October 2025 Newsletter
- Admin
- Oct 20
- 8 min read
Standing Up for HOA Homeowners Across the U.S.:
An Interview with Patrick Johansen of HRLNG
Patrick Johansen is the founder of HOA Reform Leaders National Group (HRLNG), “a volunteer association dedicated to changing the laws of all the states to protect and benefit the homeowners.” Nationwide, developers are building more and more houses in Common Ownership Communities (COCs). These neighborhoods are governed by member-elected boards of directors that, all too often, block homeowners from enjoying their member privileges, abuse community funds, or spin homeowners into a cycle of debt.
We asked Patrick ten questions via email. Here is the conversation:
Why HRLING Was Created
CHARM Maryland: Is there a personal experience that inspired you to imagine and then create an organization that became HOA Reform Leaders National Group (HRLNG)?
Patrick Johansen: Here in Washington State, my HOA attempted to enforce non-existing and illegal covenants. As I fought them, I found that they refused to follow many other laws, like fair voting practices, open meetings, selective enforcement, special treatment – and they violated their own governing documents on a regular basis. As I searched the internet to find out how to force my own HOA to follow the laws, I ran into many other homeowners who had similar problems. I created a Facebook page to unify the others in the state and work with our legislators to fix the laws. We then started getting people from all over the country asking to join our Facebook page. I realized we needed to grow into a national group.
CHARM Maryland: What is the purpose or central goal of HRLNG? And how do you recommend pronouncing that acronym?
Patrick Johansen: HRLNG’s goal is to change the laws in all the states to protect and benefit the homeowners. We have written 20 Proposed Legislation changes that we believe, if put into the books in any state, would solve almost all the problems homeowners face. We need people in each state to contact their legislators and convince them to write and pass bills to match our Proposed Legislations. The most important of theses is #2 at www.HOAReformLeaders.com. The title of that proposal reads “Creation of a State HOA Office and Penalties in the Law for Board Members and Property Managers that Violate the Law.” This is the only solution that we could find that would effectively enforce the state laws on HOAs. (HRLING is pronounced “hurling.”)
CHARM Maryland: Why did you choose to incorporate HRLNG as a “dot com,” rather than as a nonprofit organization?
Patrick Johansen: A nonprofit organization owns the Facebook page and the dot-com, basically, to insulate me financially. We don’t do any fundraising because that would make us a paid lobbying group, which then requires government reporting, accounting, and a fundraising team. Creating HRLNG has taken thousands of hours, and I work between 40 to 60 hours a week making it grow and encouraging homeowners to take action. I don’t have enough time to make it a business. Some have suggested we create a board to run HRLNG, but I am not willing to give up control; I want to keep it “only for homeowners” and “free to homeowners.”
How HRLNG Helps Homeowners
CHARM Maryland: It appears that you have created this wealth of resources single-handedly! First, are there others who are involved and helping you? Second, what in your professional background prepared you for the educational, internet, and law-writing challenges of running an organization such as HRLING?
We ask because the easy-to-navigate HRLING website and YouTube channel offer resources that activists here in Maryland often refer to, and we very much appreciate them.
Patrick Johansen: There are many others who are helping, and have helped, to build HRLNG and to create or collect the information that is on the site. Hundreds of people from many different states have given input to the Proposed Legislation and suggested additions and modifications.
My degree is in electrical engineering, and I have been involved with computers my whole career. I wrote a complete accounting software program and sold accounting software as well as created websites and a variety of electrical and electronic equipment through my career. I created, grew, and sold three companies. I owned and managed one of those for 16 years. I have been in sales and management most of my life, with big companies like IBM and MCI, and a variety of small companies. Due to my experiences, I learned a lot about law and took business courses that included Business Law. However, we are not attorneys and none of our communications are legal advice. They are just our opinions.
CHARM Maryland: What do you think are the most important resources on the HRLNG website, www.hoareformleaders.com, that might help homeowners?
Patrick Johansen: Reading the Proposed Legislation is the best place to start. Just scroll down on the home page to see the list of 20 proposals. Also, there is a section on our website under the tab “How to Fight Back” where homeowners will find lots of information they can use to protect themselves from corrupt HOAs.
However, even if they successfully removed an entire board and replaced them with board members who want to do the right things, the corrupt board members would constantly be trying to get back in control, and other corrupt people might also be trying to get in control.
The only real way to fix the problem is to change the laws to match our Proposed Legislation. Anyone willing to help do that can contact me through Facebook Messenger or Patrick@PK80.com and we can discuss what you would like to do to help change the laws. I can show you how to best use the website for that purpose.
Successes and Solutions
CHARM Maryland: Is there an exemplary legislative success story that you’d like to share? In short, we wonder if there might be a recently passed law that addresses a common problem seen in many states that could also be duplicated in other states legislatures – if homeowners got organized and pushed for them?
Patrick Johansen: There have been some limited successes but none so far where our Proposed Legislation #2 was incorporated to create a State HOA Office that would enforce the laws. Other good laws have been written which, if they were enforced, would help control corrupt boards and property managers. The main problem is that there is no enforcement. Many new laws include parts of our Proposed Legislation, but even they don’t match the effectiveness of the full HRLNG Proposed Legislation if it were to be put into effect.
For example, a Florida law requires HOAs to give the financial documents to homeowners who request them. Under Florida Statutes § 720.303(5)(c): “A member who is denied access to official records is entitled to actual damages or minimum damages of $50 per calendar day, up to 10 days, starting on the 11th business day after the request was received.” [1] Well, that sounds good, but what if the board doesn’t pay the fine to the homeowner? Who would enforce this law?
HRLNG offers a two-part solution that involves enforcement and reporting:
To create a state HOA Office to enforce the law, and
To require by law that all financial documents are posted on a public website or equivalent within 30 days after the end of each month, and an annual statement be posted at the end of the year.
The State HOA Office would have the authority to remove board members who don’t follow the laws. In this manner, the need to request documents would be eliminated and the homeowners could see them or download them any time. It would also eliminate the need for office staff to spend time finding and showing the financials to the homeowners, as well as eliminating any charges for that time.
Go to Court – Or Change the Law?
CHARM Maryland: We believe that some of the worst problems that COC homeowners suffer might be resolved by judicial decisions -- that is, by case law. Is there an exemplary case-law success story that you’d like to share?
Patrick Johansen: I don’t think it’s true that case law would solve these key problems:
There is no government agency that will investigate even CRIMES that do have penalties in the law, committed by board members or property managers of HOAs who violate the laws.
There are no penalties in the law for board members or property managers who KNOWINGLY violate the laws or governing documents.
Most homeowners would not be aware of, or even know how to look up, the judicial decisions impacting their situation. It’s very hard to even find an HOA attorney who will represent homeowners, and those who have been found, in general, don’t seem very knowledgeable about HOA laws.
The average homeowner, and especially low-income homeowners, typically does not have enough money to challenge an HOA in court. Some would have to risk their life savings, retirement savings, and their home to fight corrupt and abusive board members or property managers. Therefore, there is “justice” only for the rich.
Board members and property managers use the collective funds of the HOA and its insurance coverage to pay for their attorney’s fees.
Should the HOA lose a lawsuit against a homeowner, the amount awarded to the homeowner is paid by the HOA insurance -- which is paid for by the collective funds of the homeowners. Thus, penalties against the HOA punish innocent members, not the Board Members or Property Managers who violate the law. So, in the end, corrupt board members and property managers who violate the law are not at risk.
HOA Board Members and Property Managers have no incentive to follow the law or governing documents.
After nine years of studying what happens in HOAs, I see no solutions that would actually solve the HOA problems other than those in the HRLNG Proposed Legislation.
CHARM Maryland: How were you able to find people, to reach out to homeowners in all 50 states and Washington, DC, and collect the resources in each?
Patrick Johansen: Besides creating the Facebook page and website, I constantly ask all our members to invite others who are unhappy with their HOA boards, and I constantly search for other members to invite.
Are HOA Boards Dictatorships?
CHARM Maryland: Is there a question that you would like to be asked, or a crucial message that you would like to share with Maryland COC homeowners?
Patrick Johansen: I think you asked very good questions about all the important issues. I think HOA and condo homeowners need to realize that they are living under “local governments” (HOAs) with no accountability to the U.S. Constitution, for the reasons outlined above. They need to realize that these are “purchasable dictatorships” within the USA with no accountability to the Constitution, in that any investor who can purchase more than 50% of the properties, or control the board with less, becomes a literal dictator. People need to understand the financial danger of living under such an authoritarian system. We see these issues in many HOAs. It’s not a small percentage of HOAs that experience these problems.
Currently, HRLING has about 1,500 members, and if each member would invest just 15 minutes of their time per day to write one email or make one phone call to legislators, that would be almost 1,500 contacts a day, over half a million in a year. We would have quite a bit of influence.
CHARM Maryland: Thank you for these thought-provoking responses! We encourage readers to check out the HRLING website and explore its well-organized pages.
NOTES
[1] This quote is from the website of Perez Mayoral, PA, www.pmlawfla.com/what-documents-can-i-request-from-my-hoa-or-condo-association-in-florida/