The HOA-Land Nation Within America

Book Synopsis: My seminal book, The HOA-Land Nation Within America describes the collection of HOAs throughout America as “HOA-Land.” It identifies HOA-Land as a nation within America based on its culture, beliefs, commonality of contractual CC&Rs acting as their constitution. It is estimated by CAI that some 23% of the US population live within the HOA-Land Nation. This white paper presents a view of the institutionalized HOA model of local governance from the perspective of constitutional law, which has long been ignored by its promoters and supporters. As a consequence of this silence over the years, a false and half-truth picture of HOA-Land has been instilled into today’s society and culture. The application of boiler-plate CC&Rs and state legislation affecting all HOAs is based on the failure to understand the reality that one size fits all does not apply to HOA-Land.Only fairly recently in CAI’s June 2016 LSA survey did CAI go into some detail to categorize associations by primary theme or function: Residential, Resort/Residential, Age Restricted, Private, and Mixed Use. (I had introduced these categories in my 2005 analysis of CAI’s survey). The survey found that 44.3% were Residential, 26.8% Resort, and 14.1% Age restricted, with Age restricted not further refined. There are very important distinctions between these categories among which the Resort and Age restricted associations had 6 times the number of part-time/seasonal owners than Residential. This huge disparity in part-timers and primary theme make it quite evident that Resorts/Age Restricted associations can be viewed as 365-day timeshare resorts. The owners’ expectancy and acceptance of substantial HOA regulation are significantly more pronounced than those of Residential owners who believe that they are just buying a nice home. Furthermore, evidence of a wide, not normal distribution of HOAs by size (number of units) was obtained from the 2011 CAI Nevada LAC’s “Why Legislative Advocacy Matters” document. It showed only 1.8% of Nevada’s associations had over 1,000 units. Units less than 200 amounted to a massive 74.8% and the combined 500 or less amounted to 90.5%. It is my view that the CAI Central pronouncements and propaganda addressed to the policymakers speak to this pitiful minority of Resort/Age Restricted associations and not to the massive 90% of associations where the members believed that they were buying a home protected by their HOA. The vast majority of HOA abuse and rogue boards, but not all complaints, stem from this 90% ignored by state legislatures. This HOA-Land Nation Within America white paper challenges, confronts, and exposes the self-interest bias by pro-HOA stalwarts, and contains authoritative documentation and evidence as well as statements used in this indoctrination process. The author/editor, after 18 -years plus as a homeowner rights activist, believes they will stand up under scrutiny, if challenged.