HOA made no attempt to contact soldier in Iraq before foreclosing

As a followup to the Bogcritics article, While Fighting in Iraq, Soldier Loses Home to HOA,  a June 27th article appeared in the Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA), reporting that the Heritage Lakes HOA has hired a PR firm to address all the publicity stemming from this foreclosure.  In short, in dispute are the HOA claims that the assessments were owed before going on duty and when Clauer was on active duty,  and that they never knew he was on active duty.  Clauer’s attorney replied that they never even attempted to call him.

 Not addressing the claims and counterclaims, and adding to the justification for HOAs having the right to foreclose, I wrote in my HOA Constitutional Government commentary, “CAI attorney advises negotiate payments in HOA short sales“,

 I have written repeatedly about the short-sighted, self-defeating, hardnosed position that the HOA does not negotiate and does not give in one inch.  That posture stems from the great fear of a slippery-slope path to a loss in absolute power over homeowners — it would be a seen as a sign of weakness.  How true that is — asking the HOA to face reality rather than to foreclose themselves out of business as the CAI lawyers have been exhorting HOAs to do over the years.

And this attitude is reflected in the actions by the Heritage Lakes HOA — we don’t gotta do nuthin’, cause we have the power.

See also the May 2007, Memorial Day: American soldiers are defending a New America, one without democratic protections.