Here is a dumb HOA rule...

[brerrabbit]

I don't live in Frisco but I do live in Texas and theses HOA/Deed Restriction battles come up all the time. I understand the basic premise of them which is to maintain property values but really the go to far to often. For non Texans let me explain a couple of things, first on the issue of parking in a garage, in Texas we really don't have any basements so our garages tend to become storage rooms which means not many cars get parked in there. Also since we Texans like to drive those big ole SUV's and pick em up trucks a lot of them won't even fit in a garage. Secondly a lot of cities (specifically Houston) has no zoning laws. Therefore the only way to protect a neighborhood there has to be an HOA and deed restrictions or you could have a strip mall built next to your hose next week. The reality is that most of the HOA's bluster and threaten and send letters but most of them are greatly underfunded and if you threaten them and say lets go to court many of them back down. My HOA sent letters to a guy who moved into the neighborhood and promptly violated every deed restriction he could. He owned his own business, had some money and got a big kick out of bucking the system. When our HOA threatened to take him to court, he said "great lets go, I got an attorney on retainer who loves this stuff". Sure enough he did and since our HOA had very little money to pay attorneys they went to our city attorney to provide the legal help. The city attorney said, its your rules, so its your fight. The HOA dropped the issue and let the guy do whatever he wanted to. The continued to send letters but they were empty threats.

I am not an attorney, but I have a idea that if this thing wound up in court it would get settled in favor of the F-150 owner. Basically if one type of vehicle can be parked overnight in the driveway, then any type of vehicle can be parked in the driveway over night. It would seem the only disticntion the HOA could make would be if the car ran or didn't, not the make and model.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

I hate how city gov't won't step in sometimes.

We have two playgrounds in our subdivision. Over the last year or so, one of them (which is frequented by teens after school) was vandalized with black Sharpie as well as words/symbols carved into the plastic itself with a knife. On one of the interior walls of the slide (at the top) were the words, "If you know who likes *name*, call *ph. #*. I wrote down the number and called it, in case it was somebody's home ph. It turned out to be connected to a voice mail, so I assume it was somebody's cell. When I contacted the police about the vandalism, they said beacause it was HOA property there was nothing they could do about it.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

My neighbor has a 3 car garage with only 2 cars, but he parks one of his vehicles on the street. It is not safe - there is a curve that begins where he parks and it is an inconvenience when I have to stop to wait for other traffic to come by. It is also in the covenants that this is not allowed.

Is there a no parking sign clearly posted?

Then that "kick" is also explained in the CCRs. And I bet he signed a document saying he received those CCRs when he closed on his house.

People that complain about their HOAs are like folks who buy a house next to an airport then complain about the noise. They knew it was there but moved in anyway.

When you agree to be "governed" by a HOA, you expect that they will govern reasonably. Just because you decide to live in such a place doesn't mean that you have to abide by any silly rule that they come up with just because of most of the people who live their agree. For instance, if the HOA said that you weren't allowed to have black people on your property or that you had to wear a novelty sombrero every time you were visible of other people in the neighbourhood, do you have to abide by those rules? Of course not. So to assert that because you signed up for it, you have to put up with it, is ridiculous. An unjust law can't be a law.

I am not an attorney, but I have a idea that if this thing wound up in court it would get settled in favor of the F-150 owner. Basically if one type of vehicle can be parked overnight in the driveway, then any type of vehicle can be parked in the driveway over night. It would seem the only disticntion the HOA could make would be if the car ran or didn't, not the make and model.

They are going to lose in court anyway because it's discrimination. They are basically saying that you have to be able to afford vehicles over a certain dollar amount to live or a garage to hide your inferior vehicle in to live there. No matter how hard HOAs try to keep "poor" people out of their neighbourhoods, they can't. You can't discriminate under the law of the country based on class.

 

[JVL1018]

Have you never been to a big city?

.

Gee, no I live 10 minutes from NYC, but I've never been there.
Of course, I have, but I haven't seen too many houses in Manhattan.

Apartments, condos, rowhouses, yes, I agree no driveways, that's not what I was talking about. I already mentioned that the apartment complex here does have on the street parking.

I was speaking of houses-your typical single and 2 family homes-and no I have never seen a house like that with no driveway.
I don't know of any town in this area(Bergen County, NJ) that allows overnight parking. I've lived here my entire life and truly, I don't recall seeing any houses that don't have a driveway, so it's not a problem for people.

As for the other poster asking how many cars you need, well we had 6 in my family for a while-3 kids, plus my Dad, my Mom and my grandma(who lived with us)-we had a long driveway and our house was set back far from the street so it was no problem.
Our neighbors had 3 kids, so they had 5 cars for a few years, another neighbor had 5 kids so they had a bunch of cars, everyone just made their driveways bigger.

 

[ajk912]

Gee, no I live 10 minutes from NYC, but I've never been there.
Of course, I have, but I haven't seen too many houses in Manhattan.

Apartments, condos, rowhouses, yes, I agree no driveways, that's not what I was talking about. I already mentioned that the apartment complex here does have on the street parking.

I was speaking of houses-your typical single and 2 family homes-and no I have never seen a house like that with no driveway.
I don't know of any town in this area(Bergen County, NJ) that allows overnight parking. I've lived here my entire life and truly, I don't recall seeing any houses that don't have a driveway, so it's not a problem for people.

As for the other poster asking how many cars you need, well we had 6 in my family for a while-3 kids, plus my Dad, my Mom and my grandma(who lived with us)-we had a long driveway and our house was set back far from the street so it was no problem.
Our neighbors had 3 kids, so they had 5 cars for a few years, another neighbor had 5 kids so they had a bunch of cars, everyone just made their driveways bigger.

I wish everyone was as respectful of others as you are! I agree though with a PP, I really wish our street had signs that you couldn't park on the road from X time to X time. I think that would cut down dramatically on the street parkers. I have seen it on other subdivisions, and it's amazing how can actually DRIVE on the streets then!

 

[LisaNJ25]

I believe so, yes. Maybe not everyone has a garage, but everyone has a driveway, I have never seen a house without one in this town(or anywhere for that matter).
There is an apartment complex and those residents are allowed to park in the street, but those are the only few streets it is allowed on.
Otherwise, the law is no parking from 2-5am.
People who have more cars than driveway expand their driveway.

ahh ok.. I am in Morris County. There is only one town I know off the top of my head that doesnt allow overnight parking. There may be more.

They way houses are being put up people dont seem to have room to expand. I hvae seen a few new houses go up over the past year and all 1 car garages with short driveways. Most have postage stamp size yard.

There are 1 or 2 streets in my town they have made one side of the street parking only. Some also have alternate side parking during snow storms.

 

[malibuconlee]

I used to baby sit for a couple that lived in Stonebriar when we lived in Dallas.

I'm surprised you're allowed to park ANY vehicle in the driveway to be honest.

Fun little sidenote - Stonebriar is the club that Richard Gere's charachter belongs to in the movie Dr. T and the Women.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

I didn't know that. And now you know..and knowing is half the battle. (GI JOOOOOOOOE AMERICAN HERO!)

 

[Hercules10]

Follow-up in today's Dallas Morning News.

Jim Greenwood is parking his 2007 Ford F-150 in the garage, but he’s not through battling the Frisco homeowners’ association. He says the association has declared the iconic Texas truck not upscale enough to leave in his driveway.

“I’m hoping that based on all the activity and noise that they might change their tune,” he said Monday. “These people [with the association] are in a position of leadership, ideally to serve their constituency.”

Earlier this year, the Concentra Inc. CEO began getting notices from the Stonebriar HOA threatening to fine him for parking his truck in his driveway. They say pickup trucks are not allowed in the driveway – although other luxury vehicles, including the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Mark LT, pass muster.

Bill Osborn, a board member with the association, had explained that those vehicles are “fancier,” “plush with amenities” and do not look like pickups. Most domestic pickups are banned.

Mr. Osborn said this rule has been in place for decades and the fine would be $50 per violation.

"From our inception in 1989 until this spring our restrictive covenants excluded all trucks from overnight parking in the street or driveway," Mr. Osborn said in an e-mail. "Mr. Greenwood felt his Ford F-150 should be allowed. The HOA Board denied his appeal as he has garage space and a(n) F-150 did not fit the criteria."

However, Mr. Osborn said Monday that the issue may be revisited.

Mr. Greenwood said his family has a car, a Suburban and his teenage son’s truck, but only a two-car garage.

"I don't want to mess with the logistics with what's in the garage and what's not," he said.

Since WFAA-TV (Channel 8) publicized Mr. Greenwood’s story this weekend, the controversy has sparked hundreds of comments on dallasnews.com and other sites from people sharing HOA complaints and criticizing the associations’ operations.

“I think it's past time for HOAs to be declared unconstitutional! Bad enough the government dictates our lives ... now homeowners’ associations dictate what type of vehicle you own! I recommend the Ford company sue the heck out of them!” wrote one dallasnews.com reader.

Others, however, suggested that Mr. Greenwood should have understood the rules when he moved into the gated community.

This is not the first time the Stonebriar HOA has fought with homeowners about their vehicles.

John Allen, another resident, said he was told last year that his Chevrolet Avalanche qualified as a pickup and had to be moved inside. After hiring a lawyer and arguing his case, he said, the association added the Avalanche to the list of vehicles approved for outside parking.

“I’m all for keeping the place nice, but when it gets to the point of onerous living, that’s no good,” he said. “The whole pompous attitude of it is amazing.”

Disagreements with homeowners’ associations – about additions, shrubbery, fencing and other issues – are not new.

State Rep. Burt Solomon, R-Carrollton, has introduced legislation to provide homeowners more recourse in their battles against the associations, arguing that they can be abusive and overbearing. He said he has won small battles about limited issues, but no comprehensive reform, and he intends to take up the legislation again in January.

“Why would you do that to your neighbor? There needs to be more transparency. There needs to be more accountability,” he said. “There needs to be more fiduciary responsibility in how boards conduct their business with the membership.”

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Gee, no I live 10 minutes from NYC, but I've never been there.
Of course, I have, but I haven't seen too many houses in Manhattan.

Apartments, condos, rowhouses, yes, I agree no driveways, that's not what I was talking about. I already mentioned that the apartment complex here does have on the street parking.

I was speaking of houses-your typical single and 2 family homes-and no I have never seen a house like that with no driveway.

No need to be sarcastic. You have a very narrow view of what a house is. But even talking specifically about semi-detached single family dwellings, there are plenty that don't have driveways in big cities. I can't speak for Manhattan since I've never been but this is certainly the case in Toronto, Vancouver, London, and Edinburgh.

 

[Ronda93]

Just to reiterate from the update in paper...

The rule has been in place for nearly 20 years - and sounds like it was recently changed to permit the Ridgeline, et al. I agree it's snobbery at its finest, but he bought it.

 

[JVL1018]

No need to be sarcastic. You have a very narrow view of what a house is. But even talking specifically about semi-detached single family dwellings, there are plenty that don't have driveways in big cities. I can't speak for Manhattan since I've never been but this is certainly the case in Toronto, Vancouver, London, and Edinburgh.

Sorry you feel that way, it was not meant to be sarcastic, that's why I added the . I was just kidding since I live in the shadow of the most populous city in the US.
I am sure there are houses without driveways, all I noted was that I personally have never seen a house without a driveway, anywhere-and specifically in this area where it would be a concern because we have restrictions on overnight parking.
Just trying to point out that any hypothetical conversation that it's not fair that people can't park on the street doesn't matter here because everyone has a driveway.That's all.

 

[Planogirl]

So now they're saying it's an old rule? They keep changing the story.

I agree that he has to abide by rules already in place. He should work to change them - I wish him success!

 

[Paul6725]

HOAs are to maintain property values. Having this truck parked in his drive does not lower property values. Case closed.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Did you notice in the article that the guy from the HOA who is giving F-150 owner all the trouble says that he is thinking about changing the rule anyway because HIS son just got a pickup truck and he doesn't want to have to worry about keeping it in the garage? Come on!

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

Ugh.
If what you said is true, the HOA guy is a bleeding hypocrite!

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Ugh.
If what you said is true, the HOA guy is a bleeding hypocrite!

Well go back and read the article that was just posted and tell me what you think. I might be reading it wrong.

 

[Hercules10]

Well go back and read the article that was just posted and tell me what you think. I might be reading it wrong.

Believe you did read wrong.

"Mr. Greenwood said his family has a car, a Suburban and his teenage son’s truck, but only a two-car garage."

Mr. Osborn is with the HOA. Greenwood is the member who started the whole thing. I.e. he knew to keep his son's truck in the garage. To me that means he knew the rules but he thought they wouldn't apply to his new Ford.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

You're right..I must've misread it. It doesn't say what make/model/year the son's truck is though.

Still..a dumb rule. Just because you can afford nice things doesn't mean you are a nice or classy person.

 

[ICF]

Just because you can afford nice things doesn't mean you are a nice or classy person.

A 2008 Ford F150 currently has a starting price between $17,900 - $37,000....I would hardly put a new F150 in the catagory of not being a "nice thing". This isn't some 20 year old beat-up truck he wanted to park in his driveway.

http://www86.forddirect.fordvehicle...ocessZipCode=silent&processModel=&statetoken=