the past century there has been a slow but steady erosion of the American Experiment.  We have witnessed the Supreme Court view the Constitution, that contract between the people and the federal government, as a “living document” subject to its interpretations, such as adding “privacy’ as a new fundamental right, ignoring the Ninth Amendment, and redefining the meaning of “public use” to mean “public purpose”.  This slippery slope is creating a land not of law, but of men. Witness the many battles to place the “right” men as Supreme Court Justices.

. . . .

In California, a rewrite of its HOA laws contains an empty chapter for a homeowners’ bill of rights.  In New Jersey, its Supreme Court believes that the business judgment rule is sufficient to protect homeowners’ fundamental rights.  In Arizona, the only two important HOA reform bills that would provide substantive due process protections were either killed or delayed by the actions of the Rules Committee chairmen.