Lawmakers hear horrors of homeowners associations

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

Elisa Ross installed a hidden camera outside her home because she is living in absolute terror -- not of burglars, but of her homeowners association.

Board members, she said, threatened that if she didn't stop questioning their practices, they would retaliate.

When she kept asking questions, fliers starting appearing around the neighborhood with her name, address and phone number, telling neighbors to ostracize her.

"This is about a place you call your castle, to be free of stress," said Ross, who now lives in Irvine, Calif. "And they have done everything in their power to defame me, harass me and threaten me."

More than 100 homeowners from Nevada and surrounding states spoke of similar horror stories during a legislative hearing Tuesday sponsored by Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, and Sen. Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas.

The senators wanted to hear the stories before they prepare bills for next year's legislative session. They are hoping to give more teeth to existing laws or create new laws dealing with associations.

Roughly 60 percent of Las Vegas Valley residents live under the authority of an association. Countless horror stories -- from boards levying heavy fines for unkept shrubbery and foreclosing on homes -- prompted the passage of Senate Bill 314 in 1997.

Authored by Schneider, the "Homeowners Association Bill of Rights" was designed to eliminate some of the problems with associations.

But during the eight-hour hearing, homeowners told the senators that the associations are acting like "mini-governments," abusing their powers and intimidating homeowners.

Most called for federal, state and city laws to prevail over unfair associations.

The homeowners also spoke of mismanaged funds and being thrown into lawsuits without their approval.

Geneva Brooks, a housing advocate from Texas, said states need to create uniform rules and regulations for associations, so residents know what they're getting into no matter where they buy a home. Presently, association regulations vary from development to development.

"We are entering into an area where we have rule by corporate tyranny," she said. "Associations are foreclosing because homes are not painted correctly."

Schneider's 1997 bill created a state ombudsman's office to field homeowner complaints, but several residents complained that the office is not receptive to homeowners and plays to the whims of the associations.

Edward Duffy, a member of the local group Justice for Home and Condo Owners, argued that homeowners have no real recourse when facing associations, because the ombudsman's office is useless and has no authority.

Another provision of the bill, which keeps boards from arbitrarily fining and foreclosing on homeowners, did little to help Alice Roach of Glendale, Ariz., who said that after her husband started speaking out at board meetings, they were fined thousands of dollars for not maintaining their shrubbery.

"We should never have had to go through what we did. The neighbors won't talk to us anymore, we've been harassed, and you've got to stop it," she told the senators.

Following the hearing, Schneider said he was deeply disturbed by the testimony and will take the suggestions to the drawing board when drafting new legislation.

"This was just good evidence that it's more than just a few people who complain," he said. "The stories are all the same -- people are getting their rights stolen from them."

Schneider agreed there needs to be more oversight, and in 1997 he proposed a bill that would have required the attorney general's office to handle complaints by homeowners. But it was rejected by the department, which said it would create an "unmanageable bureaucracy."

Schneider will revisit that issue and said he is drafting a bill that would create a special panel through the governor's office or the attorney general's office to act as an independent panel for homeowner complaints.

"Most associations are OK. Most people don't commit rape or murder, but we still have to protect the general public," he said. "When you go home at the end of the day, you should have the right to peace and quiet. You shouldn't have someone harassing you. We have to help those people."