User:Mike Reardon

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[edit] Homeowner association

American homeowners need to be informed about the nature of HOA and Condominium associations, and the need for reform. I have been to the Massachusetts State House to testify in support of legislation that would bring some accountability to Homeowner and Condominium associations. I was motivated after witnessing my 92 year old neighbor driven from my community by repeat threat of fines. (He lived on a fixed income) His house was found in “violation” after the HOA changed their minds about what they had expressly authorized when he built his home years earlier. Although the law was clearly on his side, the realities of civil litigation cost and the time involved motivated him to sell his home and move on. The conduct of HOAs are not ‘crimes’, and justice must be pursued or more accurately, purchased in the Civil courts. In addition, the HOA persecutes people in secret, so the rest of the community was unaware of what was even happening. My neighbor sold his home at a steep discount to a party who would satisfy the HOA and build a large ‘hanger’ on the back of the home (over $100,000). In Boston I saw first hand the lobbyists who want to maintain the status quo of complete absence of constraints imposed upon HOA and Condominium association governance. The Community Associations Institute, in their own words, does not represent Homeowners Associations. They represent the service providers to HOAs; builders, managers and those who profit from the conflict so prevalent in these amateur volunteer run organizations, lawyers... It was astounding to witness such blatant self interest at the expense of the public good! I belong to a group of Massachusetts residents who are working to change the laws. It is nice to see that the AARP has finally woken up to the problem and are working to change the laws in all 50 states. There are many terrific advocates for HOA and Condominium association reform, and it would seem that an educated public is sympathetic to reform. The Community Association Institute (or CAI) continues to work hard at persuading legislators that “things are just fine” and disguising the issues. Many newspapers publish CAI member “Community Managers” advice columns that perpetuate the misconception that Community Service Providers give impartial advice. They do NOT. They are on the payroll of associations, and are subject to an enormous conflict of interest when providing “advice” to individual homeowners. The following is an excerpt from a communication from a representative of a state agency that oversees HOA associations: "If anything things have gotten worse in New Jersey. Unless stopped by direct forceful State action, the attorneys and property managers quickly realize they can play into board members’ “power corrupts” mindset. Once the board-or even the Board president-decides that he/she is the ruler/dictator; the attorneys and property managers can really open up the money spigot. The problem lies in the difference between a true democracy with balancing players (two parties a free press and an independent judiciary) and what associations have (total concentration of all power and control of all resources in the board). Boards can even easily rig elections-and the only owner redress is court action that is very expensive. Try to get limits on board power- Make any significant decisions depend on a vote by owners; get guaranteed secret ballots, open fair elections-and by all means make sure you get owners’ rights to counsel fees for having to fight boards that ignore either general law or their own association governing documents. But to actually make sure it all works you need State enforcement by a State regulatory authority with only the people’s interests in mind. Here in NJ what passes for protection for owners is located in the entity that works with developers and builders. Naturally that agency sided with the lobbyists (most of whom are connected to builders/developers) opposing owner interests. So the agency gives me no support-it’s worse than having no enforcement because it gives the appearance that there is State protection and deludes people. I am not permitted to testify to legislators about owner concerns nor to speak to reporters. If this were with an independent State agency, the legislators and the press could hear first hand from a State official on the firing line about the problems. The poor owners in NJ have no Executive entity to support them against the powerful greedy lobby profiting off of the owners. Hope you can make sure that does not happen in MA. Good Luck

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