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Letter I sent to my Home Owners Association
- Thread starter joslar15
- Start date
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Brick House
Plinker
I HATE our Home Owners' association, There are 3 old retired men that are bored and drive around the neighborhood just trying to find anything to screw with the residents about. The sad thing is We are paying them to screw with us !!
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I absolutely LOVE our homeowners association!
I just installed an above ground 500 gallon diesel storage tank adjacent to my workshop. My neighbor called the association to complain. He found out that my tank complies with the association rules!
This is the same guy who yelled at my wife about me shooting on my land and said he would call the sheriff on me.
This is the same guy who asked me to move a decorative fence because it was in visual line with where he wanted to put a swimming pool . . . and when I told him the place he wanted to put the pool was on MY LAND he objected . . . and then I proved to him that MY LAND is, in fact, MY LAND and his driveway may actually cross the property line (about 1 square foot at the corner).
So this spring we put in a new septic system RIGHT NEXT TO HIS PROPERTY LINE. I think he may move his vegetable garden to the other side of his yard!!!
By the end of summer there will probably be an ugly 6' tall vinyl fence cutting through "his" yard, which will, in fact, be running down the property line between our yards. I'm getting a little sick and tired of his whining but am glad the HOA is there to protect me from most of his crap!
I just installed an above ground 500 gallon diesel storage tank adjacent to my workshop. My neighbor called the association to complain. He found out that my tank complies with the association rules!
This is the same guy who yelled at my wife about me shooting on my land and said he would call the sheriff on me.
This is the same guy who asked me to move a decorative fence because it was in visual line with where he wanted to put a swimming pool . . . and when I told him the place he wanted to put the pool was on MY LAND he objected . . . and then I proved to him that MY LAND is, in fact, MY LAND and his driveway may actually cross the property line (about 1 square foot at the corner).
So this spring we put in a new septic system RIGHT NEXT TO HIS PROPERTY LINE. I think he may move his vegetable garden to the other side of his yard!!!
By the end of summer there will probably be an ugly 6' tall vinyl fence cutting through "his" yard, which will, in fact, be running down the property line between our yards. I'm getting a little sick and tired of his whining but am glad the HOA is there to protect me from most of his crap!
I think you only made 1 mistake; Getting involved with any Homeowners association.
I admit I didn't read your letter, but it doesn't matter. I'd play nice, yes sir, yes ma. And be making relocation plan. Might take you a couple years to get out but OUT you should get!
Otherwise this is only the first of many letters.
I admit I didn't read your letter, but it doesn't matter. I'd play nice, yes sir, yes ma. And be making relocation plan. Might take you a couple years to get out but OUT you should get!
Otherwise this is only the first of many letters.
My HOA is too restrictive as well. It's really not there to protect the property owner as much as it is to try to control people's behavior and get them to fit into the mold of what a "good neighbor" is supposed to be.
Hopefully, we'll be moving next summer.
Hopefully, we'll be moving next summer.
eldirector
Grandmaster
When home shopping a few years ago, we specifically avoided neighborhoods with associations. What's the point of getting a nice house and yard, if someone else is always setting the rules for it?
One of our neighbors made a comments about starting an association. I just laughed. No way will I ever sign off on that! I'd rather just work out differences man-to-man. I don't need some BOD full of nannys to back me up.
One of our neighbors made a comments about starting an association. I just laughed. No way will I ever sign off on that! I'd rather just work out differences man-to-man. I don't need some BOD full of nannys to back me up.
Well, it's not your HOA that is protecting you. It's the fact that you have rights as a property owner, rights you'd still have without that HOA. The HOA isn't protecting your rights, the law is. Though it would seem that your HOA respects private property rights far more than the average.
That's a shame. You should have. Because then you might realize that he is in complete compliance with the terms of the C&Rs and under no obligation to abide by their request.
Honestly I think you guys who hate HOAs are looking at homes in the WRONG neighborhoods.
My 'neighborhood' is only 29 homes spread out over nearly 200 acres in an unincorporated rural area. We have an HOA and it is great. First off, our HOA has NO AUTHORITY over what color you paint your home, why type of tree is in your yard, if you can fly a flag or any of that type of non-sense.
We have simple rules. No trailers parked outside (park it in your garage or barn is OK). No 'work trucks' parked outside (again, park it in your garage or barn). No junk vehicles on blocks on your property. No commercial use of the property.
The board is there to maintain the road and the ditches, not to pester people about what they do.
What very few rules we have actually protect property values, which is good. But the fact that we have very few rules actually protects us from idiot neighbors like the guy who keeps complaining about me. All of his complaints fall on deaf ears because I am NOT breaking the rules! So he calls to complain and they tell him that my actions are legal/legit. He may not like it but it is his tough luck.
The key to buying into an HOA is to VERY CAREFULLY read the rules BEFORE you ever sign on the dotted line. Will the rules hinder your legitimate actions and will they protect you from busy-body neighbors? Mine protect me and I love it.
My 'neighborhood' is only 29 homes spread out over nearly 200 acres in an unincorporated rural area. We have an HOA and it is great. First off, our HOA has NO AUTHORITY over what color you paint your home, why type of tree is in your yard, if you can fly a flag or any of that type of non-sense.
We have simple rules. No trailers parked outside (park it in your garage or barn is OK). No 'work trucks' parked outside (again, park it in your garage or barn). No junk vehicles on blocks on your property. No commercial use of the property.
The board is there to maintain the road and the ditches, not to pester people about what they do.
What very few rules we have actually protect property values, which is good. But the fact that we have very few rules actually protects us from idiot neighbors like the guy who keeps complaining about me. All of his complaints fall on deaf ears because I am NOT breaking the rules! So he calls to complain and they tell him that my actions are legal/legit. He may not like it but it is his tough luck.
The key to buying into an HOA is to VERY CAREFULLY read the rules BEFORE you ever sign on the dotted line. Will the rules hinder your legitimate actions and will they protect you from busy-body neighbors? Mine protect me and I love it.
All of the above may be true now, but HOA rules can and do change. What may be acceptable today may not be in the future, especially if there is some turn over among your neighbors. In most cases you have already agreed to abide by those future changes, good or bad by signing on up front.
NOT always true.
In fact it is virtually impossible to achieve a rule change in my neighborhood.
85% of the homeowners must agree at a meeting, multiple votes by the homeowners, blah blah blah. All was set up to PREVENT rule changes.
The most people we've ever had at a meeting has been about 60% of the homeowners and lately we have not been able to get a 50% turnout to even consider anything other than minimal maintainence. The HOA rules in my neighborhood are probably different than many, but not too unusual either. They were set up to protect property rights with only a few select limits and then they also are set up for common area maintainence (road and ditches). They are NOT free flowing or easy to change, in fact they are practically impossible to change.
Two points.
First, provide an example where the HOA protected you in such a way that simply being the property owner wouldn't have. You HOA doesn't protect you. Telling your neighbor to pound sand isn't a protection. In fact, having the HOA gives him somebody to complain to. It also means that at some point in time, HE could be the ones making decisions and where does that leave you?
Second, it's not an HOA as much as the terms of the C&Rs, as you have said. But every HOA is a restriction on property rights by definition. I fail to see how subordinating my full compliment of rights for nothing in return benefits me in the least.
YMMV.
I think he's already answered that:
I really dislike HOAs, but it sounds like melensdad has a good one that he's happy with.
I live in the country, no city restrictions or strict zoning laws to protect me. The HOA, when it was originally founded, included minimum house sizes and standards of construction, as well as the other restrictions I already listed. We found that very attractive because those protect property values, which is especially important outside of city limits. So all the homes in my neighborhood are at least 2400 square feet. Not big, but not small. All were constructed on site, none are modular. All are of somewhat similar construction (2x6 exterior framing, wood or brick siding, etc). Basically the rules set minimum standards and that is a guarantee of basic standards, but nothing more.
Simply put, go buy 10 acres of land and build your dream home. Then watch someone come in, buy 2 acres next to you, pop up a double-wide, and idle his semi-truck in the drive. What do you think will happen to the property value of your dream home? Your rights to use your property use were not restricted by the modular home of much lower value or the idling big rig next door, but your quality of life and your property values both dropped. Doesn't matter if your home is worth $100,000 or $2,000,000.00, what happens on that 2 acres next door just screwed your financial situation.
Or, another scenario we actually saw, a guy had 72 acres of beautiful land with a nice small house that was neatly kept. Next door neighbor turned his property into a legal dump! The value of that 72 acres collapsed to far below market. Your rights to your property use were not restricted by the dump next door, but your quality of life and your property values both dropped.
In the city limits those things are not concerns, so perhaps a HOA may be a real PITA, but out in rural areas the existence of an HOA, if and only if, the rules/bylaws/covenants are modest, can be a very good thing.
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gunman41mag
Shooter
My HOA sucks, They want to control the way you live in your own house
scott delaney
Sharpshooter
- Nov 25, 2009
- 656
- 18
the pres of our hoa lost his job filed for ch 13 and left the county.....with 3 yrs of hoa money.......theres a warrant for his arest but he move to calli
