Exoneratism - prologue

To understand my search for a therapeutical answer to my own internalized philosophical discontent, it's necessary to understand the episode which triggered that search.

The episode began when I decided to move from a suburb of Chicago to a downstate town in Illinois. A few miles outside of this town was a condominium complex which was very appealing. I found an end unit which meant that I would have neighbors on only one side, and behind the unit was a beautiful pond with acres and acres of green grassy land extending beyond. The brick and cedar exterior and shake shingles were gorgeous; esthetically it was perfect and when the bank said I could have a loan free of payments for one year, it seemed that this was the ideal setting for me and my family.    
But instead it was a very well planned deceit by the condominium developer, utilizing the important factor of patience. This very patient condominium developer cleverly and surreptitiously placed a lie in the official recorded county documents. That lie was the name of a utility company which in fact did not exist.

Initially I saw that utility company name in the “Amended Declaration of Condominium Ownership and of Easements, Restrictions and Covenants,” and requested information on that company, but was told that it was “no longer” in existence at the time I purchased the condominium, and therefore no one in the courthouse or in the bank was concerned about the company. What a fool I was!

Two years after I had bought the condominium, the developer transferred management of the development from himself, as developer, to a Board of Managers elected by the unit owners. This was done pursuant to the Declaration, and at that time he began to unfold his scheme by notifying the unsuspecting owners that he alone held the title to the water and sewage facilities (the well and lagoon), and that the owners had not purchased even a percentage of those facilities.

Startled by this intelligence, we owners took solace that the above named Declaration would be our protection against this unseemly and untimely demand by the developer. We refuted his claim because neither he nor his real estate agents, at the time they had sold the properties, had specifically said that the well and lagoon were separate and apart from the sale of the condominiums. And we refuted his claim because certain paragraphs in the Declaration upheld our contention of ownership of the well and lagoon.

In our free market society, we owners expected balance to occur naturally and theoretically. But we were faced with a developer and governmental entities that were corrupt with power, thereby tipping the balance in their favor. We lost a long battle for the well and lagoon and we were devastated.

In my next post I will introduce you to my philosophy, Exoneratism, which assuaged my feeling of guilt in this matter.