Tag Archives: Legislation

It’s HOA budget season. Let the chaos begin.

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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities According to a recent KTNV report, an annual budget meeting at Highland Ranch Homeowners’ Association ended in chaos, with local sheriff called in to disperse the crowd. An uncharacteristically large number of angry homeowners gathered to attend the meeting in a small office on HOA property. But due to lack of space, many of them could not enter the room. What has the homeowners so riled up? The HOA Continue ReadingIt’s HOA budget season. Let the chaos begin.→

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Maryland bill seeks to remove developer money from local politics

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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities As the saying goes, all politics is local. Citizens of Baltimore County, Maryland, are supporting a bi-partisan proposal, sponsored by a two State Senators, to ban developer campaign contributions to County Council members. And at recent County meeting, most testimony has been in favor of the bill. The goal is to prevent “pay to play” urban planning, and precedent has already been set by Prince George’s County about 2 decades Continue ReadingMaryland bill seeks to remove developer money from local politics→

Consumer protection bill for HOA planned communities reintroduced in PA

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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities In the previous legislative session in Pennsylvania, Rep. Rosemary Brown (R) introduced legislation to provide oversight of  homeowners, condominium, and cooperative associations under the Bureau Consumer Protection (BCP), Attorney General. Reintroduction will provide opportunities to make corrections and amendments that favor consumers rather than real estate and community management industry trade groups. Below I highlight a few of these Red Flags for owners of property (or shareholders of co-ops) Continue ReadingConsumer protection bill for HOA planned communities reintroduced in PA→

IAC Year in review: Top HOA, Condo, Co-op Blogs of 2016

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By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities   Readers: As 2016 comes to an end, I want to thank all of you for following Independent American Communities (IAC). Special thanks to those who pass along interesting articles on important issues affecting housing consumers in Association Governed, Common Interest Communities. You’ve inspired me to publish hundreds of blogs in the past year. There’s no shortage of consumer information, HOA politics and news, and HOA horror stories. It’s Continue ReadingIAC Year in review: Top HOA, Condo, Co-op Blogs of 2016→