1/18/2006

Private Property Rights?

We recently purchased a house. For those of you who have purchased property before you know what a whip the process is. Driving around with the realtor, negotiating, financing and the biggest beating of the all...CLOSING.
I think the closing agent was getting annoyed with me questioning so many of her documents. Two in particular stand out

  1. We had to sign a mineral rights waiver. Anything found under the soil does not belong to us.
  2. Homeowners association. Failure to pay our $180 annual fee could result in us being evicted from our own home and the property being resold.
Where are the private property rights? Let us not forget that one of the 10 major tenents of Communisim was the abolishment of private property rights. Ah, at least "freedom is on the march."

3 comments:

Ray said...

Hey, what is your complaint? You can keep the house if we find any gold, oil, uranium, or precious metals under it; you just have to MOVE IT!!! :-)

Also, I HATE homeowners associations. I know that many think they serve a good purpose, but the ones I have been involved in are busybody organizations who seem to think that they need to regulate everything from fence material, to garden size!

Charles North said...

Your house rocks dude! Keep that carpet clean though!

Both places Holly and I were interested in before the house we got had homeowners associations. I ran! I've heard way too many nasty stories about them - like some not allowing you to fly a flag on the 4th of July! Anyway, I bet you can built some equity, and then sell your house in a few years for a sweet profit! You are right though - private property rights are under assault.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ryan,
I just found your blog. Congratulations on finding and buying a house. :-) In essence, we never own property. We can buy a tract of land and make whatever improvements we wish to that tract (i.e. build a home) but the land is never ours. Firstly, if we fail to make the property tax payments to the county assessor-collector, the property may be seized. Secondly, as we will soon be hearing with the construction of the TTC, private property may be seized outright for "public use" through exercise of the eminent domain law. Proponents would argue that 'just compensation' must be made when private lands are seized in this manner. Of course opponents see that as highly subjective at best. One could ask what, in theory would prevent something like Mugabe's "land redistribution plan" from happening in the U.S.? Theoretically, not much.
Enjoy the new house.