AZ bill automatically removes BOD if law not followed

Some good news for restoration of homeowner control of the boards failure to act in violation of state law.  Arizona bill HB 2607, Sess. L. Ch. 111 added this subsection regarding the removal of the board of directors.

Section 33-1243 for condos and 33-1813 for PUDs:

“(d) If all of the requirements of this subsection for calling a special meeting are met and the board of directors fails to call, notice and hold a special meeting within thirty days after receipt of the petition, the members of the board of directors are deemed removed from office effective at midnight of the thirty-first day.”

Of course, the homeowners must have a set of directors ready to take over and establish the election/appointment of the new board as party of the BOD’s records.

Thanks to Dennis Legere for his many efforts before the Arizona Legislature.

Why CAI is the Evil Empire

Advocates, the public in general, the media, and especially state legislatures need to understand the power of the miniscule member CAI that has them conned.  CAI dominates the HOA institution, or as I designate the fragmented collection of HOAs, HOA-Land. My initial research was conducted in 2007 and updated 10 years later in 2017.[1]  I summarize my research on the size of CAI and its membership breakdown below.

The research was based on CAI data and the US Census at that time.  To the point, from the 2017 study:

1. Being concerned about the frequency of fixed ratios found in (A), I came across data from the CAI Indiana chapter for 2015 and 2016.[2] The percent ‘volunteers’ per HOA for both years was 32.7% and 32.8%, respectively. Very consistent.

2. Of the 69 M people in HOAs, CAI membership, at most, consists of a miniscule .05% (.00048).

3. Of the 33,000 CAI members, a minority of some 10,800 are ‘volunteers’ and not attorneys or managers.

4. ‘Volunteers’ (CAVL) represent a miniscule .016% (.00016) of HOA members.

In contrast, AARP is a tremendous national powerhouse lobbyist representing, as reported in the 2014 WSJ article, some 37.8 million members.   In contrast, 2010 AARP states membership of 35,700,000, and that’s  36% of the 50 plus population based on the US Census  estimate.

Analyzing CAI’s membership and governing Board of Trustees structure revealed  HOA “volunteers” are in the minority. “That’s about 14% representation by homeowners on the CAI governing body whose membership consists of 60% homeowner “volunteers.”^[3]

So, who’s afraid of Virginia Wolf?  We should be!  Look what this miniscule minority managed to achieve over the years!  Please understand, though, CAI is vulnerable and has made adjustments in the past based on published criticisms by advocates.  We must not be afraid to call it what it is, using concrete documents and especially CAI’s own words.

FYI — Outstanding is a complaint filed with the antitrust division of the DOJ alleging that CAI is a monopoly.[4]

References

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^[1] See CAI miniscule minority dominates public policy (2007); CAI 2016 Factbook: looking into the ‘facts’.

[2] CAI Indiana chapter document.

^[3] Who controls CAI and its 50 state HOA lobbying committees? (2012).

^[4]  See The need to regulate CAI monopoly. (2023).

 

Decl. of Indep. from HOA government — 2000

At this time when advocates are urging homeowners to present reform bills to their legislature, this earlier post of mine revealed the problem dealing with the legislature from the very beginning.  This 2014 repost refers to my appearance before the Arizona HOA Hearing committee in 2000, which also appeared in Robert Nelson’s book (p. 102) published by the Urban Institute Press.   

****

“In 2000, as a naïve and newbie to the politics at state legislatures, Arizona in particular, I addressed the HOA Study Committee on September 7^th (3^rd such meeting of unfulfilled 7) and submitted a statement titled, “HOMEOWNER’S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE  from homeowner association governments.”  In it I quoted parts of the Decl. of Indep. And informed the committee that I had hoped that these hearings would bring forth a list of grievances for which homeowners were seeking redress. 

[In 2000 I testified – – -]

“And as in those times of 1776, a small, principled and dedicated group of citizens are seeking a redress of their grievances. They first looked to the existing government, the HOA Board, and failing to obtain satisfaction therein, must seek other means of redress – a radical change in the concept and legal structure of the homeowner association controlling document, the CC&Rs.

“Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen of the Committee, at this time I had hoped that the citizens of Arizona would be able to present and enumerate their long list of abuses, and solutions to these abuses, similar to as is found enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, without the interference and obstruction by elements of these ‘oppressive governments.’  I see that this will not be the case.

“The people of Arizona only wish to be able to present their case before this Committee in a fair and just manner. However, sadly I feel that, because of the composition of the committee, the homeowners are actually being placed on trial; that they are being asked to justify their grievances before their oppressors” [CAI].

****

Today, I think it would be helpful to adopt my statement and add those grievances that you feel need to be solved, and submit the entire package to your legislature and the media.  It would be your declaration from HOA governments, your petition for redress. Of course, the more signatures you have the better. 

Listen to Commentaries on Spotify audio

Announcing selective commentaries are now available as audio podcasts of Spotify – must signup for free account.  You can also listen on other podcasters – see below. Files range from 3 minutes to 15 minutes.

Just click on the Spotify button on the commentary page or add the RSS feed to your email browser under RSS Feeds. On the the commentary page, click on “Podcasts” in the left column or enter Podcasts under Search in the right column.

Here’s the link to use: https://anchor.fm/s/4e14861c/podcast/rss

Other Podcasters are available if you have an account. Go to Anchor website and choose Podcaster. You will probably need an account.

ANCHOR main — HOA Constitutional Government • A podcast on Anchor  — ALL episodes and podcasters. Select under “Where to Listen.”

Spotify is available on your cell or tablet. Download the app and skip all the advertising and promotions nonsense, and click on “search” bottom at the bottom. In the Search box enter HOA constitutional government.

HOAs as ‘windmills’

This is my statement on the rejection of my efforts to restore constitutional protections to HOAs by a society suffering from a decay and decline in ethical, moral, and democratic values.

The reality of the HOA “windmills”

This metallic wall sculpture has been hanging on my wall for some 43 years. Bought at an arts and crafts show in a small town in Westchester County, NY.  I thought about selling it some 7 years ago but decided to hold on to it for some reason or other. Recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that acquiring it was a sign of my destiny, which turned out to be my 20 years of activism for substantive constitutional HOA reform legislation.

Most people will recognize the sculpture as the delusional knight Don Quixote doing battle against ferocious giants –windmills. 

However, Miquel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote de La Mancha (published in 2 volumes in 1605 and 1615)  has  deeper meanings relating to persons of high morals and ideals in a society that has  lost the values of chivalry and honor – of doing the right thing and coming to the aid of others. 

Cervantes portrays Quixote as being out of touch with the reality of his times.  As for my efforts, the windmills are real. They are HOAs. There are numerous reviews of Don Quixote revealing Cervantes’ deeper meanings as quoted in several examples below:

“He had the moral courage in him to go beyond the ordinary in spite of those around him thinking of him as an outlier. He could imagine what others couldn’t — the first step to greatness and leadership.

“After Quixote had imagined what was possible, he had it in him to commit to it and believe in the purity of his goals.

“The novel’s message that individuals can be right while society is wrong was considered radical for its day.”

I have written about the culture within HOA-Land; I have written about the decline and decay in society’s moral, ethical, and democratic values. (See Constitutional Local Government and HOA Constitutional Government). For the most part, my analyses and warnings have been ignored by elected officials and politicians at all levels, by the public at large, and by a large majority of homeowners living in HOAs. So, it appears that like Don Quixote,  I am out-of-step with the reality of these times.

But it doesn’t make me wrong!  Historians will judge.