Tag: Uniform Law Commission

Biden must order law colleges to uphold HOA content-neutral free speech

“We must make the injustice visible” Mahatma Gandhi

Can Americans look forward to any improvement in the application of the 14th Amendment equal protection of the laws and due process protection of their constitutional rights as a citizen?   I do not think so when college law students, especially those wishing to be competent and knowledgeable constitutional lawyers, are not educated in the unconstitutional aspects of the presumptively invalid declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs). The CC&Rs are in reality the HOA subdivision/condo “constitution.”

Justice Ginsburg stated in her equal pay for women dissent that,

“Title VII [Employment equal pay for women discrimination act] was meant to govern real world employment practices and that world is what the court [US Supreme Court] ignores today.”

This is very same attitude by the courts with respect to what is really happening in the real world of HOA-Land; the courts do not have any understanding of homeowner constitutional issues.  Otherwise how could it deny constitutional protections?  What are the factors that blinds them to the ab initio unconstitutional CC&Rs?

I keep waiting for an illustrious constitutional lawyer or political scientist to rise to the level of Ginsburg and uphold the original intents and purposes of the US Constitution as stated in its Preamble.

Could it be that the law colleges are also intentionally blind to the constitutional issues plaguing HOAs since 1964 when the “bible,” The Homes Association Handbook, was published?  For example, ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law does not provide library references to these issues and insists on only listing the materials based on the CAI School of HOA Governance; by the national lobbying arm supporting the HOA legal scheme of today.

Have the law schools been indoctrinated into accepting CAI’s self-interest perspective and treat HOA-Land as an institution, accepting that is the way it has always been?  The judicial system, the law colleges, the legislatures, the Uniform Law Commission (UCIOA), the media, and the public in general all need to be deprogrammed!

I do not believe other prestigious law colleges include HOA unconstitutionality as an item in their degree programs. Unconscionable!

For more information on deprograming and reorienting HOA-Land indoctrination, see my publications and web page Commentaries:

HOA bill of rights history updated
ASU Law ignores content-neutral free speech for HOAs
Uniform Law Commission rejects subjecting HOAs to Constitution
The HOA-Land Nation Within America (publication, 2019)
A Plan Toward Restoring the HOA Model of Governance (publication, 2020)
See restoring HOA Constitution Plan FAQ

Laws without enforcement are just recommendations

In response to a post by Maria Winlet on the FB page, “HOA Reform – stop the abuse”,  reporting an article by Jessica Boehm of The Arizona Republic, I posted the following on the FB page:

“Want to stop this flagrant abuse and lack of homeowner protection by pro-HOA biased legislation, here in az or in any other state? Let’s hope that the uniform law commission — creator of UCIOA and its failed 2008 bill of rights version — agrees to pursue a legitimate bill of rights focused on limiting HOA government and protecting member rights, as is the intent of the constitution’s bill of rights. Set to decide this Oct. 29th. * * * * the ULC scope committee is handling the review. Timothy Berg is the committee chair. You can send an email to info@uniformlaws.org attn T Berg with a reference to member bill of rights. They have my history of HOA member bill of rights as posted here and on my website. We must offset CAI’s influence.”

All advocates and homeowners need to do their part if substantive reforms are to become real.

UCIOA (HOA) revisions in the works

The Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (UCIOA) and Uniform Condominium Act (UCA) are currently in draft mode. (Essentially, they are being treated as one). As a model for states to adopt as their HOA laws, UCIOA was first introduced in 1982 and currently has 9 states adopting some version of UCIOA and some 14 states adopting UCA, the uniform condo act.

Among the changes being considered are amendments to governing documents (§1-206), owners and duties of the association (§3-102), executive board members and officers (§3-103), voting and ballots (§3-110), and assessments (§3-115).

A meeting of the drafting committee will be held this Friday and Saturday, April 3 & 4. The committee consists of lawyers generally appointed by their state Governor. Invited to attend are persons who have indicated an interest in the workings of the committee, designated as Observers. Observers are expected to contribute to the discussion of the issues and can submit amendments for consideration. Sort of like a citizen submitting a proposed bill to his legislator.

Not to be surprised, former CAI president and active NJ CAI member David Ramsey is an Observer.

In 2008, in response to David Kahne’s AARP paper on HOA member rights and the works of others including political scientists, a Member Bill of Rights was adopted as a separate add-on to UCIOA. It never took off. And still the ULC (Uniform Law Commission) has not revisited constitutional protections for members in spite of several bills advancing those rights in 3 states.

Read more about the objectives and purpose of ULC.