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HOAs: Losing Our Constitutional Rights

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Contributed by: Jan Jackson on 11/15/2007

Abraham Lincoln once wrote, "I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong."

Standing for what's right. I believe that's what makes freedom and liberty work in our country. If we each stand with others for what's right, ie, facts and laws put in place by logical and reasonable citizens, no political entity will go far from wrong.

Having said that, the court's final judgment (Order), as it concerned my lawsuit and trial against my HOA, came on October 24, 2007. It came in the form of an electronic transmittal to my attorney from Colorado's Teller County District Court in Cripple Creek. It was six (6) pages long.

While all of the documents and transcription of the trial are available to the public at the courthouse in Cripple Creek, there are a couple of sections of the final judgment that I believe should be shared with We The People homeowners in the state of Colorado right now because they concern one of our most cherished Constitutiional rights: freedom of speech.

In the final judgment/order of my case, I am no longer allowed to publicly write the name of my homeowners association (HOA), the names of any of my HOA's board members (past or present), or the names of any members of my HOA anywhere. Here's the quote about that which I have taken directly from the court's final judgment/Order:

"The Plaintiff [that's me] is therefore enjoined from the following: 1. Publication in any manner or forum, including, but not limited to, the news media, letters to editors, community newsletters, and internet and blog postings of the name of [my HOA], the names of its property owners, or the names of its past and present board members."

I am also ordered to:

"Within 15 days of this Order, the Plaintiff [that's me, Jan Jackson] shall contact the American Homeowners Resource Center, the Gazette Your Hub, and any other internet website or blog on which she has posted contributions and shall request that all postings made by her which identify or name [my homeowners association], the names of its property owners, or the names of its past and present board members, be removed from said website or blog. Within 30 days of this Order, the Plaintiff shall file with the Court and provide copies to opposing counsel proof of compliance with this Order."

Does that last remind readers here of something that, throughout recorded history, has been extremely destructive to any advanced civilization? It did me. It's called "book burning." The most recent of such destructiveness which happened on a large scale was in Nazi Germany. What is usually the reason given by government authorities for burning books? Those types of government authorities don't need a public reason. They just do it. For them, it is a tool to suppress dissenting views that are perceived by those authorities as posing a threat to their prevailing political scheme.

Suppressing dissenting views. One way to do that in our electronic age might be to order an author to request that his work be deleted anywhere it appeared electronically. And to include in that order that the author never again mention certain names in his or her public discourse. What a powerful silencing tool for judges in our courts to hold in the palms of their hands, ready to use any time an American citizen says or writes something the judges don't personally like or agree with!

Might there also be a legal and/or Constitutional problem with that part of the court Order? I imagine that there could be. The judge in my case wrote about it himself in his Order. And that is that, in our country, we all have a Constitutional right that is called "freedom of speech" and its one of the most important cornerstones of our Constitution. Without it, we would all no doubt become just another Third World nation ruled by dictators telling us what we could and could not say and do.

So, with all of that in mind, I again reviewed the history of homeowners associations in this country. Today, here in Colorado, we have a legislative Act called CCIOA (the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act). Why did that particular concept of housing come into being? And what purpose do homeowners associations serve in our towns and cities, and our rural communities? Simply put, government mandated HOAs provide billions and billions of extra dollars in revenue for our local and state governments through what's colloquially called "double taxation." HOA homeowners not only pay the taxes that non-HOA homeowners pay, but they also pay for any extras in their HOAs like private roads and other common expenses. Things that HOA homeowners are already paying for in their taxesto their local and state governments. That's double taxation and it simply isn't fair to the residents of Colorado who live in HOAs. The local and state governments love it, of course.

So, what to do about that, and other ecological and financial problems inherent in government-mandated HOAs? Repeal those laws/statutes, of course. And that's what we HOA/CIC homeowner advocates will try to do in the early part of 2008. Those statutes are within a legislative Act called the "Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act" -- also known as CCIOA (pronounced kai-oh-uh). All of the statutes in that Act can be done away with all at once by repealing the Act itself. Therefore, we beleaguered HOA/CIC homeowners will be carrying petitions for Colorado's registered voters to sign that will place a measure on the 2008 ballot to repeal CCIOA in its entirety. All we registered voters have to do then to get rid of HOAs and CICs in Colorado is to check "Yes" on the ballot question which asks whether or not we should repeal CCIOA.

Registered voters: Look for us HOA homeowner advocates in your area of Colorado in the early Spring of 2008. We will be carrying those petitions for all registered Colorado voters to sign for the repeal CCIOA.

While we're doing what needs to be done to repeal CCIOA, Coloradans should also be aware that more and more RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) indictments and lawsuits against HOA/CIC board members and their cohorts (which includes CAI lawyers, real estate agents, developers, builders, and state legislators) are happening every day all over our country. I will filing those same RICO actions against my HOA in the early Spring of 2008. That, in and of itself, would tend to eventually rid us of HOAs and CICs. However, repealing CCIOA is a much quicker solution to the HOA/CIC mess.

During the next year or so, until all of the HOA/CIC problems come to an end, all of you and I will still be fighting the good fight in facts and law ways against our own power-and-money-seeking HOA/CIC boards and their CAI lawyers. We can also keep trying to bring some honesty and integrity to the political arena by recalling or voting out of office all of those "public servants" who appear to disdain everything our Founding Fathers entrusted to our keeping in our Constitution. The cognitive dissonent behavior of HOA/CIC boards, their CAI lawyers/lobbyists, and many state legislators should not -- cannot -- long endure in our American society. For where it does, the continued advancement of any civilized people stops.

Fight on, Coloradans! We're slowly, but surely, winning the war to get rid of HOAs and CICs in Colorado and throughout our nation, even though we may lose, at least temporarily, a few battles along the way. :-)

Jan

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