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Have HOAs gone too far?
Posted on 8/4/16 at 4:34 am
Posted on 8/4/16 at 4:34 am
An interesting, long read on the Lexington-Herald website today about Homeowner's Associations and whether they've garnered too much power.
Obviously there's a need for some regulations so people will maintain their property but some of the stuff in the article sounds kind of nuts.
Obviously the option would be to not move into a neighborhood with one but per the article, 80% of new homes are built within one and 1 and 5 people currently live in a neighborhood/condo with one already established.
LINK
Obviously there's a need for some regulations so people will maintain their property but some of the stuff in the article sounds kind of nuts.
quote:
A mother of three in Tennessee told The Star that she attempted suicide after becoming wrought with stress over dealing with her HOA.
The woman said that although she had a documented medical condition that made it difficult for her to move her trash cans to the back of her house, the association hounded her and repeatedly threatened to sue because she placed them on the side of the building. She said she also was written up for putting two 8-inch birdhouses — made by her children — in front of the garage.
quote:
A lot of people don’t realize, especially first-time homebuyers, that when you purchase into these homeowners associations you are giving up some of your constitutional rights and some of your due process rights,” said Dave Russell, who rescued a troubled Arizona condo association and now runs it to much acclaim.
Obviously the option would be to not move into a neighborhood with one but per the article, 80% of new homes are built within one and 1 and 5 people currently live in a neighborhood/condo with one already established.
LINK
This post was edited on 8/4/16 at 4:50 am
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Posted on 8/4/16 at 5:44 am to BluegrassBelle
This is why we specifically picked a house that didn't have one.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 6:16 am to DrewDawg13
Kinda in the same boat. We live in a historic district with 150+ year old homes. Kinda cool, kinda sucks.
These awesome 400k houses pop up out in the suburbs that we keep thinking about moving out to but between what I know the mortgages are out there and the crap I hear the HOA pulls on them I have no desire to mess with it.
These awesome 400k houses pop up out in the suburbs that we keep thinking about moving out to but between what I know the mortgages are out there and the crap I hear the HOA pulls on them I have no desire to mess with it.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 6:16 am to BluegrassBelle
quote:
Have HOAs gone too far?
Yes....I became the Director of an HOA bc the board had literally lost it's fricking mind.
My next house will not be anywhere near an HOA.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 6:39 am to BluegrassBelle
I'm the President of our HOA, but I live out in the country, and we have no real enforcement except to put a lien on someone's property if they aren't following a rule, which means nothing unless they are selling the home.
Do HOA inside city limits have powers beyond that?
For example, I have a neighbor who doesn't care for his yard at all, sometimes lets it get 12 inches tall before mowing, and doesn't weed eat or clear under his trees, or anything. We have rules about the outside appearance of the homes, but really can't do anything about it.
Also have a neighbor who has a truck without an engine sitting in his front yard, been there for years, but it's not allowed by rule.
Again, we can put a lien, but what good is that really.
Do HOA inside city limits have powers beyond that?
For example, I have a neighbor who doesn't care for his yard at all, sometimes lets it get 12 inches tall before mowing, and doesn't weed eat or clear under his trees, or anything. We have rules about the outside appearance of the homes, but really can't do anything about it.
Also have a neighbor who has a truck without an engine sitting in his front yard, been there for years, but it's not allowed by rule.
Again, we can put a lien, but what good is that really.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 6:44 am to BluegrassBelle
HOA is the only thing I disliked about the neighborhood we just bought a house in. But we'd made up our minds going in that we were going to pick a house that we wanted on its own merits, HOA or not.
That said, our HOA really hasn't hindered our lifestyle or limited us or anything. Pretty laissez-faire, which I'm thankful for.
That said, our HOA really hasn't hindered our lifestyle or limited us or anything. Pretty laissez-faire, which I'm thankful for.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 7:17 am to kywildcatfanone
quote:
Do HOA inside city limits have powers beyond that?
Ours doesn't. A lien is about the only thing they can legally do, other than public shaming.
Ours used to be horrible. There was an old retired guy on the board that would drive around the neighborhood policing it for violations. I got a letter from them almost once a week for the most trivial shite. He got removed from the board though, and I haven't gotten anything from them in years. I think they realized after the houses in our neighborhood didn't lose any value in the housing crash, they didn't need to be dicks over trivial stuff. My neighborhood is highly sought after and houses average just a few weeks on the market before being sold.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 7:43 am to The Spleen
quote:
A lien is about the only thing they can legally do
But a lien is a VERY powerful legal document and HOA's should not have that kind of power since most board members a retarded to legal proceedings & what is and isn't against the law.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 7:45 am to BluegrassBelle
quote:
whether they've garnered too much power.
I think this is silly. Your realtor, or the seller can and will give you a copy of the bylaws. If you don't like them, simply buy a different house.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 7:53 am to BluegrassBelle
I just bought my first house in a neighborhood with an HOA. They don't enforce shite and it kinda sucks.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 8:17 am to kywildcatfanone
quote:
Do HOA inside city limits have powers beyond that?
Not really.
I know some that will throw the neighborhood rental dumpster(spring cleaning) in front of a drive way with extensive fines, liens...
Posted on 8/4/16 at 8:20 am to BluegrassBelle
Some HOAs are pure crap, like the one in your link, but you don't want neighbors neglecting their property.
We don't have an HOA and there's a guy at the end of the street that is letting his house visibly rot in places, the driveway has crumbled away, and his shrubs are a tangled mess. It looks like the Addam's family house. He does cut his grass though. Here's where the problem sits. 2 other houses are for sale at the end of the same street and the sales are being hindered by the lazy pig's house. Who the hell would want to live next door or across the street from that?
Another good HOA rule is not allowing a house to be put up for rent. There's to much trash that can only rent and they will bring down a neighborhood too.
We don't have an HOA and there's a guy at the end of the street that is letting his house visibly rot in places, the driveway has crumbled away, and his shrubs are a tangled mess. It looks like the Addam's family house. He does cut his grass though. Here's where the problem sits. 2 other houses are for sale at the end of the same street and the sales are being hindered by the lazy pig's house. Who the hell would want to live next door or across the street from that?
Another good HOA rule is not allowing a house to be put up for rent. There's to much trash that can only rent and they will bring down a neighborhood too.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 8:26 am to mauser
quote:
2 other houses are for sale at the end of the same street and the sales are being hindered by the lazy pig's house. Who the hell would want to live next door or across the street from that?
Like the HOA for this.
quote:
Another good HOA rule is not allowing a house to be put up for rent. There's to much trash that can only rent and they will bring down a neighborhood too.
Disagree with this, though.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 8:34 am to mauser
quote:
ou don't want neighbors neglecting their property.
Everyone has a different definition of yard neglect though. I'm not a yard guy. I keep it cut and looking halfway decent, but I'm not going to pay someone to keep it perfect, nor am I going to spend my entire weekend keeping it up. I think it looks fine, but when we had an a-hole on the HOA board I was getting letters about it all the time.
quote:
Who the hell would want to live next door or across the street from that?
As long as the grass is cut, I don't care how my neighbor keeps his/her yard. I have enough shite to worry about in my own life that I have control over.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 9:01 am to TbirdSpur2010
quote:That is because you aren't trashy tbird
That said, our HOA really hasn't hindered our lifestyle or limited us or anything. Pretty laissez-faire, which I'm thankful for.
My parents neighborhood has a loose HOA, they basically are only there to help fund and setup the extra patrols from the cops.
I don't think an HOA would be a problem for me because I'm not trashy. Even if I had kids i wouldn't put home made bird feeders in the front yard.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 9:30 am to BluegrassBelle
In my limited experience the HOA is only as bad as the people in it. If you have shitty neighbors who bitch about little things, the HOA will be a pain. I've lived in two different town homes in urban/densely populated neighborhoods in Houston that had them, one was great and easy to deal with, one was terrible because a small minority in it constantly complained about the parking
This post was edited on 8/4/16 at 9:33 am
Posted on 8/4/16 at 9:40 am to heartbreakTiger
quote:
My parents neighborhood has a loose HOA, they basically are only there to help fund and setup the extra patrols from the cops.
Yeah that's basically all mine does. That and setup neighborhood events. They have a lot of stuff going on for the kids, so I'll probably like the HOA even more when I have some.
Wifey even works for the HOA part time as a fitness instructor.
quote:
I don't think an HOA would be a problem for me because I'm not trashy. Even if I had kids i wouldn't put home made bird feeders in the front yard.
I HATE the term "trashy" and use it only sparingly but......bird feeders in the FRONT yard?
Why? Just....why?
Posted on 8/4/16 at 10:17 am to ShaneTheLegLechler
Have y'all seen the Nextdoor app? It's basically a discussion board for your neighborhood, and most of the posts are people asking for painter, lawncare, etc. recs.
The things people in my neighborhood bitch about though is crazy. There was a thread on there about them being upset the landscape people planted flowers that blocked the name of the subdivison on the brick wall entrance. It had about 30 responses. Unreal.
The things people in my neighborhood bitch about though is crazy. There was a thread on there about them being upset the landscape people planted flowers that blocked the name of the subdivison on the brick wall entrance. It had about 30 responses. Unreal.
Posted on 8/4/16 at 10:27 am to TbirdSpur2010
I live in one and I hate it. I've always hated them. I didn't want to move there because of it but the mrs. won out because she loved the house.
Growing up, my parents bought a house in a very affluent neighborhood here which had one. One of the bylaws was no cars parked on the street for 24 hours. Well when my sister and I reached driving age and bought cars, we parked them on the street so we didn't have to do a Chinese fire drill in the mornings to get out of my parents' way when they had to get to work. They kept sending letters and we kept ignoring them. At some point common sense has to prevail.
My house now has an HOA that formed very shortly after a decent portion of the neighborhood went up. One of the bylaws was that all mailboxes must be uniform. I'm cool with that. Problem is my entire street and the surrounding ones are part of that initial 2003 construction so NO ONE has a sanctioned mailbox. I took the initiative to go cut down a tree and saw a post from scratch so it had that natural/rustic look. Found the perfect "y" joint and everything so it's one solid 7' piece I buried down 2 ft of concrete. Of course the HOA wants to raise hell about it. I told them if they want to remove it they can use my dues to fund the removal job because I'm not fricking doing it.
Growing up, my parents bought a house in a very affluent neighborhood here which had one. One of the bylaws was no cars parked on the street for 24 hours. Well when my sister and I reached driving age and bought cars, we parked them on the street so we didn't have to do a Chinese fire drill in the mornings to get out of my parents' way when they had to get to work. They kept sending letters and we kept ignoring them. At some point common sense has to prevail.
My house now has an HOA that formed very shortly after a decent portion of the neighborhood went up. One of the bylaws was that all mailboxes must be uniform. I'm cool with that. Problem is my entire street and the surrounding ones are part of that initial 2003 construction so NO ONE has a sanctioned mailbox. I took the initiative to go cut down a tree and saw a post from scratch so it had that natural/rustic look. Found the perfect "y" joint and everything so it's one solid 7' piece I buried down 2 ft of concrete. Of course the HOA wants to raise hell about it. I told them if they want to remove it they can use my dues to fund the removal job because I'm not fricking doing it.
This post was edited on 8/4/16 at 10:28 am
Posted on 8/4/16 at 11:04 am to The Spleen
quote:
Have y'all seen the Nextdoor app? It's basically a discussion board for your neighborhood
Wife and I just started using that app last month.
Holy shite....juvenile city
quote:
There was a thread on there about them being upset the landscape people planted flowers that blocked the name of the subdivison on the brick wall entrance. It had about 30 responses. Unreal.
We had one with about the same number of responses regarding.....people wanting the HOA to plant flowers/shrubbery on a street corner. A corner, by the way, that already has a very nice/neighborhood appropriate rock wall adorning it.
I was floored
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