Post your HOA complaints here : )

[hrh_disney_queen]

I would never live in a community that has an HOA but people who do know the rules when they buy there. I hate being told what to do to the home I own and pay for monthly. I don't care if a neighbor has a trailer, it isn't effecting me at all. We are a nice middle class neighborhood and even without the property Gestapo standing over us no one has trash everywhere, a home in disrepair, or cars on blocks in their yard.

But they could if they wanted to, and there wouldn't be a thing you could do about it.

I feel like a HOA protects me more than it is a Gestapo over me. I pretty much live the way they spell out anyway, but with covenants in place, I don't have to worry about being offended by the things my neighbors may or may not do to the outside of their house. And I guess they all feel the same way, so it works for all of us.


ETA: I sound like I live among a bunch of slobs. Quite the contrary, my neighbors have the neatest, well groomed lawns you could hope to see. The neighborhood is just like that. BUT, we didn't know that when we moved in. So eventually (without a HOA) it could have turned out to be quite different. And even though we have a bunch of rules (some silly-one is that you can't leave your garage door open unless you are working out of it...) a lot of them that aren't big deals are never even addressed. And our HOA is mainly for maintaining the pool, lake/area, guard/gate, docks/marina area, roads and bridges. The picky stuff hardly ever comes up.

 

[Feralpeg]

But they could if they wanted to, and there wouldn't be a thing you could do about it.

I feel like a HOA protects me more than it is a Gestapo over me. I pretty much live the way they spell out anyway, but with covenants in place, I don't have to worry about being offended by the things my neighbors may or may not do to the outside of their house. And I guess they all feel the same way, so it works for all of us.

I agree. In fact, I wish my HOA had a little more power than they do. The rules in place do not seem over the top to me. I like knowing that the people around me can't do things that will lower the value of my property.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

come on they want them up by Dec 1st They have to be down no later then 1/5 .

Claim you belong to an obscure Christiatic group. You can only have your Christmas decorations up during the Yule Season - December 24 through January 6, AKA the 12 days of Christmas. Due to your beliefs, you cannot put them up prior to the 24nd and cannot take them down prior to the 6th of January.

 

[diznygirl]

Local, county and state ordinances are very broad and speak mostly to health issues (gasoline leaking into the soil from cars on blocks, house must be up to code, etc). They don't tell you that all your curtains must have white backing, you can only have 14 bushes and two trees, or you can't park your car in your driveway - garage only.

I can live with local, county and state ordinances. The people mad with power there typically prey on the people within their own offices. Power-mad HOA Presidents and members, however, prey on everyone within the neighborhood.

That's true, but I doubt the state cares what color I paint my house, when I put up decorations and what vehicles are in my own driveway.

Okay, believe what you want, but I know towns - not HOA's - that forbid parking on the street past 9 pm and require you paint your house an "earth tone."

Back to your HOA bashing.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Now I'm wondering, for those of you in HOA's. . .

What about non-Christmas celebrants? If you're Muslim do you put up something for Laylat al-Qadr? Hanukkah ornaments if you're Jewish? What do Neo-Pagans put out? (Well, okay, if they put out something Yule-y or Winter Solstice-y no one would know the difference.) How about Christians who still don't celebrate "Popish" holidays?

I'd never really thought about it until now. . .how do HOAs enforce mandatory Christmas decorations without running afoul of the Fair Housing Act, anyway?

ETA: If this goes into the territory of "religious debate" mods, please feel free to delete.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

Claim you belong to an obscure Christiatic group. You can only have your Christmas decorations up during the Yule Season - December 24 through January 6, AKA the 12 days of Christmas. Due to your beliefs, you cannot put them up prior to the 24nd and cannot take them down prior to the 6th of January.

You made me gag on my water and spew it forth onto the screen are you happy now ?

I went to look at the book and yes it is a bound book to check the rules and it says that All Decorations for any Holiday must be tasteful. I will have to dig further to see what is allowed. We of course will go with the flow and not rock the boat. My dog is a 130 lb Rottie/ Jack Russel mix bawwhwhaa I do not want to draw attention to myself so they do not b ring up the dog.

To the poster who asked " who sits down to mark down how many days a car has been sitting" In my case it would be 1 of the 4 Security guards who patrol our hood and the one is for sure a Narc LOL . He takes pictures of my sons car if it sits more then 10 min in front of our house.
He pretends he is looking out for bad guys when really he is a wierdo who has parking issues LOL

 

[Feej]

Excuse my ignorance, but what the heck is a "HOA"???

 

[Bluestars]

I am just amazed that people NEED a HOA at all. We have never lived in a community with one and have never needed one either. No one has cars up on blocks or garbage all over their yards. People manage to pull their garbage cans back into their garage in a timely manner without fear of having a lien put on their house. It is really too bad that people live in areas where a HOA is necessary vs living in an area where people are just plain old responsible

That's how our old neighborhood was. No HOA and no cars on blocks, no trash in the yard, no yards full of weeds. People seemed to keep up with their homes without rules and regulations.

The neighborhood we live in now has a HOA. I don't like it, but we go with the flow and obey the rules. My dh wasn't thrilled that we couldn't have a shed in our backyard. You must have two trees in your front yard. You can't keep your garage door open unless you are going in or out, although they don't seem to enforce this strictly.

We got written up for the edge of our fence not having a brick column. However, since the house was new and the builder put up the fence, he came back and fixed it for free. We have also been written up for putting out our bagged leaves too soon and for keeping the light above our garage on all night. We have since put up a motion light.

Whenever we move, I really hope it's to a place that does no have a HOA.

 

[Pigeon]

I would never buy a house with a HOA.

I've owned homes in several different states, and have never had a problem with people not keeping up their homes or putting cars on blocks, etc. I don't need some committee of people who were potty trained at gunpoint telling me what color to paint my trim or when to put up my holiday decorations.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Excuse my ignorance, but what the heck is a "HOA"???

Homeowners Association

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I don't think a neighborhood can have rules that violate the constitution--or can they?

There is a faith that comes to mind that doesn't celebrate any holiday in any way--so fining them for not doing something that is against their faith, would be illegal, wouldn't it?

HOA covenants/rules do not supersede town, state, or federal laws. They can sure try to make you think they do.

for example, ours tries to make you think that you HAVE to place your DISH receiver in the back, out of sight, etc. However, there are laws that an HOA or rental landlord can not prevent you from having a receiver dish. Therefore, you are free to place your dish where ever necessary in order to receive the signal.

we are allowed to decorate as we wish (or not) for holidays. The only thing our covenants cover and really enforce is that we take them down in a reasonable amount of time. They are flexible when the weather has been too bad.

 

[jsmith]

My dog is a 130 lb Rottie/ Jack Russel mix

completely off topic-but this produced a mental image that made me.
I can see why you dont want your HOA to find out about that

 

[Feralpeg]

Local, county and state ordinances are very broad and speak mostly to health issues (gasoline leaking into the soil from cars on blocks, house must be up to code, etc). They don't tell you that all your curtains must have white backing, you can only have 14 bushes and two trees, or you can't park your car in your driveway - garage only.

I can live with local, county and state ordinances. The people mad with power there typically prey on the people within their own offices. Power-mad HOA Presidents and members, however, prey on everyone within the neighborhood.

I guess you've not seen the regulations for living in Celebration, Florida. They are very strict on what you can and cannot do. For instance, all curtains must have a white backing. These regulations are for all of Celebration.

In my neighborhood, we are controled by an HOA. There are about 20 different color schemes for homes. When I had my house built, I had to pick one of those color schemes. I cannot paint my house anything that is not an approved color scheme. We have regulations stating how many trees we can have in our yards. There is a regulation that states how close you can plant to the edge of your property. We can park on the street, however.

I know this sounds bad, but it really isn't. Having lived in a neighborhood before where people could (and did) paint their houses anything that appealed to them, I prefer the restrictions.

 

[aprilgail2]

The neighborhood we live in now has a HOA. I don't like it, but we go with the flow and obey the rules. My dh wasn't thrilled that we couldn't have a shed in our backyard. You must have two trees in your front yard. You can't keep your garage door open unless you are going in or out, although they don't seem to enforce this strictly.

We got written up for the edge of our fence not having a brick column. However, since the house was new and the builder put up the fence, he came back and fixed it for free. We have also been written up for putting out our bagged leaves too soon and for keeping the light above our garage on all night. We have since put up a motion light.

Whenever we move, I really hope it's to a place that does no have a HOA.

The tree thing would kill me LOL- we just managed to get rid of the last tree in our yard, I hate trees in my yard!
What is the purpose for no shed in the yard?? Where in the world are you supposed to keep your lawn equipment or pool equipment?? We don't have a garage so we would be up a creek with no shed!
Your HOA "writes you up" for leaving a light on at night on your own property? OMG- I just couldn't even imagine living in a place like that-how awful!!

 

[rgf207]

and what will they do if you don't have your lights up? Fine you? If you don't pay the fine (at least here in NC) they can't do a thing about it. The only thing that is enforcable is HOA dues. Even if it was enforcable I doubt a HOA would use HOA money to sue you for the fine money.

Relax and put up your lights when you want. BTW - if its not in your covenants it is also not enforcable.

Here in Maryland Dues and Fines are enforcable. We put a lein on a property if they do not pay dues for fines.

 

[HM]

I doubt that Holiday Lighting times/dates are in the HOA rules. They are requesting that everyone do it at once, but can't really enforce it. Put them up when you want.