HOA experiences/stories

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

SWMBO just sold her house that had an HOA.  One of their rules was that you couldn't have a screen door on your house.  How dare you betray your rich-people heritage by embracing energy conservation.  Wasting energy conveys opulence, evidently.

The townhouse I rented in Austin said you couldn't have a vehicle in your yard.... I can understand not PARKED in your yard, but you can't even drive on it.  Imagine my welcome when I was moving in.  I backed my pickup to the side door to unload and was welcomed by a board member who said he was going to call it in if I don't move my truck immediately (while I was holding one end of a washing machine)

What about the glass security doors in front of the wood/metal front door?

As for the yard thing, here in OKC it's a CITY code that you can't park any vehicles in your yard for any amount of time. When I still had the 135i, I put in the grass next to the garage so my dad could use my tools to do some work on his van. It was there maybe 25 minutes before a Code Enforcement officer was there to give us a warning. New neighbors across the street just found out as well too, they were just parking his big F250 with the drive side tires about 18-20" off the driveway............yep, they got a notice as well. 

I think it's a bit fussy, but if I wanted to live in area that looked like crap I would have bought in one.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

SWMBO just sold her house that had an HOA.  One of their rules was that you couldn't have a screen door on your house.  How dare you betray your rich-people heritage by embracing energy conservation.  Wasting energy conveys opulence, evidently.

The townhouse I rented in Austin said you couldn't have a vehicle in your yard.... I can understand not PARKED in your yard, but you can't even drive on it.  Imagine my welcome when I was moving in.  I backed my pickup to the side door to unload and was welcomed by a board member who said he was going to call it in if I don't move my truck immediately (while I was holding one end of a washing machine)

you should have asked him to hold the washing machine while you moved the truck. would've loved to see his reaction.

The house I previously lived in had one of those sorts of HOAs that was fairly laid back. I didn't even realize they were there for several years. When somebody there decided to take the HOA seriously, they largely confined themselves to maintaining the sign in the neighborhood entrance. (I used my '72 C10 with the LS swap to haul supplies for that project.) I think they sent out a polite reminder to somebody whose grass had gotten over a foot, too, but not much.

Current house is in a neighborhood with no HOA. Sometimes the county code enforcement has to step in on a few matters; they keep it from getting out of hand. We do have a few people who have tried to make their houses look like Roman villas, or planted half their front lawn in popcorn, or went with paint colors seldom seen on buildings outside the Miami art deco district - but I'd prefer to live in a neighborhood where you have the freedom to do that than one where you can't. It gives the neighborhood a bit of character.

One of my co-workers got one of the bad HOAs. One time they demanded he repaint his window trim, which wasn't really having any issues, in the middle of winter, and gave him a deadline that didn't give any time for the temperature to go above freezing.

More over-active HOAs tend to have two problems. One, they frequently aren't designed with proper checks and balances, allowing a leader to be a petty tyrant. Two, you can't define good taste by legislation. Sometimes you put these together and somebody concludes their only course of action is to commit some sort of offense against good taste and basic decency that was simply too outlandish for the HOA to think to ban it, such as the story about an HOA where the rules only permitted six paint colors - so a disgruntled owner painted the house all of them at once.

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:

 

Now the funny story: the house rules state no major repair work in your parking space, with fluids mentioned specifically as a no-no. Upon moving in, I asked at a meeting about replacing wiper blades and got the OK, so I asked about washer fluid, being a fluid and all....crickets....a few uncomfortable clearing of throats...and a muttering about probably being within the spirit of the rules if not the letter.

 A few car nuts in the building as well. There's a 60's Alfa Guilia sedan, a Bugeye Sprite, a nice Volvo 122, a Jag E-type, an E39 M5, and a rowdy-sounding Smart car I've seen around.

 

We lived in a similar condo setup near DC for a while, and I was always tearing my Elise apart to work on it following some shoddy "pro" work. One evening two board members were standing around the parking deck drinking bourbon, and I asked if it was a problem that my interior was spilled over into the two neighboring spaces (I'd always pick it up when I saw my parking spot neighbors coming). Their response was "Since it is against the rules, we'll side with anyone who complains. But if no one complains, then you're good." I loved that attitude and just always made sure to get along with those neighbors. 

I get letters every month for:

- "You have weeds growing in between your pavers, please remove them before X, Y, and Z happen. You have 30 days." It's Florida swampland. You can get pavers cleaned and sealed every month and weeds are gonna grow. 

- "You're mailbox is in a state of disrepair. You may purchase an HOA approved mailbox from the only listed vendor below for $500. Please have this completed by date XX before X, Y, and Z happens." - Some sandpaper and spray paint and they have no idea that it's the same one. They literally wanted me to buy a new mailbox because it was sunfaded. 

- "You're house is up for re-painting. Please submit one of the following four color choices for the HOA board to approve the new color of your home." 

- "Based on the newly approved HOA bylaws your fence is now in violation. Your fence may not extend past the centerline of the length of your home. Please remove 5 feet of paneling from your fence by XX date or you may face having a lien wagered against your property." I fought this one hard and won. The HOA board overruled a vote by the residents on this particular "by-law" for how far forward a fence could come up on the side of your house. Someone was butthurt their neighbord installed a privacy fence and that it ruined their garden and this was their way of getting back. 

I'm putting this home up for sale next year and finally getting out of an HOA community. The intent is great; however, execution is terrible and it's driven by power and greed of the board members. Transparency from the HOA management company is also terrible. I did some digging on the HOA management company and found that the only guy that works for the company (he has multiple neighborhoods under his contract) also puts his wife; a lawyer, on retainer for $100k a year to simply issue warnings to residents for weeds in their pavers. When confronted about this in an HOA meeting everyone was like "Oh we love Drew and Brenda!" Like no - we could significantly reduce the HOA fees to have a different lawyer on retainer for much less money. 

Also for anyone every wanting to know a great trump card for an HOA. Look up installing a 40ft HAM radio antenna in your backyard with an FCC grant. There is nothing an HOA can do about it and if they attempt to interfere with the construction of it the FCC can fine them up to $300k+

I have an HOA. Voluntary $30 per year.  Older neighborhood. 
 

Before I bought I READ the HOA rules. Seems that's quite unusual. 
 

I knew which rules I intended to break. The ones about cars parked in yard, and trailers. Oh, and limiting to only 1 family unit (we rent a space through AirBnB). 
 

I cruised the neighborhood. Found at least 50 owners in violation. It became clear to me they were not going to enforce the rules. 
 

Now there are some new muckity-mucks in charge. Pretty clear they are about to pick a fight (they recently circulated a copy of the rules to all owners). 
 

I'm fine with that. They can go ahead and waste their energy.  If they complain about me, they are gonna have to take down 50 other owners with me (including the HOA president). 
 

Not worried. 

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

when your done let me know how that blows over

We have a HOC. Or home owner club. It's voluntary and costs $30 a year. It pays to keep the entrances mowed and in good repair. There are no rules involved in it. 

If this was a HOA neighborhood I wouldn't have bought the house. There is no way I would sign a paper giving some arbitrary group of busy bodies the ability to tell me what to do with my property. Town ordinances are enough to keep the area decent looking. That's enough for me. 

When I was looking to buy, fortunately my agent's MLS software let him click a button to filter out anything with an HOA.  I just don't understand them.  Their intent is to keep things looking pretty and keep out the riff-raff, but if you drive around my neighborhood it looks just as squeaky clean as any HOA-infested place.  The only ones I've had to deal with (rentals) were awful.  They did nothing about riff-raff, the violations were everywhere, but lordy help you if your tire touches a blade of grass, or if your trash can sits too long at the street after pickup.  But that guy with a bunch of loud drunk people blasting music at 2am and never mows his lawn?  That's just fine.

I know that many HOAs are lenient and some don't care, but I don't go more than 5 mph over the speed limit either.  Some people drive 80 mph everywhere and never get a ticket, but if you ever DO get called out on a violation, you're potentially up the creek.

z31maniac said:

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

SWMBO just sold her house that had an HOA.  One of their rules was that you couldn't have a screen door on your house.  How dare you betray your rich-people heritage by embracing energy conservation.  Wasting energy conveys opulence, evidently.

The townhouse I rented in Austin said you couldn't have a vehicle in your yard.... I can understand not PARKED in your yard, but you can't even drive on it.  Imagine my welcome when I was moving in.  I backed my pickup to the side door to unload and was welcomed by a board member who said he was going to call it in if I don't move my truck immediately (while I was holding one end of a washing machine)

What about the glass security doors in front of the wood/metal front door?
 

Negative.  Not that security doors would be needed in rural PA, but the way it was worded was something like "all entryway doors will consist of one hinged panel.  Additional doors such as screen doors, storm doors, etc will not be permitted." SWMBO put one on anyway, as did many of the neighbors

The ironic thing is, she sold it to a family she knew, and despite the whole neighborhood openly ignoring that bylaw, the HOA welcoming committee informed them that they would have to remove it.  Their response was something like, "we'll get to that as soon as everyone else takes theirs off."

Oh, look it's this thread again.

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

The problem arises when they hire a company to manage it.  That's how my daughters HOA was run.  They were pretty much a-holes.  But, at $30/year that isn't likely going to happen.  

I lived in an HOA neighborhood growing up, and it did good things.

I would like an HOA in my neighborhood.  Just the basic type mentioned earlier.  Maintain the sign, keep houses and yards from looking like E36 M3.

My mom's hoa fee is $300 a month, which I thought was nuts, but they do all exterior home maintenance, including the roof, all yardwork, and maintain the boat dock/lift.  $3600/year actually seems fair for all of that.

Outside managers don't have to be jerks, either. Their level of oversight can be stipulated. 

Our property managers drives around once or twice a year. People might get nastygrams about trashy yards or trash cans being out too long, but all of my neighbors say they've had no issues, and one in particular parked his truck in his front yard. 

ShawnG said:

Oh, look it's this thread again.

You knew what you were getting before you even clicked on this thread. 

Appleseed said:

ShawnG said:

Oh, look it's this thread again.

You knew what you were getting before you even clicked on this thread. 

Yup.

I just love reading how so many people who live in the "land of the free" will pay someone to tell them what they can and can't do on their own property.

I live in a HOA neighborhood but they're so polite, you'd confuse them for Canadian's.

I've only had two encounters with them and both were positive...

1. I grenaded the transmission on my FC RX-7 and I had it parked on the street for two weeks with the transmission in pieces in the back under the hatchback...you could even see the ground through the shifter hole.  They  sent me a letter that basically said "There's some indication that your vehicle may not be operational, if this is the case, please know that there are limitations on how long it can remain...blah, blah, blah".
2. I wanted to paint my house but I didn't like any of the approved colors (California so earth tones but Cape Cod style house so I wanted gray w/ white trim).  I submitted color samples to the Architectural Committee at 3:00 PM on one day and had approval by noon the next day.

Based on the average between Zillow and Red Fin, my house is worth $445.51 per sq. ft..  So long as they're not on a power trip, I'm willing to accept a few HOA imposed constraints in exchange for knowing I have recourse if somebody does some dumb stuff that harms quality of life and property values for others. 

In reply to ShawnG :

With you living in Langley I thought may live in one of those horsey set south Lagley bare land stratus, and now I think not.

ShawnG said:

Appleseed said:

ShawnG said:

Oh, look it's this thread again.

You knew what you were getting before you even clicked on this thread. 

Yup.

I just love reading how so many people who live in the "land of the free" will pay someone to tell them what they can and can't do on their own property.

 

A lot of people don't want to be free. It terrifies them and they don't want that responsibility. 

Even more important, they don't want other people to be free. 

Pretty sure it's the default human condition. 

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

ShawnG said:

Appleseed said:

ShawnG said:

Oh, look it's this thread again.

You knew what you were getting before you even clicked on this thread. 

Yup.

I just love reading how so many people who live in the "land of the free" will pay someone to tell them what they can and can't do on their own property.

 

A lot of people don't want to be free. It terrifies them and they don't want that responsibility. 

Even more important, they don't want other people to be free. 

Pretty sure it's the default human condition. 

I was going to respond, but since no one is here to tell me what to type, I'm too terrified. 

Our HOA leaves you alone unless there's something actually wrong.  Every so often I'd get a letter saying I had a violation with a picture of it, that never showed my house.  A quick note back to them got an apology and a "never mind!".  I recently got one about the dead aspens in my front yard.  Yeah, they're dead and I'm having them taken out.  Done. 

spitfirebill said:

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

The problem arises when they hire a company to manage it.  That's how my daughters HOA was run.  They were pretty much a-holes.  But, at $30/year that isn't likely going to happen.  

I disagree. 
 

Ultimately, the ONLY real recourse is to take me to court. I can document over 50 different individuals who have set precedents for over 20 years. 
 

A judge will throw it out if they don't enforce it evenly. 
 

But at $30 per year (and only half the neighborhood pays), I guarantee they have no resources for legal fees. 
 

I'll be nice, but firm. They will not be making me do something that is in conflict with the precedent they have established, and I am willing to go to court if I have to. 
 

It will never get that far. I'm not worried. 

Dieselboss15 said:

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

when your done let me know how that blows over

There won't be any getting "done". It's never gonna start. 
 

I moved into a neighborhood where people live similarly to me. I am an asset to the neighborhood. I've improved my property, and the value of it and of others. 
 

My point is that the issue is much more nuanced than "HOA or no HOA". It's important to know the details and how it is implemented, not just whether an HOA exists. 
 

My neighborhood covenant was written 40 years ago. It's a $30 fee, and it's voluntary. The neighborhood has made exceptions and set precedents for a very long time. I live exactly like my neighbors and do not create eyesores (worse than theirs).  There won't be any enforcement or issues. 
 

$500K homes that are all less than 2 years old with a $250 per month HOA fee?  Yeah, THAT neighborhood will rake you over the coals. 

I basically directed my life to avoid HOAs, mainly because most are protecting "Stepford" neighborhoods, not my style.

That said I now find it hilarious that my beautiful wife is the president of our HOA.  

Fortunately we are in a neighborhood of wooded lots that are over two acre each, and the rules were written in 1975.  It's one of those $30 a year deals.  Mainly to keep someone from building a pole barn and trying to live in it.   She does speak for about 300 landowners when she sends letters to the county to fix roads, etc.  She has no real power to prevent a guy from storing two Transmaros on concrete blocks in their front yard, just friendly conversation.

I volunteer to mow the front entrance etc.  The advantage is I have a 3.1 mile asphalt loop with 31 turns, and elevation changes.  To be nice I leave the Flowmaster on the Outlaw Bug when I make my Sunday morning run.

Excerpt from a HOA story from my Dad, who leaves in a "heritage ranch" situation down in New Mexico.  100,000 plus acre property split up into 60 acre residential parcels.

This could be a long story but I will try to keep it short.  The "crazy" previous board sued one of the homeowners for marking trails and building cairns.  The HOA lost and now has to come up with $56,000 to settle.  We have about $44,000 in our reserve account after the previous board illegally (They should have asked for a membership vote.) paid our lawyer about $29,000  So the whole deal cost about $85,000.

The members have just now voted to let the new board use the $44,000 but we are still short $12,000.  They are considering a special assessment, suing the old board or borrowing money.  All of the $85,000 just goes to lawyers and court costs.