CAI and ECHO Lawyers, CAR Realtors, AARP and Congress of Seniors claim to speak for you

August 10, 2004

By AHRC News Services
Copyright AHRC News Services

Non-profit lobbyist groups have always latched on to some popular issue to solicit contributions from citizens. Today is no different.

Before committee after committee, lobbyists for such groups as Congress of Seniors, AARP, proclaim how many hundreds of thousands of homeowners - or even millions - they represent on a particular issue. Yet none of them ever poll their donors to see if the donors actually agree with them.

For years, such groups ignored homeowners. While homeowners all across the country educated themselves and pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps, such organizations did not give homeowners the time of day. Now that these homeowners have created a mighty wave of reform nationally, lobbyists are attempting to ride the crest as "sponsors" and "representives" of homeowners.

When homeowners moved into new homes and manicured neighborhoods, a cadre of CAI CACM lawyers had already written laws to take their homes and savings.

They told legislators and the media they were "sponsors of laws to protect homeowners and keep up property values" as they created America's worst litigation and foreclosure floods.

They were generous with the bountiful wealth they got from homeowners. Ex-President Clinton even got $1,000,000 from one CAI lawyer. Lawyers like Tyler Byrding, president of ECHO and others kept the campaign coffers of politicians like the California Attorney General Bill Lockyer well stocked, so they could remain in positions of power for their benefit.

But homeowners began forming their own consumer networks.They started their own radio and TV shows, encouraged everyone to publish and share their stories. The information ripples they started are now making waves.

This new set of lobbyists now want to "sponsor laws" and "represent homeowners". But by selling a drug discount card to us, we are not assigning our rights to them to meet with our lawmakers to write laws affecting our homes.

The media by now has learnt that CAI, ECHO or CLAC do NOT represent homeowners in associations.. The media should not now go around quoting Congress of Seniors and AARP lobbyists as if these groups represents millions of seniors - at least not until these groups can produce proxies from each subscriber that states:

"We assign our rights to Congress of Seniors or AARP to lobby the lawmakers of America to write any law affecting my personal properties and my home."

This is the land of the free - not of the lobbyists!