How and Why California Politicians Steal Homes, Life Savings & Rights

November 29, 2002

By Peter Amherst
Copyright AHRC News Services

The scene is a familiar one.

The flag flutters against the blue California sky. The assembled guests wait for the solemn moment. Then Gray Davis steps forth, in his typical blue shirt, puts his hand on his chest and brazenly swears to protect the people and uphold the constitution.

But it is a lie.

Within hours, Davis begins to reward those who filled his campaign coffers. Those solemn words about upholding the constitution have drifted off into the blue sky, lost and forgotten forever, cheap, empty, easy words. The inaugural was a nice ceremony, but it was a meaningless show. It would at least have been honest if Davis's oath had stated that he would reward all those who had contributed $69 million to him.

And those contributors knew that he would keep his promise. He always has. That is why they give so much.

The tie?

A small example will show how Davis has consistently sold out the people day after day, year after year.

In 1985 he was chair of the Assembly Housing Committee in Sacramento. The vendors to homeowner associations in California - lawyers, managers, gardeners, accountants - all wanted to keep this lucrative invention alive. They wanted to be sure that their invention would continue to be a cash register for themselves. In order to do this, they needed to create a legal structure that would keep homeowners in submission, and enable them to foreclose on homes without the danger of a court scrutinizing it.

So they went to Davis, and he rewarded them beyond their wildest dreams. He appointed the leading lobbyist for their group, Katherine Rosenberry, to draft the necessary legislation. In fact, he told her to take care of all the lobbying interests. (Katherine Rosenberry had been the president of the major national lobbying group, disarmingly named Community Associations Institute - CAI).

The Tie is CAI, and they are the Why

The die was now cast. She produced the Davis Stirling Act,which gave homeowner associations virtually unlimited power over homeowners - including the right to non-judicial foreclose on their homes for even the most paltry of sums - in one case, for as low as $5.

We do not know if Davis has ever read the California Constitution, but certainly he should have had a few moments between meetings with lobbyists to peruse the very first article of the Constitution. It only has 34 words in it. It states:

"All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness and privacy."

People are certainly not free and independent in homeowner associations. Their every move is regulated - how long you can keep your garage door open, what flowers you can plant, what color you can paint your house, whether you can have a basketball hoop over your garage, whether you can fly the flag - the list goes on and on.

The constitution says that these rights are inalienable. Little did the constitution know that Gray Davis would alienate these rights for the sake of donations to his campaign coffers from lawyers who were just waiting to pounce on any homeowner who would commit such outrageous acts. Maybe Davis does not know what the word "inalienable" means. In case he does not, it means that NOBODY, just NOBODY - not even Davis - can give them away.

The constitution states that citizens have the right to enjoy life and liberty. How can one enjoy life and liberty when one has always to worry what the "association" will say, when one has always to wonder whether one will receive a "courtesy" notice from the management company over some alleged infraction? Of course, the ultimate pleasure is when one receives that dreaded letter from the association attack dog, the association attorney.

California homeowners have Gray Davis to thank for all of this. Maybe if he had spent a few moments reading this first article of the Constitution, it would have dawned on his money-besotted mind that what he was doing, was violating the fundamental principle of the constitution that he had sworn to uphold.

But Davis has never let such a minor thing as the constitution get in the way of his compulsive obsession with power and political office.

For him, money is honey, and he has been a very busy bee. In the latest session of the legislature, he signed 2 more bills that were pushed heavily by the homeowner association lobbyists - AB 2289 and AB 555. Both bills draw the noose even tighter around the homeowner's neck.

AB 2289 requires a homeowner to deposit up to $425 for lawyers' fees if he or she wants to dispute a homeowner association billing. (Other creditors such as credit card companies should take a look at this nifty little device to discourage and prevent customers from disputing their billings!)

Of course, for Gray who has $69 million in the bank, $425 is peanuts. But for the hardworking citizen, $425 is not chump change. But what the heck! Citizens are only political fodder for the lobbyists' cannons, and if some of them get hurt in the process - well, life is tough.

AB 2289 also grants Davis's lobbyist lawyers an exemption from the constitution's ban on usury. Under the constitution, an individual cannot charge any more than 10% interest. AB 2289 allows lawyers to charge 12% interest on the legal fees that they charge to association homeowners.

With interest rates being at historic lows and the stock market limping along anemically, the place to invest are the legal fees that lawyers manufacture against homeowners. Thanks Gray!

But Davis' generosity to the lobbyists did not end there. He also granted a monopoly to a few large association management companies to run homeowner associations. Watch the fees they charge to homeowners rise! This is what AB 555 does. Was it simply chance that the bill's number - 555 - reminds one of a winning combination on a Las Vegas slot machine? Or was Somebody trying to point out that the bill was payoff time for these management companies on the Davis slot machine?

Davis, of course, is not the only one to trash the constitution. His old buddy, attorney general Bill Lockyer, also took an oath to uphold the constitution. But when homeowners write to him to investigate crooked practices of homeowner associations and their lawyers, he routinely replies that his office does not have the manpower or resources to investigate or prosecute - even though he has 1000 lawyers in his office.

Today, he was bragging about the $425 million that he recovered from an energy company for overcharging California consumers. When he was asked whether this would be going back to the people, he said in effect "Oh no! They have to consult consumer organizations."

But this is money that has been stolen from Californians. It is their money, not the state's money, and the citizens pay Lockyer a salary and give him the resources to protect them, not swell state coffers.

The same mentality is true of many other law enforcement personnel around the state. Each police officer swears:

On My Honor,
I Will Never Betray My Badge
My Integrity, My Character, or the Public Trust.
I Will Always Have
The Courage to Hold Myself
And Others Accountable for Our Actions.
I Will Always Uphold the Constitution and
Community I Serve.

Do they understand the seriousness of the oath they took?

Like giant bulldozers, homeowner associations ravage the rights of homeowners in this state, across the country, and now, around the world. When a person's home is under attack, that is a very sure sign that there is something radically wrong at the core of the society that does that.

Yet many police departments violate that oath when it comes to homeowner associations. In one association, the board told its gardeners to go on to a member's property when he was not there, and cut down his trees. He was aghast at the sight when he returned. The local police, the Orange County Sheriffs Department, refused to do anything, saying that it was a "civil matter". The head of the sheriffs, Mike Carona, refused to even meet with concerned homeowners.

In another case, the board ordered its gardeners to climb over a member's fence and cut down her beautiful cypresses. She said that when the police wrote up the report, it was very biased against her.

So much for Article 1 of the Constitution! The gardeners' chainsaws cut down more than trees. They chopped up one of the fundamental rights in the constitution.

In many cases, police departments have become extensions of collection lawyers in homeowner associations, serving bogus supbpoenas, fraudulent lawsuits and all manner of harassing documents. Maybe the oath of office should be changed to swear undying fealty to collection lawyers!

Waiting for some magical cure is not the solution. Citizens need to begin to take back those fundamental freedoms that the constitution recognizes that we all have.

We cannot wait, as the damage may go beyond the point of repair. Davis, Lockyer and their ilk should not be entrusted with the well-being of the people of California.

Like a rot and a fungus that attacks a mighty tree, they need to be removed before the entire tree falls. Californians, with honesty in their hearts and fire in their souls, need to run for office and take our government back. They need to vote only for those who genuinely care about the people of California. They need to make sure that they do not give even one penny to any corrupt regime.



Footnote:
Some misleading advertorials and editorials have appeared supporting AB 2289 and AB 555, allegedly on behalf of seniors.

Several journalists have also called AHRC about these bills and the Davis Stirling Act.

We suggest that you also read the actual bills and look at the economic impact of the Davis Stirling Act.

CAI lawyers and politicians have stolen hundreds of millions in "phoney fees and excessive interest, assessements, double taxes, construction defect lawsuit settlements, fraudulent foreclosures and baseless lawsuits" from homeowners trapped in homeowner association .
Click here to search for California Bill Information and voting history of the politicians and bill analysis. Some of the AB2289 and AB 555 analysis was done by the staff members of the very politicians pushing the bills on behalf of their political donors with these lobbyists' input .