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TEXAS HOMEOWNERS FOR HOA REFORM, Inc. |
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Action Reports Article |
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April 26, 2006 The following letter was mailed to every Senator and Representative at their Austin address. This is only a start. We hope to receive positive feedback from these legislators. |
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TEXAS HOMEOWNERS FOR HOA REFORM Protect Our Homestead! Board of Directors Irene "Beanie" Adolph Robin Lent Neil MacInnes Kathy MacInnes, Vice-President Charles Lenert Judith M. Robinson Betty Smith The Honorable John Smith April 25, 2006 Dear Representative Smith; We want you to be aware of the immediate need for legislation to remedy the injustice of HOA foreclosures and other HOA abuses in Texas. We want you also to be aware that the recently proposed "TUPCA" bill has been proposed by lobbying groups that represent attorneys and management companies who are the very cause of the abuses and injustices at issue. Did you know… · That 7 out of 8 HOA foreclosure filings occur where median home value is less than $100,000.00? · That some HOAs file foreclosure actions against more than 10% of their homeowners in one year? · That one Harris County attorney filed more than 1,500 HOA foreclosure actions between 1985 and 2001? · That Houston homeowners have faced foreclosures by their HOA for debts below $100.00, for disputes over the color of a door, for failure to have a net on a basketball goal, for simply having an oil stain on a driveway, and for a dispute about whether a gas lamp should be moved three feet? These are just a few of the examples that you can see on the website, HOAdata.org - an extensive database of more than 15,000 HOA foreclosure filings in Harris County between 1985 and 2001. The abuses are the result of years of lobbying by the Community Associations Institute (CAI), a powerful lobby that represents lawyers and management companies who make hundreds of millions of dollars each year by preying on homeowners. Since 1983, the CAI has destroyed most of the rights of homeowners in Texas. For example, in 1983, the CAI lobbied for legislation to make homeowners pay the attorneys fees of their HOA in any dispute. Next, CAI attorneys eliminated the homestead protection with respect to debts owed to HOAs, opening the floodgates for foreclosure actions for the most trivial amounts. Next the CAI lobbied for and drafted Property Code Chapter 204 which made all homeowners in Harris County subject to the constant threat that - without their approval - they could become subject to an HOA that did not previously exist, they be required to pay assessments that they never agreed to pay, and they could lose their homes to foreclosure for failure to pay these assessments or failure to obey rules and restrictions that they did not approve. The homestead of a family, or of a single adult person, shall be, and is hereby protected from forced sale, for the payment of all debts.... Article 16, Section 50 of The Texas Constitution. |
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Since then, especially in Harris County, homeowners have suffered fines, liens, harassment, foreclosure and eviction. Now the CAI wants to bring this injustice to all of Texas. The reality of the CAI's years of work has been the overthrow of our constitutionally established government. Tyrannical, private governments have been empowered which deny basic rights to homeowners. While most HOAs are not so abusive, it is the function of our laws to protect its citizens from abuse. When the law creates power as it has in HOAs, it must also create protections. Most citizens are not murderers, but we create laws that criminalize murder to protect citizens from those who would commit murder. Most businessmen are not extortionists and Enron-type cheats, yet we create laws to protect other businesses, shareholders, and pension holders from those who would cheat. Similarly, we must protect our citizens from abuse of the power that the law has given to HOAs. For these reasons, we Texas homeowners have formed the organization "Texas Homeowners for HOA Reform". Our goals are: 1. To eliminate the HOA foreclosure threat to Texas homeowners. 2. To correct Property Code Chapters 204 and 209, restoring Texas homeowners' control of their own property and associations as opposed to HOA boards having "all powers". 3. To seek justice and equal treatment for Texas homeowners under the Constitutions of Texas and of the United States. 4. To correct Property Code Section 5.006 so a Texas homeowner has an equal opportunity in any HOA suit to receive an award of attorney fees. The CAI has been in control for decades. Most homeowners and most Texans are unaware of the CAI, its lobbying PACs, its power. The CAI is a trade organization composed of management companies, attorneys, and other vendors. It does not represent homeowners, but it often claims that it does. It proposes anti-homeowner legislation and then claims that all sides have been heard and all views "balanced". It opposes any homeowner friendly legislation and sends requests to HOA boards, through their CAI management companies, to voice the same to Texas legislators. Now the CAI is lobbying for its TUPCA proposal to extend its control of Texas property to all of Texas. Do not be fooled by any token handouts to homeowners in TUPCA. Homeowner advocates did not participate in writing TUPCA. It is yet another "Trojan Horse" in which the CAI pretends to give some protection while grabbing yet more power. The CAI is most skilled in pretending to protect the homeowner and the value of his home. The evidence of homeowner suffering belies their pretense, just as home values have always been dependent on location and economy, not how well deed restrictions are enforced. You must reject TUPCA in its entirety. We plead with you to step forward to pass legislation to protect Texas homeowners from the abuses that the CAI has created. We would like to hear from you, Representative Smith, to know where you currently stand on this issue. This letter serves to introduce our statewide organization and to make available the information from our vast database of HOA abuses. We have many cases of homeowners fighting to keep possession of their homestead, the stories that don't make it to the newspapers. Our files also contain cases of flagrant misuse of power by HOA boards to keep homeowners from knowing the truth about how they operate in conjunction with CAI attorneys and CAI management companies. Studying these cases gives insight to legislation that can correct the problems resulting from past CAI written legislation. Our membership and abuse cases continue to grow and our Senators and Representatives in Austin need to know the truth before the CAI strikes another blow to Texas homeowners rights. Sincerely, Texas Homeowners for HOA Reform The homestead of a family, or of a single adult person, shall be, and is hereby protected from forced sale, for the payment of all debts.... Article 16, Section 50 of The Texas Constitution. |