A BRIEF HISTORY
The American Homeowners Resource Center (AHRC) was started in 1990 by a small group of California homeowners who lived in homeowner associations. They did so because of the corruption and crookedness that they found in their homeowner associations. The more they dug, the more corruption and crookedness they found. They quickly realized that their was a profound cancer throughout the entire system.
In California alone, they discovered that homeowner association lawyers were writing the legislation governing homeowner association, and they were writing it so that homeowner associations would be cash registers for themselves. They found that politicians were being bribed by these lawyers to write the legislation. They uncovered the fraud and deception that these lawyers foisted on the public, legislature and media. They unearthed the many scams that management companies used to deprive people of their money and homes.
As all the major newspapers in southern California refused to publish pending HOA legislation and any information on the foreclosure racket that was sweeping the region, AHRC started its own radio program in Los Angeles, called "Homeowner Forum". It informed the public about the pending homeowner association legislation in the state capital, Sacramento, and the foreclosure racket. It unmasked CAI (Community Associations Institute) which, for years, had gone around the country claiming to represent the homeowner, when in reality it was a homeowner association industry lobby group of lawyers. These lawyers wrote the laws that enabled them to take people's homes, and then proceeded to foreclose on them under these laws. In addition, AHRC added a fax back information service to enable homeowners and the media to obtain information on homeowner associations. It was used by media from as far afield as Canada, Europe and Japan.
Members of AHRC travelled to Sacramento on several occasions to stop pending legislation that would have further damaged homeowners. On one CAI bill to fine and forclose on homes, the legislator dropped his bill when AHRC was able to get television cameras into the hearing room.
A major step forward was taken on February 25, 1997, when the website, ahrc.com, was started. For the last 5 years, it has been a major source of news and information on all facets of homeowner associations internationally. AHRC and advocates in Texas and Florida encouraged and helped homeowners start up their own websites and webpages and link into a national web network.
This year, a major upgrading of the website has been undertaken, incorporating some of the latest technology. The new interactive site will not only publish news and information on even broader scale, but it will also empower each homeowner as never before.
The website will allow each homeowner, utilizing easy-to -fill-in type forms, to file complaints and send letters to every government official in the country and publish them on the web at the same time.
Each homeowner will be able to quickly generate press releases and news articles that can be launched on the web. The belief is that this power in the hands of millions of homeowners can help turn the tide against the entrenched henchmen who have dominated homeowner associations for too long. Cockroaches do not like sunshine.
AHRC welcomes all suggestions for future improvements. It also hopes that you will contribute your stories and insights to the site so that it can be even more helpful to even more people. Homeowners CAN win!
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