Calif. Eyes Homeowner Association Changes

[Trillo]

By JIM WASSERMAN, Associated Press Writer

CHULA VISTA, Calif. - As millions of Americans have moved into the nation's 260,000 privately run neighborhoods, they've been hit by rules on pets and door colors and hemmed by restraints on landscaping. If they're late with their dues to maintain common areas, sometimes for as little as $120, the associations, backed by a network of property managers and attorneys, can foreclose on their homes.
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Despite a growing backlash, lawmakers throughout the nation have failed to make major changes. California, however, stands on the verge of banning foreclosure entirely in many instances, making nonjudicial foreclosure more difficult and rolling back the fee system that makes foreclosure lucrative to a small cadre of lawyers.
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Like California, associations in Florida, Texas, Arizona and Nevada all have authority to ultimately collect their members' unpaid assessments by selling their homes. Combined, the five states have more than half the nation's supply of association-governed housing.

In Las Vegas, Judi Burns lost her $130,000 home when a judge upheld her association's March 2000 foreclosure sale over unpaid dues of $300. In Arizona, Evelyn Lyles nearly lost her home over $393 in unpaid monthly assessments. An anonymous donor paid when media accounts of the pending foreclosure described her battle with breast cancer.
more...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/foreclosure_showdown

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. There is so much work to be done with H.O.A.'s

I'm certainly not going to be the one to do it. I want to run the hell out of my H.O.A., screaming for help on most days. They can just as easily rip a community apart by not being professional enough, as for being too professional, as the article describes. You get people in there that want to steal the Association's assets, and there are so many dumb homeowners who would let it happen, rather than to get involved. Worse yet when those on the board are protected by their connections with the city...well, there's nothing to do but call it a Republican county and move on.

[Sugarbleus]

2. Thanks for the heads up. We were thinking of buying into

something like that but in a mobile home park. Maaaaaaaybe we'll just reconsider that idea now. I'd hate being told what color my door has to be. geez