What is the DUMBEST / WORST HOA rule you have ever heard of?

[Papa Deuce]

My wife lived in a development where she could only decorate her Christmas tree in white lights if it could be seen from the street.

See, that only make me want to put up colored lights.... lots and lots and lots, and lots of colored lights....

I have never lived in, and never will live in a home that has a HOA, so tell me, are these rules just decided by a few people on the board, or does every single homeowner get to vote? Are these rules made by simple majority? 2/3 of the people? 3/4 of the people?

If I want pink flamingos on my lawn, I'm putting pink flamingos on my lawn --- not that I want them....

ETA... BTW, what happens if you don't comply? Do they fine you? What if the person getting fined refuses to pay? Does it go to court?

 

[Angelhalo]

No balloons on the mailbox for a birthday party


STUPID!!!!!

 

[KelNottAt]

No clothes lines is a pretty common one. I think they're considered eye sores.

I think the "green" movement is getting enough steam these days that that rule might start to fade away.

 

[Papa Deuce]

No balloons on the mailbox for a birthday party


STUPID!!!!!

Maybe they would prefer a clown with a welcome sign walking around in the streets?

 

[CharityLynn]

we couldn't have patterned curtains in the windows..I remember that one because my son's room was Nemo and we couldn't use the nemo curtains...it seems like there were other strange ones too.

 

[CharityLynn]

I'm pretty sure there was one about BBQ grills on balconys too..somethign about safety, I guess they want you to use your BBQ Grill indoors...

 

[AmberDaClown]

The lawn had to be within a certain shade on a color strip when we lived in Colorado. This was during a drought.

We were not allowed to keep our rotating light up inflatable dredel after Chanukah.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

We have a pretty strict HOA here. If you are in serious violation of one of the covenants (which you are given a copy of before you move in-its almost as big as a phone book!) they can fine you..if you don't pay, they can put a lien on your house. I am thankful for most of the rules. There is a lady that drives around ( I saw her once) in a van marked "Architechtural Inspectors" and she writes up violations and sends them to the HOA. Our neighbor was written up because their front door needed to be painted/stained. We are waiting for that letter, ours is in desperate need.

No signs/flags of any kind on property. No yard sales..

The silliest covenants I can think of are that no toys/bikes/kids stuff is supposed to be on the front lawn. We have never complied with that rule, and have never been written up for it..Also- that your garage door is supposed to be closed when you don't need it open for a reason.

 

[tar heel]

No, I don't think it's common for a few people on a board to make new rules. We knew what the rules were when we moved into our neighborhood. Anything added to the covenants takes, I think, a 3/4 of the membership vote.

Ours doesn't have anything too outlandish -- no clotheslines, no garbage cans stored visible from the street, approval required for adding structures in the front or painting a different color, no RVs/boats in the driveway, etc.. There are rules about basketball goals in the streets and cars parked overnight in the street that aren't really followed.

Our neighborhood is about 14 years old and there have been two HOA rules changes -- the small satelite dishes are now allowed and dues go up based on an inflation average that so far has yielded an increase totaling less than $20 per year.

 

[agentpleakley]

We don't have any strange ones per se - but administration of the rules & money is left in the hands of 4 idiots - who felt that it was a better idea to install a $35,000 swing set (that is only suitable for children under 5) and to do away with security (despite a significant increase in thefts, trespass, and vandalism). Their decisions on approvals (I think you even have to ask their approval if you want to take a "you know") is totally arbitrary and dependent on who you are. -- The arbitrariness has yet to apply to me - but I've seen it in action, in case you are wondering.

To enact a new rule - 2/3 vote is required of thos present at annual meetings. Since most people don't go - the board gets their way.

 

[Angelhalo]

no RVs/boats in the driveway

There's be nowhere to live if that were a popular rule in FL. Every other house in our neighborhood has one next to their driveway

 

[TnTsParty]

I don't live in a HOA and most likely never will (I just don't like people telling me what I can and can't do with a house I own) but there are rules that the city has that are enforced by code enforcement. One of those is no RVs or boats in front of the front peak of the house (meaning they have to be kept either on the side of the house or in the back - not in the driveway) I personally don't like people keeping their boat/RV in the driveway - why would they want to hide their house like that.

But then again the city doesn't do all that well with enforcing the rules - most of the time people get violations is when someone calls to compain or there is other construction in the neighborhood and therefore code enforcement is around more often.

 

[ilisao]

The lawn had to be within a certain shade on a color strip when we lived in Colorado. This was during a drought.

We were not allowed to keep our rotating light up inflatable dredel after Chanukah.

OMG! You have a rotating light up inflatable dreidel? Seriously? No joke? If so, where did you get it?

I am Jewish and I want one.

 

[Cup Cake]

No clothes lines is a pretty common one. I think they're considered eye sores.

I think the "green" movement is getting enough steam these days that that rule might start to fade away.

I would love to have a clothes line, but we're not allowed to. Maybe I'll just put one up and see what happens. Gotta go green.

 

[Brianne]

We're not allowed to have above-ground pools, although I'm not sure why. It stinks because it's not like we have $30k just lying around to have a pool put in right now!

Oh well.

 

[Cup Cake]

We were required to sod, not seed the front lawn.

Why only the front lawn I don't get.

 

[eeyoremum]

I have a question. Are these some kind of gate community or condo units you live in where you pay a fee to a corperation? These are just regular homes on a regular street are they?

I just can't see how a few people can dictate what you do in a home you bought and paid for.

 

[jennyl772003]

I'm pretty sure there was one about BBQ grills on balconys too..somethign about safety, I guess they want you to use your BBQ Grill indoors...

This one, in my experience, is actually a fire code thing and not a HOA thing. It is a fire hazard to use charcoal and gas grills on a balcony. In our town, you are allowed to use a gas grill that takes those little canisters though. When we lived in our apartment, we used to get a notice from the FD every year about this.

My condo assoc is good, nothing too crazy. But it's small, only 12 units.

 

[jrmasm]

no RVs/boats in the driveway, etc..

We have that rule and I have to say it's one of my favorites!

 

[mselly13]

I used to live in a neighborhood with an HOA and it was okay. Nothing too bad. But, DH and I drove through 2 newer neighborhoods just last week. It was awful. There was probably only 10 feet of front yard and less than 10 feet between houses. Every single house had the same white fence in the back. Every house looked so much like the next one. I commented it must feel like your a robot living in a neighborhood like that. We stopped and talked to a homeowner, they said the general rule was the everything had to be uniform...WTH? And to have anything in your backyard that showed above the fence required approval. Why?

I don't think I could do it.