It’s been forty years since the last syndicated Pogo comic strip. My headline is a bad re-write of the famous Pogo line. But it happened to me at a gathering of authors and publishers last weekend. A very attractive young lady approached me and said, “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about your book, Neighbors At War.” That’s not an extraordinary experience. I’ve been approached by many other authors at such events. But it’s what she said next that stunned me.
“I am C.A.I.”
“Huh? What?”
“I am C.A.I. The Community Associations Institute. I’m their spokesperson. And we all know about your book.”
CAI makes it abundantly clear they oppose federal regulation of HOAs. Yet the HOA industry has relied heavily on federally backed mortgage financing to support a behemoth HOA housing empire created of, by, and for Developers.
The height of industry hypocrisy is made apparent when we take a close look at federal legislation that the HOA industry promotes before our Congressional leaders.
CAI recently conducted its “August 2014 Recess Advocacy Campaign,” where members were urged to meet with Congressional leaders in their respective District (local) Offices.
A recent article published at Virginia’s TimesDispatch.com, has summarized the proliferation of HOAs as follows:
“(Homeowners’) associations are nearly ubiquitous for new residential housing in the Richmond area, embraced by developers as a way to handle long-term care of common amenities and by local officials as “mini-governments” that can help maintain order and property value.”
The article’s author, Ted Strong, interviewed several county officials on the subject. For readers who may doubt claims of some home buyers that it is nearly impossible to find HOA-free housing in many parts of America, just feast your eyes on the following blatant admissions by Richmond, VA, area officials representing Henrico County:
