Correspondence from Radburn, NJ
Radburn was the first American Garden City, built in 1928, and has served as a model for planned private communities ever since. Here's a note from Kathy Moore, a Radburnite presenting her perspective on about events there, with a link to two websites, one on each side. I don't have any first hand knowledge of this, but it looks like a significant conflict is under way:

Dear Evan,

Please let me introduce myself, my name is Kathy Moore
and I'm a resident of Radburn in Fair Lawn, NJ. I'm
also one of the 16 homeowners currently suing Radburn
to get all homeowners fair and open elections. I would
like to point you to our website,
www.yourneighbors.org so that you can read the entire
saga if you like. Of course this is the point of view
of the 16 of us, but I feel it's more than fair and
balanced. At our last annual budget meeting this past
December we were told that we had $13,000 in reserves,
that is all a 77 year old association with a one
million dollar annual budget has in reserves! Yet our
current board and manager spend tens of thousands
annually on lawsuits suing homeowners over things like
pre-approved shutter colors. Radburn's founding
fathers would never approve of the way we are treated.
The manner that Radburn was set up in was to keep
corruption at bay. The exact opposite has happened. If
you need or would like any more information about
Radburn please do not hesitate to ask. Also you will
find many letters from the community with all points
of view on radburncitizens.org which is an arm of the
Radburn Association.

best regards,

Kathy

AHRC breaks radio silence
Here's the message, which is intriguing:

Dear AHRC subscribers, friends and viewers:

Because of the nature of this break in we cannot provide any
details. However, with the work of our providers and administrators
we are making progress and will have all of the AHRC websites back
online shortly.

We appreciate your patience and will keep you posted.

Please forward this message to all your networks and groups.

Thank you.

The Staff
AHRC News Services

AHRC Exposed Exposed :: Exposing ahrcexposed.com
The next chapter in the American Homeowners Resource Center saga has begun. For those who didn't buy a program on the way in, here's a recap. First there was AHRC. Then there was AHRC Exposed, an attack on AHRC. Now there is AHRC Exposed Exposed, which is an attack on AHRC Exposed. Got it?

The big question remains unanswered. Who is behind AHRC Exposed, and why is that person (or persons) hiding their identity?

According to AHRC Exposed Exposed, the cyber trail leads to a certain law firm that has been slammed repeatedly on AHRC. Follow the link to AHRC-X-X and scroll down, and you will see their evidence...

To be continued?

Arizona OAH: HOA Complaints
Here's a new blog by George Starapoli where he is posting links to complaints involving HOAs before the Arizona Office of Adminstrative Hearings. Thanks to Fred Pilot for letting me know about it.

DRUDGE REPORT: WINDCHILL 30 BELOW: CHICAGO
It's nice to scoop Drudge. I've been whining about the cold here for two days. Here's the weather advisory, just in case you global warning believers think I'm making it up. Here in Lindenhurst it is now -8 with an 11 mph wind coming out of the west, for a wind chill factor of -27. Global warming, my ***.

Bitterly cold temperatures will drop into the 5 below to 15 below
zero range overnight... with the coldest temperatures north of
Interstate 80. Gusty west winds of 15 to 20 mph will continue to
diminish tonight... but the combination of the bitterly cold
temperatures and the wind will allow for frigid wind chills as low
as 25 below to 30 below zero tonight. Temperatures will only rise
to around the zero degree mark on Sunday for areas north of
Interstate 80... and from zero to 5 above zero south of Interstate
80. West winds will becoming gusty again on Sunday with daytime
wind chills of 20 below to 30 below zero. Bitterly cold air
temperatures and blustery winds will continue to keep wind chills
in this range through Tuesday morning.

A Wind Chill Advisory means that very cold air and strong winds
will combine to generate wind chills at or less then 20 below
zero. This will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia if
precautions are not taken. If you must venture outdoors... dress
in layers and cover all skin. Make sure you wear a hat and
gloves. Limit outdoor activity to minimize exposure... as
frostbite can occur in 30 minutes or less.

KRT Wire | 02/03/2007 | Condo association criticized over ban on mezuzahs
As well they should be. L'chaim.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Laurie Richter says Jewish law requires her to attach a mezuzah to her doorpost. But the board that runs The Port condominium says displaying the 5-inch-long case with a religious message inside violates the condo documents and has ordered it removed. Because wreaths were allowed on doors during Christmas, Richter accuses her board of discrimination. "I don't want to be causing any rifts here so Christians can't hang wreaths, but it seems the rights of Jewish people are being violated because Christians don't have to hang wreaths but we have to hang mezuzahs," she said. The association that runs the 16-story, 129-unit condo cites the bylaws that prohibit owners and occupants from attaching, hanging, affixing or displaying anything on the exterior walls, doors, balconies, railings and windows of the building.

The Capital Times: Madison, WI, goes condo
Go back just eight years and there was almost no downtown condominium market. Then, in 1999, visionary architect Kenton Peters took what was then an 83-year-old industrial building, Union Transfer Station and Storage Co. at 155 E. Wilson St., and turned it into more than two dozen stylish condos. All but three of the units sold before construction began. Now, a half dozen larger condominium projects punctuate the downtown landscape. Nolen Shore. The Loraine. The Marina. And there are more ambitious ones on the way. You need a map to keep them all straight. Nearly 900 condominium units - conversions and new construction - have been built since 1998 in or near downtown Madison, and 1,600 more are planned or under construction. Beyond that, there are projects under discussion to add another 1,000 units.

My Way News - Orlando Homeless Laws Stir Heated Debate
From the land of oranges, HOAs, and condos, come these municipal ordinances imposing behavioral restrictions. I guess it's another kind of special district: sort of a "homeless-free zone." Note the reference to the luxury condo buildings:

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - At Lake Eola park, there is much beauty to behold: robust palms, beds of cheery begonias, a cascading lake fountain, clusters of friendly egrets and swans, an amphitheater named in honor of Walt Disney.

Then there are the signs.

DO NOT LIE OR OTHERWISE BE IN A HORIZONTAL POSITION ON A PARK BENCH ... DO NOT SLEEP OR REMAIN IN ANY BUSHES, SHRUBS OR FOLIAGE ... per city code sec. 18A.09 (a) and (o).

Visit the park's restrooms, and you'll find this sign on the wall above the hand dryers:

BATHING AND/OR SHAVING IN RESTROOM IS PROHIBITED ... per city code 18A.09 (p) ... LAUNDERING CLOTHES IN LAKE EOLA PARK IS NOT PERMITTED...

On streets around Lake Eola, where drug dealers and prostitutes once roamed, residential towers like "The Paramount,""The Metropolitan at Lake Eola," and the "The Vue at Lake Eola," are now rising. In addition, the city is finalizing plans to renovate the downtown Citrus Bowl and build a new performing arts center and "Events Arena" by 2011 - at a cost of $1 billion.

Homelessness, in the view of Dyer and members of his staff, adversely affects public safety and economic development, and therefore must be addressed.

"Al Gore is a Greenhouse Gasbag"
Here is a great article on global warming, based on a lengthy interview with University of Pennsylvania Professor of Geology Robert Giegengack, who actually knows a great deal about the subject, unlike Al Gore. Giegengack is not a zealot or a politician either. He is not even a Republican, having voted for Gore himself. But he tears Gore's propaganda film to pieces. Here's a snippet, which is especially significant because the ultimate bottom-line measure of global warming is sea level:

“Sea level is rising,” Giegengack agrees, switching off the sound. But, he explains, it’s been rising ever since warming set in 18,000 years ago. The rate of rise has been pretty slow — only about 400 feet so far. And recently — meaning in the thousands of years — the rate has slowed even more. The Earth’s global ocean level is only going up 1.8 millimeters per year. That’s less than the thickness of one nickel. For the catastrophe of flooded cities and millions of refugees that Gore envisions, sea levels would have to rise about 20 feet. “At the present rate of sea-level rise,” Gieg says, “it’s going to take 3,500 years to get up there. So if for some reason this warming process that melts ice is cutting loose and accelerating, sea level doesn’t know it. And sea level, we think, is the best indicator of global warming.”"

Share your homeowners association story
That's the headline on this request from a reporter at the Santa Cruz Sentinel, sent along by Shu Bartholomew. Scroll down and you find this:


With a growing population dealing with housing prices that stubbornly remain some of the highest in the nation, many in Santa Cruz County have bought into the townhouse and condominium option. But along with the lower price and the benefits of sharing the costs of common-area maintenance come the well-known headaches of being part of a homeowner association.

If you have stories contact staff writer Gwen Mickelson at gmickelson@santacruzsentinel.com.

SSRN-Paternalist Slopes by Douglas Whitman, Mario Rizzo
I found this link on Instapundit. What follows is the abstract of a forthcoming law review article on a new form of paternalistic public policy by Douglas Whitman and Mario Rizzo. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines "paternalism" as follows: "Paternalism is the interference of a state or an individual with another person, against their will, and justified by a claim that the person interfered with will be better off or protected from harm." I'd say that a lot of HOA regulation is paternalistic. The assumption of such rules is often that residents are incapable of taking proper care of their homes unless micro-managed by authority. And "slippery slopes" are situations where something is done that inevitably leads to other things being done that were not originally intended. The metaphor is of a person who takes one step down a slope and then slips and goes all the way to the bottom. The article apparently takes the position that, while advocates of paternalistic laws claim their proposals are modest, there is a slippery slope quality to these new forms of paternalism, and "soft paternalism can pave the way for harder paternalism." Does that fit HOAs in anybody's mind? Interesting question.

So, here's what Whitman and Rizzo will be saying in their forthcoming article (my emphasis). I'll be reading the whole thing as soon as I can.

Abstract:
A growing literature in law and public policy harnesses research in behavioral economics to justify a new form of paternalism. Contributors to this literature typically emphasize the modest, non-intrusive character of their proposals. A distinct literature in law and public policy analyzes the validity of "slippery slope" arguments. Contributors to this literature have identified various mechanisms and processes by which slippery slopes operate, as well as the circumstances in which the threat of such slopes is greatest.

The present article sits at the nexus of the new paternalist literature and the slippery slopes literature. We argue that the new paternalism exhibits many characteristics identified by the slopes literature as conducive to slippery slopes. Specifically, the new paternalism exhibits considerable theoretical and empirical vagueness, making it vulnerable to slopes resulting from altered economic incentives, enforcement needs, deference to perceived authority, bias toward simple principles, and reframing of the status quo. These slope processes are especially likely when decisionmakers are subject to cognitive biases – as the new paternalists insist they are. Consequently, soft paternalism can pave the way for harder paternalism. We conclude that policymaking based on new paternalist reasoning should be considered with greater trepidation than its advocates have suggested.

ABC News: Retiree Whacks Suspect With Frying Pan
But did he say, "Hey Moe! Hey Larry! Hey Moe! Hey Larry!"

Salt Lake Tribune - School voucher bill passes House by a single vote
This would be the first universal, statewide, school voucher program. Pretty dramatic step along the road to privatization, I'd say.

A school voucher bill passed the Utah House by a single vote today. It is now expected to sail through the Senate and win the governor's signature...HB148 will let parents spend public money on private school tuition. Every Utah family, with the exception of current private school students, would be eligible for a voucher ranging from $500 to $3,000 depending on family income.

Global Warning Alert!
Today's news is full of doom and gloom as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change proclaims that global warming is "very likely" our fault. At least, they are 90% sure it is. I thought the .05 level (95%) was the minimum confidence level for proving a hypothesis. Apparently when all you want is for the entire human race to make massive, fundamental changes in the way we live, 90% is good enough, and we should disregard all the scientists who think the jury is still out.

In other news, here in Chicago we don't know from global warming right now. It is Situation Normal for February. We have been in the deep freeze for a week and the next week is even worse. The weather forecast says that between now and next Wednesday, the temperature will range from a balmy -22 to a torrid 17. When I walk across the Jackson Street bridge on my way from Union Station to UIC, and it is about 10 degrees with a 30 mph wind, pardon me for thinking that global warming doesn't sound all bad.

Oh, and not to appear callous about the stranded polar bears in that widely-distributed photo, but did you know that a polar bear can swim for 100 miles? They have been getting stranded on ice floes and swimming to safety since long before homo sapiens showed up. My guess is those bad boys are alive and well and eating seals right now.

WiscNews.com : Growth versus eagles

I don't understand how protecting eagles turns into a $5000 fine for sitting on your deck, but here goes, from the land of cheese:

VILLAGE OF PRAIRIE DU SAC - Carol Lukens, of First Weber, maintains eagles have no problems with people and that the Ferry Bluff Eagle Council needs to stop fighting with the village about the Nonn development...John Keefe of FBEC said the council appreciates the cooperative work done on the condominium documents. He provided 14 points, mostly word changes for the board. With attorneys from the village of Prairie du Sac, Ken Nonn and FBEC the Specific Implementation Plan was revised. Keefe said specifically the mid-November through March 31 time period be defined as winter eagle season...The council's research indicates eagle watching brought in $1.2 million to the community during a time when business tends to be slow in the community. All other concerns about lighting, stormwater, retaining wall and the landscape plan had been addressed. After voting the approval of the SIP, trustee John Pletzer said he was not pleased that if he bought a condo for $200,000, if it were 45 degrees, he could not sit out on his riverfront balcony without incurring a $5,000 fine from the condo association.

The Sun News | 02/01/2007 | State Farm drops coastal policies
Tough times for home owners seeking insurance (even those who didn't set their home on fire with burning underpants--see below):

State Farm Insurance Co., South Carolina's largest insurer of homes, said Wednesday it will drop almost 1,000 policies for homes on the oceanfront. The company's decision comes about a month after Allstate said it would drop 12,000 policies in order to minimize future hurricane risk. S.C. Farm Bureau Insurance started dropping 3,000 customers along the S.C. coast last fall.

Ananova - Husband's underpant tantrum destroys home
Try convincing your homeowner's insurance claims rep that this is covered by your HO-3.

An angry husband who threw old clothes into the garden and set fire to them because he couldn't find any clean underpants accidentally burnt his home down.

Origins of "Exposing AHRC"
I said below that the "Exposing AHRC" site was new. But I stand corrected. Pat Haruff called to my attention a post from Tom Skiba, CEO of the Community Associations Institute, who writes CAI's "Ungated" blog. He recommends reading the "Exposing AHRC" site way back in March of 2005 (see the sentence I bolded below). So, the site must have been up and running then, although I must confess that I had never seen it until this week. (Obviously I don't spend enough time web surfing.)

The rest of the post is worth reading apart from his mention of that site. He asks for reasonable people to find some middle ground for conversation. I hope Tom doesn't mind if I republish it in its entirety as food for thought.

The Internet Soapbox
by Tom Skiba on March 21, 2005 12:11PM (EST)
The internet is an amazing tool, it literally brings the world to our desktops. Unfortunately it also provides a soapbox for anyone with an axe to grind, and separating the valid, reliable and thoughtful information from the ill-informed babble is left as an exercise for the reader. Our industry, like many others, has spawned its own set of dedicated haters and they have taken to the web as the tool of choice.

Sun Tzu said to know your enemy, so every month I try and spend at least some time on the various anti-HOA websites. I try and limit my visits as the vitriol and unbalanced information tend to give me indigestion. One of my regular visits though, is the American Homeowners Resource Council at www.ahrc.com. What this site lacks in thoughtful analysis it more than make up for with volume and outrage. (I would also suggest www.ahrcexposed.com for an alternate viewpoint.)

I am a firm believer that individuals can have differing opinions, that they can discuss them thoughtfully, and that multiple points of view can be equally valid. Unfortunately, many of these websites would have readers believe that everyone involved in the HOA industry is evil, that CAI dictates law to legislatures around the country, and that valid contracts freely entered into should be null and void – all powerful characterizations even though false.

And yet there are some things that we can agree on: boards should represent their entire communities responsibly, homeowners should become involved in their communities, and living in and leading an association requires you to educate yourself. The big difference between us is that we at CAI believe that the vast majority of America’s 270,000+ communities, more than one million volunteer board members, and over 55 million residents already understand this and work diligently every day to build effective and well-run communities, and groups like AHRC do not.

What happened to the American Homeowners Resource Center?
Several people have asked me what happened to the AHRC website at www.arhc.com, which has been down for several days. The short answer is, I don't know. I have asked around but nobody else seems to know, either.

The mystery deepened when just a few days ago, right around the time of AHRC's site going down, a new website appeared called www.ahrcexposed.com. The "AHRC Exposed" site is basically an intense personal attack on Elizabeth McMahon, the prime mover of AHRC, and on AHRC itself, and asks for anybody who feels maligned by AHRC to email the site. Of course, AHRC's web site includes personal attacks on attorneys, property managers, and others who AHRC's correspondents feel have done homeowners wrong. They have gone after me at times for not towing the party line on foreclosure for unpaid assessments. So I guess you could look at this as tit for tat in one sense.

But at least we know who runs AHRC. Not so with "AHRC Exposed," which is one of those interesting websites that contains absolutely no information identifying the person or persons running it. It just sits there in cyberspace, slamming AHRC and the McMahons and asking for more negative information about them. Oh, and proclaiming that most people are very happy with their HOA, according to the Zogby study that CAI paid for. I have tried to find out whose site "AHRC Exposed" is. No luck yet. I have learned that the domain was registered by an organization called "Domains by Proxy" out of Scottsdale, Arizona. Here is the info that I have so far:

Registrant:
Domains by Proxy, Inc.

DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: AHRCEXPOSED.COM
Created on: 14-Jan-04
Expires on: 14-Jan-08
Last Updated on: 14-Jan-07

If anybody knows more about this, let me know. The mystery deepens...

Dr. Valeriano's Teaching, Research, and News Blog
Here is a new blog by my colleague here at UIC, Brandon Valeriano. He teaches international relations, and his blog includes some insightful commentary, fascinating links, and witty comments.

Developer defends homeless-village concept - Orlando Sentinel
I guess it had to happen: a planned community for the homeless, to get them in one place so they don't bother people. I gather from the article that this developer "transformed" a bad neighborhood into an upscale "Garden District," but the former residents are still hanging around. So the developer proposes to build them cheap housing near the jail and call it "Tiger Bay Village." Can you imagine what their HOA board meetings will be like?

At a meeting inside the neighborhood he helped transform from a crack den into the trendy Garden District, urban developer Michael Arth on Friday defended his latest big idea: a $100 million village for the area's homeless. About 40 people crowded Arth's office to weigh in on Tiger Bay Village, a place where the homeless would live, work and get counseling. Some had questions about paying for it while others were worried a secluded village would stigmatize the homeless and further ostracize them from mainstream society...His plan calls for building a resort-style,pedestrian-friendly village on 125 acres in rural Volusia County near the jail. It would have bungalows, dining halls, community gardens, a swimming lagoon and winding paths...Lindsay Roberts, the executive director of the Volusia-Flagler Coalition for the Homeless, said she also was concerned about segregating the homeless. She said at one shelter in Daytona Beach, school officials had to move the bus stop because some children made fun of kids who lived at the shelter. "The object is to integrate them, not segregate them," Roberts said after the meeting.

Potomac News Online | Sign posting bill delayed
Thanks to Chris Casey for the link to this update on the effort to give basic First Amendment rights (posting political campaign signs) to HOA residents in Virginia. He notes in an email that the opposition has slowed things down for a week by seeking amendments. As I noted earlier, the local CAI chapter is opposing the bill because they think campaign signs are ugly. Chris promises more detail later on his blog at www.freemontclair.us.

When the 2004 presidential race began heating up, Chris Casey, a Web site designer for Democratic candidates, felt the urge to plant a political sign in his yard. Casey knew 14 years ago that when he bought his house in Montclair, he signed property owner covenants prohibiting him from posting most signs in his yard. But Casey posted his John Kerry for president sign and in short order received a letter in the mail. It was a notice from the Montclair Property Owner Association that Casey had violated his covenants and faced a fine if he didn't comply...A bill sponsored by Sen. Linda T. "Toddy" Puller, D-36th, was scheduled to be heard but was rescheduled when both sides, including a representative from the American Civil Liberties Union, could not agree on an amendment...Puller's bill suggests that no property owner association prevent a resident from posting political signs, an argument similarly addressed by a Supreme Court ruling in 1994. In the case of City of Ladue v. Gilleo, the court ruled that a government could not prohibit signs being posted on private property based on their content. Casey used this case in arguing for his right to free speech in Montclair.

ContraCostaTimes.com | 01/27/2007 | These streets aren't made for walking
Thanks to Fred Pilot for this link, which is a real news story and not, I repeat, NOT a parody from The Onion of gated community baskethead repressiveness:


Get caught walking in the middle of the streets in Discovery Bay's Lakeshore neighborhood these days and it could cost you $50. The Lakeshore Residential Owners Association recently enacted a rule that prohibits people from walking in the streets of the gated 450-home community. The rule is meant to protect pedestrians and keep people from blocking traffic, said Carlos Tabarini, president of the association that governs the neighborhood. "It's intended for safety and good neighborly conduct," Tabarini said. "I don't think it's strict."

Elderly, angry Plimmerton man turns tagger - New Zealand
Here's a fellow with a unique way of expressing his dissatisfaction with housing design trends in his neighborhood.

Anger at an invasion of "Beijing-like" flash mansions has driven an elderly Plimmerton historian to tag a neighbouring house. The 75-year-old has escaped police charges but is vowing to continue his crusade to preserve the ambience of the historic seaside resort. Roger Beauchamp - president of the Porirua Historic Association and Porirua Historic Places Trust representative - said extreme frustration drove him to tagging, a vice usually the domain of errant teenagers. He spray-painted "shit" on neighbour Pat Quin's house in Moana Rd.

KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Massive snowfall causes city to shrink
Another global warning alert, this one from Alaska, where the municipality of Anchorage is way over budget on snow removal:

Anchorage, Alaska - Anchorage has been hit with more than 74 inches of snow this season, and according to the city, it's reaching a crisis level, with snow removal on the streets becoming a big problem...The city is already $2 million over budget for snow removal this season, and says the situation is nearing crisis, with clearing crews working six day weeks. And it won't be completely done until the white stuff turns into the wet stuff.

BREITBART.COM - Existing Home Sales Plummet in 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of existing homes fell in December, closing out a year in which demand for homes slumped by the largest amount in 17 years.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes were down 0.8 percent last month, a bigger decline than had been expected. For the year, sales fell by 8.4 percent, the biggest annual decline since 1989, when existing home sales fell by 14.8 percent. The sales figure underscored the sharp contraction that is going on in the once high-flying housing market, which before last year had set sales records for five straight years. Even with the sharp drop in sales last year, the median price of an existing home sold in 2006 managed to rise a slight 1.1 percent. But that was far below the double-digit gains during the boom years. The median home price had risen by 12.4 percent in 2005.

WCBS NEWSRADIO 880 - NJ Cracks Down on Talking on a Cell Phone While Cycling
More evidence that public governments are competing with HOAs to see who can be more intrusive and meddlesome? You be the judge.

A legislative committee has approved a bill that would make it illegal for people to use a hand-held telephone while riding a bicycle on a public road. Hands-free devices would be allowed and lawbreakers would face fines ranging from $100 to $250. Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, a bill sponsor, said the measure is meant to protect bicyclists and the people they may strike when riding and yakking at the same time. ``That is, in our judgment, a danger to pedestrians as well as to the bicyclists themselves, due to the fact that now they have one hand on the handlebars, they're talking to someone and they're on a public highway,'' said Bramnick, a Union County Republican.

More evidence of the scourge of global warming...
...not.
Weather forecasts released Thursday suggested that the cold weather expected to hit the U.S. Midwest between Jan. 28 and Feb. 1 will now persist longer than previously expected. One model run by meteorologists at MDA's EarthSat Weather Group in Rockville, Md., forecasts "the coldest outbreak in years" for large parts of the U.S. between Feb. 2-6.

White Atlanta suburbs push for secession - Yahoo! News
ATLANTA - A potentially explosive dispute in the City Too Busy to Hate is taking shape over a proposal to break Fulton County in two and split off Atlanta's predominantly white, affluent suburbs to the north from some of the metropolitan area's poorest, black neighborhoods. Legislation that would allow the suburbs to form their own county, to be called Milton County, was introduced by members of the Georgia Legislature's Republican majority earlier this month. Supporters say it is a quest for more responsive government in a county with a population greater than that of six states. Opponents say the measure is racially motivated and will pit white against black, rich against poor. "If it gets to the floor, there will be blood on the walls," warned state Sen. Vincent Fort, an Atlanta Democrat and member of the Legislative Black Caucus who bitterly opposes the plan. Fort added: "As much as you would like to think it's not racial, it's difficult to draw any other conclusion."...Residents of north Fulton represent 29 percent of the county's population of 915,000 but pay 42 percent of its property taxes, according to a local taxpayers group. A split would lead to the loss of $193 million in property taxes alone for Fulton County.

-----------------------

This is a pretty drastic measure. Does anybody know how prevalent HOAs are in north Fulton County?

Chi-Town Daily News: Candidate for Chicago City Council calls for moratorium on condo conversions
Thanks to Nancy Levy for this link:

Chris Adams, candidate for 49th Ward Alderman, called Friday for a 12-month moratorium on new condominium conversions in Rogers Park and announced he would create a 49th Ward Low Income Housing Trust Fund – the first of its kind in Chicago – as part of a strategy to stem the decline in affordable housing in the 49th ward...Condo conversions in Rogers Park have dislocated numerous families and driven others out of the community altogether, threatening the cultural and economic diversity on which the community prides itself. Adams said Ald. Moore’s set-aside policies have been ineffective. A report by the Lakeside Community Development Corporation linked the rapid increase in the number of new condominiums in Rogers Park to a sharp decline in rental units. According to the Lakeside report, Rogers Park has lost 3,600 rental units in just the last four years.

LIS > Bill Tracking > SB964 > 2007 session
Check out the summary and see what CAI is so much against. Note that the associations are allowed to impose reasonable restrictions.

Summary as introduced:
Property Owners' Association Act; display of political signs. Provides that, except as otherwise expressed in the declaration, no declaration or association's rules and regulations or architectural guidelines shall restrict or prohibit the display by a lot owner on his lot of a candidate sign or a sign that advertises the support or defeat of any question submitted to the voters in accordance with state election law. For the purposes of the bill, "candidate sign" means a sign on behalf of a candidate for public office or a slate of candidates for public office. The bill provides, however, that an association may restrict the display of such signs (i) in the common areas or (ii) in accordance with federal or state law, and may establish reasonable restrictions as to the size, place, duration, and manner of placement or display of such signs, except that no restriction on the duration of the display of such signs shall be less than (a) 30 days before the primary election, general election or vote on the proposition or (b) seven days after the primary election, general election, or vote on the proposition. The bill also requires the association disclosure packet to contain a statement of any restrictions on the size, place, duration, and manner of placement or display of such signs. The bill contains technical amendments. The bill also clarifies that the display of the flag of (i) the United States, (ii) the Commonwealth, (iii) any active branch of the armed forces of the United States, or (iv) any military valor or service award of the United States also includes display on mailboxes and similar structures.

FreeMontclair.US
Here, courtesy of Chris Casey, is a website devoted to establishing basic freedom of speech for residents of Virginia's HOAs. There is a bill, SB 964, in the Virginia state legislature that would prevent HOAs in VA from squelching political speech at campaign time. Of course, CAI's Virginia Legislative Action Committee is opposing it, saying, "Imagine the homes in your community taking on the appearance of a local state highway at election time!! Not a very pretty sight."

This is just shameful. To me, that statement says all you need to know about CAI's disdainful attitude toward democracy. This is an organization that started out in 1973 with a belief in participatory local democracy. Read their early publications. HOAs were to be all about re-creating the New England town meeting. But eventually CAI became entirely a trade association, and as it was taken over by lawyers and managers, CAI has become increasingly committed to replacing local democracy with top-down, authoritarian property management. That way, the professionals who constitute CAI become the real government of the nation's HOAs. The professionals know that the volunteer directors just don't have time or the expertise to do the job alone, and even if they can, they still can't command respect from the members without the constant threat of litigation by the association's attorney.

I hope this anti-democratic statement is brought to the attention of the state legislators who pay for all those campaign signs that offend CAI's delicate sensibilities at election time.

Telegraph | News | Entire village suspected of mayor's murder
Here's a headline you won't often see. I posted this for all the folks who think their HOA president is bad. It could be worse. What if you couldn't herd farm animals through the neighborhood?

TheStar.com - News - Gulf turtles revive under sun lamp
Would somebody please explain to these sea turtles that the problem is supposed to be global warming, not frozen turtles? Don't they read their email?

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas–At least three dozen sea turtles are getting a little vacation under heat lamps in this spring-break capital after being rescued from an arctic blast that caused water temperatures in their arm of the Gulf of Mexico to plummet to little more than 10C. The rapid drop this week left the cold-blooded creatures comatose in the shallow bay where juveniles feed. Rescuers feared the cold would kill the turtles, which weigh 225 kilos when mature, or make them sluggishly vulnerable to sharks.

Lindenhurst shifts funding ideas | Chicago Tribune
We live in Lindenhurst, where a little drama has played itself out recently that shows the interplay between HOAs and TIF districts in suburban real estate development. There is one big parcel of good land for development left here. A big San Diego developer proposed to use the 200 acre parcel for 800 homes and 700,000 feet of retail space. Sounds good, right? Except that at the last minute it was disclosed that the developer wanted it to be a TIF. And that's what led 600 people to show up at a Village Board meeting and object to the TIF, and three school districts to threaten a lawsuit if the village approved the TIF. Outcome: board says no to the TIF. They are up for re-election in April, by the way. I will have more to say about HOAs and TIFs, but I see both as forms of special districts that allow municipalities to do development in non-traditional ways and make out well financially. And both have effects on other aspects of public life and public financing that others find very objectionable. The article lays out what a TIF is, in case readers of this blog don't know.

BBC NEWS | England | Wiltshire | Mystery over roadside underwear
This should be easy to solve. What Monty Python alumnus lives closest?

Police in a Wiltshire village have been trying to get to the bottom of an underwear mystery. Around 30 pairs of knickers have been draped over road signs and gravestones in Purton, near Swindon

Comments enabled
Let's see what happens. Please keep it civil.

YOU'RE FLAGGED!! Trump fined over large flag at Fla. club - Yahoo! News
Fred Pilot found this little item, and tags it as follows: "The Donald gets a taste of HOA life by a municipality HOA wannabe."


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Officials in the ritzy coastal town of Palm Beach have voted to fine Donald Trump $1,250 a day for flying a large American flag atop an 80-foot flagpole at his lavish club in violation of town codes.

Fred Pilot comments on the "Subdivision opposes maintenance tax" story (see below)
These are Fred's comments:
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I think this trend recognizes the reality (a refreshing change from the "HOAs protect property values" pap) that homebuyers are rejecting private local government in the form of mandatory HOAs and seek a return to traditional, public government. Local governments see the handwriting on the wall and are wisely preparing for a wave of defunct and dissolved HOAs. The trend holds a big plus for property owners: unlike HOA assessments, property taxes that fund special districts are income tax deductible.

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Fred also wants to know why I disabled the comments feature on this blog. The answer is because I got so many commercial spam posts and rage-filled, defamatory, screeds. Maybe I should enable it again and see what happens? What do you think, readers?

Northwest Herald - Subdivision opposes maintenance tax
Fred Pilot sent me this. Here we have a municipality setting up a backup plan in case an HOA fails in its maintenance responsibility. If that happens, the municipality uses a special district to force the residents to pay for the maintenance. This is becoming fairly common.



WOODSTOCK – Apple Creek subdivision residents spoke out this week against a special taxing area proposed for the new Woodstock subdivision. City officials explained that the proposed special service area would levy a tax on the property owners only if the homeowners association failed to maintain common areas.

MercuryNews.com | 01/18/2007 | No-spank bill on way
When Sweden did this years ago, Americans were amused. Now, here it comes to the largest state in the nation. The left wing of the Democratic party has always wanted to turn the US into Sweden. I thought they would start with Minnesota, but I guess California will do. This bill makes it a crime--a misdemeanor--to spank a 3 year old. Obviously the idea is to start with the young ones, so they can make the "why would anybody hit a 3 year old" argument, and then extend it to the rest of the kids. And the larger objective is to socialize parenting--to assert sweeping governmental control over the family. Hillary Clinton says it takes a village. I guess in California it takes a state legislature.



SACRAMENTO - The state Legislature is about to weigh in on a question that stirs impassioned debate among moms and dads: Should parents spank their children? Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, wants to outlaw spanking children up to 3 years old. If she succeeds, California would become the first state in the nation to explicitly ban parents from smacking their kids.

Residents to decide on road fee | The Bryan-College Station Eagle
Private road goes bad. HOA asks city to take it over. City say, residents of HOA must contribute bucks to upgrade road to public standards first, at cost of $500 each. Watch for many more such stories over the coming years, as cheap private infrastructure crumbles prematurely, and HOA residents seek public bailout, having no bread in reserves with which to fix the problems.

First, Hunter's Creek resident David Acker started noticing cracks forming along the edges of the private roadways lining his 2-year-old subdivision. Then there were weeds growing out of the pavement. Eventually, he said, he even saw a few mesquite saplings starting to sprout. Acker joined about 20 neighbors at the Brazos County Courthouse Tuesday morning during a public hearing to gauge support for a county plan to fix the roadway problems. The solution county officials have proposed is for each of the east Brazos County neighborhood's approximately 40 residents to pay a one-time $500 fee to get the roads up to county standards. After that, officials said, the county can take over permanent responsibility for maintenance as it does for other subdivisions. According to Acker, who is president of the Hunter's Creek Neighborhood Association, the proposed solution has about 99 percent support from homeowners there.

Associations' rules can really hit home - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
But then, we all knew that, didn't we?

From reminding property owners when it is time to paint their houses to not allowing fences or sheds on property they own, these resident-run groups often supersede municipal rules.

Tampa Bay Newspapers : Grants available for homeowner associations  
Another example of HOAs being built into the intergovernmental system as extensions of local government:

LARGO – Through the Good Neighbors Partnership Grant Program, homeowner associations have a chance to get free money. A Good Neighbors Partnership Grant Workshop will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 6 p.m., at Largo City Hall Community Room.
warding up to $10,000 in matching funds, the City Commission established the program to help fund neighborhood projects, such as entryway monuments, park improvements, decorative lighting and landscaping.

Freeport balks at dredging canal for harbor
This story is from Texas. Seems the local government doesn't think it has authority to dredge a canal, but an HOA could, if it could be brought back from the dead. So the story goes. Isn't it something when an HOA has the power to solve problems the municipality is helpless to deal with?

FREEPORT — If residents of the Bridge Harbor subdivision want to see their neighborhood canal dredged, they should form a homeowner’s association for the effort, City Council members said Tuesday night...City representatives said the city should not be involved with any dredging efforts because of possible liability issues if dredging were to spread chemical contaminants that might have accumulated at the base of the canal...Although the subdivision is within city limits, the city does not control the canal, which courses about a mile through the waterside community. Federal and state agencies control water access, while the private corporation which owns Bridge Harbor also owns the actual canal bottom.
City Attorney Wallace Shaw told the homeowners they should “resurrect a homeowners’ association or some other non-profit group to take ownership of this canal,” and then dredging could ensue. Jim Pirrung, who has lived in Bridge Harbor for 17 years, disagreed.
“I would like to see the city buy the canal and dredge it and then assess property owners for costs,” he said. “We had a home association before annexation, but afterwards the association died from lack of interest. It was assumed the city would take over the responsibilities of a homeowners’ association.” Shaw said such an arrangement isn’t possible. “There’s no way repair of the canal could be assessed by the city like street (repairs),” he said. “There’s no authority from the Legislature for a city to do that.”

United Press International - NewsTrack - San Antonio community wants embryos out
Here's a remarkable story sent over by Fred Pilot:

SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- The Dominion Homeowners Association in San Antonio issued a "cease and desist" notice to an embryo brokerage accused of violating deed restrictions.
The association claims Jennalee Ryan, the owner of the Abraham Center of Life, is violating her deed agreement in the upscale community by operating the business out of her home, the San Antonio Express-News reported Wednesday.

City Council might study neighborhood associations : Local : Albuquerque Tribune
It's about time. But check out the relationship with the city that these HOAs have already:

City Councilor Don Harris isn't involved in this dispute - his district is on the other side of town - but he's heard this sort of problem story enough that he wants to do something about it. "Most neighborhood associations and homeowners associations are functioning fairly well, but there is a significant minority where residents feel disenfranchised," he said. On Wednesday, Harris will introduce legislation to study the problems and pursue a solution. His bill would create a nine-member task force and charge it with investigating the situation and looking over two pieces of draft legislation that would set up new regulations for both types of neighborhood groups. The proposed rules, which Harris said likely wouldn't be introduced until summer, impose standards for the election of association officers, and in the case of homeowner associations, mandate that records be open for public inspection. While homeowners associations basically function as their own entities, neighborhood associations play a critical role in city government as a whole. The city maintains a formal process for recognizing associations (right now there are 188) and shares information with them about upcoming city projects, development proposals and even liquor license applications in their area...The official relationship goes further. City councilors, if they didn't already have an incentive to know their neighborhood leaders, are by law supposed to be given the contact information of officially recognized neighborhood association leaders. The same list is given to the news media on a monthly basis, meaning association leaders are routinely called on to represent their area to the rest of the city and region. The overall importance of associations is all the more reason, Harris said, to make sure the groups are transparent, democratic and actually representing their areas. "The neighborhood is oftentimes your first line of government," he said.

Poinciana Park parents want sex offender out | naplesnews.com | Naples Daily News
Note the HOA directors involvement in, or at least support for, trying to get a law passed that will keep sex offenders from living within 2500 feet of day care centers, parks, and schools.

A Ticket On a Taurus Grows Into Much More - washingtonpost.com
It seems private property still counts for something:

A three-judge panel in Alexandria went even further than Eberth had imagined, ruling that Prince William had no authority to ticket vehicles with expired inspection stickers parked on private -- or public -- property. The ruling by Judge Robert J. Humphreys said state law prohibits only the operation of a vehicle with an expired inspection sticker, casting doubt on whether police anywhere in Virginia can ticket parked vehicles with expired stickers. Because Prince William's code dates to at least 1965, the ruling suggests that the county has been erroneously citing drivers for more than four decades. Since 2000 alone -- the year Eberth got his first of three tickets -- Prince William has written 29,871 citations under Code 13-322, for fines totaling more than $1 million.

Dissolving a Homeowners Association III > Politics > Stories > Golden > YourHub.com
Here we are on part three, and the author still hasn't given much detail. Here's how it ends, with a request that we "stay tuned."

His attorney told him that if he could bring him in-depth details concerning what the homeowner had just recited to him (details about possible HOA wrongdoings that appeared to the attorney to be the worst of which he had made notes about), such as HOA documents, audio and/or video tape recordings, etc (what is commonly known as "hard evidence"), the attorney would "go to court" with it. That is, file a lawsuit against the homeowner's HOA which might eventually lead to dissolving it (no, intelligent and rational readers, it is not easy to dissolve HOAs in a state that has legislatively mandated them - as the state of Colorado's legislators and Governor did in 1992, and then made worse in 2005 and 2006 by adding amendments to, and deleting portions of, those laws). In fact, it might be easier for HOA homeowner advocates and HOA homeowners to just gather signatures on petitions to repeal all HOA laws for your state. But that's another "story" for another time. As the HOA homeowner left his attorney's office, he was already planning how he he would get the "hard evidence" his attorney needed to start the ball rolling towards the goal of dissolving his HOA.

Stay tuned.....

Curb your renters | Daily Press: Victorville, California
The Spring Valley Lake Association is hoping to change the codes, covenants and restrictions to keep better track of renters — bringing them out of an anonymous state and informing them of the rules. Based on a request by several members, the association formed a committee to amend the CC&Rs, said Chuck Jackson, chairman of the committee. “They asked the board to see if they could do something about better security and better enforcement of the rules and regulations,” Jackson said.If passed, the CC&Rs would require, for the first time, that landlords provide the homeowner’s association with a list of all tenants and residents of the home, and at the same time require renters to read and sign a copy of the rules and regulations.

The Seattle Times: Local News: Smoking foes bring the fight to apartment buildings
Obviously this will include condos. I guess the idea is to work throught the state legislatures and city councils, and also through the condo boards.

A year after a statewide smoking ban took effect at workplaces, restaurants, bars and other public places, a new battlefield over secondhand smoke is emerging: apartment buildings. Spurred on by nonsmoking tenants and public-health leaders, more private landlords are considering restricting smoking inside their rental units. And local public-housing agencies are also looking at banning smoking in the units of some buildings.

State Farm loses $2.5 million Katrina decision--Mississippi couple who lost home awarded punitive damages
Despite all the speculation, I don't think one jury trial in a single federal District Court is going to be the end of this coverage issue. State Farm and other insurers have gazillions at stake here. Still, it is good news for a lot of homeowners:

GULFPORT, Miss. - A jury on Thursday awarded $2.5 million in punitive damages to a couple who sued Bloomington-based State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. for denying their claim after Hurricane Katrina, a decision that could benefit hundreds of other homeowners challenging insurers for refusing to cover billions of dollars in storm damage.

Jean Jacques Couturier, 79; Union Organizer, Professor - washingtonpost.com
Shu Bartholomew informed me that Jean Couturier had passed away in early December. I am very sorry to see him go. He was a great man, they don’t make many people like him anymore. I met him at Borders book signing in Silver Spring, MD. He was interested in HOA reform and had some practical ideas about it. I gave a talk and mentioned Charles Ascher, who designed the model private government for Radburn, and he sent up a note that said, “I knew Charles Asher.” That was quite a shock, because all the events I described had occurred in 1928! Then we hooked up again in Oak Park. One of his chidren lived there. He was exploring the feasibility of a national HOA owners groups and told me he had decided it was going to be difficult, but he came up with a model for doing it. He was very smart, knew a whole lot about how to run organizations and governments, and was dedicated to the public good. It is really a great loss. My condolences to his family and friends. Here is part of the obituary from the Washington Post:
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Jean Jacques Couturier, 79, a union organizer, civil service reformer and university professor before retiring as executive director of the Senior Executives Association in Washington, died Dec. 7 at Lancaster Regional Medical Center in Lititz, Pa. A former resident of Chevy Chase, he had lived in Lancaster, Pa., since 2004. He spent the last two years of his career advocating for senior-level government workers. Before retiring in 1983, he took issue with reports that aides to former EPA administrator Anne Burford had compiled a hit list of career employees that they wanted fired or reassigned. He urged the Office of the Special Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board to investigate the alleged harassment.Throughout his career, Mr. Couturier worked on behalf of federal, state and local employees at all levels. He also spoke and wrote on topics such as civil service reform, collective bargaining in government, federal encroachment on state and local governments and careers in public management. In the academic arena for several years, he was director of research and sponsored programs at American University's College of Public and International Affairs in the early 1980s, as well as being an adjunct professor in residence in the School of Government and Public Administration, now called the School of Public Affairs. From 1974 to 1980, he was professor of public management and director of graduate studies in public management at Northwestern University. He was co-author of the book "The Public Interest in Government Labor Relations" (1977). One of Mr. Couturier's biggest achievements, said his son, Andy Couturier of Oakland, Calif., was his development of the National Civil Service Reform League's Model Public Personnel Administration Law of 1970, which has been adopted by numerous local governments.

Blair wants 'super-Asbos' for violent thugs - Sunday Times - Times Online
An ASBO is an "Anti-Social Behaviour Order," a legal device used in Great Britain to target "anti-social" people and order them not to do things that might be otherwise legal but in their case are likely threatening or otherwise disruptive to public peace and order. Now the idea is to expand this and target violent people with even more restrictive court orders. Would this approach be acceptable to the public in the US?

These new “super-Asbos” will be aimed not only at people who have a history of violent behaviour or who have just left prison but also those who may not yet have committed an offence. According to a Home Office document outlining the plan, to be published next month, the measures will ban potential trouble-makers from certain areas or mixing with certain people, alert police when they move house and possibly force them to live in a named hostel, give details of vehicles they own and impose a curfew on them.

Lockport Union-Sun & Journal Online - CONDO CONTROVERSY: Municipalities grapple with condo assessments
This story is from New York state. I didn't know about this strange law giving tax breaks to condos:

Under a state law with roots in New York City, homes under a condominium association are assessed as though they were apartments, leaving them with tax bills 1/3 less or more than other homeowners receive. Earlier this month, the Pendleton Town Board had a stalemate vote of 2-2 to change the zoning of the land near the Pettit Castles. The owner wanted to build condominiums there to make money to maintain the structures, but residents expressed their displeasure with having more residents in the town get a tax break.

BREITBART.COM - Gated communities in Iraq? Well, sort of...
I heard about this from two Freds. Fred Pilot, who sent me the link, and economist Fred Foldvary, who is very intrigued by the use of "gated" (in this case, "bermed" would be a better description) neighborhoods as a solution to a whole lot of problems...as long as they are private communities:

Adapting ideas tracing back from ancient history to modern Israel, US Marines have sealed off flashpoint towns with sand walls in a new counter-insurgency tactic to quell the wilds of western Iraq. Driving across the desert to Haditha, one of the war's deadliest and most infamous battlefields, the grey plain suddenly collapses into a ditch and rises into an intimidating 12-foot (around four-metre) bank of bulldozed sand...Colonel W. Blake Crowe, the overall US commander for western Al-Anbar, calls them gated communities and likens them to the walls around Biblical Jericho. Tracy compares them to Neolithic barricades built to keep out nomadic invaders.

Bad omen in Twin Rivers oral argument?
Fred Pilot sent this link. Looks like there was some rough questioning for Frank Askin by a couple of justices:
RENTON -- Some members of the state Supreme Court on Thursday grilled a Rutgers law professor who argued that condominium dwellers have a guaranteed right to display signs, no matter the rules of their homeowners associations.Justice Roberto A. Rivera-Soto paraphrased the plaintiffs' wishes: to post as many signs as they want, to use the community room subject to their own terms and to dictate the placement of their letters in the community newsletter.

Fred Fischer's thoughts on HOAs and the Virginia Charter

What follows was sent to me by Fred Fischer, and I present it without any editing. At the end, I have added some passages from the First Virginia Charter that seemed pertinent to his argument. You can go read the whole Charter by following the link at the end of the post. It is an interesting perspective, and entirely Fred's opinion, except for the first paragraph, that he cut and pasted from a page called From Revolution to Reconstruction. So, Fred's thoughts begin with "Sound familiar," and end with "Gilbert, AZ"
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The First Charter of Virginia: April 10, 1606

...From the outset the Virginia Company was granted the authority to govern its own colony. A ruling council in England, composed of members of the joint-stock company (today's corporation) who were usually merchants of great distinction, was formed immediately after King James I granted the charter of 1606. The councilors (Board members) were appointed ostensibly by the king, but in reality were nominated by the membership, or more often, by the inner executive group of the company. The council in England issued instructions to the first settlers appointing a colonial council to make daily decisions. This group proved ineffective, and a governor, Lord Delaware, was eventually appointed. Acting under the council in England, the governor had absolute power. The authority to establish or alter a government in Virginia was based upon the charter granted by the king; in this sense, the king (today's municipalities) delegated some of his power to others (today's HOAs). From First Landing, CBN /Regent University.

Sound familiar, in the early 1960's municipalities started mandating HOAs to privatize many services to eliminate maintenance and infrastructure costs and to generate new revenue (State of CA). Then to accomplish this municipalities mandated the creation of and delegated governmental powers onto a corporate entity like the 1606 Charter of Virginia Company (a corporate colony) effectively eliminating members Constitutional inalienable private property rights in the process. Consequently HOAs have evolved since into a fourth level of private government essentially acting as governmental corporations created exclusively by developers in collaboration with HOA industry attorneys and service providers. Except HOAs "have no public concern towards the welfare of its members" since they are created without the participation or support of their ultimate shareholders or the community even though members will be bound in perpetuity to its authority.

Let their be no misunderstandings, when people loose their private property rights they automatically loose all other civil liberties as Americas founders well understood. Consequently HOAs have little to do with protecting property values or making better neighborhoods but instead are primarily about control over private property for profit. By those who economically benefit, exclusively create and support the HOAs in part or in whole and depend on them for their livelihood. Unfortunately when people buy into an HOA what is not disclosed by realtors, the local municipality or in the HOA declaration. Is the indisputable fact that buyers are only buying the right to live there. Because buyers have unknowingly forfeited through the HOA contract their Constitutional private property rights and other rights and protections. Effectively making HOA members once again second class citizens as the colonists once were and subject to the same injustices and tyranny.

Government by contract eliminates citizens Constitutional private property rights and is a Pandora's Box that is a breading ground for endless conflict as Americas founders clearly understood & tried to end !

Thanks, Fred Fischer

Gilbert, AZ.

__________________________________

From the First Virginia Charter:

And wee doe alsoe ordaine, establishe and agree for [us], our heires and successors, that eache of the saide Colonies shall have a Counsell which shall governe and order all matters and causes which shall arise, growe, or happen to or within the same severall Colonies, according to such lawes, ordinannces and instructions as shalbe in that behalfe, given and signed with our hande or signe manuell and passe under the Privie Seale of our realme of Englande; eache of which Counsells shall consist of thirteene parsons and to be ordained, made and removed from time to time according as shalbe directed and comprised in the same instructions… And that alsoe ther shalbe a Counsell established here in Englande which shall in like manner consist of thirteen parsons to be, for that purpose, appointed by us, our heires and successors, which shalbe called our Counsell of Virginia; and shall from time to time have the superior managing and direction onelie of and for all matters that shall or may concerne the govermente, as well of the said severall Colonies as of and for anie other parte or place within the aforesaide precinctes of fower and thirtie and five and fortie degrees abovementioned;

Link to First Virginia Charter, April 10, 1606

Condo association opposes bay (boat) speed zones | naplesnews.com | Naples Daily News
More political activity by organized CID residents, this time over boat speed limits:

A neighborhood association board representing 5,000 condominium residents on Gulf Shore Boulevard North sent its president to Wednesday’s Naples City Council meeting to relay the group’s opposition to keeping up the legal defense of the speed zones. The board’s position is that “enough is enough and no further taxpayer funds should be spent on this matter,” Gulf Shore Association of Condominiums President Murray Hendel told the City Council.

Dissolving a Homeowners Association II > Politics > Stories > Golden > YourHub.com
Actually this article doesn't answer the question it asks, but promises to in future installments. In this piece the author just explains why a person might want to dissolve his or her HOA.

Buying a Condo? Asking Five Questions Makes All The Difference
This is a press release, but it has some good questions.

Mentally Retarded Sue, Charging Condo Discriminated - January 11, 2007 - The New York Sun
People keep asking me why I think there need to be limits on the powers of HOAs and deed restrictions. Offered for your consideration, as Rod Serling used to say:

The condominium board of a Washington Heights building is facing a discrimination lawsuit on behalf of five mentally retarded adults who want to move in. The lawsuit, filed recently in federal court in Manhattan, is the latest chapter in Margaret Puddington's effort to find a suitable home for her son and four of his friends.

Dead birds rain down on towns half a world apart | the Daily Mail
I understand why the birds are falling out of the sky in Texas, but what's wrong with the air in Australia?

The Mercury - Homeowner says association trying to deflate Eagles spirit
Here is an assault on the use of inflatables, which are sprouting all over America these days. In our neighborhood we have folks whose front yards look like blimp airfields. I wonder why kids with bb guns don't use them for target practice? Not that I'm suggesting they should...

LIMERICK -- After the heart-stopping win over the Giants on Sunday, Eagles fans are flying high. But one local homeowners association is trying to take the wind out from under their wings.Nick Vance, a resident of the Golf Ridge neighborhood, and a member of the 150-member plus homeowners association there, has been an Eagles fan his whole life. Vance was told recently by the homeowners association president, Keith Daywalt, that he has to take down an inflatable lawn decoration that Vance calls his good luck charm.

The Sun Online - News: 'Odour nuisance' probe stinks!
Shu Bartholomew agrees, asking where this sort of thing will end. Will people be jailed for not using deodorant while watching football games in their living room? OK, this is Great Britain, but is it coming soon to a city near you, as munis compete with HOAs to have rinky dink little quality-of-life ordinances they can brag about? Council chiefs have told the couple they face a health investigation after a neighbour claimed fumes from their ciggies were invading her living room.

CALL Lobbies Tallahassee to Let Community Associations Form 'Self-Insurance Funds' to Spread Risk, Stem Rate Hikes: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link. "CALL" is the Community Association Leadership Lobby. If my memory is correct, it was set up by the industry, mainly the law firm of Becker and Poliakoff, to counter the lobbying influence of grass-roots homeowner organizations like Cyber Citizens for Justice.

U.S. home prices unaffordable for many workers: study - Yahoo! News
Fred Pilot sent this article about a new study from the Center for Housing Policy. That organization is focused largely on promoting "affordable housing."

Inventor of instant noodles dies at 96
A moment of silence, please. And don't tell my daughter. She loves Ramen Noodles.

Mesa senior community residents angered by club fees
Pat Haruff sent this item. I know developers need to get creative with names, but "Dreamland Villa"? Please. How about "Hallucination Acres"? "Coma Corners"?

Since 2003, neighbor-against neighbor confrontations and lawsuits have become the norm in the sprawling Dreamland Villa, which draws retirees to the unincorporated area. Last month, 39 court summonses filed by Dreamland attorney Charles Maxwell were delivered to residents for not paying annual dues — which could lead to liens on homes in default, and even foreclosure. Joe Kuka, 78, who lives on Evergreen Street, recently received court documents stating he owed $769.30 in dues, legal fees, monthly penalties and interest for a club he said he doesn’t want. “I pity the poor (person) who would come up and put a for-sale sign in front of my house,” Kuka said. “I worked hard for this house.” The summonses were the latest in an ongoing legal feud that centers on changes three years ago to the 45-year-old neighborhood’s rules and restrictions. Those rules now require around 1,400 homeowners to pay annual dues and will eventually include nearly all of the 3,000 homes in Dreamland Villa, which would generate hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for the Dreamland Villa Community Club.

AP Wire | 01/05/2007 | City bans tossing candy during parades
See? More evidence that cities are acting like HOAs.

Bradenton Herald | 01/05/2007 | Heritage Harbour forbids signage
Shu Bartholomew sent this report of anti-sign activity. Wouldn't it be nice if the Twin Rivers case was the beginning of the end for this sort of thing?

EAST MANATEE - When a job opportunity led Heritage Harbour homeowner Richard Brody to move across the country, he knew selling his house would be rough. "By the time I listed my home, the market had already gone sour," Brody said. Now, a new regulation is further challenging how long it will take for Brody to sell his home. The Heritage Harbour Master Association sent a letter to Brody last month telling him the small For Sale sign he had in his yard is no longer allowed.

Medford Central Record - Judge orders the proceeds of home sale held in escrow
Thanks to Shu Bartholomew for sending this report of suburban trench warfare:

MOUNT HOLLY-A Superior Court Judge has ordered that some proceeds of a house sale of the former president of a Kings Grant neighborhood homeowner's association be put in an escrow account that will be subject to court control.
A class action lawsuit is pending between residents of the Oak Hollow section of Kings Grant and the former president of the Oak Hollow Condominium Association, Inc., which alleges that the board unlawfully used money collected from homeowners.

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Mexico > Tijuana & The Border -- Tijuana police force ordered to turns in guns
I think this qualifies for the "Municipal Government Failure of the Year Award," even though it is still only January 5. Nominations will be accepted until December 31, though.

NPR : Storm-Door Case Tests Property Rights for Millions
NPR's Day to Day did a piece on the Twin Rivers case because the arguments before the New Jersey Supreme Court were held yesterday. Here's the link to the audio. There is a bit from me in there. I like the part where the CAI/Twin Rivers HOA attorney says that we have city, county, state and federal government, and "that's enough." True. So very, very, true. But he says this in support of his argument that the law should not treat HOAs like government. This is a "let's pretend" argument. Let's pretend they aren't behaving like governments, so then we don't have to act as if they were doing what they are really doing. In truth, his point supports the ACLU's position. Since we already have enough government, maybe HOA regulation is more than we need. So of course it needs to be regarded with some judicial skepticism and oversight, doesn't it?

"The Association"...the movie!
Hollywood producer Andrew Wahlquist has a feature film in development about life in a homeowner association. You can follow the link above to his website for the film, which includes a trailer and a teaser. Don't miss it! I read the script and offered a few suggestions a while back. This is a funny and insightful film. The plot involves Dave Miller, an independently minded person who moves to a gated community with his wife and children. He soon begins to have problems with an over-controlling HOA. He falls in with the local rebel group, and the conflict unfolds. I won't give away the plot twists, because it is a good story. Enjoy!

High court to hear dispute over homeowners association rules - Newsday.com
More press coverage of the upcoming Twin Rivers argument before the New Jersey Supreme Court on January 4. If the court rules that the New Jersey state constitution limits the activities of HOA boards, it will be one of the biggest events in common interest housing...ever.

Neighborhoodtimes: County admits fault in auction of condo
Oops. Make that double oops.

Pinellas county officials have conceded they were acting unlawfully when they neglected to contact more than 900 time-share owners of a Pass-a-Grille condominium before they auctioned it off in a tax deed sale in November, according to court documents...The county sent several notices to the condo board but did not receive a response.

Florida's overbuilt condo market starts to fizzle
Like I said, I am holding off on pronouncing the housing bust over.

Developers have pulled the plug on some of Miami's most anticipated condominium developments, a sign the city's sizzling, speculator-driven condo market -- where prices of many apartments doubled or tripled in a few brief years -- has finally chilled.

BREITBART.COM - Sales of New Homes Post Gain in November
That's a bit of good news, but after all the evidence of a slump in the housing market I'm holding off on believing that things have turned around.

New Jersey Real Estate Report » Free speech or HOA rules?
Here's a weblog post on the Twin Rivers case, which is scheduled to be argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court on January 4, 2007. Thanks' to Fred Pilot for the link.

And for those who want to keep track of the case, here's the info on the case from the court website:

A-118/122-05 Comm. For a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Homeowners’ Assoc. et al. (59,230)
Do the State Constitution’s Speech and Assembly clauses apply to limit the authority of a homeowners’ association, and if so, under what circumstances?
Certification granted 4/28/06
Argued: Scheduled for 1/4/07
Decided:

'Mistake' costs family its home at The Springs - Orlando Sentinel :
Here is a heartwarming story of judicial compassion, link forwarded by Fred Pilot via the HOAs Yahoo group:

SANFORD -- Because of someone else's mistake, Sharon Rousey lost her Longwood home at a courthouse auction two weeks ago over $1,200 in unpaid homeowners association dues. On Wednesday, she tried to persuade a judge to give it back. He refused. That means Rousey, 48, a single mom who is raising two disabled teenagers on a fixed income, must now pack up her belongings and get out...Rousey bought the 2,400-square-foot town house in The Springs, a gated community near Wekiwa Springs State Park, in May 2005. The home, though, came with a surprise: She would belong to two homeowners associations and, thus, had to pay two sets of dues, one for The Springs and another for Glenwood Village, the town-house neighborhood. She fell behind on both, according to court records...In November, Rousey thought she had solved her problems: Goodbye Foreclosure Inc., a Winter Park company that buys distressed properties, agreed to buy her house before the auction. It would pay off her homeowners association dues as well as her mortgage and leave her with about $115,000 in cash. But company Vice President Aaron Herschberg sent a check to an association -- the wrong one, it turned out -- and assumed the auction would be called off. It wasn't. On Dec. 5, an Apopka company that buys foreclosed property agreed to pay $113,500. Mark Lippman, Rousey's attorney, estimated the market value of her town house at $275,000 to $300,000.

Birth of Jesus Christ
Just a reminder about the religious significance of Christmas. Merry Christmas, and enjoy the presents, family and friends, football games, egg nog, and whatever else makes the day special. I hope we can also spend a few moments pondering the significance of the birth of Jesus Christ over two thousand years ago.

What is it about Obama? - Los Angeles Times
Fred Pilot found this nugget.

Early this month, at the invitation of Rick Warren, Obama spoke to a hall full of conservative Christian evangelical activists gathered at Saddleback Church in Orange County. Warren, author of the bestseller "The Purpose Driven Life," is among the most successful and popular preachers in the world. Saddleback is his city on a hill, a sprawling campus set above the smooth, clean boulevards of the most suburban of places. His is the kind of congregation where Warren's joke about the authoritarian rule of suburban homeowners associations brings a knowing laugh.

Merry Bizaromas - Frederick Meekins
Nancy Levy sent this link to an essay that compares Christmas in an HOA to Bizarro world from the Superman comics, where everything is dysfunctional. That's an analogy I hadn't thought of before, but now that he mentions it...

HOMEOWNERS KEEP FILING – AND WINNING – STATE AND FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAWSUITS

The following was sent to me by Marjorie Murray of the Center for California Homeowner Association Law, which is where the link above will take you. This is a piece from their newsletter, which you can subscribe to by going to their web site and following the "Press Room/Newsletter" link on the left side of the page. I do not have any independent knowledge of the case described below, so if you have any inquiries direct them to Marjorie or the attorneys involved in the case.

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SACRAMENTO -- Working through Fair Housing agencies, legal aid groups and private attorneys, homeowners keep filing civil rights lawsuits against their associations – and winning.
In June, the estate of David Donnell settled with Snowshoe Springs Association (Calaveras County) for an undisclosed amount approved by the U.S. District Court Eastern District in Sacramento [Case # CIV S-01-1953 MCE KJM.].
Disabled by lifelong health problems, including epilepsy, Donnell sued Snowshoe in federal court after it tried to foreclose on his home in order to collect about $1200 in late assessments. [Sacramento Bee, Jan 14, 2001.] The board refused his offer – made publicly – to pay his debt in installments.
With the help of Sentinel Fair Housing, Donnell later petitioned the board formally under Fair Housing laws to be allowed to pay in installments. Still the board refused. The board later claimed foreclosure was the only way to force him to pay. The association had no foreclosure policy in place, when it tried to seize his cabin, built by his parents 40 years ago. The Donnell foreclosure would have been Snowshoe’s first.
The Bee article generated the pro bono services of Roseville attorney, Michael L. Johnson, who stopped the foreclosure. Donnell later sued the Association, several board members as individuals, one homeowner not on the board, association attorney, Curtis Sproul, and his law firm Genshlea Chediak & Sproul for trying to seize his home in a nonjudicial foreclosure. KGS Community Services, the debt collection firm hired by Snowshoe and owned by Sproul’s ex-wife, was not named in the suit.
A chief cause of action in the suit was that the defendants violated civil rights statutes by refusing to grant Donnell’s request to pay in installments and then moving to foreclose when it had no policy to foreclose. After the suit was filed, the SSA board adopted a foreclosure policy.
But before his case could come to trial, Donnell died from his disabilities in September 2005 in a Calaveras County hospital. Snowshoe attorneys moved quickly to get the case dismissed. However, Federal Judge Morrison England granted the petition of Donnell’s sisters to let the suit against Snowshoe forward on behalf of his estate.
On the eve of trial, Snowshoe settled out of court in a confidential agreement approved by Judge England. At Snowshoe’s annual meeting in July, property manager Mark Redding said, “The settlement didn’t cost us anything.” However, sources close to the case estimate that, in addition to the settlement money paid to Donnell’s estate, the insurance company alone paid an estimated $250,000 in legal fees to litigate the case. Whether the costs result is higher insurance premiums to Snowshoe – and higher assessments to homeowners -- is unclear. – end --

Taco Bell uses self-serving polls, too

About 1 in 3 frequent fast-food customers say they plan to eat less often at Taco Bell — or not at all — as a result of the chain's recent E. coli outbreak, according to a national poll done for USA TODAY...Taco Bell President Greg Creed declined in a phone interview to comment on Sandelman's findings. He said Taco Bell has been doing its own polling since the outbreak and that 94% of people who describe themselves as Taco Bell eaters have a "positive" view of the brand; 82% believe the food is "safe."
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What does this have to do with common interest housing? I am often asked about the significance of the Zogby and Gallup polls commissioned by the Community Associations Institute that report general satisfaction with HOAs. I think there are polls, and there are polls. If you work hard enough to get data supporting a particular position, and you ask the questions carefully enough, you can get the data you are looking for. But that isn't social science in my book.

I drove past the local Taco Bell at lunchtime, and there were four cars in the lot. What's my point? Commissioned polls be damned. Taco Bell customers have a choice and they are voting with their feet. It would nice if new home buyers weren't forced into HOAs and condos so we could see what they really want.

Ho, ho, ho.

Suzette Kelo's holiday greeting card to the City of New London
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) -- The woman at the center of a national battle over property rights has sent some not-so-joyous tidings to people involved in taking her house to make way for private development. Susette Kelo's holiday cards feature a snowy image of her pink house and a message that reads, in part, "Your houses, your homes, your family, your friends. May they live in misery that never ends. I curse you all. May you rot in hell. To each of you I send this spell." The cards were conceived and produced by a friend of Kelo's and sent to city officials and members of New London's development agency. Kelo said she also considered sending the cards to five U.S. Supreme Court justices who ruled in June 2005 that New London had the right to take homes in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood to make way for a riverfront project slated to include condominiums, a hotel and office space.

2005 Tar Heel of the Year - Self-Help's Martin Eakes
Here's a story about the man who started Self Help Credit Union, which in turn created the Center for Responsible Lending. And CRL did the study referenced below. Sounds like quite a fellow.

Report Reveals 2.2 Million Borrowers Face Foreclosure on Subprime Home Loans: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

You can download the pdf of this report at the CRL website, linked in this snippet. It makes for some scary reading, especially when you look the tables. The West will be hit very hard if the data and analysis are correct, and my quick review of the study tells me it appears to be a solid piece of work.

A new Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) study reveals that 2.2 million American households will lose their homes and as much as $164 billion due to foreclosures in the subprime mortgage market. Titled, "Losing Ground: Foreclosures in the Subprime Market and Their Cost to Homeowners," the CRL study is the first comprehensive, nationwide review of millions of subprime mortgages originated from 1998 through the third quarter of 2006. CRL's research suggests that risky lending practices have triggered the worst foreclosure crisis in the modern mortgage market, projecting that one out of five (19.4%) subprime loans issued during 2005-2006 will fail...Trouble in the overall subprime market spells trouble for African American and Latino families across the country. Although white families receive more subprime loans overall, African Americans and Latinos receive a higher proportion of high-cost loans than any other group, a fact consistently verified annually by data lenders submit under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). "Losing Ground" estimates that 8 to 10 percent of all African American and Latino families who received a home loan in 2005 will be affected by subprime foreclosures.

Suburban sprawl may create heavier kids - Yahoo! News

Using data from a national health survey, researchers found that teenagers living in sprawling suburbs were more than twice as likely to be overweight as teens in more compact urban areas. The findings echo those of a 2003 study by the same researchers that focused on U.S. adults. The researchers believe the same factors may be driving the link between suburban living and teenagers' weight -- the major one being reliance on cars. "In a sprawling suburb, you can do very little on foot," said lead study author Dr. Reid Ewing of the University of Maryland's National Center for Smart Growth Education and Research.


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Fred Pilot wants to create a new planned community where you have to walk to work and school. How to enforce it, I wonder? Maybe the CC&Rs?

Fighting for oversight - baltimoresun.com
Thanks to Fred Pilot for this:

Seeking to address complaints about abuses in Maryland's growing number of homeowners and condominium associations, a state task force is calling for greater local oversight of these quasi-governmental bodies, which essentially tax their residents to take care of swimming pools, playgrounds, trash pickup and other community services...But the panel balked at calling for greater state enforcement of existing condo and homeowners association laws, for making the laws uniform across housing types or for establishing a "bill of rights" for residents of such communities. "It's a start, but it falls way short of where advocates for residents wanted to go," said Alexander Hekimian, a task force member. The president of a townhouse association in Columbia, he said he has long advocated for greater accountability in associations, including the Columbia Association, which essentially governs a community of nearly 100,000 people in Howard County. Hekimian contended that the task force was stacked with association representatives and "passed the buck" on addressing abuses by leaving enforcement largely up to local governments. He had drafted a two-page "bill of rights" for residents similar to one backed nationally by AARP. But he said the task force was unwilling even to endorse the concept, much less his language.

Developers target niche home buyers | Chicago Tribune
If you look hard enough, you can find some comments by this McKenzie guy.