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Information about Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California
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Contact Person Name: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Topic: THE NIGHTMARE ON HOA STREET
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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814 |
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THE NIGHTMARE ON HOA STREET
As California goes, so goes the nation???? Will California be the leader or the defeater of protecting homeowners in homeowner associations?
Dear Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:
We are asking you to please sign AB 2598.
We once lived, if you can call it that, under an HOA Constitution replete with a board of dictators. We managed to escape our 'Nightmare on HOA Street' and have since been intimately involved in the fight to protect the American dream of homeownership, preserve homeowner equity, and help save people's homes in HOA laden housing.
The HOA Un-Life we experienced was extremely stressful, bordered on violent, and there was NOTHING affordable about it.
Claims of "affordable housing", "protecting property values" and "sparkling pools, tot lots and tennis courts", are part of the bait and switch scheme of the HOA industry to lure buyers into their so called "American Dream" of home ownership. Because of HOA housing laws like California's Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, this dream is more like a haunting nightmare.
It is our opinion that the ONLY law required is one that BANS the concept of HOA housing altogether or at the very minimum - BANS foreclosure by HOA neighbor. Since that is likely not reality, we submit to you the following;
From what we have read and heard - AB2598 APPEARS TO BE THE FIRST HOMEOWNER FRIENDLY BILL THAT MAY EFFECTIVELY TAKE THE WIND OUT OF THE SAILS OF THE HOA FORECLOSURE RACKET.
We hope this is the case. We are not lawyers and it is sometimes difficult to understand the dozens of pages of legalese. There are always concerns about hidden loopholes that lurk beneath the surface of any HOA related legislation. Loopholes that might quickly be sniffed out by HOA industry hound dog litigators who specialize in "speedy foreclosures".
The fact that foreclosure can be initiated against an HOA homeowner for as little as a $120.00 debt as in the Thomas and Anita Radcliffe case (which you are familiar with AND there are others) substantiates the IMMEDIATE necessity for protections for homeowners.
FEEL GOOD LEGISLATION OR REALLY GOOD?
We must keep in mind that feel good legislation can only feel good if the law is followed by those in charge of the homeowners' financial destiny - the HOA board of neighbors – who could be just about any drunkard or hoodlum in the neighborhood as background checks are not required.
When the law is blatantly ignored and violated by the HOA board - there MUST be a cost effective and reasonable means for the average "Joe Homeowner" to enforce the law.
Currently the law provides for mandatory arbitration (which is nothing more than a high dollar dance with debt) and costly litigation (which is more like torture – been there, done that). NEITHER are reasonable, cost effective choices. There is no cap on lawyer fees which multiplies the homeowner's debt exponentially and to the tenth power, creating further financial hazards that will haunt them for a lifetime.
Small claims court as an option was introduced in AB2031 long ago and should be reintroduced.
Another option (perhaps only in OUR dreams) is legislation that penalizes through tickets and/or fines, HOA board members INDIVIDUALLY for violating the "HOA Constitution". If left unpaid – the homeowners can foreclose on the board member. At least it would level the playing field.
Keep in mind as you read this and other correspondence from homeowners and homeowner advocates that we aren't getting paid for what we do. We aren't lobbyists. We aren't special interest groups. We answer to nobody. We have no hidden agenda. We don't own businesses or practices that profit from the HOA cash cow or litigation feast.
We are simply a tireless keen minority trying to live the American dream and our message is loud and clear:
THE PREDATORY FORECLOSURE RACKET OF HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATIONS IS THE WMD OF HOUSING AND IT MUST BE BANNED.
Foreclosure by HOA is too punitive a punishment and does not fit the crime of non-payment of HOA debts. Handfuls of neighbors should not have police powers to ticket, fine, assess, lien and foreclose on their fellow neighbors. These could be bogus, fraudulent, unverified debts or the result of some HOA 'bored'members personal vendetta or pet project.
These debts are imposed and collected by a corporate private government that operates without any system of checks and balances or means of penalty when IT violates its own laws and 'collections procedures'.
CORPORATE CORRUPTION DOESN'T STOP WITH THE ENERGY GIANTS!
This police power to foreclose has become the seed germinating the HOA housing racket. What a lucrative racket it is when you can get a house for pennies on the dollar for a bogus debt because the fox is watching the hen house.
Politicians who have voted to pass such Un-American laws as 'foreclosure by HOA', should redeem themselves and repeal those laws. Our elected officials have a duty to do whatever it takes to protect Americans' absolute last bastion of sanctity and safe haven – their 'home sweet home', particularly in these very unsettling times of terrorism.
Perhaps some politicians just don't care because they answer to a higher $ource? Perhaps they themselves own a company that specializes in "speedy foreclosures"? Perhaps they own a property management company? Or both?
For obvious reasons, senior citizens on fixed incomes, with plenty of equity up for grabs, are highly vulnerable. Most desire to pass down a legacy not a liability to their heirs, and their hard earned equity should be protected.
HOA industry vendors who support 'foreclosure by neighbor', usually receive a paycheck drawn off the backs and bank accounts of 'Joe Homeowner'. These vendors' motivation should be suspect and their opinions discounted. They are motivated by their bottom line and nothing more. They DO NOT care about 'Joe Homeowner'.
Perhaps the pressure of saving municipal funds and building neighborhoods on the backs of 'Joe Homeowner' motivates the mandatory construction of HOA housing? This greed driven sentiment may come back to haunt us in more ways than one with the cost of pushing HOA litigations through an already overburdened court system funded by taxpayers and through severe stress, bankruptcy, homelessness, violence and murder.
Perhaps it is the fact that all the 'Joe Homeowners' are the perfect employment tool for a plethora of HOA vendors and contractors and creates jobs? The dichotomy here is that homeowners who might lose their jobs risk losing their homes in the HOA foreclosure factory if they can't pay their HOA dues and even before the deed holding mortgage bank could get it if they can't pay the mortgage. This makes zero sense.
A politician (R) from Irvine, California was asked why the concept of HOA's couldn't be banned altogether. He was more concerned about what would happen to the vendors and people who make money off of the HOA's than he was about the individual homeowners. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that even single family homes still require maintenance and upkeep, only the decision is made by the owners rather than the controllers. It is doubtful any vendors would go bankrupt just because some non-profit HOA shut down.
AMERICANS ARE ENTRENCHED IN 'HOA CIVIL WARS' TRYING TO MAINTAIN SOME SEMBLANCE OF CONTROL OVER THEIR PRIVATE PROPERTY.
The concept of HOA-laden housing is a complete and utter failure and fails in the face of freedom. It goes against everything we have ever fought for in this great country – including the Constitution of the United States. The soldiers who died before us to protect freedom in this country deserve to have their valiant efforts respected till the end of mankind.
It is up to you, Governor Schwarzenegger, to begin the process of slowing down and stopping the vicious cycle of the HOA foreclosure racket and its litigation vortex that sucks up homeowners and spits them out homeless on the streets.
It is in YOUR hands and on YOUR desk, Governor Schwarzenegger, to help return the American Dream of Home Ownership in an HOA back to its rightful owners - THE HOMEOWNER.
What, pray tell, could be so awful about doing that?
"Home sweet home" should be that place that an American can be proud of and pass down to his heirs for generations to come. A place to lay down their roots. A place to exercise their freedoms. A place called 'private property - no trespassing'.
A place where they are the kings in control of their 'castle', equity, finances, destiny, landscaping, roofing, painting, plumbing and even the curtains that hang in the windows. (Believe it or not – one young mother was asked to remove her Winnie the Pooh curtains from her child's bedroom window because they were visible to the street).
Like many before us, you came from a foreign country to reap the rewards of freedom that America has to offer. No doubt you understand the necessity of preserving even simple freedoms? Don't you?
Abraham Lincoln once said, "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." (1856) Honest Abe must be turning in his grave.
If we can't practice even simple freedoms on the "home sweet home front", does it REALLY matter anywhere else?
Too many Americans are being duped and baited into buying into a homeowner association "community", which is nothing more than a glorified commune – the short derivative of communism.
FREEDOM BEGINS AT HOME!!
Please sign AB2598.
Respectfully,
California Homeowner Advocates
cc: Yolanda Benson – Legislative Secretary for AB2598 – Please accept this as correspondence #2500+, according to your records.
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