My letter to the AZ Central authors, and others:
To authors, Jessica Boehm & Catherine Reagor,
A great in-depth article (HOAs foreclosing on hundreds of Phoenix-area homeowners for as little as $1200) on foreclosure! About time! However, some comments.
I am disturbed that you quote a Florida advocate and ignore all my work on the inequities of HOA foreclosures. And, you quote HOA attorney Bolen of CAI and the AACM HOA managers – not licensed by ADRE — who are special interest vendors to HOAs. This is very disturbing and reflects a bias in the media. I hope that Commissioner Lowe takes notice of the media failing to report the whole truth about HOA foreclosure.
See Draconian punishment and intimidation, No. 8 in my HOA Common Sense: rejecting private government. Here’s an excerpt for your edification:
“An award of more than the 10 times for punitive damages was held by the US Supreme Court in State Farm v. Campbell[iii] to be a cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th Amendment. This right to [HOA] foreclose is unjust and draconian taking away a person’s home and leaving him with nothing!
It is unconscionable and discriminatory as explained below. . . . [quoting CAI member attorney] If the property is not subject to a mortgage or there is a minimal first mortgage, foreclosure is a viable option as there is likely equity in the property. . . . Even if the property is subject to a recorded first mortgage and there is no equity in the property, foreclosure still may be a viable option. Sometimes the threat of foreclosure alone is enough to get a delinquent owner’s attention”
In short, the HOA only gets money if there is sufficient equity in excess of the mortgage, otherwise it gets nothing. It ain’t fair! It’s discriminatory and punitive.
I keep on hoping that investigative reporters do their job – fully investigate the issues without fear of telling it like it is!
HOA Constitutional Government 
Tonight Channel 3 had a story on HOA’s foreclosing for as little as $1200.00. They interviewed an attorney who explained how quickly one can owe $1200 because this includes fines and attorney fees. He explained most homeowners do not realize this can happen. The attorney is one of the few who work for home owners and stated he wished the legislature would correct this problem.
I agree. There is no reason for any HOA to foreclose on a homeowner. SOLUTION #1: HOAs should aim to work out a payment plan without any attorney involved. DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THE ATTORNEY WHOSE MAIN GOAL IS TO MAKE A PROFIT VIA THEIR BILLINGS. THEY DO NOT NOT WANT TO SOLVE ISSUES OR HELP THE HOMEOWNERS. THEY DO NOT CARE.
Don’t HOAs realize that each time there is a foreclosure it hurts the values of every homeowner including the Board members? DO THE ATTORNEYS INVOLVED IN FORECLOSURES CARE? NO! TO THEM IT IS BUSINESS AS USUAL. THEY ARE VULTURES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF POOR PEOPLE. THEY DO NOT CARE THAT THEY ARE HURTING FAMILIES AND CHILDREN. EACH TIME A FAMILY IS FORECLOSED, THE FAMILY GETS HURT INCLUDING CHILDREN AND ELDERLY SENIOR CITIZENS in many cases.
Avoid the legal vultures that are out to make a profit by billing their legal hours so it makes is harder or impossible for the homeowner to catch up. It is indecent behavior on the side of any HOA, attorney or management company who try to take advantage of a homeowner. The attorneys who take advantage of the poor homeowner’s plight should be ashamed of themselves. Have they no shame or decency? It is a dirty way to make money and that is why some of these vultures have the nickname “dirty attorneys”. Sometimes from what I have read the attorney’s outrageous fees are more than the little amount the homeowner owns. It should be illegal.
ADRE needs to stop those attorneys and management companies from ruining homeowners lives. They need to be exposed. Every attorney, management company and HOA involved in each foreclosure should have their name in the HALL OF SHAME on the front page of every newspaper until this abusive practice stops. Let their friends and neighbors how they make their money. I am sure they can not be proud of hurting homeowners.
The legislators that do not stand up and vote for laws to protect homeowners are also to blame. Legislators owe their allegiance to the people who voted for them, not to the special interest lobbyists. Any legislator who does not pass a law to protect the homeowners vs. the attorneys and management companies lobbying groups should be voted out of office and exposed. When are they going to stand up and ignore all the ridiculous lobbying from special interest groups that are sucking up to them? It is time to wake up before the homeowners keep being taken advantage of.
The media has a huge opportunity to expose this tremendous problem. They need to investigate who profits from the foreclosures: the attorneys, the management companies or the HOAs? FOLLOW THE MONEY. Go further and look into who is buying the foreclosures? Is there any connection between the attorneys that foreclose and the buyers who invest in the foreclosures? Who is getting the money when there is a foreclosure? The media needs to follow the money and that is how the investigative reporters can have the biggest story of the century. FOLLOW THE MONEY AND EXPOSE THE PEOPLE INVOLVED. Who is benefiting by targeting homeowners and how much are they making in each case?
Look at each attorney or firm involved in each foreclosure. Investigate the fees that they are charging. Notice that the firms do not try to help the homeowners, they are just interested in their billings and profits. HELPING THE HOMEOWNER IS NOT PART OF THEIR PLAN, THEY ARE JUST INTERESTED IN MAKING MONEY. If the media does this, they will be doing a service to the homeowners by exposing the corruption that has gone on for too long.
I really wonder how those people involved in ruining homeowner’s lives and taking their homes away, sleep at night. They certainly can not respect themselves or what they do if they have any decency and a conscience.
When are we going to wake up and come together to ban HOA’s?
Personally I see no reason for an HOA to foreclose on a property. Leave that to financial institutions. When/if the foreclosure proceeds, the HOA should be able to gather their interest after the bank’s obligations are fulfilled OR perhaps when the property is sold. It is shameful that Judy Lowe and Gov Ducey are not watching what travesties occur daily in HOA’s. New developments should not be allowed to write these one-sided contracts and if they do hopefully people will become enlightened and learn to walk away. Boards are ludicrous and Insurers even worse when they blindly defend board members who are out to hurt their fellow homeowners. I know I said a lot here, but I’ve experienced a bad board, and that’s what exists in most HOA communities.
Yes, great letter and I made comment on AZ Republic. Thanks, Sandy
On Sep 14, 2017 10:44 AM, “HOA Constitutional Government” wrote:
> pvtgov posted: “My letter to the AZ Central authors, and others: To > authors, Jessica Boehm & Catherine Reagor, A great in-depth article (HOAs > foreclosing on hundreds of Phoenix-area homeowners for as little as $1200) > on foreclosure! About time! However, some comm” >