HOA requires garage doors stay open all day

[Hikergirl]

You're agreeing to abide by the rules set forth in the restrictive covenants. HOA's can't just willy nilly do anything they want. They have to be within federal and state law and they have to be within their own bylaws. And if they are not, a homeowner has every right to tell them to pound sand so to speak. I doubt very seriously if this Auburn Greens HOA abided by its own rules in making this new edict. I have no doubt it would not hold up in court. I've told my HOA to go pound sand on several occasions. The trouble with living in an area without restrictive covenants, especially if you're in a county without much in the way of ordinances is you end up next to the guy that makes his front yard a junk yard and runs a toxic waste dump of used automotive fluids in the back yard.

Maybe but since that isn't stated in the article it isn't something I'm going to assume.
I think there is some merit to an HOA, I know if there was one here my next door neighbors would have a list of violations. However I would never agree to let some group of people have the say in what goes on in or around my house like that, because then you get things like this stupid rule. Hopefully you are right and it will be overturned. However I still disagree with just saying "go pound sand" (as in I know I agreed to follow your rules but since I don't like this one I won't kind of thing in general). I do believe the homeowners have every right to go through the right channels to overturn a rule that isn't legal though.

 

[cabanafrau]

IMO these residents need to mount a coup, a mutiny, whatever it takes to run the crazypants board out on a rail. The cure of this rule is potentially worse medicine than the problems of having your neighbors illegally subletting their garage as living space. I would do what I could to prevent having to pay to mount a legal battle, because no doubt rules indemnify the board from being held responsible for legal fees incurred by residents to correct the board's serious overreach and negligent rule making.

 

[Hikergirl]

If they are worried about illegal tenants then they should just make a rule that allows them to do random garage checks.

 

[cabanafrau]

If they are worried about illegal tenants then they should just make a rule that allows them to do random garage checks.

Wait, are you suggesting an elephant gun isn't necessary to hunt a mouse?

 

[amberpi]

Like the article says, because it endangers residents, it is almost certain that if residents challenge it in court, it will be immediately tossed out by a Judge.

There is a subdivision about 40 miles from this one in Gold River California where cars are banned in driveways or on the street after sunset. They have a parking area outside the subdivision to park cars in if you have more cars than garage space or overnight guests with cars. But they disclose that in advance before you buy a house there.

The one I lived said you couldn't have trucks or boats parked in the driveway...and if you were having an event at your home (entertaining was a big thing for most people in that neighborhood, one of the reasons we moved there was to entertain my first husband's clients/business network) you had to use a shuttle service if the cars couldn't fit in the driveway-roundabouts. We had a long driveway and a lot of parking area, but people used the crap out of that service - owned by an HOA board member's son. #eyeroll

Now I live in a subdivision/area of town were not everyone even has a driveway and real estate is insane...lol.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I am so glad I don't live in an HOA.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Wait, are you suggesting an elephant gun isn't necessary to hunt a mouse?

How do you kill an elephant?
Shoot it with an elephant gun.

How do you kill a blue elephant?
Shoot it with a blue elephant gun.

How do you kill a red elephant?
Strangle it till it turns blue, then shoot it with a blue elephant gun.

How do you kill a green elephant?
Tell it a dirty joke until it blushes and turns red, then strangle it until it turns blue, then shoot it with a blue elephant gun.




How do you kill a yellow elephant?
What are you talking about? Yellow elephants don't exist!

 

[Christine]

I'll be the dissenting voice here. First, I find this request absolutely ridiculous but I am very thankful for my HOA. They are very reasonable and they do a good job of keeping some people's property from looking like a junkyard and falling down in disrepair. Some neighborhoods near me don't have them and they look terrible. It's amazing what people will do (or not do).

 

[tvguy]

The one I lived said you couldn't have trucks or boats parked in the driveway...and if you were having an event at your home (entertaining was a big thing for most people in that neighborhood, one of the reasons we moved there was to entertain my first husband's clients/business network) you had to use a shuttle service if the cars couldn't fit in the driveway-roundabouts. We had a long driveway and a lot of parking area, but people used the crap out of that service - owned by an HOA board member's son. #eyeroll

Now I live in a subdivision/area of town were not everyone even has a driveway and real estate is insane...lol.

I have a 2 car garage with 2 cars in it. I have 2 cars in the driveway. I have 1 car on the street, with room for 2 more on the street in front of my house. And most of my neighbors have paved the small strip of grass along side their driveway to make room for a third car there. Only rule we have is a county rule that says cars parked on the street have to move once every 72 hours.

 

[camreesmom]

I wouldn't like the garage door rule but I wish our HOA would actually enforce the restrictions already in place!

 

[RedAngie]

I was a little leery about moving into a HOA neighborhood, but they've turned out to be pretty laissez faire. As long as you don't paint your house pink with purple polka dots, they leave you alone.

I'm pretty sure most HOA boards are fairly reasonable. But some are populated by power hungry busybodies who get off on telling others what they can or cannot do.

 

[anniemae]

That is crazy. The article states that someone was allowing people to live in their garage, so that is why they have the rule (always one person ruins it for everybody). It does not seem fair to force people to put their belongings at risk of being stolen. Lots of people keep expensive "toys" in their garages like mountain bikes, exercise equipment, lawn equipment, tools etc. It kind of defeats the purpose of a garage if you have to haul everything inside.

 

[soccerdad72]

I was a little leery about moving into a HOA neighborhood, but they've turned out to be pretty laissez faire. As long as you don't paint your house pink with purple polka dots, they leave you alone.

I'm pretty sure most HOA boards are fairly reasonable. But some are populated by power hungry busybodies who get off on telling others what they can or cannot do.

Pretty much, yep. Even the power hungry types realize pretty quickly that they have no real power.

I live in a development with an HOA and there's crap around our neighborhood that drives me nuts but nobody can seem to do anything about it.

 

[Klayfish]

That sucks, there is no way I could do it and thankfully that isn't common here.
I can't imagine not having much choice and having to deal with some committee making up stupid rules that I have to follow.
I take back the no sympathy, for people where there really is no place there isn't an HOA I feel for you. I didn't realize that in some areas it is just how it is.

I wouldn't be living in a subdivision then.

It wasn't an easy decision...every fiber of my being said "No HOA community". But DW really wanted to live in this area and be close to work. The community we're in is chock full of kids. So as much as the HOA makes my skin crawl, it makes me happy that the kids can easily hang out with friends any day, any time. When we very first moved here, we spent about 8 months in a rental house. It was also a subdivision HOA community, just 2 miles from where we are now. I kid you not, we arrived late at night, so went right to bed. The very next morning, as we were unpacking the U-Haul trucks, we had knocks on our door from neighborhood kids, as they saw we had children their age. One of the group of kids who came (two brothers and their sister) are still best friends with my kids. Not long after we left the rental for our new home, their parents (divorced) both moved into our community too. The mother lives on our street, and the father is only 1.5 miles away. So for me, it's worth it. I just need to buy one of those countdown clocks like they have for Christmas or a WDW vacation..."XXXX days until we leave HOAs behind".

Is that just in the burbs perhaps? My 2 favorite ATL neighborhoods and ones I'm pondering again (strong desire for a change of scenery despite loving Nashville, been studying on moving since the fall) don't have HOAs and I far prefer not having to deal with them. Going to see if anything has changed...

I lived in a neighborhood of the overzealous HOA when I lived in the suburbs. Loved the house and the super private pool, but the people in that neighborhood were annoying as...

I'm not sure if every community in the metro Atlanta area is. I'm sure there are plenty that aren't, my guess is perhaps the older, more established neighborhoods near the city aren't. We live in Paulding County, very close to the Cobb and Bartow county borders. Here, all of the newer, single family home communities are HOA. Everyone keeps to themselves for the most part, we've never met our neighbor across the street in the nearly 3 years we've been in the house. The HOA doesn't really bother us, this garage door issue aside, and even that they've left us alone after having a few discussions about it.

 

[amberpi]

I'm not sure if every community in the metro Atlanta area is. I'm sure there are plenty that aren't, my guess is perhaps the older, more established neighborhoods near the city aren't. We live in Paulding County, very close to the Cobb and Bartow county borders. Here, all of the newer, single family home communities are HOA. Everyone keeps to themselves for the most part, we've never met our neighbor across the street in the nearly 3 years we've been in the house. The HOA doesn't really bother us, this garage door issue aside, and even that they've left us alone after having a few discussions about it.

Seems cabbagetown and Inman park are safe of course the burbs would be SO much cheaper for much more house.

 

[Simba's Mom]

That's crazy! In our neighborhood, we can't leave our garage door open on weekends, there are so many yard sales around here. One Saturday, DH opened the garage door while he was working in the garage, and the next thing he knew someone was walking around in the garage wanting to buy something.

 

[amberpi]

I have a 2 car garage with 2 cars in it. I have 2 cars in the driveway. I have 1 car on the street, with room for 2 more on the street in front of my house. And most of my neighbors have paved the small strip of grass along side their driveway to make room for a third car there. Only rule we have is a county rule that says cars parked on the street have to move once every 72 hours.

I have a garage but it's not super common (not rare either) and those old remodeled bungalows and craftsmans, and the big old victorians most often dont.

 

[Klayfish]

Seems cabbagetown and Inman park are safe of course the burbs would be SO much cheaper for much more house.

Yes, inside the Perimeter, I'd bet it's no HOA. But yes, you pay for it. The housing prices out here, 30ish miles northwest of the city, are insanely cheap compared to the mid-Atlantic. The rental community we first lived in was selling 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath houses on a slab, about 2100 sq ft, for around $160k. Insane.

 

[Sabeking]

Completely absurd! Tail wagging the dog.

 

[PrncessA]

We have a crazy HOA, but I can't imagine that EVER being a rule for us. Instead we aren't allowed to leave our garage open for extended periods of time. This summer our HOA tried to enact some rules regarding children (and we all knew which family it was aimed at). They said that children had to be quite at all times when they were outside, since some adults might work at home or at night and sleep during the day. They also said children couldn't ride their play or ride their bikes in the driveways or access roads between the houses (in addition to no bikes on the grass, which I did agree with) and that all children must be in before dusk.

Most of the parents talked and we all just ignored the new rules and no one was ever warned or fined to my knowledge. The three women on the board are grumpy and have no children or grandchildren...