Volume 5, Spring 2008, Issue 4
In May 2007, the Homeowner Associations: Problems and Solutions Conference was held in Trenton, New Jersey. The Conference was funded by the Lois and Stan Pratt Foundation and co-sponsored by Rutgers School of Law- Camden, Seton Hall Law School, and Rutgers Newark Law School. American Civil Liberties Union- New Jersey, League of Women Voters, AARP, Common Interest Homeowners Association, and New Jersey Appleseed were among the organizations that participated in the May Conference.
HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATIONS: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS CONFERENCE 2007
Good morning. My name is Renee Steinhagen. I’m the Executive Director of New Jersey Appleseed, the Public Interest Law Center. I want to welcome you here this morning for what is a very important conference. This conference is being sponsored by the three law schools of New Jersey: Rutgers Law School in Newark, Rutgers Law School in Camden, and Seton Hall Law School; it is funded by the Lois and Stan Pratt Foundation. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt were founders of the Common Interest Homeowners Coalition, and are extremely responsible for all of you in this room. The conference is going to be published by the Rutgers Journal of Law and Public Policy. Now, there are several organizations that are participating: the New Jersey ACLU, the League of Women Voters, which many of you know, because they often run the elections in your homeowners, AARP, the Common Interest Homeowners Association, and New Jersey Appleseed.
HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATION PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Edward R. Hannaman, Esq.
Agreement on a goal is a prerequisite to classifying situations or conditions as problems. Mere identification of problems, however, is insufficient. One cannot propose solutions without adequately understanding the problems. If society’s intention in setting up associations is to encourage the formation of undemocratic Gulags ruled by unaccountable boards and for the enrichment of those who profit from owner ignorance or impotency- we have succeeded completely. Alternatively, if the intention is that associations be formed as microcosms of democracy in which informed owners collectively wield power, maintain their freedoms and are honestly served by their neighbors and trades people- we have failed miserably. This conference itself, although thirty years overdue, is evidence that enlightened people are focused on true public interest and are aiming for democratic models.
THE TWIN RIVERS CASE: OF HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS, FREE SPEECH RIGHTS AND PRIVATIZED MINI-GOVERNMENTS
Paula A. Franzese and Steven Siegel
One in eight New Jersey residents live in common interest communities (“CICs”), a form of housing and community governance that encompasses planned housing developments, condominiums, and housing cooperatives. In the fastest growing parts of the State, CICs— particularly planned housing developments governed by homeowner associations—are the dominant form of new housing. In 2002, it was estimated that the number of CICs in the State was growing at the rate of over six percent per year.