The link below is from a homeowner in Minnesota who is outraged that her HOA has issued new rules against certain types of speech, like talking to your neighbor about the HOA board.
Can they really do that?
Well, yes they can. A private non-profit corporation can do just about anything it wants whether it seems constitutional or not.
A for-profit corporation can do the same. The Denver TV station where I worked for more than three decades had rules about private discussions between or among employees. Religion and politics were forbidden. Political correctness was mandated at all times.
To legislators at the state and federal level, and housing policy makers, CAI (Community Associations Institute) presents itself as the sole authority on HOA issues, and an advocate for homeowners. In reality, CAI is a trade group that represents the interests of businesses that serve – or exploit – homeowners and residents in mandatory associations.
CAI’s recently published white paper on Association Governance reveals its true agenda – to perpetuate blind acceptance of the Association Governance as the only viable housing institution, and to simultaneously create an ever-growing need for “expert” services of managers, attorneys, and various HOA service providers.
39-year-old William Francis managed money for more than four dozen HOA clients. He also managed to steal enough to finance the kind of life many men like him would love to have. Limousines, hookers, porn, NBA tickets. He faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. Ah, but these judges rarely sentence a white collar criminal to more than 18 months behind bars. This man apparently spent a lot of his life behind bars, the kind where you find loose women and alcohol.
Growing up as an Army Brat in the 1950s had its benefits. My dad was a West Point graduate in 1939, a time of true national honor, honesty and dignity. Many years later I remember my father weeping at news of the first West Point cheating scandal. I was too young to understand but my dad’s tears just broke my heart.
But these days, nobody raises their eyebrows at cheating and official corruption. It’s just the mud pit of what our country has descended into. Occasionally, reporters here and there expose the official corruption. Here’s the rare one:
It seems Dave Clouse had some things he needed to get off his chest about his condo so he wrote the editor of the Bradenton Herald.
Dave’s condo complex, Bridgewater Townhomes in Point Pleasant has a termite issue. Well, really it sounds more like a serious problem. And the termite problem is more serious because the HOA board refuses to allow proper treatment to wipe out the termites.
