Ward Lucas is a longtime investigative journalist and television news anchor. He has won more than 70 national and regional awards for Excellence in Journalism, Creative Writing and community involvement. His new book, "Neighbors At War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association," is now available for purchase. In it, he discusses the American homeowners association movement, from its racist origins, to its transformation into a lucrative money machine for the nation's legal industry. From scams to outright violence to foreclosures and neighborhood collapses across the country, the reader will find this book enormously compelling and a necessary read for every homeowner. Knowledge is self-defense. No homeowner contemplating life in an HOA should neglect reading this book. No HOA board officer should overlook this examination of the pitfalls in HOA management. And no lawyer representing either side in an HOA dispute should gloss over what homeowners are saying or believing about the lawsuit industry.
A few weeks ago, I ran across an excellent resource for anyone curious about the Homeowners Association experience. His website is still under construction, but Robert R. has been through the HOA meatgrinder a couple of times. He’s one of the few people who’s ever actually won a lawsuit against the parasites in the legal profession who’ve turned HOA life into a nightmare for hundreds of thousands of Americans. Since his site is still under development, I’ll let him tell his own story if he chooses to do so.
But what really intrigues me is that Robert has done a well thought out comparison between Right To Work laws and an imaginary Right To Own law. Do you have a right to work without being forced into a labor union? About half our states say you do. Do you have a right to own your own home? No states say you do. In fact more and more states are ordering real estate developers to force all buyers into deed restricted corporations in which each homeowner is technically a member/partner. In other words, you own your home WITH your neighbors. And you, in essence, own a portion of each of your neighbors’ homes.
Now just think of one nightmare scenario to see the potential problems that can and do arise. A jury awards a huge slip-and-fall civil award against your HOA. Guess who pays? Well, my partner, my buddy, my friend. You do! Get out your checkbook and prepare to write a big one for the pending special assessment.
Anyway, Robert R. is a thinker and his website is worth spending some time on. www.righttoown.org
Millions of Americans have moved into covenant-protected neighborhoods, thinking the experience will be a positive one, maintenance will protect property values, neighbors will be friendly. A good percentage will find exactly what they were searching for.
Sadly, many others will discover that the move to the new neighborhood constituted a fundamental change of government. Yes, they’ve actually moved out of the United States of America and into a private non-profit corporation governed, not by the U.S. Constitution, but by a set of bylaws and restrictions. The restrictions were created by the original real estate developer and control handed over to neighborhood boards. The new corporate rules have nothing to do with the Bill of Rights with which most of us are familiar.
They’ve been called ‘private governments’ because they operate largely outside the control of traditional established government. Neighborhood covenants, controls and restrictions take precedence over such mythical concepts as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to bear arms, equal protection, the right to privacy in one’s home. In fact, in thousands of cases across the country homeowners are discovering that snooping, spying and reporting on others is de rigueur. In the HOA system there is no such thing as privacy. Violators of local rules have no right to trial by jury, in fact the governing boards play simultaneous roles of judge, jury and executioner. And the number of lawsuits inside the HOA movement is exploding.
These ‘sub-governments’ are the fastest growing part of the housing sector. Traditional governments are refusing to allow developers to build homes unless they create these little gestapo neighborhoods. In many suburban areas across the country up to 100 percent of all new homes are built within these controlled neighborhoods, making them in essence, de facto governments. Yet these ‘governments in fact’ are unimpressed and uncontrolled by the Constitutional restrictions our founders created to protect the citizenry.
The Community Associations Institute, which thrives on the billions of dollars paid to private management companies, debt collectors and armies of lawyers, claims that 70% of HOA members think of the experience as positive. Surveys by groups not connected with the CAI report a different experience. In fact there is a tidal wave of homeowners who say they’ll never live in an HOA again.
According to Janet Portman, editor of Nolo Press in Berkeley California and author of “Every Landlord’s Legal Guide.”, homeowners in the community are treated more like tenants than property owners. New homeowners often find themselves being fined or sued for incredibly minor violations like having an oil spot on a driveway or leaving a trash can outside a few minutes longer than the prescribed deadline. Claiming that board members are guilty of the same violations is not a defense, so it’s not uncommon for new HOA residents to begin believing there are two distinct sets of rules; one for the ruled, and one for the rulers.
The big club being wielded by board members and HOA management companies is the threat of sudden foreclosure, and in 37 states that means non-judicial foreclosure. Homeowners can and have found their homes confiscated and sold on the auction block without the case ever being heard by a judge.
This blog, by the way, is meant to be interactive. Please share your own stories while we take names and kick butt. And we’ll build a list of other resources for beleagured homeowners. Post your comments, or tweet me @ward_lucas— I would love to hear your stories!
Ward Lucas Author of Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association
Since the modern Homeowners Association movement was born in 1964, nearly a hundred million Americans have made the choice to buy into covenant controlled neighborhoods. Today sixty million people live in Homeowners Associations. The phenomenal growth of the HOA has been encouraged by municipalities which are more than happy to shed some of the expenses and duties of local government. Zoning laws are expensive to enforce, but by giving quasi-governmental powers to neighborhood groups, traditional governments can shed much of the cost of keeping neighborhoods manicured. The downside is that most HOAs are run by elected officers who have little or no training or background in good government practices. Many covenants are open to wide interpretation, which gives more aggressive board officers an amazing amount of lattitude to enforce, prosecute and persecute homeowners who are deemed ‘uncooperative’. Thus, fines can be levied for such violations as planting flowers without getting advance permission from the landscaping committee, placing unapproved wind chimes on the front porch, leaving shampoo bottles visible on bathroom windowsills, and even leaving a garage door open for longer than a prescribed time. A paint job in need of a minor touchup can bring heavy neighborhood fines, painting a house the wrong color can end up in an expensive legal court case, but even if new paint exactly matches the previous paint, failing to ask for advance permission to paint is a ‘crime’ which can lead to thousands of dollars in fines, and even expulsion from a neighborhood and confiscation of your home. Unconstitutional? Nope. Illegal? Not on a bet. Won’t law enforcement intervene to protect your rights? Don’t count on it. By agreeing to sign the restrictive covenants before buying your house, you gave up an amazing number of rights.
One Hero in the Homeowners’ Rights Movement
Arizona’s George Staropoli is probably one of the nation’s foremost critics of the Homeowners Association movement. He says buyers are rarely told the kinds of rights they are tossing away when they move into quasi-government neighborhoods. His organization, Citizens for Constitutional Local Government, lobbies before legislatures, citizens groups and from his websites in favor of re-establishing Constitutional rights. His writings are prolific and there’s no element of HOA life on which he is not an expert. The deeper he digs into the abuses of the movement, the more adamant he becomes about the need for Americans to reclaim their historic property rights.
Crazy Cases
Some of the attacks on homeowners by HOA and Condo boards border on the bizarre. In Long Beach, California, an elderly disabled condo owner named Pam McMahon was ordered not to walk her dog from her condominium unit through the lobby. If she wanted to keep the dog it would have to be carried while in the building. But the disabled McMahon used a cane to walk and could not carry the 25 pound dog. So her board began fining her $25 dollars a day. The fines and the legal expenses continued adding up, until the woman was forced to give up her condo and move elsewhere. Despite federal laws which mandate special consideration for the disabled, McMahon is just one of many homeowners who’ve been forced to give up their homes because neighborhood rules made their lives impossible.
Other examples of HOAs regulations are so outrageous they almost defy description. However, in this ongoing blog I will do my best to tell you some of the more egregious stories of Neighbors At War.
Ward Lucas
Author Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association
Most people who move into private Homeowners Associations do so because they like the apparent order, the neatness, the seeming peacefulness of the community. It’s only later that they learn how arbitrarily enforced rules and regulations can control almost every aspect of their lives. Not all Homeowners Associations are petty and dictatorial, but absolutely ANY neighborhood can take such a turn with just one local election. Voter apathy is a sad fact of American life. National elections generally attract 40% of the vote in off-year elections and 55% in Presidential elections. State elections see even less involvement by voters. By the time municipal and school levy elections roll around, voter fatigue reaches its zenith with some major funding and electoral decisions made by a tiny handful of voters.
Power is sexy
But imagine the electoral process in a typical Homeowners Association. People generally move into quiet neighborhoods to get away from controversy. They don’t want to be bothered to attend monthly or annual neighborhood meetings. Turnout is generally so low that quorums are extremely difficult to come by. A prospective board member with even a small amount of motivation can circulate through the neighborhood gathering proxy ballots to be used in an upcoming election of board members. Homeowners who sign proxy ballots often have no interest in the direction of neighborhood affairs, or in who gets elected, or what the current neighborhood controversies are. Proxies are signed on the doorstep just to make a visitor go away. It’s not hard to understand how a prospective board member with the most nefarious motivations can gain a position of power. Power is a pretty addictive aphrodisiac for some people, especially those who’ve never before held any positions of responsibility.
The loss of Constitutional Rights
In American jurisprudence abuse of power is generally stifled by the U.S. Constitution and to a lesser degree State Constitutions and city and county charters. Homeowners Associations all have what appear to be charters or governing documents but with a huge difference. Traditional government regulations must generally abide by what most Americans understand are their Constitutional Rights. Not so, the typical Homeowners Association. Restrictive covenants which all HOA members agree to sign essentially force the homeowner to give up an amazing number of traditional rights. The right to free speech? In case after case, courts have ruled that HOA members have given up their right to speak, to campaign, to express an opinion. The right of free association? There are cases around the country where homeowners cannot hold home Bible studies or have unapproved gatherings in their homes. The right to bear arms? Many HOAs have passed restrictions against gun ownership by residents. The right to unwarranted search and seizure? This gets even more bizarre, but in certain neighborhoods inspection committees are going into private homes to try to seek out hoarders. What’s the legal definition of hoarding? It doesn’t matter. My collection of books might be someone else’s definition of hoarding. A Mormon’s five-year supply of emergency food supplies might be construed as hoarding.
But you can begin to see the bottom line in this conversation. In a typical Homeowners Association, the law is whatever the HOA says it is. It’s not governed by Constitutional principles, but only the will of the majority. And in an apathetic neighborhood that majority can in fact be a majority of one. Remember that prospective board member who knocked on your door to ask for your proxy? That single person can tip the balance of power in a single board election and change a formerly peaceful neighborhood into a fascist regime.
If you’re naive enough to believe it doesn’t happen, try some creative searches on the World Wide Web. You’ll begin to understand what’s becoming a national scandal.
Ward Lucas
Author of Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association
One of the main purposes of a homeowners association is to maintain the common areas in a neighborhood like the parks and roads. The homeowners in turn are obliged to pay their dues to sustain these amenities. Often, these can be from $100 to $10,000 per year, based on the kind of neighborhood and their amenities. Moreover, not only do the residents have to pay their HOA dues, but they also are required to follow the rule book of the association.
The different regulations implemented by the association differ in each neighborhood but will most likely include your house color, trees you plant, your parking area and if you will have your house rented. Once these regulations are not followed, these homeowners have to pay a fine that is based on the broken rule.
To top it off, these associations even implement foreclosure if residents fail to pay their dues and fines. A study by the Sentinel Fair House reported that about 18 percent foreclosure activities in the five counties studied were caused by homeowners associations. About 70 houses in these five counties where foreclosed for less than $2,500 including legal fees.
Many homeowners are actually satisfied with their associations said Frank Rathbun, spokesperson of the Community Association Institute. These homeowners associations provide good amenities to the residents and even protect property values.
Critics however present an alternative opinion concerning these associations. They say that neighborhoods with homeowners association must offer more disclosure on the different restrictions and laws. One resident even said that it is essentially giving up your property rights when you.
Usually, home buyers do not have a copy of the rules and regulations of the association until after they move in. If they do not ask for the rules of the neighborhood, they will not have a clear idea of what consequences they might be facing and it will be too late to back out.
Ward Lucas
Author Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association
