HRLNG - HOA Reform Leaders National Group

This booklet is intended for those ready to buy a condo AND for all honest home owners who
want to prevent and/or kick out criminal HOA management out of their HOA
Warning: this booklet can also be used by criminals as it exposes many loopholes.
Therefore it is imperative that right now you put your hand on your heart and swear that you
will never misuse this information.
@ Copyright by Milica Barjaktarovic, December 2023 . All rights reserved
Contents
I. COMMON TERMS …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
II. OWNING IN A HOA: RED FLAGS ………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
III. CONDO GRABS ARE FOR REAL ………………………………………………………………………………… 5
IV. WHAT MAKES PREDATORS JUMP INTO ACTION AGAINST YOU ……………………………………….. 6
A. ASKING FOR BOARD REMOVAL ……………………………………………………………………………….. 6
B. INVOLVING OUTSIDE AGENCIES TO GET WHAT HOA REFUSED TO GIVE YOU ………………… 6
V. HOW PREDATORS WORK …………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
A. WHAT MAKES OWNERS A PART OF THIS CRIMINAL NETWORK……………………………………. 7
B. WHAT MAKES OWNERS POTENTIAL VICTIMS ……………………………………………………………. 7
C. PREDATOR STRATEGY: INGORE, GASLIGHT, TREATEN, PUNISH …………………………………….. 7
VI. PREDATORS’ TOOLKIT …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
A. FIRST AND FOREMOST: HAVE THE CROOKS ON THE BOARD AND RIG BOARD ELECTIONS
IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
B. FIRST AND FOREMOST: OWNERS ARE NOT GIVEN FINANCIALS AND INFO ……………………. 9
C. FIRST AND FOREMOST: LIE AND HIDE ………………………………………………………………………. 9
D. HUGE MONTHLY DUES …………………………………………………………………………………………… 9
E. UNNEEDED / OVERBLOATED / BOTCHED REPAIRS ……………………………………………………… 9
F. SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS (leading to foreclosures) …………………………………………………….. 10
G. LACK OF SERVICE TO YOUR UNIT (leading to loss of value and loss of rent) ………………… 10
H. NEGLIGENCE OF THE BUILDING …………………………………………………………………………….. 11
I. THREATENING / BRIBING OWNERS ………………………………………………………………………… 11
J. BOGUS FINES THAT KEEP INCREASING (leading to loss of money and/or foreclosure) … 11
K. SLAPP SUING YOU ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
VII. HOW DO YOU DEFEND YOURSELF …………………………………………………………………………. 12
VIII. KNOW THE LAW AND YOUR RIGHTS ………………………………………………………………………. 13
A. HOA AS AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS …………………………………………………………………….. 13
B. FEDERAL LAWS ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 15
C. STATE LAWS ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
D. HOA “LAWS” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 16
E. YOU CAN DEFEND YOURSELF PRO SE AND YOU SHOULD BE HELPED BY COURT ………….. 16
IX. ASLEEP WATCHDOGS …………………………………………………………………………………………… 16
F. SELF DEFENSE IS A MUST ……………………………………………………………………………………… 17
X. DO NOT BELIEVE THE BRAINWASHING ………………………………………………………………………. 18
A. YOUR BAD HOA …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 18
B. CAI …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 18
C. GOVERNMENT…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19
XI. FRAUD DETECTION AND PREVENTION …………………………………………………………………… 19
XII. PROPOSED CHANGE IN LAWS ……………………………………………………………………………….. 19
XIII. THE READING LIST ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 43
I. COMMON TERMS
Condo: how you call an apartment when you are referring to it based on it being owned by
someone
So when you own an apartment, you say MY CONDO. When you rent an apartment, you say MY
APARTMENT.
Unit: another generic name for condo or townhome usually used in official lingo
HOA: Home owners association basically all units the entire the building and all owners
AOAO: how HOA is called in Hawaii (association of apartment owners)
Board: short for ”Board of Directors” several owners elected to represent the HOA, They make
all decisions about the HOA money
HOA dues, AOAO dues, monthly dues: money each unit pays into common HOA funds for
upkeep of the building
Property management: company that has real estate brokerage license and helps to manage
the HOA. What they do depends on the contract they have with the HOA. Typically it includes
collecting monthly dues, sending someone for small repairs, etc. IN REAL LIFE, they too often
run the show and skim money with the help of rogue Board members and their attorneys
Insurance: each HOA pays several insurances – flood, hurricane, fire, general, etc. and also
Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance that protects Board members since they are volunteers
and could make mistakes. Well property management is there to advise them, are they not. In
reality, D&O insurance protects the Board as D&O insurance does NOT want to pay.
Small claims court: for damages less than $5K in Hawaii and some other states and less than
$10K in other states
Department of Consumer Protection (DCCA) for insurance, etc
Regulated Industries section (RICO) for licenced people such as property managers
And so on.
II. OWNING IN A HOA: RED FLAGS
Before you go in, you need to know that your HOA is managed properly.
Some red flags that your HOA is a money pit and a cause of stress because it is run by rogues:

The unit is cheap. IT typically means the building is in bad shape, which typically means
the HOA management steals money and is neglectful.
The HOA is not overtaken by a group of people or it is not a possibility (not to many units
are for sale at the same time)
There is not too many units for sale, hopefully meaning that there is no problem chasing
everyone away
In the papers given to you, there should be a whole packet that shows HOA operation,
spanning at least 2 years. It is fishy if that packet is skimpy, It shows that HOA does not
follow the law
o There are no Board minutes
o There are no owner meeting minutes
o There are no financials or not all of them
o There are no disclosures
o There are special assessments, monthly dues increases, lawsuits, etc
Monthly dues are huge and/or there is nothing to see for it
The insurance is huge
Monthly spending is huge and HOA never saves
Money is disappearing fast – you can see from the financials – but you don’t see any
reports where money was spent
Property management companies have a history of fraud
The building is neglected
There are many remote owners
There are many illegal vacation rentals
For those owners who ignored these signs and bought a condo, there are more signs:
The HOA management is not transparent, i.e. runs shady secretive business:
o does not provide financials regularly
o does not provide updates,
o does not justify spending,
o does not announce Board meetings and decisions
Owners are never asked to approve any spending even if it is huge
There is preferential treatment to some owners
Some owners are abused
HOA management lies, hides, etc
Board elections are rigged
Spending is strange – for example, huge money paid for landscaping every month while
the building leaks all over
Check out the YELP and other independent reviews of the property management company,
attorneys and Board.
A rogue HOA management is a parasite that lives off HOA common funds, special assessments,
repairs, fines and foreclosures. MORE THAN 74 MILLION PEOPLE MAKE THEIR LIVING FROM
HOA BUSINESS.
A rogue HOA management consists of Board of Directors majority, property management
company and its manager(s), and eventually, HOA attorneys, usually recommended by the
property management. To make this work, certain mediatiors, arbitrators, consumer protection
on the state level, police, judges and watchdogs must be willing to close their eyes.
Therefore, YOU have to keep your eyes open and have written proofs and videos and pictures os
EVERYTHING and also be able to cite the relevant laws.
In most states, the only recourse you have against bad HOA mamagement is to SUE them
However that is super costly as the HOA will use the HOA money to defend itself, plus it has
Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance, which has access to some sharky lawyers and judges.
So the best thing you can do for yourself is:

Do not buy in a bad HOA. Sell and keave if you already did and it is not fixable
If you do decide to buy, make sure that good people are on the Board and watch that
Board like a hawk. Make sure there are enough honest owners who will remove any
rogue Board membe
Removing a Board member is difficult. You have to have at least 50% of owners. In a
building with 12 units where everyone knows everyone, it means that 7 units have to
vote to remove someone. That is hard to achieve as rogue HOA management calls
owners and offers bribes or threats, In a huge building, let’s say 100 units, you have to
get 51 units to vote to remove that Board member. First of all, HOW will you contact all
those owners? You will not personally know them. Snail mailing is expensive and many
official tax records list address that is obsolete).
Make all complaints succinct, official, and in writing, in other words, BUILD UP A CASE
AGAINST THEM.
If the HOA does something really bad, sue them asap. DO NOT WAIT. The longer you
wait, the more bad stuff they will do. Snip it out in the bud.
Small claim court is great sue them for anything less than $5K in Hawaii and $10K in
most other states
Learn how to defend yourself pro se. and sue the rogues. In many states, pro se litigants
have privilege to be corrected and to resubmit.
III. CONDO GRABS ARE FOR REAL
Property grab is the kind of stuff you read in a crime novel but unfortunately it happens a lot in
real life. There are common extortion strategies done to ALL condo owners who seem
vulnerable.
HOA management is an excellent opportunity for skimming, embezzlement and stealing, as well
as money laundering, so rogue property management, attorneys, construction companies,
board members just love it.
MORE THAN 74 MILLION PEOPLE LIVE OFF CONDO OWNERS. They work hard to fleece as much
as possible. SO be aware
What are the opportunities for stealing?
HOA Board of Directors consists of owners who are elected by other owners to be on the Board.
The Board must be volunteers, they cannot be paid. They cannot touch the HOA money BUT
they make all decisions about spending it and they tell the property management company to
disburse the funds. Most HOAs are managed by property management company so this booklet
is for that case. Self managed HOAs are typically honest. Property management usually brings
drama and stealing as they bring in their attorneys and D&O insurance and connections into the
judiciary system. IN short, a predatory NETWORK.
Property management company has access to bank account and SHOULD receive an
authorization from the Board to dispense the funds. However, in practice, usually Board
president TELLS to dispense the funds. Do you see the ample opportunity for abuse?
It is easy to skim off any repairs or any money spent, it is easy to demand of owners to pay.
Predators are skilled, experienced, well connected into an extortion network.
IV. WHAT MAKES PREDATORS JUMP INTO ACTION AGAINST YOU
If you do certain things, your HOA might sue you to shut you up. In any case they will likely
retaliate in some way. Check out section on predaotrs’ toolkit to see what they can do.
A. ASKING FOR BOARD REMOVAL
The main foundation of HOA mismanagement is having crooks on the Board. THAT fuels the
entire chain of shady. Therefore, removing “their” people from the Board is totally unacceptable
and will cause backlash action with the intent to stop you from doing that.
B. INVOLVING OUTSIDE AGENCIES TO GET WHAT HOA REFUSED TO GIVE YOU
A bad HOA management will not share financials nor updates nor documents with owners and
will do everything in secret. But by law you are entitled to get those. Your state must have an
agency that helps with that. In Hawaii it is RICO at DCCA.
If you force a HOA to disclose its hidden documents, you are exposing crime most likely and the
HOA will retaliate.
V. HOW PREDATORS WORK
Predators work in a network. Rogue Board members, property management, their attorneys
are the core, To function better faster and extort more money, they are typically helped by
corrupt mediators, arbitrators and judges, and silent corrupt watchdogs. There are 74 million
people making money off condo owners. Most of them are in violation, from simple to severe
crime.
BUT TO FUNCTION AT ALL, PREDATORS MUST HAVE SUPPORT OF ENOUGH OWNERS.
AND THEY MUST FIND VICTIMS FOR EXTORTIONS
AND THEY MUST SILENCE WHISTLEBLOWERS.
AND they do have quite a well recognizable routine process for dealing with anyone in their
way,
AND they are NOT afraid to lie and cheat, even for very big serious items like huge amounts of
money.
A. WHAT MAKES OWNERS A PART OF THIS CRIMINAL NETWORK
Owners can support the rogue HOA management directly or indirectly. Active supporters are
either other rogues who are somehow benefiting, people forced by threats or bribes, and plain
stupid people. People who support indirectly are those who are silent. Banks that own
foreclosed units are in this category as well as many “nice” people who “don’t want the
trouble,” They are the WORST because they are typically quite numerous.
These are some traits of rogues’ supporters:

Stupidity – face it, many people cannot think too well, their IQ is not high, but they make
enough money to buy a condo, and they cannot figure out what is going on.
Lack of being informed – there ARE condo laws and you must know them!
Laziness and complacency : “ah I don’t want to bother with this, it is too much work, ….
it is not happening to me”
Bribes – HOA management can call owners at home (yeah like in my HOA) and promises
to close eyes to your illegal vacation rental, promises prompt service to your unit, etc
Threats – HOA implies if you don’t go with us, we wont service your unit etc
B. WHAT MAKES OWNERS POTENTIAL VICTIMS
If you are a whistleblower you are going to be targeted by the predators
If you fit the profile of an easy victim AND you are a whistleblower, get ready for serious action
against you geared to strip you of your money and your condo and who knows what else.
In Maui so many people died in an attempt to take their land,
So these are traits of easy victims:
Financial circumstance – they don’t have enough money to hire a lawyer.
Social stereotyping – they belong to a group that nobody will stand for – a single
woman, disabled person, elderly, minority, immigrant, etc
Their unit is not under a trust fund but under a personal name
They are a whistleblower not supported by enough owners
They don’t have influence
In other words, if you are poor, your social media account with 40000 followers might be your
greatest defense. MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN AND POPULAR
C. PREDATOR STRATEGY: INGORE, GASLIGHT, TREATEN, PUNISH
The is the typical process when you ask for financials, information, or repairs to your unit, or
when you complain about something shady.
This is a real life situation when I asked to join the annual owners’ meeting by phone and the
HOA management did not want to do it because they did not want me there as they were
rigging the elections. The same pattern of psychotic response was shown when I asked them for
financials or anything else.

First they will ignore you. Of course, you will have to keep repeating your requests. They
will proclaim you a pest and refuse to talk with you. If you god forbid get irritated, they
will proclaim you rude, argumentative, and may issue you “cease and desist” letters by
HOA attorney.
If you politely and firmly persist, you WILL get answers such as “it is impossible to do it”
and other such gaslighting bologney. In other words, they will LIE to you.
If you expose their lies and still insist on your question answered, they will turn around
and attack you . They will make up a fine for you, etc
If you STILL insist and you even involve outside agency to help you get documents (in
Hawaii, it is RICO), then they will retaliate even more and might sue you
They are likely to use perjury fraud and lies galore against you, any time
GET USED TO IT: ROGUE HOA MANAGEMENT AND ITS CRONIES ARE LIKELY TO LIE “LIKE
CRAZY”
YES DO BELIEVE YOUR EYES WHEN YOU SEE IT.
Check EVERYTHING they say, It is common to lie about things that are easily verifiable.
Make a written record of it. Build a case.
VI. PREDATORS’ TOOLKIT
There are very standard ways of financial shady. THEY ALL DEPEND ON YOU ACTING AS A GOOD
PRAY
A. FIRST AND FOREMOST: HAVE THE CROOKS ON THE BOARD AND RIG BOARD
ELECTIONS IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE
HOA mismanagement key players are rogue Board members. Without them, ”the show no go”.
Especially since Board terms are several years and it is very difficult to remove them. Therefore
it is imperative to put the cooperative crooks on the Board.
The first steps will be to arrange for a desired Board before the election happens. HOA
management might call owners to recruit them on their side. That is actually illegal. HOA
management might use legitimate ways and send to all owners promotional materials on
“their” candidates. You will have to fight that by advertising to owners that these ppl are crooks,
and you will have to use hard facts to prove it. They will fight against you by using lies, most
lilely, so be ready for a dirty fight.
If it is not certain that it is all arranged before the elections, the HOA management might resort
to rigging Board elections.
Property management company runs Board elections and gives out ballots. MAKE SURE that a
trusted owner counts the votes, and carefully, and is not afraid to report any fraud and then be
ready to stand up to any gaslighting about it.
If there is any HOA attorney, parliamentarian, or many managers at the owners meeting where
Board is being elected, know that something is up.
For example, I counted the tally for 2018 Board elections in my HOA and discovered one extra
ballot for the Board. HOA attorney, HOA parliamentarian, and 2 managers, spent 15 minutes
gaslighting owners that it is legitimate. And that our HOA “always voted like that” We kept on
asking them to show us where? Finally they had to back off.
I heard horror story of another building, where the property management company TOLD the
owner who was counting votes to announce that the HOA candidate won although he had a lot
less votes. That moron owner obeyed. That moron owner is the worst enemy.
B. FIRST AND FOREMOST: OWNERS ARE NOT GIVEN FINANCIALS AND INFO
If your HOA does not give you financials and makes it hard for you to get financials, then they
are most likely stealing, possibly big time.
If there is something going on and they are not informing you, for example new roof looks
awfully bad, then there is something really fishy going on. ESPECIALLY if the HOA says it is now
in attorney hands and cannot be talked about because it is attorney-client privilege.
HOA should give you financials every month and by law is obliged to give you all HOA
documents such as financials, invoices, contracts, and so on. If they refuse, if they stall, …. It is a
HUGE RED FLAG THEY ARE STEALING.
C. FIRST AND FOREMOST: LIE AND HIDE
Crooked HOA management lies – often brazenly and for really huge things – and hides their
doings.
Yes this is the land of CRIME. Deceit and fraud are crime, by federal laws. Extortion,
racketeering, as well. HOA Board members are obliged to exhibit fiduciary duty. Lacking in that
is a crime, according to federal law.
D. HUGE MONTHLY DUES
A simple way to steal / skim every month is to pay a huge fee to the property management
company and all the vendors that the management hired for monthly services, like landscaping,
servicing the septic, etc
E. UNNEEDED / OVERBLOATED / BOTCHED REPAIRS
A simple way to steal / skim every is to pay overbloated prices for “repairs” to vendors that the
management hired. Many times, the repairs are made up, for example pipes are replaced again.
Another way to steal on repairs is to make a deal with the workers and allow them to do LESS
repairs and/or slopty / botched repairs and then pocket the difference.
For very clever strategies of doing this, study http://change.org/hawaiicondo
F. SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS (leading to foreclosures)
Special assessments are an excellent opportunity for skimming, embezzlement and stealing, as
well as money laundering, so rogue property management, construction companies and board
members just love it. This is also a strategy to get rid of all owners whom they don’t like and/or
who they know cannot pay this assessment. Units of owners who cannot pay the assessment
will be foreclosed on and the rogue HOA management will financially benefit from it if they
bring their own friends. In any case, foreclosure means that the HOA “owns” the unit for a while
and has the right to rent it, so the rogue HOA management will benefit from skimming off it. It
is also a chance to bring in new owners who are HOA management “friends” and skim off that,
and gain new votes and supporters.
Overall, special assessments are vicious property and money grab tools.
These are red flags:

Special assessment was never discussed in a Board meeting
The owners were never informed
The assessment was not approved by owners
The scope does not seem to make sense
The prices are overbloated
There is no financial reports about it
There is no updates about it
There are no results
The results are terrible
HOA prohibits talking about it
HOA uses HOA attorney to silence owners who talk about it
There is no following of laws
Read the news articles linked from http://change.org/hawaiicondo
G. LACK OF SERVICE TO YOUR UNIT (leading to loss of value and loss of rent)
There are various devious ways to force owners into compliance / siding with the rogues or
leaving.
The easiest way that a rogue HOA management has at its disposal is to NOT repair your unit
from damages due to HOA negligence, and to keep the causes of it not repaired as well.
If your unit is subject to leaks from common element(s) such as roof, common laundry room,
pool, gutters, sewer/septic, common pipes, etc…. you are going to have to be a “friend” of the
HOA management to get any service done.
If you unit is under a leaky roof… next to a leaky laundry room…. On top of leaky septic … or in
any precarious position like that, the easiest way to torture you is to not repair your unit from
any damage AND to not repair the cause. The leaky laundry room will not be waterproved… the
leaky roof will not be patched… the leaky septic will not be repaired…. .
One devious ways to torture you is to not repair common pipes that are known to be old and
ready to burst any time. How do you know that? Because the pipes start leaking and can be
leaking for a very long time, destroying your unit. That has happened to me. The HOA finally
paid to patch up ONE hole but there are many others on the way that can open any second. But
the HOA did not invest a penny to change those pipes.
The rogues accomplish two things: your unit is crappy so you cannot charge rent as much as you
should be able to; and therefore you will not be ready when that special assessment comes and
they can take your unit.
H. NEGLIGENCE OF THE BUILDING
As you can see, the easiest way to torture home owners and force them to side with the HOA
management is to have issues, such as leaks. Therefore, the easiest building to rule in is a
building that is neglected and has many issues.
Also, it asks for special assessments where owners will lose their unit.
I. THREATENING / BRIBING OWNERS
A red flag is that whistleblowers are shut up and “friends” are rewarded.
A red flag is whistleblowers being threatened by letters from HOA attorneys and/or being sued.
For a list of bribes and threats check out http://change.org/hawaiicondo
J. BOGUS FINES THAT KEEP INCREASING (leading to loss of money and/or
foreclosure)
THE FIRST STEP IS TO FIND THE VICTIM, then fine them, then give it to HOA attorneys who will
rack up a bill and justify FORECLOSING the condo to pay the bill
The fines can be totally made up. Below are some examples of fake letters I have seen
a letter with cat poop pictures but without the picture of the cat doing it, claiming it was
your cat – how can anyone prove that? Same for dog poop.
A letter claiming that tenants did this or that but without a proof. Or a letter with
“proof” consisting of a picture of something that many other tenants do, for example
towel on the stairwell
The letter can be a legit letter but the consequences can be made up. For example, you COULD
fix your violation and STILL be fined. For example,
I was sued for a washer that I took out months earlier
Mr Varta was asked to pay $50K of attorney fees generated during 2 years in attempt to
make him pay $150 fine for having a dog. The glitch: he removed the dog immediately
and was not responsible for 2 years of trying to collect from him. This is 2022 lawsuit in
Honolulu
The easiest victims are single people, moms, elderly, disabled, etc. An ideal victim is anyone
wealthy enough to have bought a condo but not wealthy enough to hire a lawyer to defend
themselves.
Read the news articles linked from http://change.org/hawaiicondo
K. SLAPP SUING YOU
Frivilous lawsuit without evidence n front of “their judge” sounds like a nightmare BUT IT
HAPPENS A LOT.. HOA attorneys are typically well connected as they work for large property
management companies which are well connected because they have huge budgets and know
many people. Again read change.org/hawaiicondo to see how far it goes.
HOA can sue you then file “Motion for Summary Judgement” meaning that the Judge rules on it
without a jury. YOU WANT A TRIAL WITH THE JURY. If you are forced to go into Motion for
Summary Judgement then a corrupt Judge can end it right there and then you have to appeal.
HOA can drag you into arbitration. I would say NO THANK YOU especially if it is a binding
arbitration because arbitrators BY LAW are allowed to make mistakes. The fact that law says that
arbitrators are still obliged to be fair and cannot make so many mistakes and definitely cannot
be corrupt, cut out evidence, be in favor of the HOA, etc etc – and that there are federal and
state arbitration laws that state when arbitration rulings are invalid – all that is typically
overlooked as courts are corrupt. Let’s face it. The court works for the Big Guys, not for you. You
as a condo owner are FOOD, not a predator.. ARBITRATION IS BASICALLY A LEGAL WAY TO
CONDEMN YOU IN AN UNFAIR TRIAL AND STEAL YOUR MONEYYOU’RE YOUR CONDO.
https://www.epi.org/publication/the-arbitration-epidemic/
I would JUST SAY NO TO ARBITRATION.
I think the best bet is normal people in a jury who will not be corrupt and side with the big guys
but with you, a person like them, who is unjustly persecuted.
VII. HOW DO YOU DEFEND YOURSELF
Make your condo not in your name but as a trust. Then you do not own it and nobody can sue
you to take it away.
Make alliance with other honest owners and be ready to boot out any rogue Board member or
management.
Make yourself known in the community so that nobody dares to abuse you. Write to legislators
and go to sessions, be on Neighborhood Community Boards, be active.
Know the laws and apply them.
VIII. KNOW THE LAW AND YOUR RIGHTS
There are MANY laws that govern HOA management.
One of the main problems is that NOBODY ENFORCES THOSE LAWS. The watchdogs are asleep
and nobody will come to your help.
THE USA IS QUICKLY SLIDING INTO BEING A CRIMINAL PLACE WHERE LAWS ARE ONLY ON
PAPER. Behaviors similar to Russia, China, South America, Phillipines, African dictatorships, and
so on. The USA has always been an unfair place for “black and Indians”, immigrants, and other
marginalized groups. However, HOA crime is one notch up higher. It is crime against
MAINSTREAM people who have money and who are considered “respectable regular citizens”.
Of course it first starts with the marginalized part of the mainstream: single people, single
mothers, women, disabled, elderly. But as the socio-economic and “privilege” status of the
victims increases, the HOA scam is destroying ore and more “prestigious” citizens and thus
destroying the whole country more and more. The 74 million people who make living off condo
owners are “sucking the blood out and causing deaths” figuratively speaking as they extort
money and property and make lives of so many people a miserable nightmare of extortion.
The USA has been labeled since 2016 as “flawed democracy” and since 2021 as “backsliding
democracy” as civil rights and other democracy indicators are DEGRADING. The USA might be
having fun smoking legal marijuana and playing video games, but the quality of life and
standards of living have DEGRATED and HOA mismanagement is one of the contributing factors.
There are 74 mission people making a living off condo owners. In their greed, they have bribed
the government and rigged the proves in their favor, but their ignorant behavior leads to
legalization of extortion and crime against regular citizens, and that is simply a banana republic
dangerous kind of place, not a wealthy democratic country that promotes “pursuit of liberty
and happiness”.
A. HOA AS AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS
HOA is designed to run as an independent business organization with its ovn governance – the
Board.
Each HOA must have Governing documents, typically called Declaration, Bylaws, House Rules
and your state, city, etc must have some condo laws. There are federal laws too. YOU MUST
LEARN THESE LAWS. HOA Board members are obliged to exhibit fiduciary duty. Lacking in that is
a crime, according to federal law.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT NOBODY ENFORCES THOSE LAWS AS HOA IS TREATED AS A BUSINESS,
therefore you must sue them to get them to comply to laws.
This came from another condo owner:
Ken Ditkowski is a more, or less, retired attorney form Illinois. Ken is straight forward and
proactive on these issues and communicates his insight and experiences well. He has given me
his permission to pass these along. I believe it is greatly important for anyone in an HOA, or
involved in HOA advocacy, reform, truthful education, etc., and HOA victims to read what Ken
has to say! Both emails are from 08.01.15.
1.) “The condominium concept is imperfect. The First Condominium declaration was drafted by
Attorney Richard Helms of the Law Firm of Jenner and Block. Helms pioneered the legal aspects
of effective use of air space when the Prudential building was built on the airspace above the
Illinois Central Railroad tracks.
The declaration and the bylaw of the association were intended to create what was essentially a
municipal government within the municipal corporate boundaries. The government created was
intended to be democratic and pro-active in protecting the rights of all occupants. Unfortunately,
most residents want to go home, put up their feet, and drink a cold one while watching television.
Thus, a new set of political people arose and they literally took over the mechanisms of the
condominium and abused the lives of many of the residents.
For the record – I had a very large part in drafting the document that is currently in vogue. The
Helms document was a monster of almost four hundred pages. The abortion that is your
declaration is about fifty pages more or less.
As many of the resident do not have sufficient experience to direct and plan a one car funeral a
professional manager is usually employed to do the day to day management of the condominium.
The manager become a dictator and in many instances actually controls the board and exploits
the apathy of most owners. I’ve noticed that in most cases the manager (corporation) has ties to
what we previously called “slum real estate”
Effectively attacking the mismanagement and dictatorial excesses of associations and
management companies is difficult as they control the funds of the association and have little
regulation – unless enough owners can be organized into a revolution. The price of apathy is
enormous!
Having some experience with bad managers of condominium operations the cure is not
legislation – it is old fashioned Chicago Democratic Machine political organization. You have to
go door to door and in strict accordance with the declaration demand a hearing, an election and
an accounting on a specific date and time. (as the Books and records are supposed to be open to
all unit owners during business hours irregularities, if any, should be flagged in the demand.
someone with accounting experience should pick out the irregularities to be highlighted, and
those held back for use later).
Do not be discouraged by excuses or even the failure to produce the documents – that is common.
An attorney should be engaged who is prepared to file a lawsuit for an accounting. He must
allege the breach of a fiduciary relationship and the failure to comply with the declaration. I say
prepared – not file. If you file a receiver will be appointed – the receiver is worse than the
management you have. (Similarly for a trustee in Bankruptcy).
There is a great deal of strategy involved – thus, your first step is organization.
DO NOT WITHHOLD YOUR ASSESSMENTS, unless you are prepared for litigation and
adverse events. If you cut the funds make certain that you have enough unit owners on your side
to carry off an election right now and the votes oust every adverse member of the board using
cumulative voting. AND you have a strong case against the management company that you can
file with the State Real Estate Regulator.
These are nasty battles. Too often the new management is as bad as the prior.”
Ken Ditkowsky
2.) “What people forget is that board members and property managers are fiduciaries. Theft by a
fiduciary is a felony. A fiduciary is held to the highest standard of conduct and cannot profit
from his/her fiduciary relationship.
About five years ago I had a situation in which the Board was controlled by the former
developer. To obtain his final financing he had created dummy sales and thus owned a large
number of the units. He was ousted by a reform group who were worse than the developer. This
is when I was engaged.
The new board refused us access to the books and records as they had run up sufficient debts so
that a Chapter 11 was required. The declaration stated that 67 unit membership could call an
election and we did so. We followed the declaration to the letter. An election was held and we
took over the bank accounts. This finished the then board. That left the management company.
With them we filed a complaint to the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation and they
resigned.
That left us with still attempting to get control of the books and records and dealing with the
debt. This is where we got hung up. On behalf of the condo association we then filed accounting
suits against the prior board. (They did not recognize the election so that became an issue) The
control of the Bank accounts and the assessments told the board that the jig was up and they
faded into the dust.
We could have pursued the accounting suits but the cost of litigation exceeded amount that could
be expected from a full recovery.
Each situation is different – the remedy must not be worse than the disease.”
Ken Ditkowsky
There are federal and state rules regarding condo management, arbitration, and legal and
judiciary process. Learn those laws.
B. FEDERAL LAWS
There are federal laws on fraud, felony, etc
Fraud, extortion, racketeering, etc are all criminal activities per federal laws. There is also
Constitution that guarantees free speech and fair trials.
C. STATE LAWS
Each state will have its version of condo laws
Hawaii has Hawaii Revised Statutes HRS 514B. Check what it is called for your state.
Some states will have laws against retaliation against condo owners, or SLAPP lawsuits.
Some states have laws that give some special treatment to pro se litigants.
Some states have laws that condo owner who sues the Board and loses does NOT pay attorney
fees IF they trued to mediate with the HOA first.
Hawaii has all these laws.
D. HOA “LAWS”
Each HOA will have its own “Governing Documents”. You must get all of them when you buy
your place, typically when you close. Typically Governing Documents include some kind of
“Declaration” document handed over from the developer, and some kind of “By laws” stating
particular rules for that HOA such as how many Board members and for how long and all the
details not in the state laws, and then “House rules” such as “no pets, no towels hanging on
railings” etc.
ALL OF THESE ARE OF LESS PRECEDENCE THAN FEDERAL AND STATE LAW. So, Federal. State,
Bylaws, Declaration, House rules is the order of precendence.
E. YOU CAN DEFEND YOURSELF PRO SE AND YOU SHOULD BE HELPED BY COURT
Ruling of Indiana Supreme Court modified the rules for pro se litigants to consider the pro se
litigant and grant flexibility as to not block their right to due process and equal protection.
Hawaii administrative rules HAR 16-107 also allow for certain leeway to pro se defendants.
IX. ASLEEP WATCHDOGS
The problems happen when THESE LAWS ARE NOT ENFORCED.
State watchdogs include attorney general (aka state attorney), prosecutor, Consumer Protection
especially division that regulates licences, Bar Disciplinary, Judiciary Disciplinary (misconduct),
Ombudsman, etc. are all supposed to watch BUT OFTEN DO NOT
Police in Hawaii will not take reports for common building property that is stolen, for example
solar panels, unless ALL owners sign the report. Prosecutor will not take cases for which there is
no police report.
Generally speaking, each government body points you to another and refuses to deal with the
problem. Therefore you night have to go higher and higher.
Legislators are often bribed by predators and even work for them, Major and Governor too, so
they might ignore your pleas for help. But if they get the idea that they will be BOOTED, they
should pay attention.
Mediators, arbitrators, judges and especially attorneys can be running amok in corrupt ways.
Federal watchdogs include US attorney for your state, FBI, and Department of Judtice (criminal
division, etc). FBI intake personnel claims FBI deals only with terrorism… or only crimes over 1
million dollars…
YOU CAN TURN IN THESE AGENCIES TO DOJ DEPARTMENT THAT CORRECTS ROGUE SECTIONS
UNDER DOJ
RECORD EVERYTHING CAREFULLY AND COLLECT EVIDENCE TO BUILD A STRONG CASE
Send letters of complaints to everyone. There are many sites that will provide info on who is
responsible for your locality,
DoJ has a list of US attorneys by state and attorney generals by state.
F. SELF DEFENSE IS A MUST
If none of your complaints to watchdogs is working, then you gotta make yourself more visible
so that they wik take you more seriously, Of course money solves everything. If you had the
money, you would not be in the prickly situation and if you did get into problems, you would
hire an expensive attorney firm and you would complain to your old boy network buddies at the
gold club. If you have money to hire a detective, you would discover all kinds of shady
connections between the predators on your case
If you don’t have any of that, … you gotta try something else.
So what is your defense strategy? You gotta have connections. What you have at your disposal is
social media, with hashtags Organize other people to complain and protest. All these predators
are elected officials and they can be BOOTED OUT. Make sure that they ARE booted out if they
are not doing their job,
Recruit your chuch/temple, your neighbors your family and friends, various organizations, join
in with others with similar interests. Like HOA reform leaders group, and so on. You never know,
that arbitrator who messed you up might be the nephew of your best friend’s aunt. Your doctor
might be in their country club. And so on.
And scour the Internet for the info on the predators. You might be surprised at connections you
discover. Really look them up. There are also inexpensive way to look up people.
REMEMBER: your rights are NOT guaranteed if nobody is enforcing the Law!!!!
And especially if the rogues get hold of the laws and change them! Rogues can get into office
and change the Constitution itself! YOU HAVE TO STAY VIGILANT!
Unfortunately democracy means that all stupid ignorant mean greedy people have equal say
as you do, and maybe even more if they have the right connections to the money that buys
everything including votes and privileges…. So STAY VIGILANT AND ORGANIZED.
X. DO NOT BELIEVE THE BRAINWASHING
Brainswashers include CAI, your property management, your Board, their attorneys, and even
the government or judicial system.
A. YOUR BAD HOA
Your bad HOA will lie big time. So be ready for science fiction scenarios. I am not kidding. They
like that the grass is black and sky is green and sun is purple. Stuff that you can easily see with
your own eyes.
The principle of serious liars is to gain your trust and then proceed to lie because you will not
check what they are saying.
Serious liars gain trust of corrupt owners by flattering them, promising bribes, and promising
that it will be easy to shut up any opposition e.g. you because they are nobody and nothing –
an immigrant, a single woman, a crazy person, etc.) They will DEHUMANIZE the opposition.
Serious liars can get under your radar because they pretend to be official. They provide
information that you cannot easily check but it really looks like it is a lie…. For example, the
repairs cannot proceed because the permitting department does not have the plans and
certain owners are an obstacle to getting those plans… Their emails do not have the right
subject lines so it is hard to find them after …. so SAVE EACH BAD EMAIL IMMEDIATELY! It is
attorney client privilege….. They are extremely crafty in their lies. Especially if they have support
of other owners.
B. CAI
If you look into the governing documents of CAI, you will discover it works against the condo
owners.
Homeowners surveys regarding satisfaction in their HOA community according to CAI: I
believe, as well as others, the CAI does their own surveys regarding homeowners satisfaction of
their community HOAs, however, I find it impossible for the percentages to be exactly the same
for every state. I recently reviewed some of their states data. I have attached AZ as an example.
I’ve never been presented with a survey, have you?
Every state that I reviewed has the same % in each category. 89%; 74%; 89%; 84%. Check your
state at:
Check page 4 of 22 of each state’s report. You’ll find that credit is given thus: Acknowledgement
General Editor Clifford J. Treese, CIRMS President, Association Data, Inc. (ADI) Mountain
House, CA The information in the Community Association Fact Book was developed with
significant assistance from Clifford J. Treese, CIRMS. A member of CAI almost since its
inception, Treese is a past president of both CAI and the Foundation for Community Association
Research (FCAR). We express our gratitude for his invaluable contributions. He can be reached
at clifford.treese@gmail.com. So who exactly IS Clifford Treese, and what are his exact
credentials. They do list his gmail address. Send him an email …
C. GOVERNMENT
Government agencies are MASTERS at lying and sending you to another agency that deals with
your problem
For example, FBI intake clerk says that they take only tips on terrorism. But their web page says
that they deal with white collar crime and civil rights violations.
Attorney general says that she does not intervene in private lawsuits. But her web page says
that she oversees proper behavior of state employees such as Judges
And so on. DO NOT BELIEVE THEIR LIES, INSIST ON THEM DOING THEIR JOB AND TURN THEM IN
FOR MISCONDUCT. Vote out anyone who is not doing their job AND change the laws.
XI. FRAUD DETECTION AND PREVENTION
https://www.allpropertymanagement.com/blog/post/embezzlement-detection-and-
prevention/

XII. PROPOSED CHANGE IN LAWS
This is copied from HRLNG web page. https://dev.homeownersfightback.com
HOA Reform Leaders National Group (HRLNG) is a volunteer association that seeks to examine
and propose legislation regarding personal real property rights of the homeowners managed by
Homeowner Associations (HOAs). The term “HOA” includes Homeowner Association (HOA),
Property Owner Association (POA), Condominium Owner Association (COA), and any
Common Interest Communities (CIC). Our proposed legislation would especially include, but
not limited to, the relationship and balance of power with the other homeowner-members,
developers, property managers, and the Homeowner Association Board of Directors (BOD).
In purpose, a HOA is to create a beneficial living environment and preserve the property values
of the homeowner-members. It has been estimated that over one-half of the homes in the United
State fall under management of HOAs. In most cases, HOA contracts are tied to the land and are
perpetual across the owner of the land or development.
Yet, across most of the US, punishable enforcement is non-existent towards the HOA Board of
Directors defined in the governmental property statutes. Should a homeowner-member be at
odds with their Board of Directors, their only option is to file a civil lawsuit. This option is out of
reach for most homeowners, due to the high cost and time of litigation and the ability of the
BOD to retaliate with harassment. Furthermore, state and local governments rarely address these
issues in their planning.
In addition to requiring the government to enforce the related property codes outside of civil
court, what follows is an outline of proposed legislation that would be beneficial to homeowner-
members, the Board of Directors, and the entire community. The proposed legislation has been
put forward by HRLNG and reviewed by a wide swath of homeowner-members across the
country.
.
.
In addition to requiring the government to enforce the related property codes outside of civil
court, what follows is an outline of proposed legislation that would be beneficial to homeowner-
members, the Board of Directors, and the entire community. The proposed legislation has been
put forward by HRLNG and reviewed by a wide swath of homeowner-members across the
country.
.
.
Below is a simple list of our Proposed Legislation. Below the list is the details of each part of our
Proposed Legislation.
(1) Definitions Needed
.
(2) Penalties in the Law for Board Members and Property Managers that Violate the Law
.
(3) Member Communication, Mandatory Member List with Emails and Phone Numbers
.
(4) Foreclosures and Liens, Prevention, $10,000 minimum, 90 day notice, No non-
judicial
.
(5) Covenants Fines and Collection of Fines
.
(6) Fair Voting Laws for HOAs.
.
(7) Uniform Enforcement or remove covenant
.
(8) Usurping Authority, HOA can only enforce what is in its covenants.
.
(9) Hidden Covenants and Fines, all restrictions and fines must be in the covenants.
.
(10) Creation and Modification of Covenants and Rules, no additional restrictions or
fines after 1st house is sold.
.
(11) No Profit from Foreclosures, or Member’s Use of Common Properties.
.
(12) One Set of Laws, easy to read, plain 6th grade language.
.
(13) Full Transparency.
.
(14) Fully Funded Reserves, can only be spent on Reserve Study Items, full
documentation.
.
(15) Budget Vote – members can vote down individual items or amounts, majority rule,
but must meet legislative requirements. Requires more than 50% of the votes to pass, not
of the entire membership.
.
(16) HOA Attorney and Property Manager Responsibilities
.
(17) Require member vote every 3 years to determine if the HOA should be dissolved.
.
(18) FHA and VA approved loans, maintain certification, 35% Rental CAP.
.
.

Definitions:
Problem:

In many states the laws lack basic definitions that required to understand the laws. For
example in Washington the laws state that the Declaration can not be changed without a
vote of the members. However, what must be included in the Declaration is not defined
and the covenants are not necessarily included in the Declaration.
.
Similarly in many States, the difference between Covenants and Rules are not defined.
Rules appear to be covenants that are not in the covenants and can be changed without
following the requirements to change the covenants.
Solution:
Covenants or CC&Rs: A set of restrictions, legally-binding written agreements and fines
which govern the properties of an HOA and are usually attached to the deed, meaning
that when the property is sold, the new owner must also abide by the agreements.
.
Declaration: The instrument, however denominated, that creates a common interest
community, including any amendments to the instrument. It is to define the land included
in the HOA, including but not limited to plat maps defining the private and common
interest parcels and allocated interests, amenities, Organizational Documents, Governing
Documents, the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions ( CC&Rs ), the rules and
regulations and fines.
.
Governing documents: The organizational documents, maps, declaration, covenants,
rules, or other written instrument by which the association has the authority to exercise
any of the powers provided for in this chapter or to manage, maintain, or otherwise affect
the property under its jurisdiction.
.
HOA Seller Certification: A document that must be given by the HOA to members upon
request to certify that the sellers property meets all the covenants, has paid all applicable
dues and assessments and all known upcoming assessments.
.
HOA Seller Packet: All governing documents including but not limited to the governing
documents, articles of incorporation, bylaws, covenants and rules, Certification,
percentage of properties rented vs owner occupied, financial statements for the last 3
years, the reserved study and the current amount in the reserve account.
.
Member: A corporation or person(s) that own property in an HOA, or owns other
corporations that own property in an HOA.
.
Organizational Documents: The instruments filed with the secretary of state to create an
entity and the instruments governing the internal affairs of the entity including, but not
limited to, any articles of incorporation, certificate of formation, bylaws, and limited
liability company or partnership agreement.
.
Rule: A policy or procedure, of an association, however denominated, that is not set forth
in the declaration, covenants or organizational documents and governs the use or
appearance of common property or conduct of persons while using common property but
not including the private property. Rules might include requirements such as procedures
for submitting and handling complaints or maintenance requests, quiet hours or
swimming pool policies. Nothing in the rules shall contradict, impose on, or supersede
anything in the Governing Documents. Nothing in the rules shall impose on or supersede
the member’s right to free speech or other constitutional rights or rights granted in state
or federal law.

Penalties in the Law for Board Members and Property Managers that KNOWINGLY violate the
Law
Problem:

There are no penalties in the law for Board Members or Property Managers that
KNOWINGLY violate the laws or the governing documents.
Homeowners have to risk their life savings, retirement savings and their home to fight
corrupt and abusive Board Members or Property Managers.
Board Members and Property Managers use the collective funds of the HOA and the
insurance of the HOA to pay for their attorney’s fees.
Should the HOA lose a lawsuit against a homeowner, the amount awarded to the
homeowner is paid by the HOA insurance, which is paid for by the collective funds of the
homeowners.
The corrupt Board Members and/or Property Managers in violation are not at risk.
The average homeowner, and especially low-income homeowners typically do not have
enough money to challenge the HOA in court. Therefor there is only justice for the rich.
HOA Board Members and Property Managers have no incentive to follow the law or
governing documents.
Penalties against the HOA are punishing the innocent members, not the Board Members
or Property Managers that violated the laws.
Solution:
To protect homeowners, there must be penalties in the law for Board Members and
Property Managers that KNOWINGLY violate the state or federal laws or their own
governing documents.
Enforcement of the HOA laws should fall under a separate “HOA Department” of the
Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s office.
HOA laws should fall under the Consumer Protection Laws.
The HOA Department should be given the authority to fine and levy other penalties
against individual Board Members and Property Managers that KNOWINGLY violate
the federal, state and HOA laws and/or the governing documents of the HOA.
The HOA Department should be funded by contribution through HOA dues and paid to
the Secretary of State by each HOA when they renew their license annually.
We suggest that each HOA member pay an amount of $3 per year in their dues to support
the HOA Dept.
The collected funds shall be put in an account exclusively for the use of the HOA
Department to use for handling HOA law enforcement and compliance.
The amount of the dues should be adjusted annually in order to fund the effort to be able
to investigate all HOA complaints within 60 days.
Required that all HOAs must be registered in order to operate and enforce their
declarations and governing documents.
All HOAs must carry D&O insurance for their Board Members
Board is required to arrange a member appeal at the next Board Meeting which must be
held within 30 days, and the Board vote on the further action. The vote of each Board
Member must be recorded.
These policies and procedure would not deter honest people from serving on the Board
but would strongly deter people who saw serving on an HOA Board as a financial or
power opportunity.
Process
Member writes complaint to Board includes quoted law or governing document that the
Board Members are violating including false CCR accusations.
Board is required to arrange a member appeal at the next Board Meeting and the Board
vote on the further action. The vote of each Board Member must be recorded.
Board responds, and refuses change its position or doesn’t respond within 10 days.
Member files complaint with summary of issue, the correspondence sent to and from the
HOA regarding the issue, and quoted law and/or governing docs to HOA Dept.
HOA Dept investigates and finds the member correct.
HOA Dept writes to Board, Cease and Desist letter
By definition, the offending Board Member(s), once receiving the Cease and Desist, if
they continue to violate the law or governing documents, are KNOWINGLY violating
the law.
Should the offending Board Members not rectify the problem within 5 days, the HOA
Dept will order the offending Board Members removed from the Board.
If the Board does not correct the situation in 5 days, the HOA Department will file a
lawsuit against the offending board members. If the HOA Department wins the suit, the
Board Members will face fines and/or other penalties as the court finds fit, such as one or
a combination of the following:
o removal from their existing Board position;
o enjoining them from serving on any HOA board for a certain period of time or in
perpetuity;
o personal fines or other financial penalties;
o serve of a term of incarceration, probation, community service, or other similar
penalty as the presiding judge finds applicable.
o reimbursement of member losses due to the Board actions.
The insurance company would cover the costs of the attorney fees to defend the Board
Members, up to the point where they are found guilty by a court. If found guilty the
insurance company would require the offending Board Members to reimburse them for
incurred attorney fees.
Either party may appeal the decision and the Attorney General’s office will defend the
decision of the HOA Department
If damage was done to the homeowner, then at the option of the member they may file a
suit against the offending Board Members under the Consumer Protection Act, thus
allowing triple damages or may request that the AGs office include member
reimbursement in the AG’s suit against the offending members.
In our opinion, as the Board Members have already been proven guilty, the lawsuit would
most likely be to address the financial loss. Most likely the offending Board Member
would want to settle.
These policies and procedure would not deter honest people from serving on the Board
but would strongly deter people who saw serving on an HOA Board as a financial or
power opportunity.
Supporting Laws
o Minnesota:
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Consumer/Publications/FiduciaryDuties.asp
▪ Enforcement of These Duties: If a director breaches his or her fiduciary
duties, or fails to act in accordance with the standards described above, at
least 50 members with voting rights or ten percent of members with voting
rights, whichever is less, or the Attorney General’s Office, may bring an
action for equitable relief, including awarding attorney fees and
disbursements to members.

Member Communication; Free Mandatory Member List with Email and Phone
Problem:

Once one group has control of the Board, they have control of all the communication, the
HOA’s website, weekly newsletter, Facebook and other social networking platforms and
most importantly the member email list while frequently denying that list to the other
members.
This section will not apply to witness protection or other government protection programs
requiring secrecy of contact info.
In many HOAs, especially those with a large number of properties or many that are
rentals, second homes, or vacation properties, it is very difficult and expensive for the
members to communicate freely with each other. This stifles member organization,
activism, as well as elections.
There cannot be justice or fair elections if those in power have free communication with
all the members, but those attempting to be elected do not have free communication.
Solution:
HOA Boards must provide a free MANDATORY Member List including name, HOA
address, mailing address, email address and phone number should be available to all
members.
All HOA Members MUST provide all the information above to the HOA with one
exception, any member may choose to keep their phone number off the list.
No privacy concerns. Members may use their existing email address or create a special
email address to be used for all communications to and from the all members and staff of
the HOA. This is the email address that will be shared in the Member List and the only
one used by the HOA and staff.
To assure that no member of the HOA can have unauthorized access to the members
email, the HOA will not provide email services in any manner. All email services must
be through outside sources including but not limited to Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or other
similar services. Generally these email services are free.
The Board shall assure that those without knowledge of email use receive basic training
on how to use email, and how to change their password.
Members may choose to have all their communication sent also through USPS mail.
All members and all HOA Staff with access to the list will sign an agreement to not share
the email addresses or phone numbers with anyone outside the HOA and to not use the
email or phone numbers for commercial purposes. All phone numbers are to be included
unless specified to be unlisted by the property owner.
Members are free to block other members from their phone or email.
Does not apply to witness protection or other government protection programs requiring
secrecy of contact info.

Foreclosures
Problem:

The goal of an HOA should be to benefit its Members, not to financially damage them or
steal their homes. In too many HOAs this is not the case as the abilities for HOAs to levy
fines, place liens on homes, and foreclose on homes is quite often used too liberally,
illegally, unethically and to excess.
In many states, late payments of dues or assessments have additional fees added, such as
late fees, administration fees, and attorney fees and even if payment is made, more fees
are added trapping the homeowner in a pyramid fee scheme they can’t escape.
Often, liens and foreclosures are filed without the property owner’s awareness.
Fines, late fees, and attorney’s fees often far exceed the value of the fine, back dues,
and/or assessments. Recently a woman forgot to pay her annual dues of about $350 and
ended up paying almost $8000 with the fines, late fees, and attorney’s fees. Attorneys
know that in order to foreclose in WA, a homeowner has to be 3 months past due in
Assessments, and the amount must be more than $2000. It does not seem at all reasonable
that a person could lose their home over a $2000 debt, and three months late hardly
seems like enough time.
In a recent study done by HOA Fight Club, studying multiple counties around Seattle,
90% of the foreclosures were for HOAs not for non-payment of mortgages.
There are many ways to collect bad debt. Foreclosure should be the last effort, not the
first, and should not be allowed for debts under $10,000.
Solution:
All laws relating to fair housing, fair collections, fair lending and consumer protection
should apply to all members and Boards of HOAs.
All HOA dues should be paid from homeowner’s escrow accounts, making it impossible
to be late in paying assessments.
If the owner of the home does not have a mortgage, then the HOA owner should have a
choice to pay all dues up front, or pay quarterly or monthly with no interest.
30 day written notice for all fines and debts, and 30 days for member to file dispute.
All debts under $10000 must be handled through small claims court (or the HOA Dept)
with no attorney’s allowed to present in any fashion. Boards should not be the legislative
group, accusers, judges and enforcement of the HOA.
All fines, late fees and interest stop once dispute is filed in writing with HOA, until it is
resolved in small claims court or the HOA Department.
No fines, fees or attorneys fees are allowed before going through either small claims or
the HOA Dept.
Attorneys fees in access of 10% of the original amount owed not including any fees or
interest, can not be charged to the homeowner, and not until the case is decided through
small claims, or the HOA Dept. and all appeals are concluded.
Minimum debt to allow Foreclosure to be $10000 or $1000 per the number of units in the
HOA, whichever is less. This minimum should not include anything but the original
assessment or dues amount, no late fees, interests, attorney fees or other.
All efforts should be taken to minimize damage to the property owner and minimize
property owner legal costs.
90 day notice before foreclosure and the notice must include the amount required to stop
the foreclosure and the contact information for all state free or low cost foreclosure
counselors.
Mediation must be started at least 30 days before the foreclosure date.
Non-Judicial foreclosures can only be allowed if agreed upon by both parties.
Properties sold in foreclosure to be sold through a realtor chosen by the seller at market
value in the current real estate market, not at Sheriff’s sales.
Homeowners of foreclosed homes must move out of the property within 30 days of
foreclosure.
After deducting debts attached to the property, and the cost of the sale of the property, the
member to receive the balance of equity.
HOA violations of the above fall under the HOA Department, and are considered
Consumer Protection Act violations with treble damages and attorney fees as penalties.
Board Members or Property managers that knowingly violate the above are considered
Consumer Protection Act violations with treble damages and attorney fees as penalties.

Covenants, Fines and Collection of Fines
Problem:

Unequal covenant enforcement and FALSE covenant violations are often use as
retaliation, harassment, intimidation or weapons against homeowners that ask questions,
ask to see financial documents, disagree with Board Members, run for a Board position,
for discrimination purposes, or as retaliation in member disputes.
Attorney’s fees and late fees often exceed the value of the original fine or amounts owed.
The goal of an HOA should be to benefit its Members, not to financially damage them or
steal their homes. In too many HOAs the abilities for HOAs to levy fines, place liens on
homes, and foreclose on homes is quite often used unnecessarily, illegally or, unethically.
In many states, late payments of dues or assessments have unreasonable additional fees
added, such as late fees, administration fees, and attorney fees and even if payment is
made, more fees are added trapping the homeowner in a pyramid fee scheme they can’t
escape.
Solution:
All laws relating to fair housing, fair collections, fair lending and consumer protection
should apply to all members of HOAs.
Reasonable and consistent time periods to fix CCR violations before fining are required,
must be documented and readily available to the members.
30 day written notice for all fines, and 30 days for member to file dispute.
All fines, late fees and interest stop once dispute is filed in writing with HOA, until it is
resolved in small claims court or the HOA Department.
The Board is required to arrange a member appeal at the next Board Meeting and the
Board vote on the further action. These appeals must take place in the beginning of the
Board Meeting. The vote of each Board Member must be recorded.
No fines, fees or attorneys fees are allowed before going through either small claims or
the HOA Dept.
Attorneys fees in access of 10% of the original amount owed not including any fees or
interest, can not be charged to the homeowner, and not until the case is decided through
small claims, or the HOA Dept. and all appeals are concluded.
Challenged CCR violations and fines MUST be taken to small claims court or the HOA
division of the AGs office once created before being fined with no attorneys allowed to
be involved. Boards should not be judges.
All HOA records and arguments to be presented in court or HOA Dept must be given to
the member at least 30 days before the court or hearing date.
All fines, late fees and interest stop once dispute is filed in writing with HOA, until it is
resolved in small claims court or the HOA Department of the AGs office once created.
All records of CCR violations and fines must be accessible by all member including the
name of the person filing the complaint and the document on which the complaint was
filed and all communications between the accuser and the Board and employees of the
HOA.

Fair Voting Laws for HOAs
Problem:

HOA Board Members control the entire voting process.
It is far too easy for them to manipulate the voting.
Often, people controlled by the Board or even the Board members themselves are the
ones receiving and/or counting the votes.
They also may have access to the proxies or ballots before they are counted.
There are too many ways that the Board Members can manipulate any election.
Often Property Managers will conspire with the Board Members to distort the elections to
keep the HOA as their customer. Property Management companies should not be
involved with the elections in any way.
Solution:
All HOA election voting or other voting must be conducted completely by an
independent outside election company. The election company can not be indemnified by
the HOA.
Anyone on the current board will be disqualified from running again in perpetuity if they
do not hold the election according to when their term is up.
No felons on the Board. If a board member is found to be a convicted felon they will
automatically be removed and replaced with the candidate that had the next highest votes
in the last election to complete their term.
Board members who are caught embezzling or receiving kickbacks are immediately
removed from the Board cannot run again on the HOA Board and cannot participate on
any committee, and neither can their spouse or anyone living with them in their unit or
parcel.
There must be a three or more person independent election committee, not under the
control of the Board, elected by the membership that organizes and schedules the
election.
The HOA attorney, property management company, any member of the current board,
members running for the Board and their family members are prohibited from sitting on
the election committee.
Board members are not allowed to use HOA funds, resources, social media, mailing lists
or other communications belonging to the HOA that other members are not allowed to
use for free to send out any communications, pro or con, regarding any of the candidates,
members, policies or to make any political commentary.
Elections cannot be held on any holiday weeks and must only be held on weekends.
All candidate’s bios, and information must be mailed to every member at the same time
and in the same manner at the expense of the HOA. HOAs shall include an elections fund
provided for in their budgets.
Homeowners should have at least thirty days to mail in or otherwise submit their ballots
from the day they are sent to them, or cast their vote electronically if an electronic voting
system is in place. The envelopes for the ballots must have prepaid postage, the mailing
address of the election company and the member’s return address on it.
Homeowners should be allowed to vote electronically. The electronic voting system
cannot be operated, licensed or in any way have any connection or affiliation with current
board members, members of the HOA, property management company, HOA attorneys
and or subsidiaries of any of the previous mentioned bodies.
No ballots from members should be sent to the HOA nor should any board members,
other member, staff or employee have any access to the ballots before they are counted.
The ballots should be mailed directly to the election company. No Board members, other
members, staff or employees should have any access or participate in any way with the
process of the elections or voting on issues or in any way shape or form in the processing
of the election documents. This shall not be superseded by any governing documents in
the declaration, bylaws, articles of incorporation or CCR’s.
Current board members are not allowed to change bylaws, articles of incorporation or
CCR’s. All changes must be accomplished by a majority vote of the members.
Any changes in HOA election quorum votes must be accomplished by a vote of the
membership and not the HOA board of directors on their own accord.
Any changes in quorum must be accomplished by a vote of the membership and not the
HOA board of directors on their own accord.
Board members are limited to three year consecutive service and then cannot run again
for another six years. This statute is retroactive.
Members who contest an election and are forced to use their own funds in arbitration or
in a civil law suit will be reimbursed all cost of litigation for exercising their right if
Judgement is ruled in their favor. If it is not in their favor both parties will pay their own
fees as an honest contest of an election is considered a service to the HOA.
Any Board Members who are found to tamper with the election process in any way shape
or form will automatically be removed from the board and their parcel number will be
prohibited from running in the election indefinitely until a new parcel owner has been
established. A board member taking their name off the deed to circumvent this rule will
still be prohibited from becoming a sitting board member.

Uniform Enforcement
Problem:

Selective and unequal enforcement runs rampant in HOAs.
Currently Boards are left to monitor themselves.
Unequal enforcement is often used to harass individual homeowners and sometimes used
to chase them out of the community or even to force them into foreclosure on their home.
Board Members, PMs, and Attorneys working for HOAs have the fiduciary responsibility
to make decisions that benefit at least the majority of the community, but preferably
equally to the entire community as well as protecting the rights of the individual property
owners, but they ignore this responsibility.
In many HOAs, small groups of people with special interests take over Boards and make
decisions for their own property’s benefit while damaging the other properties.
Solution:
Board Members, PMs, and Attorneys are responsible to the homeowners, both
individually and as a whole, not to the Board or the HOA organization. At any point that
a PM or attorney is aware of any violations of the State HOA RCWs by a Board Member,
it is the fiduciary and legal responsibility of the PM or attorney to advise the Board
member of the laws, and if the situation is not immediately rectified, to report the
violation to the State and copy the offended property owner.
All covenants must be fully and equally enforced on all or removed.
No individual waivers of the CC&Rs or Rules must be allowed.
Enforcement of the CC&Rs is limited to specific stated requirements within the CC&Rs.
All CC&Rs must be enforced equally or removed. Boards cannot engage in selective
enforcement or make waivers for one member but not others for similar issues.
General and subjective statements such as “properties must be maintained in an attractive
manner” are not enforceable by an HOA. CC&Rs must be specific, such as “grass lawns
may not be more than 6” tall.”

Usurping Authority
Problem:

HOA Board Members will often usurp authority of the local governing body such as the
City or County.
They may try to enforce County codes or speed limits by fining those that don’t follow
the Boards interpretation of the City or County ordinances.
It becomes impossible for members to follow two different interpretations of the same
laws.
Solution:
HOAs can only enforce what is clearly stated in the covenants and rules.
The laws will clearly state that HOAs have no authority to enforce Federal, State, County
or City laws or ordinances.
An HOA’s authority is limited to the enforcement of covenants and levy fines only as
stated specifically in their CC&Rs and Rules.
HOAs do not have authority to enforce laws or ordinances or usurp authority from
government enforcement agencies.
General statements in the HOA’s governing documents indicating that members must
follow all applicable laws and/or ordinances does not give the HOA the authority to
enforce laws or ordinances.
HOAs cannot enforce or fine for speed limits, building codes, zoning or other laws, State
or County ordinances, etc. that are enforced by other government agencies.
HOA Covenants may not contradict or supersede laws or ordinances.

Hidden Covenants and Fines
Problem:

In many cases homeowners buy into an HOA not being aware of the covenants or even
that the property they are buying is in an HOA.
Often times there are other “rules and fines” that are not in the covenants.
Some HOAs will not provide the governing documents or HOA Seller Packet as
described in the definitions above.
Often times there are other “rules and fines” that are not in the covenants.
Many times, people buy properties in HOAs either not knowing the property is in an
HOA, that covenants exist, or not aware that there are additional rules or fines that are not
mentioned in the covenants.
Solution:
The HOA Seller Packet as defined in this section must be presented to prospective
property buyers before they make an offer on the property.
A cover sheet listing all the components of the Seller Packet must signed and dated by the
prospective property buyer and included in the offer documentation when a prospective
buyer is making an offer on a property that is in an HOA.
All fines for Covenant violations must be written into the Covenants.
All Rules of the HOA and all applicable fines must be in the Covenants.
Resale certs found to be fraudulent should be prosecuted as fraud.
The process to change those governing documents must be written in the bylaws and
require more than 50% of the total membership to vote in favor of the change.
The HOA is responsible to deliver the certification and all governing documents to the
seller within 15 days of the seller’s request.
All documents must be written in plain English and in 6th grade language.

Creation and Modification of Covenants and Rules
Problem:

Buyers buy into an HOA that is being run in an appropriate and lawful manner, but
another Board takes over and begins to modify the original covenants (contract) in a way
the benefits the Board Members but hurts the other members. These are often large
investors.
Solution:
Once the first home is sold in an HOA, no additional covenants to be allowed to be added
or be made more restrictive.
A homeowner by buying in an HOA or COA is agreeing to a contract that contains
covenants. Under current laws in most states, those covenants could change the next day.
All members receive one vote, no matter the number of properties owned by that
member.
One member per household or master corporation.
Covenants can be removed or made less restrictive by a membership vote, majority of the
total membership decides.
Rules for common areas may be adopted, amended, or repealed by a majority vote of the
total membership at any time.
Members may propose a Covenant Repeal, partial repeal, or Rule Change by obtaining
petition signatures from 2% of the members or 50 members, whichever is less. The
petition must include the exact wording of the current Covenant or Rule and the exact
changes desired.
The election committee must give all members:
o A copy of the petition for the change in the Covenants, Rules or Fines;
o A date by which the members must vote on the change.
o And electronic or paper ballots to vote.
o The change is passed if more than 50% of the votes cast are for the change.
o Voting may be by paper and/or electronic means through an impartial third-party
voting company.
Voting must be completed within 60 days of the submission of the petition and voting
ballots must be sent at least 30 days before the end of the voting period.
All members should receive one vote, no matter the number of properties owned by that
member. One vote per household or master corporation.
Following the vote to repeal or amend a covenant, the association must give notice to the
unit owners of its action and provide a copy of the revised covenants.
An association’s internal business operating procedures need not be adopted covenants
but cannot add to, delete from, or contradict the covenants.
Every Covenant must be reasonable and apply and be enforced equally to all members.
Question of reasonableness to be determined by the State Attorney General’s office.
Following a change to the Covenants or Rules, the association must give notice to the
unit owners of its action and provide a copy of all the total Covenants/Rules in updated
form.
An association’s internal business operating procedures need not be adopted as rules but
cannot add to, delete from, or contradict the Covenants or Bylaws
Every rule must be reasonable and apply and be enforced equally to all members.
Questions of reasonableness to be determined by the State Attorney General’s office.

No Profit from Foreclosures, or Member’s Use of Common Properties
Problem:

Corrupt Boards will take money from Insurance Proceeds of one damaged building but
spend it on other projects.
Boards charge more for the production of copies of HOA records than the actual costs.
HOAs will charge members more for using an HOA property or facility than the actual
costs of operations and maintenance, thus in effect charging them twice for the same
thing and charging certain members more than others.
HOAs unnecessarily force members into foreclosure then the HOA, Property Managers,
Board Members, or their associates buy those homes for pennies on the dollar.
Solutions:
Members of property damaged must approve how the insurance reimbursements are
spent.
All insurance payments must be used to make the repairs for the insured building.
Remainder if any to go to the reserve fund.
Repairs should leave insured building in as good or better condition than before damage.
Members should be mutual beneficiaries of HOA insurance.
HOAs must not make a profit from members through any individual common property.
Example: HOAs may not charge homeowners for RV or boat storage, charge them more
than the actual costs to the HOA, and then use the additional funds for any other purpose.
HOA may not charge members for use of common areas including clubhouse. They can
charge non-members.
HOAs may charge for damage caused by a member and the actual cleanup costs if any.
No sitting Board member or family member/relation of a sitting Board member or
Property Manager is allowed to purchase a home, unit, or property being foreclosed upon
in the community their Board manages.

One Set of Laws, in easy to read, plain 6th grade level English.
Problem:

In some states there are different laws for HOAs created in different years.
Some states laws allow developers and HOA Boards to not follow the HOA laws by
stating covenants or rules in their declaration that do not match the laws.
Many of the laws are written in such a confusing manner that even the attorneys and
legislators can’t understand what they say. It is therefore impossible for the layman
homeowner to understand them.
Board Members and Homeowners of HOA are generally volunteers from different walks
of life and most are not attorneys, yet they need to understand and follow the HOA laws.
They must be simplified.
Solution:
There should be one set of laws, that applies to all forms of HOAs, that are simple to
read, in 6th grade language to make them understandable to the average homeowner and
Board Member.
Wherever a law refers to another part of the law, both the numeric representation of the
section of the law and the name of the section such as “Transparency of Records”, should
be stated to assist in easier reading.
Old declarations should be required to be modified to meet the current laws.
“Unless stated otherwise in the Declaration” and similar statements should be removed
from all HOA law.
The term “May” as in “may require” should be replaced with must or must not in all laws
and governing documents.

Full Transparency
Problem:

Lack of transparency leads to poor management, embezzlement, homeowner abuse,
unequal enforcement, special treatment, theft and many other problems.
Homeowners have to fight Boards, Property Managers and Attorneys to access the
documents of the association that they are entitled to see.
Boards and Property Managers often charge excessive fees to see the documents.
Solution:
An association must retain the following:
o The current budget, detailed records of receipts and expenditures affecting the
operation and administration of the association, and other appropriate accounting
records within the last seven years;
o Minutes of all meetings of its unit owners and Board other than executive
sessions, a record of all actions taken by the unit owners or Board without a
meeting, and a record of all actions taken by a committee in place of the Board on
behalf of the association;
o A complete and accurate list of unit owners, including the names of current unit
owners, telephone numbers unless member opts out of giving phone number,
addresses in the HOA, mailing address, email addresses , and the number of votes
allocated to each unit;
o Its original or restated declaration, organizational documents, all amendments to
the declaration and organizational documents, and all rules currently in effect;
o All financial statements and tax returns of the association for the past seven years;
o A list of the names and addresses of its current Board members and officers;
o Its most recent annual report delivered to the secretary of state, if any;
o Financial and other records for the last 7 years.
o Copies of contracts to which it is or was a party within the last seven years;
o Materials relied upon by the Board or any committee to approve or deny any
requests for design or architectural approval for a period of seven years after the
decision is made
o Materials relied upon by the Board or any committee concerning a decision to
enforce the governing documents for a period of seven years after the decision is
made;
o copies of insurance policies under which the association is a named insured;
o Any current warranties provided to the association;
o Copies of all notices provided to unit owners or the association in accordance
with this chapter or the governing documents; and
o Ballots, proxies, absentee ballots, and other records related to voting by unit
owners for one year after the election, action, or vote to which they relate.
o Information retained pursuant to subsection (1)(d) of this section must be
accessible on an association’s website, Facebook or equivalent.
o A record of all CCR violations, related documentation, fines and results.
All records required to be retained by an association must be made available for
examination and copying by all unit owners, holders of mortgages on the units, and their
respective authorized agents as follows:
o On line, in a website or equivalent OR;
o At the offices of the association or its managing agent during reasonable business
hours or at a mutually convenient time and location.
o Records retained by an association may be withheld from inspection and copying
to the extent that they concern:
o Personnel and medical records relating to specific individuals;
o Contracts, leases, and other commercial transactions to purchase or provide goods
or services currently being negotiated;
o Attorney-client privileged details of current or potential litigation or mediation,
arbitration, or administrative proceedings
o Attorney-client privileged details of current or potential matters involving federal,
state, or local administrative or other formal proceedings before governmental
tribunal for enforcement of the governing documents;
o Legal advice or communications that are otherwise protected by the attorney-
client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine, including communications
with the managing agent or other agent of the association;
o Information the disclosure of which would violate a court order or law;
o Records of an executive session of the Board;
o Personal phone number of member if requested to be held confidential by
member.
o Security access information provided to the association for emergency purposes.
An association may only charge their actual cost for producing and providing copies of
any records under this section and for supervising the unit owner’s inspection.
A right to copy records under this section includes the right to receive copies by
photocopying or other means, including through an electronic transmission if available
upon request by the unit owner.
An association is not obligated to compile or synthesize information other than the
member list.
Information provided pursuant to this section may not be used for commercial purposes.
An association’s managing agent must deliver all of the association’s original books and
records to the association immediately upon termination of its management relationship
with the association, or upon such other demand as is made by the Board. An association
managing agent may keep copies of the association records at its own expense.

Fully Funded Reserves
Problem:

HOA reserve accounts are very frequently far below the required funds to adequately
cover the reserves study.
Early owners are running up debt because they are not paying enough dues to cover the
reserve study costs. In effect this is stealing from future buyers.
This practice at some point will cause large assessments which can then lead to
foreclosures. This can also lead to unsafe buildings causing injury, illness and possibly
deaths.
Solution:
All new HOAs should have reserve studies at least every 3 years and maintain a 100%
funded reserve account. This means that there is money in the reserve for all common
assets equaling the current percent of the straight-line depreciation of each asset times the
current replacement cost. As an example, if a roof has a projected 30-year life, at year 15,
half of the current cost of replacement should be in the reserve.
Requirement for all existing HOAs to move to fully funded Reserve accounts over a 10-
year period.
Reserve funds can only be spent on reserve items.
All HOA damage and repairs should be listed and briefly described in a report each
month, along with the cost associated with the repair.
The President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary, at least 4 Board Members must
sign checks that remove money from the Reserve Account. A monthly report must be
posted with the financial statements showing where the Reserve Funds were spent.

Budget Vote
Problem:

Many HOA Budget votes require more than 50% of the total membership to vote down a
budget. Most HOAs don’t get that number of people to vote at all. Thus it is virtually
impossible to vote down a budget.
Board Members have total control of the budget and can often abuse this power.
Members need the ability to vote down individual line items in a budget
Solution:
Budgets to require more than 50% of members that vote, to pass instead of 50% of full
membership to deny.
Individual line items may be voted in or out by the members.
Within thirty days after adoption of any proposed budget for the HOA by the Board, the
Board must provide a copy of the budget to all the unit owners and set a date for a
meeting of the unit owners to consider ratification of the budget not less than fourteen nor
more than fifty days after providing the budget.
Members may assign their votes to those that can attend by proxy which will be supplied
by the HOA to the members with the notification of the meeting.
The Budget meeting is a member meeting not-Board Member meeting.
Chair to be voted for by the membership present at the meeting as the first action of the
meeting.
The Board will supply the chair a recommended agenda.
The second action in the meeting will be for the Treasurer or their assign to explain the
proposed budget.
The chair will loosely follow Roberts Rules of Order to make the meeting as efficient and
fair as possible.
All motions to the budget must be addressed at the budget meeting.
Budgets are required to meet fully funded reserve accounts as well as maintenance of all
common assets and all other legal requirements and cannot be voted out of the budget.

HOA Attorney and Property Manager Responsibilities
Problem:

HOA Attorneys and Property Managers often protect Board Members that are making
illegal or unethical decisions.
HOA Attorneys and Property Managers also often appear to be helping the corrupt Board
Members and Property Managers to take advantage of the homeowners.
Solution:
HOA attorneys by law should be required to represent the membership as a whole, not
the Board, in all issues.
Board Members may be the day-to-day interface with the HOA attorney, but the loyalty
of the attorney should be to the members as a whole.
HOA attorneys and property managers should be mandatory reporters of illegal or
unethical actions of the Board and the Property Managers. The Attorney or Property
Manager should attempt first to explain the correct actions to the Board and assure that
they are aware that their actions are unethical or illegal. Should the Board not correct
their actions within 5 days the Attorney or Property Manager shall report their actions to
the Attorney General office for further action.
HOA Members should be co-beneficiaries on all HOA Vendor contracts.

Require member vote every 3 years to determine if the HOA should be dissolved.
Problem:

Many HOAs no longer enforce their declarations, and don’t want to.
Other HOA Boards are so corrupt, the members no longer want the HOA, but those in
control of the Board won’t release control.
In some cases the number of votes required to dissolve the HOA is so high it is virtually
impossible.
Solution:
Requires 65% of those voting to dissolve the HOA.
This law would apply to multi-building COAs, but then would require the creation of
single building COAs.
Obviously, this can not apply to single building COAs.

Rental Caps and Rental Covenants
Problem:

If there are too many rentals in an HOA, the FHA and VA will not approve loans. This
results in denying veterans and others access to housing.
Some HOAs create covenants to not allow rentals. This decreases the number of rental
homes available and raises rental prices.
Solution:
HOAs should be required to maintain their FHA, VA and government subsidized loan
certifications.
Require a 35% rental CAP, lower CAPs restrict renters decreasing the availability of
affordable housing for renters. Higher than 50% cause FHA and VA to not approve loans.
XIII. THE READING LIST
Free online book “HOA: Crisis in America,” by Gary Solomon which can be found at
hoacrisisinamerica.com
Review on https://www.reviewjournal.com/uncategorized/professors-book-explores-hoa-
crisis/
HOA Academy by Gary Solomon
Professor Gary Solomon is retired tenured psychology professor. He has compiled his lectures
from his enlightening video HOA Academy into an innovative book entitled HOA Academy. In
this book he cites the detrimental effects of living in Homeowners Associations (HOAs). The
book has been written to help solve HOA problems and issues the reader and/or viewer may
have.
From https://www.thehoaprimer.org/readinglist.htm
The books listed below serve as a partial bibliography for this website. Most of them can be
found in your local library, and all can be found at any of the big book outlets.
Privatopia: Homeowner Associations and the rise of Residential
Private Governments
By Evan McKenzie
Yale University Press
Book Review: Dr. McKenzie was one of the first to see the dangers of the new trend of private
contractual pseudo-government in common-interest developments (a/k/a mandatory homeowners
associations) and his treatment remains one of the most thoughtful available. Especially useful is
his history of the development of the industry’s powerhouse trade organization, the Community
Associations Institute. CAI started long ago as a balanced entity serving the interests of
homeowners as well as others, it has turned into a lobbying arm for professionals who make their
livings off of mandatory assessments and the associated legal machinery of collection and
foreclosure. Touted as a selling point to potential buyers by realtors and builders, CIDs exist–as
McKenzie cogently points out–primarily as a means for developers to mitigate the rising cost of
property by squeezing more dwellings on to less land and bypassing local zoning restrictions and
ordinances. The author explains, the real motivation for keeping property values high is so that
the lenders courted by the developers will be confident that their investment is secure the
homeowners interests are irrelevant. The author not only examines the resultant effect upon the
individual homeowner, but the long-term sociological and political ramifications as well.
“Privatopia” contains some of the horror stories experienced within the CID scenario. Some
issues causing disputes are so trivial as to be laughable, except for the severe penalties incurred
by violators, including huge fines and legal fees, or even loss of ones home in certain situations.
This book should be required reading for anyone currently living in or considering the purchase
of a home located within a CID, and will be a real eye-opener to many.
Dr. McKenzie holds a law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Ph.D.
in Political Science from the University of Southern California. He is currently an Associate
Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an adjunct instructor of
law at the John Marshall Law School. His research specializations are in the area of law and
public policy, and particularly urban policy.
Be Reasonable: How Community Associations Can Enforce Rules Without Antagonizing
Residents, Going To Court, Or Starting World War III
By Kenneth Budd
Community Associations Institute
Guilt By Association: A Survival Guide For Homeowners, Board Members, And Property
Managers
By Jordan L. Shifrin
Writers Club Press
Working With Your Homeowners Association: A Guide to Effective Community Living
Dr. Marlene M. Coleman & Judge William Huss
Sphinx Publishing
The Case Against State Protection of Homeowner Associations
By George K. Staropoli
Infinity Publishing
Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States
By Edward J. Blakely and Mary Gail Snyder
The Brookings Institute Press
Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America
By Setha Low
Routledge Press
Book Review: Behind the Gates is Low’s revealing account of what life is like inside these
suburban fortresses. After years researching and interviewing families in Long Island, New York
and San Antonio, Texas, Low provides an inside view of gated communities to help explain why
people flee to these enclaves. Parents with children, young married couples, “empty-nesters,” and
retirees express their need for safety, their secret fears of a more ethnically diverse America, and
their desire to recapture the close-knit, picket-fenced communities of their childhood. Ironically,
she shows, gated neighborhoods are in fact no safer than other suburbs, and many who move
there are disheartened by the insularity and restrictive rules of the community. Low probes the
hopes, dreams, and fears of her subjects to portray the subtle change in American middle-class
values marked by the emergence of enclosed communities in the suburbs.
Setha Low is Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Psychology at the CUNY Graduate
Center. She is the author or editor of numerous books, including Theorizing the City: The New
Urban Anthropology Reader; Housing, Culture, and Design; Cultural Spaces; and Place
Attachment.
Morning Glories: Municipal Reform in the Southwest
By Amy Bridges
Princeton University Press
Communications for Community Associations
By Janice Phagan
The Community Associations Institute
Common Interest Communities: Private Governments and the Public Interest
Stephen E. Barton & Carol J. Silverman
Institute of Government Studies Press, University of California, Berkeley
Villa Appalling: Destroying the Myth of Affordable Community Living
Donie Vanitzian & Stephen Glassman
Villa Appalling Publishing
Don’t waste your time and money reading CAI pablum and other industry propaganda about so-
called “community associations.” This book not only exposes the HOA racket for what it is, but
dissects it and shows how it works, and the real reasons they exist. Forget the fiction they give
you about property values! The real purpose of the Association is to strip the ‘owner’ of any
power or property rights over the property he has paid for, to allow municipalities to tax the
‘owner’ but provide no services, and of course to provide a revenue stream for predatory lawyers,
management companies, and other vendor vultures, all at the expense of the ‘owner.’ As an extra
special bonus, the ‘homeowner’ gets to live in a so-called community that is run like a banana
republic, complete with rigged elections and kangaroo justice. Indeed, the buyer into one of these
‘communities’ is the chump who gets stuck with all the bills and liabilities, while the developers,
municipalities, attorneys, and other parasites make out like bandits. In the meantime, for the
home buyer and owner, the almighty Association is a financial bottomless pit, liability black
hole, and a litigation snakepit, in addition to being a petty micromanager and dictator. If you buy
into a common interest development after reading this book, you really need a good psychiatrist!
The book also well covers why your residence is NOT an investment, and why this is especially
true in a CID! Would you buy stock in a corporation run by an idiot? What is really pathetic is
that the HOA industry would have us believe that living in an HOA regime is a ‘lifestyle choice!’
Some choice! Ths local governments and this industry work hand in hand to shove the HOA
‘lifestyle’ down the throats of home buyers by mandating that all new developments be under the
thumb of an HOA regime. In addition, some city governments abuse eminent domain powers to
tear down non-HOA homes so that politically connected developers can replace them with HOA
dictated properties. If this is what homeownership in this country has come to, I might as well
continue renting an apartment, and thus skip all the expensive litigation and HOA hassles.
Homeowner Associations: A Nightmare or a Dream Come True?
Joni Greenwalt
Cassie Publications Inc.

CONSUMER PROTECTION BOOKLET FOR HOME OWNERS

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CONSUMER PROTECTION BOOKLET FOR HOME OWNERS

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