The Homeowners Association movement is rife with hypocrisy. This truth was demonstrated in a recent Illinois Supreme Court case, Spanish Court v. Carlson. The Illinois Supreme Court has made some goofy decisions on HOA issues in the past, but this one was spot-on. It essentially ruled that homeowners can withhold dues if the HOA isn’t fulfilling its contractual obligations to homeowners.
Community Associations Institute (CAI) makes billions of dollars by pretending that Homeowners Associations are exempt from annoying and petty requirements of the U.S. Constitution because they’re not real governments. They’re private non-profit corporations.
On the other hand, CAI argues that it needs the right to break into private homes to force homeowners to pay dues (taxes). And just like government, it needs to collect dues (taxes) to pay for common amenities, even if it fails in its contractual duties to maintain those amenities. Wild, huh?
Arizona’s HOA expert, George Staropoli, has an excellent analysis of this ‘friends of the court’ brief filed by the CAI. It’s a quick read, but important. It potentially means that the CAI’s hypocrisy is finally being recognized.
Please, please, take a few moments to consider George’s post.
Then, tell everyone on your email list to read it as well. It looks like some homeowners are actually beginning to win back some of the Constitutional rights they’ve lost to the national HOA scam.
BTW, be sure to click on the link at the bottom of George’s post. It’s a more in-depth analysis of the Illinois decision.
