Or is there an organization or government department to report HOAs to if they fail to communicate with home owners?

The United States’ birthrate fell for a fourth consecutive year in 2018, bringing the number of people born in the country to its lowest level in 32 years, according to provisional figures published on Wednesday by the federal government.

this type of thing has miles and miles of case law..and its clear cut.. no pun intended.. you get a forester or a mill to value the trees and then your entitled to triple stumpage.if its government land you wacked the trees off of that can become criminal.other wise you would probably need a good RE broker to testify as to what the tree's bring for aesthetic value. 

New developments and government kickbacks are the only way to play without really getting tarred.

Even if your current appraised value is $200,000.00 most conventional and government loan programs will allow an LTV of 80-85% as a owner occupied cash out and between 75-80% cash out as a non-owner occupied loan.

I think as I really dive into this sector I'll find that I am quite conservative and may never budge from that risk attitude.

Currently leasing to a family and am in negative cash flow though I expect the area to hold strong through the next downturn if not appreciate significantly due to large influx of government jobs into the area (most of which are 6-figure salaries).

If it is that old, probably all the people that worked the case are gone, the current government workers have given up hope of collecting and the case has long been forgotten.   

@Cole Black  If you plan on living in it, you can also look at the new government program where they will lend you money for the house. 

If you plan to carry the paper, there are regulations that govern that as well.