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“NEIGHBORS
AT WAR” -- WILL THAT TITLE STILL BE TRUE IN 2013?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
January 4, 2012
I
am just reading the latest book written by famed investigative
reporter Ward Lucas: “Neighbors
at War; The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association.”
Even
if I know and have read about most of the cases Lucas is talking
about in his book, the contents of this book is a serious
reminder of a system that has clearly failed the citizens of
this country. Where in the world can neighbors violate the
Constitution – or plainly ignore the Constitution – and can
get away with it? Where in this world can ordinary homeowners
ignore the Constitution, only to be told by courts that they had
every right to do so?
This
book shows in no uncertain terms that there are communities in
this country where simple civil rights can be trampled upon and
freedom of speech is laughed at. There are large areas in this
country – a country that is praised in its national anthem as
“…The Land Of The
Free…” – where the Constitution just doesn’t
exist, invalidated by the seemingly “holy” contract law.
Every
legislator in this country should be required to read this book
– so they all understand that they created lawless communities
within the
UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
.
In
my opinion Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin would have been proud
of some of the ways certain board members with the help of their
attorneys trampled on the rights of fellow homeowners, even took
their homes for simple violations like not taking trash cans
inside at a pre-determined time, not cutting bushes to a certain
size if the board so demanded – or simply flying Ol’ Glory
from a flagpole in their front yard.
Don’t
believe that happened? There are more then enough court rulings
that prove these stories to be true.
2012
has been an especially nasty year for many members of community
associations. We saw many families lose their homes – not
because they were not paying their regular maintenance fees, but
because of special assessments levied by associations to make up
for budget shortfalls caused by their neighbors not paying at
all, or banks and/or mortgage companies not paying their fair
share, being exempted from paying by legislators who obviously
felt sorry for the incompetent bankers who helped themselves to
golden parachutes when their financial empires collapsed.
Let’s
make it very clear: These families lost their homes because of a
system that ignores basic rights given to the citizens of this
country by the United States Constitution. You can be sure that
our founding fathers would turn in their graves if they knew
that the Constitution they wrote – and defended with their
lives -- has been invalidated by so-called community association
laws.
Members
of our Armed Forces are dying daily in defense of our freedom
and the rights of foreign nationals – mostly in foreign
countries. But our legislators allow members of community
associations to trample upon the rights of their neighbors,
whose constitutional rights are clearly ignored.
THE LAND OF THE FREE?
Members
of community associations desperately need a BILL
OF HOMEOWNERS’ RIGHTS
– to reestablish the rights and protection our funding fathers
tried to give ALL
citizens of this country, not just the citizens living outside
of community associations.
I
can only hope that the YEAR
2013 will be a better year for the members of community
associations. It’s desperately needed!
Bills
that are being filed in the Florida Legislature for the upcoming
legislative session are a serious attempt to take the first
steps in the right direction in order to rectify many of the
wrongs we are seeing daily in our community associations. But
the help of the homeowners living in these associations is
needed to convince legislators to enact these bills. We all
should fight for
FAIRNESS
IN ASSOCIATIONS!
I
wish all of you a HAPPY
NEW YEAR 2013 -- health, wealth and happiness – and
the enactment of the bills that will help to protect the
citizens living and owning property in community associations.
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