A Manual for Governance of a Home Owner's Association: How Condo Owners Can Empower Themselves, Take Charge of Their Hoa, and Protect Their Investment

By Mitchell E. Roth

This Manual is valuable because:

It details the development of condominiums.

It educates condominium owners about their civil rights.

It reveals how owners could unknowingly be disenfranchising themselves.

It unfolds a road map to a purely democratic system of self-governance.

It explains the choices that owners have for a personally accountable system of governance.

It describes the essential difference between true democracy and pure democracy.

It includes a brief commentary on a parallel universe, namely the American system of representative democracy and the monumental problems which need to be addressed.

It informs the members of their association regarding the importance of Roberts Rules of Order as an inclusion in their Bylaws.

It allows the voice of the minority to be heard and requires that the decision of the majority be acknowledged; contrarily, it allows the silence of the members to be the equivalent of consent without a vote. It requires that the chairperson of a meeting of an association conduct a meeting in an orderly manner and insist that the voters be mutually respectful with the liberal use of a gavel. It declares that the chairperson must remain impartial at all times by not expressing an opinion on a motion thereby compromising a vote.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: May 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781452598208

Mitchell E. Roth

Mr. Roth holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.   He also holds a Masters of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College in Community Organization. Eventually this program evolved into The Law and Public Policy. Mr. Roth’s professional career evolved similarly from executive positions in regional community organizations regarding health and hospital planning and positions at the county, state and federal level.   Mr. Roth has written several professional articles regarding health care which were published in national journals such as the American Journal of Public Health and Public Health Reports, a publication of  the federal Department of Health and Human Services. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Health Planning. He received a commendation from the Governor of Pennsylvania. He published a monthly newsletter first in Western New York and then in Western Pennsylvania for a total of ten years as Executive Director  of the regional health planning associations.

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A Manual for Governance of a Home Owner’s Association

How Condo Owners Can Empower Themselves, Take Charge of Their HOA, and Protect Their Investment

MITCHELL ROTH

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Copyright © 2015 Mitchell E. Roth.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

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ISBN: 978-1-4525-9820-8 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/24/2015

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY

Prologue

Part I A Cautionary Tale

Part II The Road To Empowerment

Part III The Fruits Of Empowerment

Epilogue

A Note From the Author

As condominiums and other planned developments have demonstrated their acceptance; they have become an important but problematic type of community ownership of the housing of over 63 million residents. Their relatively rapid growth has caused significant challenges to the providers (developers) and consumers of these residential arrangements

All 50 states have statutes which enable and control the initial establishment of planned developments. Some states also establish regulatory rules regarding attempts by owners to govern themselves by means of a home owner association. The relatively rapid growth of these popular community living arrangements has presented owners with an educational problem regarding how to live together in accordance with multiple governing documents. However, this manual could educate developers and legislators as well as owners.

A uniform or model act comprehensively includes regulation, both development and governance. It also includes an optional state administrative agency to supervise the governance of homeowner associations in the absence of an already effective state agency. Since promulgation of the model Act in 1977, and approval by the American Bar Association in `1978, it has received much attention in the state legislatures. The essentials of the Act were enacted with a substantial number of changes in Louisiana in 1979. Ten other state legislatures had introduced a bill to enact some version of the Act.

Some Homeowners Associations may not have amended their governing documents (Bylaws and Declaration or Master Deed) in accordance with their states’ adoption of the salient provisions of the Uniform Condominium Act. Therefore, this manual may be very useful in a variety of circumstances. Some HOAS may want to include in their Bylaws some of the provisions of the model act after reading this manual. Some state legislatures, also, may want to adopt some features of the Uniform Condominium Act model in their state law.

PROLOGUE

Are you a condo owner who worries that your condo association is not spending your money wisely? Are you afraid that the people in charge are not helping you to preserve your investment? Are you concerned that misguided board decisions may be squandering your association dues? Would you like to change the governance of your condo association to a more accountable democracy? If you are a concerned condominium owner, or someone considering becoming an owner, this Manual is a must-read.

What is it that attracts people to condominiums and planned developments which many people consider a most satisfying place in which to live because they offer a variety of benefits. There is an opportunity to experience a sense of communal identity. There are often