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| Houston, Texas -
Good morning Senator Lindsay, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It was just two years ago that I first learned about HOAs that have mandatory dues, that arbitrarily enforce ambiguous deed restrictions, that impose fines on neighbors' homes and that foreclose on neighbors' homes rather than helping neighbors in need. I could not then - and I certainly cannot now - imagine any American willingly surrendering Constitutional freedoms to be governed by such entities. There are no HOA promises that would induce me to sell my freedom and my rights.
When I learned of these HOAs, my family and I began to study them closely by reviewing Harris County court records. We have not liked what we have learned. Today, at this hearing, we wish to make our research public by making it available on the Internet at our web site - for free - at:
http://pages.prodigy.net/hoadata
Our web site summarizes more than 12,000 court filings by HOAs since 1985 in the Houston area. In addition, we have found many HOA "injunction" filings. We have not, however, fully analyzed the injunction cases, so we do not include them yet in our totals.
Now remember, each of these 12,000 cases is a threat - either express or by implication - to foreclose on a neighbor's home. These are actions against homeowners by HOA boards who claim they care about the homeowner. SUCH CARING!
When you go to our web site, the data is listed by various categories. I have a handout available that presents the home page of the web site where you can find, for example:
" A listing of HOAs alphabetically;
" A listing of HOAs in order of those having the most filings;
" A listing of the activity of each HOA by year.
Or if you want to know more, you can find:
" A listing of the attorneys who file the cases for the HOAs; and
" A listing of these attorneys in order of those having the most filings.
We also have attempted some analyses of the data. You can find, for example:
" An analysis of the relationship between the average cost of homes in a subdivision and the frequency of filings; and
" An analysis of the relationship between subdivision size and the number of filings.
I invite you to go to the web site and look up your subdivision. In fact, that is our primary goal. We hope everyone in Houston goes to this web site to check on his or her subdivision. We also hope our representatives in local and state government will visit this web site to learn more about what is happening to Texas homeowners.
Until now, the HOAs have been able to conduct their foreclosures out of public view. Most HOA foreclosures have been done without the knowledge of the majority of homeowners in the subdivisions, so many foreclosure victims think they are alone. Whenever an injustice occurs - such as the Wenonah Blevins case, the HOAs and their attorneys claim that it is "an isolated case" or that it involves a "disgruntled homeowner" or someone with "his own agenda".
I hope that our web site changes that perception. These foreclosures are not rare. Here is evidence of over 12,000 such "isolated cases" or and we are still counting. It is a large-volume, very profitable business.
Our goal by introducing this web site is to inform homeowners and our government. Americans have a great track record of correcting injustice, once the injustice comes to light. I hope and I trust that we will soon correct this injustice.
Click here to view related information on AHRC's Original website
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