Good question from Deborah Goonan! In her article, Will AARP help rein in HOA abuse?, she examines in detail the views put forth by yours truly and others as to what has AARP really done to stop these private governments operating outside the Constitution.
Her excellent article presents activities by AARP in support of homeowners, such as support of requiring HOAs to accept partial assessment payments as to forestall foreclosure – 2013 amicus brief. She also presents harmless, ineffective articles “ tell me,” a foreclosure instance, and “boomers” like their HOA more than X-Geners.
All nice articles, like those we see in the news media, but none calling for action by the Feds to address the serious issues as contained in its 2006 Member Rights paper, or by my HOA Common Sense: rejecting private government summary of 6 HOA abuses of substance and of constitutional concern.
Deborah then examines two areas of AARP involvement, “What is AARP’s role in housing reform?” and “Where does AARP stand on housing policy?” She concludes with,
There’s no reason older Americans cannot have all the benefits of safe living environments and diverse housing choice, without promoting — almost exclusively — common ownership and privatization of local government.
AARP is a tremendous national powerhouse lobbyist representing, as reported in the 2014 WSJ article, some 37.8 million members. That’s a staggering number that is 100 times greater than CAI’s meager membership of 33,000 +/-. (Of which, it is estimated, that homeowners represent about 60% of the total membership).
Yet, it seems that CAI is the power house when it comes to HOA issues both at the federal and state levels. And AARP plays second fiddle.
HOA Constitutional Government 