Las Vegas Sen. Mike Schneider, a savior to those who find homeowners associations too restrictive and a bane to those who believe strict association rules protect their investment, is at it again.

Schneider, who doesn't live in an association because he doesn't like the rules, has worked on bills governing neighborhood associations since 1997 because he believes association boards abuse their power. Now his new Senate Bill 362 makes more changes to block such boards from abusing their power. Or so he says.

(Yes, I am a member of my homeowners association board. That didn't stop the board from insisting I replace two dead plants in my courtyard promptly or face consequences.)

Schneider has a laundry list of things in his bill, most designed to make it easier for homeowners to do what they like and harder for association boards to stop them.

Love it or hate it, but artificial turf couldn't be banned under this bill.

Since we all love landlords, Schneider wants to make it easier for landlords to avoid penalties for the actions of their tenants.

We love political signs even more than landlords, and Schneider wants to make it OK to hang political signs on adjacent common walls, which means some homeowners could hang them on the outside walls facing the streets.

Don't you just love when the first signs pop out? And they are packed with information to help the voter become more informed.

Schneider, a Democrat, also wants to make it cheaper for people to sue their boards. This section requires the association to pay the legal fees of the person suing the association, unless the complaint is found by a judge to be "false, fraudulent or frivolous."

His rationale is that the board's legal fees are paid by the association, so the homeowner's fees should be too, as a matter of fairness.

The bill eliminates arbitration and mediation because, he says, they take too long. Instead, disputes would be sent first to the state's Commission on Common-Interest Communities' ombudsman and then could go to district court. I recall the why-am-I-here look on District Judge Michael Cherry's face when he was dealing with the basketball hoop case pitting former television weatherman Kevin Janison against Summerlin North Community Association over whether the hoops could stay on the street overnight.

A new group called VALUE Alliance, a handful of homeowners associations organized to promote the positive aspects of associations, opposes Schneider's bill. It is scheduled to be heard Friday in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.

Hal Bloch, president of Summerlin North and a member of VALUE Alliance, has problems with at least seven sections of the 48-page bill, including the section to make it easier for homeowners to make exterior changes without asking for approval if the changes are for energy savings, such as solar and wind power.

When I've done previous columns about associations, I've found the reactions are almost evenly split.

There are those who think association boards have too much power and are too nit-picky, like the lawyer who said he jumped through as many hoops when he wanted to put a swing set in his backyard as he would if he'd built a second-story addition.

Then there's the university regent whose pizzas are really expensive because he's fined $100 by his association because the pizza delivery boy speeds.

On the other side are those who have no trouble following rules and say people shouldn't move into neighborhoods with associations if they want to do their own thing. They know what it's like to live next door to someone who does what he pleases, and acts like Tony Soprano when anybody complains, so they like associations.

If you live in an association, this isn't the time to be part of the silent majority, no matter what stance you take. You can send e-mails to legislators through the Nevada Legislature's Web page at www.leg.state.nv.us, or you can call them at 486-2626.

Meanwhile, to boost my ego, I'm going to strut through the association, flexing my incredible power. Surely there are others with dead plants I can pick on.

Maybe I'll find a parking violator and act like Tony Soprano myself.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.