Hello! As many homeowners have likely done, we bought a place with an HOA. It was in 2005, and it was our first home. I would need 2 hands to count all the mistakes we made, and have nobody to blame but ourselves.
You may remember my blog on May 10, 2014 about helping political candidates with their campaigns.
The time of year for that massive undertaking has arrived. I was happy to offer my help when I saw one of our Kansas legislators walking door to door on the campaign trail.
This resulted in a very interested call from Astrid. To protect her I will not be using her real name. Astrid was asking for my help to call registered voters to get their agreement for the candidate to place the campaign signs on wire hangers in their yards. The big issue of course: HOAs! We discussed the laws in Kansas about the signs and I gave her the state statute numbers. And then I asked the BIG question!
guest blog by Bob Frank (safe_mail@cox.net)I recently quoted one of the most prolific trade association bloggers as saying: “I know this has been said before but purchasing in an association is a contractual agreement between you and the association, the association is not the government and you have every right not to buy or to sell but communities need rules and they need the ability to enforce those rules.” Perhaps this is true, but the often-made statement disregards the FACT that CC&Rs COULD protect the constitutional rights and privileges of unit owners and other residents! But, they do not. Why developers and trade association members and state legislatures REFUSE to protect American citizen Constitutional rights and protections owning property and living in HOAs and Condos is the mystery. No statute forces such denial of American citizen rights. So, why do managers like Mr. xxxx and so many other property management people refuse to agree that such COULD be granted if only the industry was not so selfish? Why do business managers seem so uncompassionate and disinterested in the welfare of their true customers? After all, their customers are the ones who pay the salaries and produce the revenues enjoyed by trade association members. Do they not deserve far better representation by the business interests and their trade association leaders? Is this not a moral imperative? I am still seeking an answer to “What HARM will it cause to grant American Constitutional Rights and Protections to HOA unit owners and other residents?” No one in the industry has been willing to answer that question after many months of asking. Those that do comment change the subject or endlessly repeat the claim that a private contract does not mandate such basic rights to unit owners. So what? Developers could VOLUNTARILY include such Constitutional rights and protections to their future customers. Why do the industry leaders want/prefer to deny such basic property and citizen rights to HOA/Condo owners? I don’t understand or accept the silence and deception, and I will continue to consider it my duty to encourage others to help me ask the question until someone has the courage to fairly and accurately answer it. |
On June 7th, I shared my gutter cleaning, police truck, firefighters and frustrating day with you now known as “Part I.”
Do you recall me saying my attorney told me to never let anyone on my roof or do work on my house or the attached neighbor’s house without showing me their Certificate of Insurance?
In keeping with our theme of the past few nights (the predicted financial collapse of the HOA neighborhood as we know it) here’s another fascinating perspective. This one comes from the gurus at the IMF, that bastion of financial ethics that seems to rule the world and tell us when and where and by how much our currencies will collapse.
Please keep in mind I’m not an economist. My degree was in Political Science, which is kind of a safe haven major when you’re flunking college economics. But I still find the IMF predictions as reported in the Financial Times fascinating.
