HOA's Beware of their Power! Evidence that they operate as mini Governments and the board represents the interests of developers Over homeowners!

Would it interest you to know that HOA's operate like mini governments.
How is the government working out for everyone Right Now?

Find a report on this if you would rather listen instead of reading while doing work or chores here,

Is the power of your HOA a Nightmare?

https://rumble.com/v5kebad-is-the-power-of-your-hoa-a-nightmare.html

Were you aware,
The number is higher than ever now for homes in an HOA making it difficult to purchase one within a city that is not part of an HOA especially if it is new construction!

Here is what a local news station noticed,
Every HOA is just one vote away from hellish nightmares.

How is your HOA board working out for you?
It would be great to get an informal poll of those who feel it is working and those who have stated, "not so much!"

So the question is asked not only on local news stations, but also on
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
I came across this footage while working on content for another channel.

Do you find it quite revealing? You decide!
I have put together segments to get to the point while also making it more family friendly.
Needless to say, this content is not for little ears, I did my best to only take the clean sound bytes.

Many of you at Fairfield Farms are aware
HOA's work by setting the rules and punishments.
Not all out there were aware.
Is this a conflict of interest?

When John Oliver is stating,
"Cash strapped municipalities like them because
developers build roads
parks
then pass on the costs to HOA's
[which once again function as a mini government].

This is where he features the image of the story I found and presented to the board and homeowners at the 2nd meeting concerning the board hiring Associa aka the property management company.

At that meeting I read from both the Texas Tribune and Dallas Observer concerning the owner of this billion dollar company.
Ethics of the company and the conflict of interest with Corona passing legislation were covered.

Let's break this down piece by piece.
3:14 - 4:02
Stats from local news out of Phoenix, Az [special place in my heart as lived there as a kid and have travelled back]
a segment called Let Joe Know

Things to know

• 29% of the US population lives in an HOA
• as of all the new single family homes sold in 2021,
  82% were in an HOA
  more than double compared to
• around just 40% in 1990
  which John Oliver and others found remarkable!

When one local station asked viewers how they felt about their HOA
the results were nearly universally negative!

4:09 - 4:23
If this widely used, but loathed
going to look at

• what HOA's are
• what purpose they serve
• the surprising powers they have to wreak havoc in people's lives

4:24 to 4:35
Explainer Vid of community association [HOA]

• a legal entity
• created as the result of a planned community
• a board of directors is responsible for governing the association

5:03 - 5:32
Summary of HOA's return for collecting your fees

• upkeep of common areas
  is this being done or are there gaps?
  For instance for years homeowners told me because they lived near entrances they were expected to help with upkeep including spreading mulch, weeding and possibly bush trimming?

And amenities,

• swimming pool
• playground
  What amenities?
  Many living in our neighborhood like have low cost as they are fine without amenities and would rather have money spent on gaps in upkeep rather than leaving it up to homeowners for entrances or gaps in city not always responding.

They also

• enforce architectural and landscaping guidelines
  which are often trying to push aesthetic uniformity

originally set forth by the developer and their interests.
Are these the homeowner's interests? You decide!

Said to be to preserve property values, but don't property values
mean more money for the city or town in the form of higher taxes?
Think about it!

6:02 - 6:08

• Rules aren't just advisory
• Enforced through fines

6:09 - 6:33
How quickly it can spiral out of control from people using the powers granted them from
those who consent and they have the legal recourse to force as they use your fees to retain their attorneys.
Shutter story
Architectural standards $25 a day!
Once taken off, they were going to fine here in violation of having no shutters.

6:34 to 6:42
John summarizes shutter story

7:04 to 7:10
Where John states,
"Some HOA's can be surprisingly aggressive about actively
seeking out rule violators."

Check it out,

7:11 to 7:45
John then runs the Pflugerville, TX story [not far from Austin]

• Gavin a disabled veteran received a letter from his HOA
  after living there for 3 years.
• told they were doing an audit and
• they noticed he had a shed in his backyard
  [Gavin purchased home with shed already there]
  and it wasn't approved by the HOA.
• Gavin told it was his responsibility to move it, change it
• or else they would put a lien on his house.
• is this kind of power acceptable?
• when asked how they performed audit as
  shed could not be seen from front, they were told
  Google satellite was used to scope out their backyard.
• Gavin stated, "It was an invasion of their privacy for one."
• do you find this overbearing and over reaching much?
  Perhaps like congress?
  As I have told my students, these types of mini governments
  operate as a microcosm of the macrocosm.
• is your board doing Google Maps searches?
  Is this how they know things they can't see from the front? You decide!
• Gavin states it well,
  "The whole purpose of them is to make our lives easier.
  Not to cause problems!" Do you agree with him?
• Gavin had to arrange for an attorney to handle his case and
  planned on sending a petition around the neighborhood.

Full report ran on KXAN here,

7:46 to 7:57
John's summary on the Google Maps story
John states,

• "Yeah, they spied on him with Google Maps,
  which feels extreme!"
• "When you are relying on the achievements of the Space Program
  to find out what is in someone's backyard it's probably not your business!"

7:58 - 8:18
If you're wondering

• How HOA's get their power to do all of this.
• the answer is, "they're basically born with it!"
• typically created by developers
  when they build a new neighborhood
• they write the HOA deed restrictions into your
  membership with membership Automatic upon
  the purchase of your home.
• "They're set up as not for profit Private Corporations,
• that can often function like a local government."
• So where are the balances and checks? You decide!

Some provide

• snow removal
• lighting
• private sewer and water lines
• while the city takes care of those
  John states,
  "others even dabble in traffic enforcement."
  

Check out the fines the HOA gives just like an officer would a ticket which cascade to pretty steep sums!

8:27 to 8:56
Traffic enforcement local news story
From a community
Check out how much a violation could cost you.

8:58 to 9:05
How an HOA works

• "they set the rules and
• select the punishment for breaking them."

9:16 to 10:20
What the existence of HOA's does to off load costs
and responsibilities to a private corporation with
a great deal of power.

This is where John uses John Carona's story featured in
the Dallas Observer that is titled
John Carona's steady climb to 1 Billion!

Where it is quoted,
"Cash strapped municipalities like them because
developers build roads and parks and
pass on the costs along to homeowners."

• Many municipalities even MANDATE HOA's for new developments.
  Is this a Tell?
  Does this give added control over people's homes?
  Is this kind of power dangerous not to the HOA or city, but
  to the homeowners? You decide!

John states,
"this might be why the rise of HOA's has been called
the most significant privatization of local governments
in recent times."

He speaks of this being a significant point,
"HOA's can

• have the authority of a government,
• and collect fees and fines like one
• but when it comes to accountability
• they can actively resist it in ways that
  government officials can only dream about!"

After the residents of one HOA in Arizona
posted some social media comments
about an upcoming board election
the HOA demanded that they remove posts
that were critical of it's board and
threatened to fine them as much as $250.00 per day if they didn't.
John states,
"while they eventually walked that back,
that is a pretty striking level of hostility toward basic scrutiny."

Do you see a parallel to things that have happened with
your own HOA board?
Please let us know in the comments.

12:29 to 16:56
John states if your thinking,
"well this is all mucked up, but
thank God there aren't private companies
making this worse,
hold on!"

• discusses property management companies
  As mentioned prior
• all the big decision making in HOAs
  is done by elected boards of homeowners.
• they might not have the time or skills to do everything
  an HOA entails.
• or they may not want to get their hands dirty policing their neighbors.

This is why the majority of HOA's hire a property management company,
but does this cause even greater issues? You decide!

Hear their pitch and how they draw likely
tired and worn out board members to
give them access to their HOAs.
They say their role is to work alongside them
and to help them.

Is this concerning to you?
Let us know in the comments.

John states,
"in theory this sounds pretty good,
but in practice it can get much messier than that!"

Here is the crux of it as I have tried to point out,
"the problem is,
when you introduce for-profit companies
to find problems in your neighborhood
things can change FAST!

This is the danger I have been trying to warn about,
and I know there are others in my neighborhood in
agreement, just from hearing their stories.

Many of these management companies have people
whose job it is to drive around the neighborhoods
looking for infractions.
What do infractions mean?
More Fines and Enforcement.
Some want them, but do they understand the slippery slope?

Remember, as I pointed out in a previous article,
Associa can now bolster the HOAs legal power as
they have their own legal team!
How do you suppose this helps them?

John shares a story of how quickly things snowballed for one woman after a new management company took over her HOA.

Also tells how the management company

• once they start pursuing fees can involve lawyers
  whose fees get astronomical.

John shows the bill of just one 88 year old.
Shares how HOAs can foreclose on your home.

Inside hear Patricia Stabler, a Certified General Appraiser
who states, we have to Educate, Educate, Educate

#Pflugerville

Hear this homeowner speak on HOA's being a form for the city to require
taxation without representation.
This is just the promo which summarizes so very short only 30 seconds that reveal the following;

hear this report where a local station investigates out of Texas
and states

• "Calling it a Homeowners Association is kind of misleading"
• Leaving you with no vote and no voice
• Why don't I be more transparent and say,
  this is not a Homeowners' Association
  it's a Developer's Association

Remember, this enabled the developer's to off load costs and protect Their interests and the interests of the city!

Investigation: HOA Problems

For those who wonder how they have spotted things in your backyard and have even asked the question as to how they saw it and No Answer given,
they have been doing this through satellites for years now mainly known as Google Earth.
No, I'm not giving them ideas, they have already been doing this as is evidenced in this segment from 11 years ago.
It is like a time warp to watch these old news segments.

This was in Pflugerville, TX [near Austin]

HOA used satellites to spot violations

Neighborsatwar.com

From ABC15 out of Arizona
Let Joe Know: HOA gone wrong

Do abusive HOA's need to be reigned in?
Perhaps other states need to take an example from Texas
which has passed legislation in favor of homeowners.

New laws target abusive homeowners’ associations

Ask Amy Episode 13: Your rights in your HOA

HOA’s Are Costing People Over 100K In Ripoff Fees

Something to consider.

• Covers history of HOAs
• How and Why they were set up
• The power they have
• How they operate

Some of this footage is from a segment on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
This contains some of the info I had shared at the second meeting concerning the property management company
the board is hiring.
John does not go as in to depth, but many local news stories from around the country are included.
Associa along with the President, Founder and CEO
was featured inside of here.

As per request to show evidence and examples,
I have put together a shortened version of this report
I had already released to my other news channel.
I was asked last night after reminding the detriments of a pmc,
which I had brought up before, but sadly there were attempts to
distract and deflect.
As a former advocate of families and children
I am used to giving situational reports and acquiring
anecdotal records.
When there appears to be a bird's eye view or
over view of the situation at hand, this is why.

Why didn't you bring this up to us before?
I had, so reminded them at the 2nd meeting of one special meeting called concerning hiring a pmc and another regular board meeting where many homeowners attended over concern for hiring the pmc.
[I think they forgot that at the first meeting I didn't say one word].

I wanted to survey the situation, let people have their say,
then I went home and did the due process the board should have done
prior to even listening to the sale pitch from Associa.

#HOA, #homeownersassociation, #pmc, #propertymanagementcompany, #associa, #homeowners, #homeownerrights, #JohnCarona, #JohnOliver