Tag Archives: HOA Abuse

Laughably Unconstitutional

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Lots of HOAs have tried to ban expressions of Free Speech. Some have discovered, to their chagrin, how expensive it is to flout the Constitution by forbidding campaign signs, religious symbols in windows or Mezuzahs on door jambs. In one famous case an elderly gentleman who stopped on his lawn to talk to two elderly women was cited for holding an unlawful assembly. Cases like that go to the Supreme Court where the lawyers make hundreds of thousands of dollars.

All that being said, you have to wonder at the idiocy of city leaders in South Pittsburg, Tennessee who decided to forbid all city employees from making negative comments on social media about other city employees, or about the city itself. Criticize your government? Go to jail!

Last night I was repeatedly brought to tears by a movie called American Violet. I would recommend it to every American of every race and religion. As a TV reporter I’ve been on many police raids and I’ve (not often) but occasionally seen physical abuse of suspects that troubled me. I’ve been in courtrooms and have seen plea bargains that greatly troubled me. This movie showed me why I had reason to be troubled.

An attorney friend of mine once told me, “A right not exerted is a right soon lost.” He wasn’t the originator of the quote. But we all should claim that quote as the guiding principle of our lives. We live in a great country. Memorize your rights. Get it clear in your mind who grants you those rights. And shout your rights from the mountaintops.

(link to story about banning Free Speech in Pittsburg, Tennessee)

 

Free Speech Rights Upheld in NJ — Six Year Legal Battle‏

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Great news! The Supreme Court of NJ did right by the First Amendment, upholding free speech rights for residents of HOAs, Condos, and Co-ops in the state.

It took six long years, and the determination of resident of Mediterranean South, Robert Dublirer, a semi-retired, former criminal prosecutor from NY.
Dublirer was a critic of the former condo Board, and in 2008, contemplated running for a seat on the Board. However, the Board at the time prohibited him from placing campaign leaflets under the doors of residents, so Dublirer sued the Association for violating his rights to free political speech.

The Supreme Court’s finding sets the records straight: First Amendment free speech residents in HOA, Condo, or Co-op in NJ must be upheld, and cannot be unduly limited by the Board. Constitutional free speech protections trump CC&Rs and Rules barring solicitation of residents, when such speech goes to the heart of democratic process of engaging in political discourse.

Kudos to Frank Askin, Rutgers School of Law professor who filed an amicus brief on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

Thanks to the NJ Supreme Court’s unanimous decision upholding the state’s Constitutional rights in Common Interest Communities, the tide of decades of injustice is finally turning.

(link to story on fighting over leafletting)

ULI Promotes Urbanization, While Developers Prefer Rental Properties To Condos

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Members of a recent Urban Land Institute (ULI) panel are reporting high demand for urban housing, both within existing city cores and in densely populated “instant cities” (HOAs), created by developers in suburban locations near mass transit.

The attached article highlights how the major players in American housing policy and the real estate industry are not all on the same page.

Housing policy makers still push home ownership as the endgame, while NAR and CAI lobby Congress to pass FHFA proposals to relax mortgage standards. Meanwhile, developers and investors are shying away from less profitable, more risky condominiums, and engaging in new construction and redevelopment for the rental market.

Housing is becoming less affordable, across the board, as cities become more and more gentrified. If left unchecked, the majority of Americans will left with few housing choices: rent for the long-term in an apartment community, or buy or rent a single family home in a private, corporate-governed HOA.

(link to Urban Land Magazine: Changing Face of Residential)

(link to Urban Land Institute – mission and priorities)

 

New Website Numbers!!

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Folks, you’ve helped us blow right through another milestone. The 12 month running average shows that as of last night there’ve been 500,000 logins to this website, and those people have read 4.1 million pages of material. Those are fabulous numbers. So keep telling everyone you know about this site, and let’s get the word out to even more people.

If you have a friend who’s thinking of buying a new house or condo, tell them to read my book, Neighbors At War!  

If your friend or relative already lives in a nightmare HOA, buy him or her a copy of Neighbors at War! And (hint, hint) Christmas is coming.

I keep hearing of libraries that are carrying or re-ordering copies of Neighbors At War. I can probably thank our frequent guest blogger Nila Ridings for a lot of that. She makes regular visits to her library in the Kansas City area to find out how many people are checking the book out.

Speaking of guest bloggers, some of the country’s top thinkers are submitting guest blogs here. You won’t find a better treasure chest of must-read material dissecting the nightmare of living in a covenant controlled community.

Living in an HOA makes me think of an experience I had many years ago when my parents took my two brothers and me to see the cliff divers in Acapulco. These young men and women stand on this amazingly high cliff and inspect the waves as they noisily crash against the rocks below. They hook their toes on the edge, looking down, watching for the highest wave. Their timing has to be perfect. Diving into a trough means a chance of breaking your neck on the bottom. Hitting a crest might provide the diver two or three feet of deeper water and thus a safer dive.

“Only the experts can do that,” my dad said. “Only the experts and crazy people would risk it.”

I won’t state the obvious. That’s your conclusion to make.

 

Indiana D.A. Threatens Lawsuit Against HOA Over Flag Dispute

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Finally, some common sense prevails in an Indiana flag dispute, thanks to intervention by Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Griffin.

In an October 23rd letter to the Fieldstone HOA Board of Directors, Griffin strongly urges the Association to resolve its dispute by November 1, or face legal suit to stop enforcement of penalties against the Willits household.

Check out the link to Griffin’s letter below, in which he states, among other things: “In summary, the association does not have a legally‐sufficient “substantial interest” invoked by the Willits’ display. Under the Flag Act, without a “substantial interest,” the association cannot regulate the Willits’ flagpole and American flag.”

And, furthermore, that “Aesthetic preference is not a legally‐sufficient “substantial interest” of the association with respect to American flag display, and I know of no other reason for an association to distinguish between flagpoles attached to the facade of a home and free‐standing flagpoles.”

By October 29, the matter was resolved. The Willits’ flag can stay; pole and all, including the POW-MIA flag. Fox 59 news reports that a compromise deal has been reached. The Willits will have to remove the flag and flagpole in the future when their house is sold.

The dispute dragged on for months. Griffin became involved after the story received national attention in the media.

Although the dispute is officially resolved, and the Willits received hundreds of phone calls of support, some of their neighbors have sent them anonymous hate mail, and Board members have also received threats.

What price, happiness in your HOA?

ps: Perhaps in Florida, Duval County Prosecuting Attorney can follow Griffin’s lead, with regard to Larry Murphree’s flag dispute with Sweetwater by Del Webb Master HOA?

(link to Fox 59 television news report on flag dispute)

(link to letter from Prosecuting Attorney Griffin to Fieldstone HOA Board)