The horror stories and tales of abuse in America’s HOAs keep pouring in and there seems to be no end to the sheer gall and stupidity of some Homeowner association board members and managers. The alleged violations range from the ridiculous to the heartless to the absurd.
Beyond the petty peeves of the small minded nits in the neighborhood, another emerging characteristic, or by product, of these ‘hoods appears to be verging in the barbaric. In a recent story out of Florida, an 80 year old gentleman was evicted by the HOA for planting vegetables in his small garden patch. The stress of being alone and homeless sent him to the hospital with heart problems. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the neighbors actually cheered when they heard the news.
What makes people in kontrolled kommunities react with glee at a neighbor’s misfortune? In the days before these new fangled “ghettos” became as common as muck, neighbors were friends and pitched in to help. They had real communities.
Joining us On The Commons this week is Dr. Gary Solomon. Dr Solomon, a psychologist in Nevada, noticed that something was amiss in the shiny “community” he moved into. While the grounds may have looked manicured, the residents did not appear to be particularly happy and he wondered why. His research led him to write a couple of papers on HOAs, the HOA Syndrome and Elder Abuse. And since then he has been cautioning us about the harmful affects HOAs have on our health. We talk about the health issues and the potential for further abuses with new technology that could make America’s kontrolled kommunities, or ghettos, as Dr. Solomon calls them, even more stressful.
On The Commons is broadcast every Saturday from 2-3 PM ET on Radio Fairfax. In the Northern Virginia area, On The Commons can be heard on Cox Cable, Channel 37 and Verizon Channel 37. On Comcast channel 27 in Reston in addition to several more cable channels all across Northern Virginia. To listen LIVE globally on the internet, go to http://www.radiofairfax.com and click on “Stream Radio Fairfax” and if you are on the go, on your mobile devices, http://tunein.com/radio/Radio-Fairfax-s24818 The show will be available on http://onthecommons.us/ shortly afterwards. Please also visit our archives at http://onthecommons.net .
Shu Bartholomew — Host and producer