U.S. Home 'Ownership' Changing

In the Friday, March 16, 2007 issue of USA Today on page 8A there was an interesting article on a change in private property ownership in China that those now living in homeowner association communities might find of interest (and every single other prospective homeowner now or in the future), especially now with the mortgage industry belly up due to their 'creative lending' practices and use of strictly ARMs for many, if not most, new loans and their other questionable lending practices, assisted with Congress's support and blessing, these past five to ten years since the real estate 'boom' in this country began:

It read as follows:

Beijing - After 30 years of economic reform and 14 years of debate, China's legislature today is set to recognize the legitimacy of private property in a law that provides the first modest legal protections.

Since the Communist revolution in 1949, China has permitted only public ownership. The party stripped landowners and others of private property, persecuting them and declaring all property collectively owned.

The law basically ignores the constitutions upholding of socialist private property as sacred and not to be violated," says Gong Xiantian, a Peking University professor who worked to prevent a vote on a similar law at last year's NPC (National People's Congress) convention last session.

Changes in the new law are mostly symbolic. Legally, all property remains state-owned, but private individuals and companies can obtain the right to use it for periods of up to 70 years and sell those rights.

The relationship between the government and the peasants is worse than before," Wen Tiejun, a leading government advisor on rural issues says. "Local officials take land from the poor rural people, but at their back are the entrepreneurs, the rich people" who want development.

Activist Shu Kexin says rural residents will have trouble selling their land-use rights or converting them into real assets depsite the new law. Even in the cities, he says, the lack of stronger property rights leaves people who have bought apartments and townhouses weak in negotiations with developers, who are often government-backed.

With the advent of mandatory HOAs in metropolitan cities in the U.S. with the cities/developers in partnership and collusion in reaping the rewards, while removing private property ownership rights from all future generations of Americans now in the making - how long before there U.S. citizens are in the same position as the Chinese, as land ownership changes hands to the developers by one generation and is resold as a 'rental' with a lien running with the land making it subject to seizure at any time again by this 'new' form of quasi-government, the HOA (which in reality is not the owners at all, but the unregulated, unlicensed and ethically impaired yet judicially and legislatively protected 'for profit' corporate management concerns and "community association" lawyers (in truth, collection and foreclosure attorneys by true vocation). These individuals have been corporately feeding select state legislative representatives with their ill-gotten gains and profits at these homeowners expense in a ten year now attempt to increase their power in these communities, for addition control and profit. To my knowledge, this contrived legal 'specialty' is not recognized by the American or any state bar that I am aware of. How many of the foreclosures which are occuring throughout the nation are not strictly 'mortgage' foreclosures at all, but foreclosures due to the inability to pay the 'excess' property taxes in the form of HOA assessments, and whose homes are being foreclosed upon technically by the lenders, but actually due to the 'riders' on most ARMS also providing foreclosure powers for failure to pay these assessments, actually are being initiated by these homeowner's associations instead? The MSM has been silent, although this quite clearly MUST be a contributing factor now in the loss of many of these 'newer' properties, especially in those hard hit West and Southwestern states where these type communities now are mandated for all new redevelopment by the municipal governments for added tax revenue and land use control upon the zoning applications.

The founding fathers came to this country to escape the land seizures that had occurred in their mother countries and to seek a new life without fear that what they had worked for would never be subject to governmental seizure again. First Kelo, now HOAs.

Interesting also in that there was an even more recent article which appeared in USA Today along the same lines, indicating that a delegation from China had recently visited Phoenix, Arizona in order to view Del Webb's latest monstrosity to excess - Sun City Fiesta. The delegation commented on how 'clean' it was with these excessively 'taxed' (full property taxes and then added monthly assessments, some of which are related to provision of formerly provided city/county services) and 'use' controlled properties. In essence, with such a 'purchase' what you actually receive is a land 'use right,' so excessive in it's provisions for purchase that the 'owner' is actually more of a 'slave' to his property, rather than having free use and enjoyment of it (since any minute improvement, such as even the paint color, must be 'approved' by a 'governmental' authority - the 'mini-city council,' the HOA's Board of Directors. What a way to 'own' your own property!!!!!

It appears 'tolerance' in America has become 'tolerate everything.' There was a wonderful line in the movie "The Patriot," that sums up where we were in 1776 to where we are now. In the movie when initially protesting the war, Mel Gibson's character states: "Why should I trade one tyrant 3,000 miles away, for 3,000 tyrants one mile away."

I guess that sums up the future for property ownership in America. Unless and until our 'representatives' truly become 'representatives' once again, and NOT politicians or, in some respects, the agents of industry it appears they have become and at the beck and call to whoever will fund their next campaign, at least with respect to property ownership and the other erosion of individual rights and freedoms which have occurred, becoming nearer and nearer to communism rather than the Constitutional Republic our founding fathers created, fought, sacrificed and died for over 300 years ago.