Those crazy HOA nazis are at it again (warning long..sorry PopDaddy!)UPDATE pg 2!!!

[TheOtherVillainess]

They sent everybody in the community a letter informing us of an informal meeting on such and such date in the near future to discuss changes to the CC&Rs about a few things. Most of the things make sense, like not putting cars on blocks out in your yard.

But there are a couple of items on the agenda that really make me sort of ticked off at them.

1)No putting signs of ANY kind (political or otherwise)in your yard until no sooner than 90 days before the event (election, whatever). And no later than 4 days after said event, you must take the signs down.

Now I don't have any signs of any kind in my yard, but there are some people who do supporting various presidential candidates. I'd hate for them to take down their signs because they are only showing support for the candidate of their choice. If I were in their shoes, I'd be angry for being told to take down my sign and that I can only have it up from such and such date to such and such date. As long as the sign is in good repair and doesn't have any offensive material on it, I don't understand why they can't have it out. There's one man on the next street over who's had a John Kerry sign out for months now. I don't agrree with John Kerry, but it's his right to put the sign out and keep it out until the end of the election, I'd think.

2)No cans, bags,containers or receptacles for the storing or disposal of trash, refuse,rubble or debris shall be kept, stored, placed or maintained on any Lot where visible from any street except solely on designated days for the removal of trash and other garbage.

I know for a FACT that is against city policy. DH has been battling with the HOA over this for months. Ever since they forced us to go to using these giant green monstrosities as trashcans, we've been placing them on the side of the house (which is allowed by city code). The HOA thinks this looks tacky. Those cans cannot go in the garage...we have two of them and when we do put them in (during a hailstorm or whatever), they take up half the garage! Now the HOA wants to make it where you can't keep them outside (which is where most people keep them anyway).

The HOA nazis are at it again. This makes me so angry. The proposed meeting is supposed to be within the confines of the pool area on such and such date later this month. If this informal meeting goes like past meetings have, there's no way enough people are going to come to get a quorum which is needed to pass the amendments to the CC&Rs. In order to get quorum, you either have to attend or send in your proxy, which in the past people have not done either. So I'm betting we're safe for a little while longer. It just makes me mad the HOA is doing this.


TOV

 

[orvilleair]

1) Polictical signs. State law kind of sets the guidelines on taken down the signs, and I totally agree with your frustration about when to put them up. How about putting an anti HOA sign in your lawn, and see how long it stays there.

2) Trash cans. I can't believe that rule. I am not going to cart my trashcan to the back of my yard in 4 inches of snow. It's staying out front by the garage. And no consideration for disabled people. Sometimes with holidays, I don't know when the trash gets picked up. It's suppose to be delayed by a day. 4th of July, they came at the regular time, so I had to rush my trash to the curb.

As for the HOA, maybe you can try to get them replaced.

 

[Pin Wizard]

HOAs...gotta hate 'em! Ours has a problem with garbage cans outside also. They have to be inside! YUCK!!!!!!!!!!! No garages here, and it doesn't belong in my sunroom!! Let's not even get into where the dog "stuff" goes when I have to clean up "immediately" after. It's not going in my garbage can in the sunroom!

Recently, our neighborhood board people wanted to pass an amendment limiting the number of units that can rent at a time. Give me a break! I would probably be the one to come along being one unit too late. But were they persistent buggers! Even showed up on my doorstep to sign a proxy.

Good luck!!!

 

[legs22]

I don't even have a HOA but the city I live in requires that garbage cans not be visible from the street. If you don't, code enforcement will warn first and then fine if no action is taken. People use fencing or bushes to hide it. So, I don't think your HOA is being too outrageous on this.

As for this sign thing, a friend is on the board of his HOA and they are very strict about signs. So I don't think it is an unusual request by the HOA.

 

[disykat]

I also think it sounds reasonable. Depending on the weather, signs can get pretty raggedy after 94 days. That sounds like plenty of time to allow people to advertise on their front lawns to me. Frankly, anything longer sounds like a permanant property fixture to me!

As for the trash. I've never lived anywhere where it was acceptable to look at the trash from the street. Put up a very small fence panel, stick the trash can behind it, and you're set. That became city code years ago where my parents live.

If people don't care to come to the meeting, obviously you are in the minority about being upset about this. If you had said people weren't allowed to put signs on their lawns for more than 3 days or that trash cans had to be stored within hours - THAT I would consider unreasonable.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Orville--I know a few people who'd LOVE to get the HOA replaced. It's not the HOA board that's so bad. It's the manager hired by the company that runs the HOA that's a pain in the rear end. Nobody really likes her at all but unless we can ditch the HOA, she's here to stay.

And unfortunately, ditching the HOA isn't going to be easy. We have to have a certain number of votes (80%) to get rid of them. Unfortunately, the way it's written is this. Each home gets one vote. But the HOA gets 5 votes for every house still owned by the builders (Ryland). And until those homes get sold, there is NO WAY we can outvote them. We discussed this at a meeting a few months ago and the HOA mgr told us there was no way the builders would vote out the HOA.

As for the trash. I've never lived anywhere where it was acceptable to look at the trash from the street. Put up a very small fence panel, stick the trash can behind it, and you're set. That became city code years ago where my parents live.

City code says as long as the cans are in good repair and behind the front line of your house (where the garage is on ours), you can keep your cans outside. We thought about putting up a fence panel, but unfortunately that's considered 'architechture' and must be approved the the architechtural commitee which takes FOREVER to approve anything. It's a good thing they can't see in our neighbor's back yard. He erected a small arbor for his grapes and if they knew about it, they'd make him take it down until they could inspect it to make sure it 'fits in' with the rest of the community.

TOV

 

[Mskanga]

Don't remind me...we are having our annual meeting this coming saturday and we are going to vote again for the second time in less than six months , to not build another office building right next to me!!!
They are trying their hardest to have it built with amenities , they were voted down in December but now they are going at it again.
We are not allowed to have any signs at all. If anyone told me that I had to move my trash cans someplace else, good luck.
Ours has a problem with propane tanks exposed , they claim it's an eyesore and want bushes around it or lattice.
I won't do any of them because of safety reasons , and when I presented them a copy of the federal guidelines to maintain propane tanks and it clearly said free of obstacles and brush , they finallt left me alone.

 

[Mskanga]

One of my neighbors raised another room above his garage, he didn't need a permit from the HOA because it wasn't considered a structure change, but when I replaced an existent part of the deck that was originally there but ripped out before we bought the house, they wanted me to pay $100 in administrative fees , $35 for the permit and $500 good faith deposit that I would get back upon completion of the job and their satisfaction. Go figure!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

That makes absolutely no sense, kanga.

And I know there's no way we'll ever be able to vote out the HOA. We have a hard enough time getting enough people to come to the meetings or send in their proxies to get quorum as it is. There is NO WAY we'd ever be able to get enough people to come or send in proxies to get rid of these dorks.

TOV

 

[Toby'sFriend]

There is NO WAY we'd ever be able to get enough people to come or send in proxies to get rid of these dorks.

If most people don't want to come to the meetings, then they must not be all that unhappy with the way things are being run.

 

[Mskanga]

We have the same problem but a lot of our homes or properties are owned by vacationers or are empty lots. The people who don't live here don't really care.

 

[mom2boys]

Another option for "hiding" the trashcans is to invest in a "trash hut" as we call it. We have one of those snap together rubbermaid storage containers for our trash cans. We have two "big green monstrosities" in there. It stands about 4 tall, there is a hinged lid on the top for adding trash to the can while they are still inside the "trash hut" and double doors for easy access to the cans on trash days.

 

[missypie]

Your best defense is to show up (with your other friends in the Assn) well educated. Read not only your declaration, but your bylaws. That will arm you with information on the number of votes they need to pass anything, proxy requirements, etc. There's no need to waste any effort worrying about what "they" can do if you are certain that "they" don't have enough votes do to it.

Personally, I wouldn't want to live in a neighbohood where trash cans and small signs take up permanent residence in folks' front yards, but it's your association, too, and if you want those things, speak up.

 

[Cinders]

2)No cans, bags,containers or receptacles for the storing or disposal of trash, refuse,rubble or debris shall be kept, stored, placed or maintained on any Lot where visible from any street except solely on designated days for the removal of trash and other garbage.

I think I'd have a little fun "hiding" my trashcans.

Sort of like the guy that wanted to repair his steps. The historical society wouldn't let him do this. There was no ban on paint colors so he painted his house a bright lime green with huge dark purple polka dots. Needless to say soon after they let him repair his steps in exchange for him changing the color of his house.

 

[Christine]

I don't think the HOA is being unreasonable. We have both the same rules in our HOA. Honestly, 95% of the people don't have a problem with the trashcans. Our houses have garages that are 20 x 20 feet. This is a full size garage, but most garage are 22 x 22--we have a full garage on the smaller side. I manage to get my big green monster in there along with two recycling bins, a Dodge Dakota pick up, and a Toyota Camry. Granted we do not use our garage as a storage facility. There are some people that do keep the can out on the side. This is a minimum, is not abused, and the HOA lets it go. I think if EVERYONE started doing it and things started looking bad, they would enforce it.

As to the signs, I don't have a problem with that either. As one poster said, anything sitting out in the yard over 90 days will probably start looking bad anyway. I'm sure that the person could have their sign re-evaluated after the 90-day mark and get permission to let the sign stay up longer provided it was well maintained. Our local town/city instituted an ordnance for signs when it got to the point that real estate agents and political candidates were not removing them. They get to be so bad that they obscure the view and then disintegrate and cause garbage. Your HOA is probably anticipating the upcoming election and wants to make sure that signs are up for a finite time.

I think most of the time when HOAs establish these *silly* rules, it is really to protect the neighborhood against extremes. I know that some HOAs are "nazi" though and may nitpick at everything. I just don't see these examples as being very unreasonable. I also think that if you really don't like to be told what to do, you need to find a neighborhood that does not have an HOA. You might change your mind.

 

[Mskanga]

Some rules are reasonable , but some other are just plain ridiculous. When we moved in here, we were allowed to have clothes lines in the backyard, then a couple of years later they said we were not allowed , then after so many people complained they decided to allow them again but with restrictions. The funny thing is that all along , dog runners have been allowed!

 

[bananiem]

Our covenant says we're supposed to keep our trash cans hidden too. We do because we have the space and since we're outside the city limits some people let their dogs run loose and they get into the garbage.
I can't imagine how bad the garage would smell on a hot Texas summer day with a week's-worth of baby diapers in it!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Well, DH has been diligently researching HOAs and other various things related to the new rules the HOA wants to get passed. It turns out that restricting the signage (beyond what's considered reasonable..no permanent structure over X ft high with blinking lights or moving parts, which is in city code anyway I think) might possibly be a violation of the first amendment. DH has drawn up some draft versions of flyers he's thinking of having copied down at Kinko's to put in everybody's mailbox to let them know of the issue. I'm thinking of using babelfish to translate it into Spanish also because there are a lot of Spanish speaking residents in the area who tend not to show up at HOA meetings because they don't speak English.

Somebody mentioned people not showing up because they feel like the HOA is doing a good job. The feeling I've always gotten is that the only reason people don't show up is they just don't care. The people that DO show up at the meetings are the same ones EVERY STINKING TIME who end up tying up the meeting with stupid arguments about this, that or the other that they don't like. Sometimes the arguments are valid (like a street in our subdivision that's been used as a drag strip that needs a stop sign) but most of the time it's just silly squabbling that doesn't get anything accomplished.

I can't imagine how bad the garage would smell on a hot Texas summer day with a week's-worth of baby diapers in it!

:rofl: That made me giggle, bananiem. Thanks. And yes..it would STINK to high heaven if we had to keep our cans inside. I don't think even the deodorized bags we put in the diaper bucket would be able to stand up to a week's worth of poopy diapers in a hot garage. P.U.!


I'll continue to update you on what's going on with this issue. The HOA meeting is on Aug 10, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully, the most unreasonable of the HOAs demands won't be passed. We hope.

TOV

 

[mickeyfan1]

Originally posted by TheOtherVillainess
They sent everybody in the community a letter informing us of an informal meeting on such and such date in the near future to discuss changes to the CC&Rs about a few things. Most of the things make sense, like not putting cars on blocks out in your yard.

But there are a couple of items on the agenda that really make me sort of ticked off at them.

1)No putting signs of ANY kind (political or otherwise)in your yard until no sooner than 90 days before the event (election, whatever). And no later than 4 days after said event, you must take the signs down.

Now I don't have any signs of any kind in my yard, but there are some people who do supporting various presidential candidates. I'd hate for them to take down their signs because they are only showing support for the candidate of their choice. If I were in their shoes, I'd be angry for being told to take down my sign and that I can only have it up from such and such date to such and such date. As long as the sign is in good repair and doesn't have any offensive material on it, I don't understand why they can't have it out. There's one man on the next street over who's had a John Kerry sign out for months now. I don't agrree with John Kerry, but it's his right to put the sign out and keep it out until the end of the election, I'd think.

2)No cans, bags,containers or receptacles for the storing or disposal of trash, refuse,rubble or debris shall be kept, stored, placed or maintained on any Lot where visible from any street except solely on designated days for the removal of trash and other garbage.

I know for a FACT that is against city policy. DH has been battling with the HOA over this for months. Ever since they forced us to go to using these giant green monstrosities as trashcans, we've been placing them on the side of the house (which is allowed by city code). The HOA thinks this looks tacky. Those cans cannot go in the garage...we have two of them and when we do put them in (during a hailstorm or whatever), they take up half the garage! Now the HOA wants to make it where you can't keep them outside (which is where most people keep them anyway).

The HOA nazis are at it again. This makes me so angry. The proposed meeting is supposed to be within the confines of the pool area on such and such date later this month. If this informal meeting goes like past meetings have, there's no way enough people are going to come to get a quorum which is needed to pass the amendments to the CC&Rs. In order to get quorum, you either have to attend or send in your proxy, which in the past people have not done either. So I'm betting we're safe for a little while longer. It just makes me mad the HOA is doing this.


TOV

You will loose on the sign argument. It is not a violation of free speech for time restrictions to be placed. You will also loose on the garbage cans, HOAs can place stricter regulations on things than cities. There are many court rulings on these issues, it is very rare that the HOA loses in court. It is unfortunate that people purchase homes where there is an HOA and then think the rules are not meant for them. There are HOAs which get very hard to deal with, the only recourse you have is to vote out the boards and make sure the people you vote in are going to follow the rules that are in place. If you don't like the rules that are in place, you need to work with your neighbors to change them. IF the neighbors are absentee owners, then it is harder. I have lived where the HOA had to approve all fences, all decks, paint colors, etc. One even had regulations as far as the type and color of door knocker. Yes, it was a pain having to get approvals, but if you think that you don't have to have their blessing, or can violate the established rules, they are well with in their rights to fine you and should you decide not to pay the fine, they can place a lien against your property, and collect the moneys should you sell. And likening HOAs to Nazis, that is a huge exageration.

 

[tonyswife]

My mom and dad have lived in several communities with HOAs. Some of them are like little dictatorships. I think that sometimes, the kind of people who get on those boards do so because they get perverse pleasure out of the "power" To the OP, I'm sorry your HOA is such a thorn in your side.

We will never, ever, ever buy a home with a HOA, period.