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

[marlynnp]

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?

I don't know if this has been answered yet or not. But this is what I do for a living. Yes, you get a fine for noncompliance of the by-laws. If the fine is the only unpaid charge on your account we will not bother to pay a lawyer to collect. Someday the unit will be sold and you won't be able to do so without paying all your outstanding fees. I always get my $'s!

 

[agentpleakley]

These are the standard rules of our HOA (again they are enforced totally arbitrarily:

1. Houses must be over 2500 sq ft (this is okay - but since the neighborhood started in the early 1970s and this provision was only enacted in 2004 -- we have ginormous houses next to 1100 sq ft houses).

2. Any permanent structure must have board's approval & must coincide with house and surrounding environment(again totally arbitrarily enforced)

3. No business run out of the home (arbitrarily enforced - one neighbor was denied and flagged for giving piano lessons out of his home - another neighbor in the ranchette section is running a horse back riding camp/stable out of her home)

4. no signs in yard -- we got flagged when we had the Aloha pool sign in our yard to direct the pool installers to our home. Hmmm -- that looked a whole lot worse, I'll concede, than the president of the HOA's 4000 sq ft home, without a garage door and gravel driveway.

5. No non running cars

6. no metal shed, pole barns, etc.

 

[Camicar]

My ILs live in what I call "Nazitown".

In addition to the white curtains rule, there are so many rules I can't even remember them all. But here are a few.

-NO flags of any size.
-No signs of any kind, including a "Welcome" sign -- which, IMO, is perfectly appropriate, since even the people who live here aren't really welcome here.
-No outdoor decorations of any kind for any reason (including balloons for parties or to bring home baby).
-No cars parked in driveways except for visitors and they may NOT be in driveway overnight (so no overnight visitors with car).
-No flowers planted in pre-approved 'planting' space at front of each house (which were ALL laid out by the HOA and cannot be expanded or diminished) except if they are in pots sunk into the ground with the rims visible above the dirt. This rule makes me want to cut off flower pots so that they are just rims and put them around the flowers I have dared to plant in dirt.
-No fading or dead blooms on flowers.

They have a little SS troop of their own that goes around twice a day and makes 'reports'. If they find anything outside in violation such as flowers or decoration they will rip it out and throw it away and also fine you.

It honestly makes me crazy to even visit them, knowing that they have given up their freedom. I feel like my grandfather fought fascists so we could be free at home, and yet people willingly sign away their freedoms, including flying a flag!

 

[piglet too]

Right now ours is going nuts. (I do live in a townhouse) We are no longer allowed charcoal grills or more than two chairs and a small table on the porch. Kids bikes are not allowed to be left on the porch, at all. They are paying people to walk around and make sure rules are being followed. If they find anything that is not "allowed" they are throwing it in a dumpster that got dropped in our parking lot.

 

[mariolatry]

Oh my goodness! I can't believe half of these! We live in a condo development with an HOA and have no rules that I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[themarquis]

No longer enforced...

but some subdivisions here, north of chicago, have restrictive covenants that include limiting ownership (or even occupancy) to the caucasion race..!!!!! Some included forfeiture of title as the penalty.

Mikeeee

Yes -- my grandpa's house, bought in 1949, in the *bay area*, CA, had one of these Can you imagine?

I remember it was a big deal, because when we helped him sell it in 1998, we had to get these special documents made up to attach to the HOA rules that basically said any racially discriminatory rules about residents were null, illegal, invalid, etc. I guess we could have gotten sued or something for selling the house w/ the discriminatory HOA rules attached!

 

[Kathi OD]

When the town I live in was first created you were not allowed fences and you weren't allowed to hang clothes out on Sundays. Thankfully those rules are now long gone. There is no HOA here and the town doesn't have many rules.

Sounds like you live where I used to live (Levittown, PA). These are the restrictions from our deed. Fabricated fences of any kind are prohibited on any part of the lot. Shrub or other growing fences may be planted but shall not be permitted to grow to a height exceeding 3 feet. All laundry poles and lines outside of houses are prohibited except that one portable laundry dryer not more than 7 feet high may be used in the rear yard of each house on days other than Sundays or legal holidays; and such dryer shall be removed from the outside when not in actual use. No detached garage, carport or accessory building may be erected. No alteration or addition to the exterior of any dwelling, garage or carport be repainted other than in the colors originally used at the time of the original construction, unless first approved by the Company (ours was battleship gray...yuck!)

The reason the rules weren't enforced is that there was never an HOA established to make sure people didn't break the rules. Enforcement was left to builder, who left town when the community was finished.

BTW.......these rules/covenants were written in 1952!!

 

[caribear]

We have a lot of "rules" from our HOA, but I think most are within reason:

- No cars parked on the street in front of your home for extended periods of time (after 1 day you will get a notice)

- No BBQ grills visible from the front of your home

- You MUST have a privacy fence (white PVC) if you have any type of swingset/trampoline/jungle jim...etc....

- Lawn must be well taken care of....no dead grass/trees/plants/weeds (notices are sent out and they mean business!!)

- No trailers or boats in driveway.....they must be in your garage or you have to find a storage facility

- All additions to home structure must have board approval

- All paint colors (for outside of home) must be approved by the board

I could go on.......but I do have to say our subdivision looks very well manicured/inviting as compared to many others in the area. There is a subdivision not too far from me that has only been here for about 1 year.....already they have homes that have grass as high as my knees....weeds everywhere.....5-6 cars parked in front of the house or actually in the grass......it's really unbelievable. I know several people who live in my subdivision who do not like all of the rules, but these were stated before they signed their housing contracts. Our subdivision is gated and the gates used to be open Mon-Fri 7am-7pm.....but about 3 months ago they announced that the gates would be closed all the time now that almost all of the houses were finished being built.....of course there were a couple of homeowners who debated the issue.....so why then did they move into a gated subdivision??

Our fines are also pretty high and we have a law firm that issues the legal notices in relation to paying the fines.

 

[SandraVB79]

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.

Not everyone uses their house to show off, I guess, sometimes you have some necessities, like storing your boat

Many years ago, our neighborhood had a rule that any doghouse you had had to be made of the same materials as the house, with the same architectural style.

We didn't get a dog when we lived in that neigborhood because my father refused to build a red-brick colonial doghouse with white trim.

That dog house would have looked so neat though!!!!!!!!



I bought into an appartment building, there are some rules that are not at all enforced. And I will be the bad one who try to get some rules enforced, like the ones concerning the underground parking garage.
Their are 18 appartments and an underground garage with 18 numbered spaces, all marked with white lines on the ground (like at a grocery store or so). I have space 2.
It is not allowed to store "stuff" in the garage. My neighbour (space 1) has on her spot (the size for one car, and she has a big car): her car, 2 motorcycles, a gazillion boxes with sampled of vitamine (she's a sales representative), boxes of toys, bikes, car seats, stroller, ... Some of her stuff takes up a lot of place of my space (my car is rather large and I'm not the best car-parker!). Also, because of all the stuff, her car passes the white marks in the front by about 3 feet. Which makes that I have to drive for- and backwards for at least a dozen times to get in my spot. It drives me crazy, and I would like this rule of no junk in garage to be enforced (many other spots have stuff/ junk, I don't like it, but it doesn't make my life more difficult.) I think it's also for security (fire) that it isn't allowed.

Oh well...

BTW, no pets are allowed according to the rules: they have dogs in at least 2 appartments (one never barks, the other always barks) and numerous cats.


ETA: another rule is no satellite dish (for television). This is a clever rule though, because it makes sure that no muslims will buy into it, without you having racist rules. They all need their satellite dish to receive arabic channels.
The big problem with them though is that they are very loud (espacially at night) and cram way too many people in a way too small house/ appartment.

 

[Galahad]

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

I agree. We also have a "no long term parking in the street rule" that I also love. Some poor schmuck is going to be sleepily pulling out of his driveway some early morning and smack into somebody that decided to leave his pick-em-up truck parked on the street.

 

[Todd&Copper]

I can only understand it for like kids window treatments where there are some people who can't afford real curtain or whatever and they basically throw a "Nemo" or "Toy Story" etc sheet up in the window. It is sooooooooo trashy looking. It doesn't make me angry or anything though, I just shake my head and move along, but I can see where the rule came from.

Unless the kiddie sheets are used in EVERY window, I think it is a bit extreme to call it "trashy". It's a kid's room for goodness' sake.

 

[Todd&Copper]

Good golly - that's insane! I'm glad we don't have anything like that here.

Back in California, there was a town that wouldn't allow any color that wasn't an earth tone. White and blue are not earth tones. Even the businesses had to follow the rules.

When you want to live someplace you have to do the research.

You know, that was a rule for a subdivision in HI when I lived there in the late 1970's/early 1980's. Someone wanted to do a blue painted tile roof (I guess it was a Japanese-looking house concept - I was a little kid so I don't remember) and I just couldn't understand why blue was not considered an earth tone. Then, when we moved to FL, most of the homes had decent colors until one family moved in and painted their home flamingo pink with black trim. Luckily, it was not our neighbors, but it was WAY tacky. I couldn't understand why a blue tile roof was so offensive in HI but a pink and black house was A-OK in FL.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

We have alot of Common Areas in our neighborhood and there is an Article in our HOA covenants about them. I love Section 2 titled "Right of Enjoyment". WOW! I have the right to enjoy something!

For those rednecks that might move in our HOA covenants specifically state that the following items are not allowed: outhouses and electronic bug zappers

We do have an Architectural Review Board that has to approve things such as fences, plantings over 12" and exterior paint color changes.

Personally, I don't have a problem with the HOA - it doesn't cause me any problems and it prevents my neighbors from doing crazy stuff. However, I don't know how useful HOA really are. The people that moved in across the street about a month ago continue to violate the 'no parking overnight in the street' rule every night even after getting a letter from the HOA.

 

[golfgal]

I am just amazed that people need HOA rules at all. We have never lived in an area with a HOA and everyone seems to be able to cut their grass and keep their property looking descent without a bunch of Nazi's walking around telling them to do that. We don't have any wild colored houses, no cars up on blocks. There are a few boats on parking pads along the sides of a few houses but big deal . Sorry but if I want to plant purple flowers and hang out a flag, I am going to do that.

 

[Maleficent13]

Okay, that is INSANE. I'm glad I've never lived in a home with a HOA--just hearing the things on this thread is giving me hives.

Ditto. I'm with golfgal too...my neighborhood is as far from a HOA as you can get, and yet we all manage to mow and *gasp* plant appropriate flowers.

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Somewhere down in Florida there were HOA rules that limited the number of guest you could have stay overnight and for how long. Apparently there were a lot of evil people in the subdivision giving refuge to hurricane victims. Everyone knows how charity, kindness, and good will drives down property values.

 

[SandraVB79]

Somewhere down in Florida there were HOA rules that limited the number of guest you could have stay overnight and for how long. Apparently there were a lot of evil people in the subdivision giving refuge to hurricane victims. Everyone knows how charity, kindness, and good will drives down property values.

When you think you've heard it all!

 

[Aisling]

We had a vacation home in a lakeside development with a strict HOA. We liked the idea at first because we thought it would force people to keep their property "nice". We've since sold the house.

One of the rules was that you could only have one trash can, and it had to be purchased through the HOA. So every Friday, the whole development had their one matching trash cans on the curb. If you had more than could fit in the covered can, you had to take the extra trash to the dump.

 

[Mom21]

Ours was no boat in the driveway except on the weekend when you were getting it ready to go out on the water (i.e. packing cooler, life vest, people, etc). So one Tuesday hubby brought it from storage to get ready to go out. It was there less than 30 minutes, before we took off. We got written up. Got out of the fine by proving the his "weekend" was Tues/Wed.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I agree. We also have a "no long term parking in the street rule" that I also love. Some poor schmuck is going to be sleepily pulling out of his driveway some early morning and smack into somebody that decided to leave his pick-em-up truck parked on the street.

Awwww poor baby! He was too sleepy to operate a vehicle but he did anyway. Now he ran over something as big as a car!

sorry, I just hate it when people think this way...

Mikeeee