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Wow, this gets more and more fascinating.

I'm not sure quite where to begin on all this except perhaps to renew my invitation to Evan and Tom to join us On The Commons to talk about this further. I notice that my friend, Pia Trigiani, as Chair of the Government and Public Affairs Committee signed off on the 4 page letter to AARP so I am including her in my invitation.

Tom, you have complained in the past that there is no dialog between the industry and the actual homeowners and in your comments on Evan's blog today you complain about the lack of "consensus", "collaboration" and "cooperation" in your continued beef about the AARP BoR.

Perhaps you could explain what CAI, and maybe you personally, have done to change that? I have heard from homeowners across the country who say you refuse to take or return their calls. My last invitation to you to join us On The Commons was ignored. Is that how you plan on building consensus and promoting cooperation between the two groups?

Evan, I agree with you, David Kahne is an attorney, one of a handful nationwide who will represent homeowners. There is no "Homeowner Institute" with a staff of attorneys whose raison d'etre is to track and write legislation to protect the individual rights of the homeowners. This is very much a "David" and Goliath story.
Our David has been in the trenches for a long time and has seen the good, the bad and the oh so very ugly that this country's 300,000 associations dish up. Why not have David Kahne write up the proposed BoR? I support David 150% and thank him for taking the time to work on this much needed document.

Your complaint about the lack of industry input on a Homeowner BoR is laughable, to say the least. It is a bit like American Colonists asking King George to help them write the Declaration of Independence.

I also find it very amusing Tom, that you are so opposed to any kind of legislative intervention. Don't CAI chapters have their state Legislative Action Committees (LACs) that spend time writing proposed legislation designed to increase the powers of associations? Is CAI going to do away with their many LACs across the country to try to stem the tide of all these HOA laws? Or is it just homeowner friendly legislation that you dislike so much?

Tom, perhaps you could explain what difference it makes how many people are in an HOA controlled development when it comes to a BoR? In your initial post you complain that, and I quote; "In addition, it attempts to prescribe a universal set of conditions that would apply to all associations, whether they had 2 units or 20,000." Exactly what "rights" should not apply equally to all homeowners, regardless of the size of their HOAs? The right to be told about rules and charges? Or don't you believe that "fairness in litigation" should be a concern for some homeowners? And I suppose these same concerns don't quite extend to the "Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act". Don't you believe the UCIOA, written by industry, should apply to ALL associations, regardless of their size?

While I can not speak FOR the AARP, nor can I report on any communications with them, I CAN tell you that MANY MANY homeowners expressed their dissatisfaction with AARP's response in the past to HOA issues. Perhaps the folks at AARP, like many legislators across the country, were at a loss of what to do and so they contracted with an attorney who understood the issues. For that, I do applaud them.

And finally, I was fortunate enough to meet the late Byron Hanke. He believed that "education" was the solution for the many problems in associations and so he founded CAI to do just that. Four decades and counting and CAI is STILL singing the same sad song about the solution being education. CAI has been allegedly "educating" Americans, and the world, on how to live in HOAs and the problems not only persist but they get worse with each passing day. What went wrong?

Again, I invite Evan, Tom and Pia Trigiani to join us On The Commons to talk about this.

Shu Bartholomew

I believe the show would be a GREAT idea!

HAVE YOU SEEN THE COMMENTS TO THIS ON: www.privatopia.blogspot.com?
IF NOT, YOU NEED TO!

Thanks, I have seen the comments on Evan's Privatopia blog. In fact, I have written a substantial number of them. It certainly makes for an interesting debate and discussion.

Of course the devil, as always, as in the details. You can't just mouth platitudes and expect them to be applicable and sufficient to incorporate into the management of what can be multi-million $ businesses.

You also have to understand that people are people and they DESERVE the same rights and protections as any other human bieng in this country. There is term that is repetitive, in postings by, Mr. Skiba, of CAI. "The devil is in the details." This comment gives great insight into the thinking of someone associated with your group. Some would say these are demonic thoughts and why expect any better from ANYONE associated with CAI. Well, that is a good question.
Evil acts and evil groups; however, get attention for exactly what they are. Including, " the devil in the details," is a choice to complicate uncomplicated situations and interactions. Will someone from CAI please respond to the questions posted on www,privatopia.blogspot.com? The AARP postings. Thank you.

So closed-minded and one-sided. CAI is a joke and only serves to protect itself. CAI is an institute paid by property management companies to help preserve and protect their own interests. CAI does help homeowner associations - they cause more rift to get more and more money. Sad.

I am going to post this if only to demonstrate the routine and usually intentional ignorance about CAI that is out there. Today we are paid for by the property management companies, but last week it was the foreclosure lawyers. Of course neither one is true, but if you keep repeating it maybe some uninformed or gullible folks will believe. (And if you wish hard enough Tinkerbell will come back to life.)

The truth is that the majority of CAI members are members of community associations, the majority of our activities and programs are focused on education, and ALL of our public policies and legislative positions are developed working with all three of our constituency groups, association members, managers, and business partners.

Tom