Tag: secessionist

HOA homeowners are ‘the forgotten man’

HOA homeowners are the “forgotten man” to use FDR’s characterization of the farmers and working-class citizens during the Great Depression of the 1930s. As Governor of NY running for the Presidency, FDR addressed the nation on April 7, 1932. The relevant parts are provided below.

“It has been said that Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo because he forgotten his infantry . . . . The present administration in Washington provides, I think, a close parallel. It has either forgotten or does not want to remember the infantry of our economic army.  These unhappy times call for the plans of 1917  that build from the bottom and not the top down . . . that puts their faith in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid . . . .”

In short, the people count and have been ignored by the rich and powerful people and corporations. The Depression needs to focus on the unemployed people if this country is to survive the Depression.

Today our nation is facing the real possibility of the loss of our democratic principles  as set forth in the US Constitution. Yet, little attention had been paid the  authoritarian private government HOAs that have succeeded from the Union; the HOA legal scheme has become an institution and accepted as “that’s the way it is.”  (See The HOA-Land Nation  Within America).

Are the homeowners in HOAs the forgotten men and women of our times?  I think so.  The evidence is quite clear that today, as occurred some 90 years ago, they have been abandoned by special interest corporations and government posing as friends of the people.  And there is not nor has there been a protector of the people since FDR and JFK.

We don’t want no stinkin’ government protection for HOA members

This California Adams-Davis-Stirling newsletter (“California’s Leader in Community Associations Law”) says it all.  Speaking to a new federal law as of October 2016 (that applies to all states), Code of Fed. Reg. §100.7(a)(1)(iii)),

  1. “The law requires that boards take prompt steps to investigate and end harassment.
  2. This intrusion by the federal government into the affairs of homeowners associations is unprecedented.
  3. The burden the new regulations create will likely outweigh any intended benefits regulators had in mind.
  4. Associations are not cities with paid city council members, police forces, and governmental immunities.
  5. Making boards an arm of the federal government is going to make it harder to recruit and keep volunteers on boards.”

 

Items (1) and (5) make the HOA a state actor due to the mandatory “order” to investigate harassment complaints relating to Fair Housing laws. Item 5 deals with one of the fundamental flaws of the HOA legal scheme — unpaid and untrained volunteers with no local government experience to run HOAs.  What would you expect?  You get what you paid for.  That’s a gold mine for HOA attorneys, who have created these pro-HOA state laws and adhesion contract CC&Rs.

Item (4), while HOA boards have no government immunities they hide behind the business judgment rule that says let the board decide, not the courts, in effect giving immunities.

The author, Adrian Adams, recommends that “Boards should work with legal counsel to adopt anti-harassment rules for their associations.”  “Should” is not “shall” and not mandatory.  It is an “ought to” that requires no compliance and carries no enforcement actions.

The HOA attorneys do not want government interference since it really would interfere with their domination of HOA boards: Seek advice from the people who know best, your HOA attorney.  It is a self-serving recommendation to generate more income for the attorneys, who have repeatedly failed to serve the beneficial interests of the HOA membership.

“We don’t want no stinkin’ government protection for HOA members”!  If not, who then?  You can’t have your cake and eat it!

Since the state legislators have failed to act, it becomes necessary for the Feds to protect the people. See The FEDS must restore law and order in secessionist HOA governments and Getting the Feds involved in HOA reforms.