Tucson Weekly: Humble Home--Association-weary homeowners team up to fight back

OK, maybe they aren't raising holy hell. But milling about the Pima County Courthouse, a band of buttoned-down, middle-aged, disgruntled homeowners sure are unleashing a little heck.
Take Patrick Dougherty. Neat and tidy in a crisp blue blazer, he holds a carefully lettered sign that reads "DOES YOUR HOME BELONG TO YOU OR YOUR HOA?" The Las Vegas resident hasn't used his real estate license much lately, not since becoming a paralegal impelled to help elderly homeowners fight their homeowners associations, or HOAs. These cul-de-sac kingdoms need the boot, he says. "A high percentage of retired people are losing their homes" because they can't keep up with association fees. "And many times, association boards are just operating outside of the law."

Dougherty's strong feelings drove him all the way from Vegas, along with fellow real estate agent Nancy Barr, for this Oct. 18 rally. They're here to support Mika Sadai, a multi-homeowner who might get smacked with $400,000 in fines and lawyers fees. Sadai's six-year fight with her northwest Tucson HOA over a crooked board election--a battle costing $650,000 to wage--all comes down to her 2 p.m. court slot.
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Along with promoting a comforting uniformity, they also control the minutiae of daily existence for affected residents, right down to where you plop your petunia patch. All too often, say critics, that power is abused by neighbors with scores to settle. Those mandates often include big fines for tiny infractions such as planting the wrong type of shrubs, leaving a garage door open or even erecting a flagpole. Failure to pay up can mean a lien against your home, or even foreclosure.

,strong>The result may be a national backlash, says Evan McKenzie, a University of Chicago researcher, and author of Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government. The book is highly critical of many association practices. Left unchecked, they "can really create little neighborhood Hitlers," McKenzie said in an earlier interview with the Tucson Weekly.

Still, he's guardedly optimistic that the HOA juggernaut sees a need for change. "I think they realize that it comes down to giving these communities a chance to become communities," he says.

Lawmakers are listening as well. Arizona legislators recently passed statutes preventing HOAs from seizing homes for unpaid fines, and requiring that they follow open meetings laws.
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This is a good article, even if they did quote that McKenzie guy.