August 2, 2026 | Mark Luis Foster
Once upon a time, a man named Michael Reynolds had a vision to create an “off grid, self sufficient” Earthship homes in Taos, New Mexico. Intrigued? Google provides the description:
An Earthship home in Taos is a pioneering, completely self-sufficient off-grid house built from natural and recycled materials like earth-packed tires, cans, and bottles. Invented by architect Michael Reynolds, these sustainable homes harvest their own water, generate solar and wind power, treat their own sewage, and grow indoor food while maintaining comfortable, stable indoor temperatures.
All right. Not my cup of tea, but interesting.
Seems, though, these stories always have a “however” moment. From the Santa Fe New Mexican:
[A] jury decided after a trial last week Michael Reynolds had breached his fiduciary duty by creating a homeowners association, which he used to collect fees to pay for road repairs and improvements, road signs and guardrails, as well as property taxes and insurance premiums on property he owned.
Whoops. So what’s the back story? The developer was sued by Jody Rhines and Marcus Romano, who apparently owned an Earthship property in the community from 2010 to 2017, and were subsequently awarded $32,000 in a civil case that they filed more than 10 years ago.
“It was advertised to be this great development that was going to have all these amenities and had an HOA and other things that would manage it, so we thought we would have a promising life there in the community,” Romano testified in the state District Court in Taos.
The story goes on to explain that the plaintiff’s attorney had presented a map of the planned Greater World Subdivision, which showed each phase of the planned development, with a community building, amphitheater, sports park, education facility, hiking and horseback riding on community land, and two recycling and waste stations — most of which do not exist.
This was all funded by the establishment of an HOA by Mr. Reynolds, taking $150 from residents on the property. But the great intentions went even farther ‘south’ than Taos on a map.
The story also claims that Reynolds created an HOA board, but largely remained in control of the body.
Rachel Winston, an attorney specializing in HOAs, said Reynolds had retained “de facto” control of the board. She cited meeting minutes indicating Reynolds had read his own “Conduct, Objectives, and Directives” document into the record at a Sep. 16, 2015, board meeting and subsequent meetings, which characterized the governing body as a “courtesy board” that would operate “subject to direction of the initiator” — Reynolds — until the subdivision achieved 90%.
The jury awarded Rhines and Romano $12,000 in compensatory damages and $20,000 in punitive damages.
You can read the whole self-sufficiency-gone-wrong story HERE.
