Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Nightmare or sweet dream

Friday, Nov. 27, 1998 | 11:57 a.m.

IF YOU ARE a member of a homeowners association you may want to attend a meeting at the Sawyer State Office Building, Room 4401, from 6-9 p.m. Dec. 7. The meeting is being sponsored by the Ombudsman's Office and should be very informative. Ombudsman Mary Lynn Ashworth has put together a good program with state Sen. Mike Schneider, the father of legislation protecting homeowners, among the participants. There will only be room for 130 participants, so now is the time to register.

This will be the first Homeowner's Network meeting and there are attendance forms available at the Real Estate Division Office, Bradley Building, 2501 E. Sahara Ave., Suite 102, or the Clark County Complex, Rotunda area near the security desk, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway. The first meeting should be interesting if everybody shows up to contribute. Program facilitators will include Deputy Attorney General Charles Chong, Jean Georges, Barbara Holland, Matt De Orio, Steve Urbanetti, JC Melvyn, Lorna Elwell, Dick McCall, CPA Lori Ebel, Deanna White and Diane Weismann.

Last month, this column reviewed Schneider's successful legislation and the book "Privatopia" by Evan McKenzie. It is a book any sensible person planning to live with a homeowners association should read. A more recent book that has arrived on my desk is by Joni Greenwalt, a resident and now a president of a homeowners association. Greenwalt's "Homeowner Associations: "A Nightmare or a Dream Come True?" is about how she learned to survive and eventually live happily with a homeowners association.

Cassie Publications Inc. included with my copy of Greenwalt's book the following two premises:

"Right now there are over 40 million Americans living in communities controlled by homeowners associations and the overwhelming majority of new homes are being built in just such communities.

"Every homeowner deserves to live in peace in his home.

"These are the primary issues that are critical for every homeowner and every future homeowner in an association-controlled community to be aware of. Their happiness or their terror in their community depends on their knowledge of these issues.

"1. Courts in this country have ruled that when you move into an association-controlled community you do give up some of your U.S. Constitutional rights.

"2. Beyond the question of Constitutional rights, legislation is needed to protect current owners and new buyers with, among other safeties, required disclosure and sunshine laws.

"3. In the meantime, current homeowners and new buyers must become actively involved in their association to keep the horror stories from happening."

Greenwalt is interesting because she has lived through her own nightmare and has helped turn it into a dream come true. She then goes on to point out how future buyers can avoid the problems she faced and if trapped by them how to change the climate of the homeowners association. Rather than move to another location, take over the governing board with neighbors who also feel trapped by the busybodies now running their own little police agency. It worked for the author.

Greenwalt asked other homeowners how they felt about the governing board and received replies that encouraged her to move forward and change the situation. A few of the replies were:

* It's too bad, but now it's like them against us.

* I want a home, not an institution.

* I feel like I am living under Hitler!

* I feel as though someone is always watching me to see if I'm going to do something wrong so they can fine me.

* I can't live this way. If I can't sell, I'll give it back to HUD!

* What do they mean I can't work on my car? Do they mean I can't change my own spark plugs any more?

The residents were intimidated to the point that one single man drove his car into the garage and closed the door before changing a tire. A neighbor chastised him for this by saying, "Don't ever do that again, Larry. What if the car had fallen on you? There would be no way for anyone to know until we smelled your dead body!"

At one time I believed that it would be impossible for me to live in a community controlled by covenants. I'm still not convinced that it would be possible, but Greenwalt's book certainly demonstrates that covenant police can be controlled or done away with by group action.

Greenwalt writes, "As a homeowner, insist on livability. Everyone deserves to live with dignity. Enjoyment of life and freedom is your right. Don't accept counterfeit enjoyment and freedom from a synthetic board or management company that is focused on controlling everyone and everything down to the tiniest birdhouse. Don't accept it from a self-serving, greedy developer or builder, either."

If I lived in a place where a homeowners association ruled, I would read Greenwalt's book and also attend that meeting at the Sawyer building on Dec. 7. Despite the promise of this most interesting book, I'm not planning on a move to a house that falls under the powers of a homeowners association.