Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 09:35:52 -0700
From: "MS"
Subject: Fw: New Arizona Bills
Following is an email I received this morning from a local lawyer (not my
lawyer) who is a real estate specialist and who deals from time to time with HOA issues.
I have had extensive communication with this lawyer in the past regarding HOAs, in which he disagreed with most of my opinions and assessments of the flaws in the HOA concept itself. Basically, he was pro-HOA and considered my views as "radical". Most of our discussions were done on the phone.
Whenever he had a client with an HOA problem, he would call me. I provided him with information regarding HOAs and he clarified for me many legal concepts and issues concerning contracts, CC&Rs, liens, foreclosure procedures etc.. We both realized that we were educating each other and found our communication rewarding and beneficial. I believe that eventually I have succeeded in dragging him to our side of the fence when he realized that HOAs don't exactly do so much "good".
Reading his email below, he sounds like one of "us". For background, I pasted below some of our past email exchange -- read and see how his views have changed over time.
----- Original Message -----
From: N---LawTuc@----.com
To: "MS"
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2004 7:49 AM
Subject: New Arizona Bills
MS,
I note that the Arizona Legislature did pass a few bills relating to
HOAs. Exept for SB1137 ("your" bill - good job and congratulations!), I
don't think they mean much: HOAs can't foreclose on ONLY fines, penalties,
etc., and buyers have to sign a statement recognizing that the CC&Rs are a
contract and acknowledging that they waive the Homestead exemption. This
does really nothing for the problem of improper assessments and doesn't give
homeowners their homestead protection. There is still no due process. That
bill failed. Although I don't have much faith in Justice Court "due
process", anyway. Let's talk!
Enough said,
J---
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From: "MS"
To: <---LawTuc@----.com>
Subject: HOAs
Date: Thursday, August 29, 2002 1:01 PM
J---,
What makes HOAs so special?
Homestead exemption was created to protect people against the loss of the
homestead, even when they owe money. Whenever a debt is not paid, whether
to an individual or to a larger entity, somebody suffers. When a credit
card debt is not paid by somebody, we all pay for it. When a utility bill
is not paid, we all pay for it. When state or local tax is not paid, we all
pay for it. Yet, the debtor does not lose his homestead, even when in
bancruptcy. When your dentist bill is not paid, we all pay for it. Why
failure to pay HOA assessments is treated differently than any of those?
True, Federal tax debt has a priority over homestead. But we have
constitutional protections against the government. The government has a lot
of power, but it cannot do anything it wants as the people have
constitutional rights. Homeowners do not have such rights and protections
agianst the whims of their boards of directors. They are not entitled to
property rights, due process and equal protection -- after all it's all
private and pursuant to a contract! Can you compare?
So if indeed it's so "private", why does the legislature give it so much
power and extra privileges that nobody else have?
This is only the tip of the iceberg. This is just one of the reasons that
so many people come to you with complaints about HOAs. Something is
fundamentally flawed in the whole concept!
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From: <---LawTuc@.com>
To: "MS"
Subject: Re: HOAs
Date: Thursday, August 29, 2002 3:31 PM
NO. Frankly, I think you are so negative from your experience on HOA's that
you can't see they do good. That's OK, it takes radicals to cause change --
which is very needed. We can talk sometime later about details this week is
crazy busy.
J---
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From: "MS"
To: <---LawTuc@----.com>
Subject: Re: HOAs
Date: Thursday, August 29, 2002 4:55 PM
No J---, it's the other way around. My experience has caused me to study
the subject, after which I have reach certain conclusions. And it's not
only "my" experience; it's also the experience of thousands across the
country, with whom I communicate daily on the internet. Potentially, it's
the experience of 50 million Americans who live under these regimes, being
told that they have "agreed" to be subjugated to them, but without ever
getting any advance disclosure (which the law does not require)? The number
of horror stories, of which only a small portion is reaching me, is beyond
imagination. I shared with you only one issue (about the HOA lien) because
it's closely related to your specialty. There are many many other issues.
You say -- "they (HOAs) do good"; What good? Good for whom? Saving money
to local government by not providing certain services to a selective group
of homeowners, while still collecting their taxes (has nothing to do with my
personal experience)? Protecting property values (a theory with no
supporting evidence whatsoever) for the price of loss of liberty and
dignity, where citizens have no civil liberties and no constitutional rights? Giving land
developers the freedom and right to become "legislators" by drafting the
"laws" under which communities and their inhabitants would live, by
designing CCRs that are made to serve the interests of the developer and a
few zealots, but not of the people? I can go on and on, but I will stop
here.
It's not clear to me what your first "No" referred to. My personal
experience has nothing to do with any of this. My litigation is about
violation of EXISTENT law, whereas my "radicalism" wishes to change the
present laws. I wish they would "do good". They don't, although most
people are not aware of it, and some of them may even function smoothly and operate
properly -- but potentially, each and every one of them is one election or
appointment away from disaster. They certainly "do good" for local
government, lawyers, developers, managers and others, at the expense of the
ignorant homeowners. They have almost unlimited and uncontrolled power, and
POWER CORRUPTS. Enough!
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posted by Las Vegas # 11:45 PM 
