On The Commons this week is Shelly Marshall.

Hosted and produced by Shu Bartholomew, On The Commons is a weekly radio show dedicated to discussing the many issues surrounding mandatory homeowner associations, the fastest growing form of residential housing in the nation.

 Buying real estate is an emotional purchase.  People fall in love with the house, the furniture, a feeling,  the smell of brownies baking in the oven, a view or the potential the plot has.  The sad part is that if that purchase is in an involuntary membership association it comes with extra fees, hidden costs and lots of traps for the uninitiated.  The glossy brochures or the real estate sales people never tell you that the sparkling pool that looks so refreshing and inviting could cost you your house.  Or that the rose bush you plan on planting in YOUR front yard could land you in court. 

 And when you discover that you ended up with a lot more than you bargained for, what do you do?  Where do you go for the answers?

 Joining us On The Commons this week is Shelly Marshall.  Shelly owns a house in a rural  recreational association in Utah.  When some of the full time residents decided to change the rules and the feel of the neighborhood they did not expect Shelly and her neighbors to object.  But object they did.  They got organized, learned everything they could about associations, laws, documents and how to work as a team.  When it was all over with, Shelly wrote an e- book, called HOA WARRIOR and she maintains a blog at http://hoawarrior.com.  Everyone out there, wondering where to turn and what to do next, tune in to the show, check out her website and read her book.

 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