HOA Constitutional Government

A recent article by KHON2 news reported a controversial aspect of HOA life that homeowners were never told or explained when they bought their HOA controlled home.

“Residents upset over extra homeowners fee to cover hundreds who defaulted on dues.   So how is this allowed to happen and is it legal to make the others pay?”

Those members who have paid their assessments are outraged and argue that it ain’t fair.  It’s not a question of fairness, but of the adhesion CC&Rs contract and legal structure of their HOA corporation.  In short, the HOA is like a small, private business whose income comes from its mandatory members, and when assessments fall short it has the right, under contract, to assess the shortfall to make up the difference.  All buried within the governing documents, but never explained to the membership.

And the  members are all deemed to have given their agreement to the CC&Rs with full knowledge and nothing kept  from them.  “Say it  ain’t so, Joe.”

YES, it’s called joint and severable liability where each member is responsible for other member shortfalls.  But, CAI, that alleged national educational expert organization, does not tell the world that this is the legal structure of an HOA.  Shame on them!

And the other lunacy argued by CAI: foreclose on them. That’s like getting blood from a turnip.  Ludicrous!

CAI has elevated us from “a handful of malcontent troublemakers” of the 2000 – 2005 era to characterizing us as “a threat to societal values and interests” and proponents of “knee-jerk reaction legislation“[1] (following the statements made by AZ Rep. Ugenti to the AZ legislature in 2013[2]).

That’s a step up the food chain, but what does it mean?  It means that CAI is realizing that the issues and arguments advanced by advocates are not only legitimate, but rise to the level of a social movement.   It also means that CAI has continued over the years with its indoctrination of the masses using its model of community government (HOAs) that ignores questions of unconstitutionality and state law violations. This has been accomplished by its Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, purported to be educational for a better America.  Why, then, is there are no references or quotes from constitutional lawyers.

How can CAI CEO, Tom Skiba, state the following with a straight face? “The findings objectively refute the unfounded and unsubstantiated myth that the community association model is failing to serve the best interests of Americans who choose to live in common-interest communities.”[3]  Is that a self-asserted claim to professionalism or a plain example of self-serving propaganda?

Yes, that’s what we are saying about not serving Americans, but HOA-Landers.  Apparently Skiba has ignored the advocacy polls showing that there are indeed widespread and substantial legal problems with the HOA concept.[4]

In statistical terms … the table below shows that the CAI and Combined responses (average percentages) come from 2 distinct samples of the HOA population at a 99.5% significance level. Now, in laymen’s terms, what does this mean and how can this wide gap in views be reconciled? First, the lauded CAI surveys do not represent the complete population of HOA members as claimed by CAI and these surveys cannot be promoted as representing reality within HOA-Land.

AND FURTHERMORE,  Look where CAI had to go to find support: (with all due respect, in an automobile industry journal, the Coventry Journalism Review 2010[5] (“Coventry Journalism Review 2010 is a collection of academic papers on journalism and the media from postgraduate students of Automotive Journalism, Global Journalism and Health Journalism at Coventry University”, which I believe is a British website/publication), in an article written by a Daljinder Nagra. Who??  There is no statement of author’s credentials.

 WOW!  How desperate is CAI to maintain its selective rosy portrait of HOA life, while ignoring the plight of homeowners depicted, as a sampling, by the Judy Thomas series of articles in the KC Star[6]???  It’s a “let them eat cake posture”!   Is that the new vision of a healthy and robust community desired by Americans?  I think not!

 

References

[1] CAI Community Affairs Blog, Aug. 18, 2016.

[2] See The influence of HOA special interests on an AZ legislator — SB 1454.

[3] CAI Letter to Editor, Kansas City Star.

[4] See Combined Advocate Surveys vs. CAI surveys.

[5] See Moral Panics: How Media Influences the Legislature.

[6] “HOAS From Hell”, Judy Thomas, KC Star.

Too frequently we hear our politicians utter the phrase, “I take responsibility for . . .” after some event has occurred for which they were directly the cause, or for which someone under their authority fouled up.  However, they are empty statements and the politicians proceed as if they have been absolved from any wrong-doing by making such empty statements.

So we have state legislatures, as a whole, and individual legislators failing to acknowledge their role in supporting and in cooperating with HOA special interests, while sacrificing the protections of individual rights and freedoms found in the US Constitution.  There is no justifiable excuse for this conduct whatsoever!

The time has come for state legislatures to say,

“The Legislature takes responsibility for its role in protecting and supporting the HOA legal scheme.”

“The Legislature takes responsibility for its role for violating and not defending the US and state constitutions, and in doing so, bringing harm to good Americans.”

The legislatures must own-up to their failures and take responsibility for their failures to act, but not by making empty statements. They must act in an honorable manner. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “For the Legislator is an honorable person.  So are they all, all honorable people.”   And honorable people will do the right thing.

No, they need not resign or quit as is the customary act of honorable people who erred and caused others harm, but to atone for their sins, correcting the errors of their way and restoring unity to this nation.

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

This country must function under one set of laws for everyone, and not one for those in HOA-Land and another for historic, constitutional America.  Only state legislators can set it right by making HOAs subject to constitutional local government requirements, and still retain the privacy of the subdivision community.

KC Star HOA articles by Judy Thomas, Aug. 3, 2016

Please read these articles that do not hide the facts about HOA-Land.  Buyers have been misled about HOAs for years.  The truth is out there!

In “Group shifts its mission” below,

“If you’re looking for help because your homeowners association is pushing you around, there’s one place you may not want to go:

“The Community Associations Institute.

“Although the organization says it works to promote harmony in HOAs, it actually sides almost exclusively with HOA boards, critics say.”

 See also comments and website links of HOA reform advocates.  I am quoted: 

Citizens for Constitutional Local Government

Founded by George Staropoli, a Phoenix homeowners’ rights activist. Website is http://pvtgov.org/pvtgov/.

Homeowners associations have established a “New America contrary to that of The Founding Fathers, and one that has not only changed the physical landscape across America, but the cultural, social and political landscapes as well.”

 

The KC Star HOA articles, Aug. 3, 2016

Do you have a homeowners association story to share? Let us know, Kansas City Star

Have you had positive or negative experiences to share about your homeowners association? Kansas City Star reporters would like to hear them

Group shifts its mission — and homeowners get left behind, Kansas City Star

If you’re looking for help because your homeowners association is pushing you around, there’s one place you may not want to go: The Community …

 HOAs from hell: Homes associations that once protected residents now torment them, Kansas City Star

“Door after door, complaints about the homeowners association were laid upon … at War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association.”.

 Garage doors can’t be cordovan — and more odd HOA stories, Kansas City Star

Last year, when it was time to paint again, she decided to stick with the cordovan trim, and her son, Ken, got the homeowners association’s approval.

 You can run an HOA well, even after vowing to never live in one again, Kansas City Star

Ed McHardie gets it when he hears horror stories about life in a homeowners association. He has a story of his own. In fact, he once vowed to never …

 Critics say many avenues can lead to reforming the HOA mess, Kansas City Star

The CAI says a registry can become a financial burden on a homeowners association. Charging “per door” fees for registration is not fair, it says, and …

“Have you even read the US Constitution?” was a question asked of Donald Trump by Mr. Khizr Khan, a Muslim, at the Democratic National Convention this past Thursday.[1]  The implication was that Trump’s actions and views were contrary and inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the US Constitution.

In HOA-Land, under its organic ‘law,’[2] the 1964 Homes Association Handbook,[3] the US Constitution is ignored and has no applicability to HOAs. State laws and HOA declarations are permitted to be held valid by the courts as HOAs are seen to be voluntary private agreements that contain unknowing waivers and surrenders of fundamental rights and freedoms by its members.[4]  Understanding this reality, I can ask in regard the applicability of the US Constitution to HOA-Land, “Why bother?”

In the same context of contrary and inconsistent acts and views, the same question can be asked of legislators in every state, state agencies whose function is to protect consumers, the legal-academic elitists who act as if they are the modern incarnation of Philosopher-Kings, and the media that, by its silence, aids and abets a false and misleading picture of HOA-Land.

The people are being intentionally deceived.  Which candidate, if any, will stand up for those 23% Americans living under HOA-Land private governments not subject to the Constitution?

 

References

[1] The question was asked of Donald Trump in regard to Trump’s views and positions on Muslim immigration.  Mr. Khan’s son, a US Army Captain, was killed in Iraq.

[2] “The U.S. Code defines the organic laws of the United States to include the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance, and the U.S. Constitution. (US Statutes At Large, 1789 –1875, Vol. 18, Part I, Revised Statutes (43rd Congress, 1st session), p. v and vi). The organic laws of HOA-Land are replacing the organic laws of the US as applied to local government.” See Legislative protection of HOAs: replacing US organic law with HOA organic law.

[3] See Analysis of The Homes Association Handbook.

[4] See HOA member Declaration of US and State citizenship and CC&Rs are a devise for de facto HOA governments to escape constitutional government.