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Felling the Heat of Change

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Contributed by: Jan Jackson on 4/28/2008

A HOMEOWNER WINS AGAINST THE CAI

We won one against my homeowners association (HOA) and its Community Associations Institute (CAI) lawyer!

Reference: Court Order regarding "Motion For Additional Attorney Fees in Connection with the Hearing On the Original Motion to Award Attorney Fees"

Basically, my HOA's CAI attorney had asked our District Court in Cripple Creek for thousands of dollars in attorneys' fees which had to do, essentially, with my HOA's recent libel claim against me and its resultant several days of court Hearings. The Judge in the District Court denied that request by my HOA, awarding it only three hundred and twelve dollars ($312).

Readers here will be able to read the details of that court order as soon as I can get it online and into the public media.

We, my attorney and I, are now vigorously moving forward in the Colorado Appeals Court with an appeal from the judge's first ruling where he ruled for me on some issues and for my HOA (and their CAI lawyer) on others. Our Opening Brief is due in the Appeals Court next week.

My attorney continues to fight zealously for my Constitutional and legal rights.

A rather odd thing about how my HOA's President is handling their copy of the judge's order this time, though. That is, the judge's first ruling/order severely limited my Constitutional right to freedom of speech -- in terms of publicly writing about my HOA, contacting the membership of my HOA via the written word, or publicly mentioning (in writing) the name of my HOA and any names of the members of my HOA, including my HOA's board of directors. However, in the entirety of the judge's first ruling/order, I prevailed on some issues and my HOA prevailed on others. The President of my HOA sent that order to the entire membership of my HOA almost before the ink was dry on it. However, a copy of this second ruling/order by the court where the judge basically decided for me and against my HOA has not yet been sent to the membership by my HOA President, as far as I know.

That order was dated March 19, 2008. It is now April 12, 2008.

Be that as it may, since Judge Kennedy's above-mentioned recent order is a document which is aleady available to the public (it can be read or purchased at or from the Cripple Creek, Colorado, courthouse), I will be publishing a copy of it nationally, as well as statewide (Colorado) and locally, just as I did with the judge's first order, as soon as I can find the time to scan it into my computer. So, perhaps at least some members of my HOA will get to know about and read that order soon.

A thought just occurred to me. This is not the first time a member of my HOA's board of directors has done, or not done, something puzzling like the above. Recently (in January of 2008), the Treasurer of my HOA wrote a little blurb on all members' yearly dues-and-assessments invoices about how the membership should start thinking about the ways in which they wanted to spend the money they would be receiving from this lawsuit, if and when it was won by my HOA. There was no mention of how much the membership of my HOA might have to pay if they lost. As an HOA member, it would seem reasonable to me that a member of an HOA might be more concerned about latter than the former.

Also, in terms of unusual HOA events, the Treasurer of my HOA also recently demanded that I not include him on my email list of my HOA's board members when I have a question or concern about any matters in my HOA. It remains unknown to me what HOA homeowners here in Colorado might think about that sort of thing, or what a Colorado court of law might rule about such a demand from an homeowners association board member -- especially its Treasurer. However, there is currently a case in Texas which is getting a lot of national attention which will be going to trial in May, I believe, where counsels will argue that particular issue, among others. So perhaps we will soon know the answers to those kinds of questions.

But for now, we here in my HOA who abide by our Colorado laws and honor our United States Constitution (even thoough, in an HOA, homeowners really do not have any Constitutional rights) are very happy with the recent ruling/order from our District Court denying my HOA's (and its CAI lawyer's) motion/request for most of the additional attorney fees they wanted in connection with the recent court Hearings.

One of the major reasons that we are very pleased with the recent court ruling/order is that most HOA homeowners have, over the years, become painfully aware of what many, if not most, homeowners associations all over Colorado and this nation appear to be all about. That is, they are not, in general, run the way Americans are used to their elected public officials conducting local, state or federal affairs. Why don't HOAs operate like that? Because HOAs are essentially "private contracts." Private contracts where, once a home buyer closes on the purchase of his or her new home, he or she is immediately thrown into a corporate world like they have never experienced before. A corporate world run by a board of directors who are your neighbors and who may, or may not, know anything about running a corporation. A board of directors who may even be power-and-money seekers themselves and simply want to control your lives and finances while you live in your HOA. And a corporate world where your house is not your home. Your house and property are just part of a corporation.

HOAs are run like a corporation because they are corporations. Corporations where boards of directors usually answer to no one but their stockholders and the stockholders are free to simply pull their stock ownership out of the corporation if they begin to not like the way the corporation is using their money. However, In corporations like homeowners associations, there are no "stockholders." There are only "members" of the corporation who pay dues, assessments, and various other costs to their HOAs which their boards of directors control. And if those members leave the HOA corporation they are currently living in (sell their house) because they are disturbed by many things their boards of directors say and do, where else would they live? Most new housing today is corporate housing called "common interest developments" aka "homeowners associations" created by state legislators and the HOA industry which mandates that all new housing be common interest developments aka homeowners associations. There are very few non-HOA homes -- real homes -- for sale, or even in existence, anymore.

And that was really our enemies' plan all along, wasn't it. State legislators colluding with CAI lawyers-lobbyists, developers, builders, and the rest of the HOA industry to control where and how We The People will live and how much we will pay for it (fascism, anyone?).

But wait !! HOA homeowner advocates have gone on the offensive against the enemies of We The People homeowners and are now standing guard between the HOA homeowners and the HOA industry's power-and-money seekers. Standing guard, and fighting where we must, against the implementation of the grandiose controlling-homeowners plans of our state legislators and other members of the HOA industry.

The CAI has, of course, noticed us and they don't like what we're doing to their little Power and Money Empire one little bit, i.e., exposing their "business" and "legal" activities to the general public -- day after day after day. They are feeling the "heat" of change we homeowner advocates are bringing into the HOA arena; change that will ultimately put the CAI, and all of their HOA industry buddies, out of existence.

So, carry on with renewed vigor against your tyrannical HOAs and their CAI lawyers, readers. Things are indeed looking up for HOA homeowners all over this nation.

And stay tuned for a copy of the DIstrict Court Judge's order denying my HOA's motion for additional thousands of dollars in attorney fees.

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CONTRIBUTOR INFO

Jan Jackson

Florissant , CO

Jan Jackson has posted 353 stories and 37 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Jan Jackson 's average story rating is 4.4.

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