|
Post by Darcy Collins on Mar 28, 2016 19:47:56 GMT
It might not have been an HOA Lexica Historic designations are notorious for being extremely heavy handed with exterior changes - but they're usually city run, not through an HOA (at least in the places we've lived). I adore old houses, but would be very hesitant to buy a in a historic district because of some of the horror stories I've heard. A colleague wanted to replace their single pane, energy wasting windows with outrageously expensive replicas that would be utterly undetectable in the look, but meet current energy standards. The city refused, saying it wasn't in keeping with the historic character of the home - which apparently requires drafty windows and outrageous heating bills.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
May 21, 2024 2:28:12 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2016 19:50:52 GMT
The elderly gentleman was upset that they had the power to make him rebuild the steps, especially since the original did not have handrails on them. I don't know how it ended, but at the time I was being told the situation, the neighbors were at war with about half saying he had to redo it and half saying leave him alone, he was here before the neighborhood was historical and should be allowed to do what he wanted. I hope he was allowed to keep them. I would hate to think he would end up feeling forced out of the house he was born in. I am not sure that an HOA can overrule building codes. Structures can be rebuilt to the style of , but to code. There are specific measurements for steps and railings. This gentleman should fight this.
|
|
|
Post by Meri-Lyn on Mar 28, 2016 19:52:24 GMT
I thought I remember reading on one of these HOA threads that there are some suburbs or the like where you have no choice but to live in a HOA. Either way not my cup of tea. Just the fees would make me cringe. I noticed a lot of comments and questions here. One thing I never noticed was an explanation of the solutions. If you were a family who likes to RV every weekend of the summer where are you supposed to park your RV if not at your home? Where do you park your cars? Your boat you like to take to the lake sometimes? Does the HOA provide space? Yes, that's pretty much how it is here, particularly with new construction. And similar to Whipea (wonder if we are near or in the same county?), county code enforcement is overworked, and close to non-existent, unless there is a huge issue. Friends around the corner have an RV. Couple families have boats. They rent storage areas to keep them. That's pretty common down here. No rules about how many cars are parked in the driveway, as long as they don't park the sidewalk (and I rarely see that enforced.) The streets are county owned, and you can park in the street, but just not two abreast. That's a county law. (Mainly due that it would prohibit firetrucks from getting through.) No rules about parking in the garage, as a previous poster mentioned. That's just ridiculous, as no one has basements here, and for most families, that's there main place of extra storage. (Oh, and just for trivia's sake, we're only a few miles away from the Edward Scissorhands neighborhood. )
|
|
|
Post by workingclassdog on Mar 28, 2016 20:58:14 GMT
workingclassdog I'm on my HOA board too for the condo complex I live in. I think condos, duplexes and the like are a lot different than HOAs for single family homes. If there were no HOA here there would be no way to split all of the common expenses and make sure that the building as a whole is taken care of. I love the fact that I don't have to do yard work as the HOA hires landscapers and if something happens maintenance wise all I have to do is make a phone call. I am only responsible for things inside my walls and it works out pretty well here for the most part. HOAs in a regular single family home would drive me nuts. It's my house and if I want to put red shingles up or park my car in my driveway you better damn believe I am going to. There is no way I could ever live in a regular neighborhood with an HOA. But then again I just recently drove by a house that had been repainted a dark turquoise color with white trim and thought it was eye catching and beautiful. I like unique things. In homes and neighborhoods unique does not always equal tacky. See ours is still different.... the only thing our HOA for the duplexes cover is painting/roofing. We have to do everything else just like single family homes. Landscaping, shoveling, watering, windows, etc. is done by the home owners. The master still is pretty flexible for our neighborhood....although people like to push the boundaries and get mad. Some guy brought in plants from Arizona and refused to remove them... problem is that since they are not native to our state, they 'could' bring in bugs or disease.. and not to mention they just look out of place.
|
|
|
Post by crimsoncat05 on Mar 28, 2016 22:04:56 GMT
None of the documents cover lawn furniture except under the general guidance of clean and well maintained. You could have pink and blue chairs if you wanted and we would probably decline to act on a complaint because that doesn't violate the guidelines. The palette is siding, trim, roofing. My chairs are cedar because I found them at a tag sale and liked them, that's all. This is how our HOA is. Its really not a big thing at all for us. Re: garages and cars that someone posted about - we can have cars in the drive way over night, but not parked on the street (though I have seen this done and nothing was said. They just don't want cars piled up in front of the homes, like a used car lot. ^^^ not just because of the #s of cars-- our streets are NOT WIDE ENOUGH for on-street parking. The streets in the neighborhoods were designed with the understanding that people would be parking in their driveways or in their garages. Nothing like having to weave right / left / right and play 'chicken' with a car coming the other way down the street, trying to decide who's going to 'make a break for it' and move into the 1-lane portion of the road becuase there's so many cars parked in the street. ALL the neighborhoods in our town have HOAs; the entire town is full of master-planned communities. We knew what we were getting into when we chose to move there. Our dues go towards maintaining the common spaces, yearly social events, decorating the entry area for the holidays, things like that. And never once have I gotten confused about which house was ours; they have similar color schemes but they all do look different. I work with someone who lived in Phoenix, next door to a cat-hoarder; he couldn't even go outside his house during the summer, the smell was so bad. (the smell both from the house next door, and from the cats peeing on his door and making a mess in his yard.) I can't remember how many dead cats they found inside and out of the place, when the city finally managed to get in there to clean it up. Sometimes I get annoyed with our HOA, but I'd rather deal with our HOA than a situation like that, any day. ETA: our houses are so close together that only if you purchase a lot with a larger side yard can you even park an RV anywhere on your property. Our side yards are about 4 feet on one side, and maybe 6 feet on the other. With people pretty much on top of each other, it's nice to have some rules. And there are plenty of RV / boat / toy storage places around. If you have an RV, you bring it to your house to pack or unpack, but other than that, unless you bought a lot specifically WITH RV storage, you rent a space for it somewhere else.
|
|
|
Post by Zee on Mar 28, 2016 22:30:07 GMT
Can someone tell me what magical powers a HOA has over hoarders, etc that the city or county doesn't? I know in some places the city may be overrun with eyesores and complaints, but I've never lived in a HOA and never had the city NOT act on a violation. My former city was actually rather Draconian about trash, weeds, trees, leaves, snow, etc etc. But at least they couldn't dictate the color of our houses or how many vehicles we could park in our own driveways.
|
|
|
Post by crimsoncat05 on Mar 28, 2016 22:57:27 GMT
Can someone tell me what magical powers a HOA has over hoarders, etc that the city or county doesn't? I know in some places the city may be overrun with eyesores and complaints, but I've never lived in a HOA and never had the city NOT act on a violation. My former city was actually rather Draconian about trash, weeds, trees, leaves, snow, etc etc. But at least they couldn't dictate the color of our houses or how many vehicles we could park in our own driveways. ^^^ I don't know for certain, but I'm taking a guess and say it's partly due to the fact that you know going in that you can't (or shouldn't, lol) set up a hoarding type situation if you live in an HOA, mixed with the fact that the HOA can send you letters, fine you, etc. and do it possibly quicker than a municipality could. Our entire town is about 40,000 people with one code enforcement officer for the entire town. Our HOA covers only 3000 houses out of that.
|
|
finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
Jun 26, 2014 0:30:34 GMT
|
Post by finaledition on Mar 28, 2016 23:03:32 GMT
I haven't read through all the responses, but I live in an HOA community with about 30 homes-small. We had one homeowner who made it his job to blatantly break HOA bylaws knowing that our HOA is too small to do anything about it. They send threatening letters, but they don't have the money to back up the threat. Luckily he moved.
|
|
|
Post by Zee on Mar 28, 2016 23:07:39 GMT
Can someone tell me what magical powers a HOA has over hoarders, etc that the city or county doesn't? I know in some places the city may be overrun with eyesores and complaints, but I've never lived in a HOA and never had the city NOT act on a violation. My former city was actually rather Draconian about trash, weeds, trees, leaves, snow, etc etc. But at least they couldn't dictate the color of our houses or how many vehicles we could park in our own driveways. ^^^ I don't know for certain, but I'm taking a guess and say it's partly due to the fact that you know going in that you can't (or shouldn't, lol) set up a hoarding type situation if you live in an HOA, mixed with the fact that the HOA can send you letters, fine you, etc. and do it possibly quicker than a municipality could. Our entire town is about 40,000 people with one code enforcement officer for the entire town. Our HOA covers only 3000 houses out of that. Most hoarders don't seem to give two figs what any authority says or what fines are racked up until the city threatens to condemn the place, so I'm honestly curious if a HOA would make any difference in those cases. Maybe someone has some experience in this matter? Eviction can be dragged out forever, fines ignored for ages unless there's a lien maybe? Idk, having never had to deal with this. I just don't know why anyone thinks a HOA guarantees tidy neighbors forever, unless they've got some special powers?
|
|
|
Post by melanell on Mar 28, 2016 23:19:32 GMT
I don't care about people not parking in their garage (we have a two-car garage and have one car in and one out) but I do like that we don't allow street parking overnight. There is a neighborhood that I sometimes drive through as the back way to our doctor and there are so many cars parked on both sides of the street that you are basically on a one lane street with two way traffic. If there is a car coming from the opposite direction? One of you has to stop to allow the other to pass. It is pretty bad. There are so few streets in my entire town where you see street parking that I just don't even think of this here. In the city, where there is a lack of off-street parking, sure, but not here in our little corner of suburbia. People seem to find ways to keep enlarging their driveways if need be, but it's rare to see people parking on the street. Most of the time if you drive down a street that is heavily parked, someone in the car is bound to remark "Looks like someone's having a party!". Because that's the main reason you see cars parked on the street here, when someone has a lot of company.
|
|
|
Post by melanell on Mar 28, 2016 23:24:53 GMT
Can someone tell me what magical powers a HOA has over hoarders, etc that the city or county doesn't? I know in some places the city may be overrun with eyesores and complaints, but I've never lived in a HOA and never had the city NOT act on a violation. My former city was actually rather Draconian about trash, weeds, trees, leaves, snow, etc etc. But at least they couldn't dictate the color of our houses or how many vehicles we could park in our own driveways. Our entire town is about 40,000 people with one code enforcement officer for the entire town. Our HOA covers only 3000 houses out of that. I think this makes a big difference for sure. Around here most towns have at or under 5000 people. Our code enforcement officers handle less homes than your HOA.
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Mar 28, 2016 23:29:12 GMT
Just on my street there are five cars often parked on the street. Maybe because there are less than 2000 in my town and surrounding areas that traffic isn't a problem.
Sometimes on the main road if there is something going on, it is a problem, but there are only 3 houses on that street, so it isn't typical parking, but event parking.
|
|
|
Post by Meri-Lyn on Mar 28, 2016 23:30:33 GMT
^^^ I don't know for certain, but I'm taking a guess and say it's partly due to the fact that you know going in that you can't (or shouldn't, lol) set up a hoarding type situation if you live in an HOA, mixed with the fact that the HOA can send you letters, fine you, etc. and do it possibly quicker than a municipality could. Our entire town is about 40,000 people with one code enforcement officer for the entire town. Our HOA covers only 3000 houses out of that. Most hoarders don't seem to give two figs what any authority says or what fines are racked up until the city threatens to condemn the place, so I'm honestly curious if a HOA would make any difference in those cases. Maybe someone has some experience in this matter? Eviction can be dragged out forever, fines ignored for ages unless there's a lien maybe? Idk, having never had to deal with this. I just don't know why anyone thinks a HOA guarantees tidy neighbors forever, unless they've got some special powers? Haven't seen a hoarder situation here, but have seen cases of foreclosures where the property has gone to shit. The last resort is for the HOA to come in and clean it up themselves, and then place a lien against the property to recoup the money.
|
|
|
Post by bigbundt on Mar 28, 2016 23:49:21 GMT
I don't have first hand experience but from what I understand that city and counties don't step in unless the hoarding creates a safety or health hazard. Most HOAs covenants have standards that address those situations long before it gets to that point. And they don't have magical powers but some have the right to legally levy fines against homes and can even go as far as to put liens against the homes. Some HOAs have more teeth than others, of course. Maybe I've lived in more rural communities but aside from issuing a violation about the height of grass (and it would have to get to 12" or higher) I've never heard of a city issuing violations for trash, trees, leaves, or snow unless it is at hazard levels. My own father pretty much has a junkyard in his backyard, non working vehicles, heaps of machinery, scrap metal, basically anything he finds on the side of the road that is interesting or he might use in the future is coming home with him and sitting on his .75 acre lot. The town has never issued a warning to him. Some cities issue violations about leaves? Even my HOA doesn't do that!
|
|
|
Post by Zee on Mar 29, 2016 0:38:12 GMT
I don't have first hand experience but from what I understand that city and counties don't step in unless the hoarding creates a safety or health hazard. Most HOAs covenants have standards that address those situations long before it gets to that point. And they don't have magical powers but some have the right to legally levy fines against homes and can even go as far as to put liens against the homes. Some HOAs have more teeth than others, of course. Maybe I've lived in more rural communities but aside from issuing a violation about the height of grass (and it would have to get to 12" or higher) I've never heard of a city issuing violations for trash, trees, leaves, or snow unless it is at hazard levels. My own father pretty much has a junkyard in his backyard, non working vehicles, heaps of machinery, scrap metal, basically anything he finds on the side of the road that is interesting or he might use in the future is coming home with him and sitting on his .75 acre lot. The town has never issued a warning to him. Some cities issue violations about leaves? Even my HOA doesn't do that! Let me tell you, it's true! I once got a letter from the city threatening me with a fine for snow removal because there was literally ONE INCH of snow on my sidewalk and I hadn't cleared it in 24 hours. That's because I worked 12 of those hours and knew that day was supposed to be warm so I figured it would melt by noon, and it did, and I went to bed when I got home at 8AM and fuck them very much I didn't even have to shovel. But that lady was always on top of things, all of the time. Once some weeds grew up along the alley where there was a lot of brush and bushes and things (and I wasn't the only one with that problem, it was a very hot and wet summer that year and the things grew like--well, like weeds) and I didn't get it wacked fast enough and sure enough, I got a letter about that too. They were I think 6" high at the time. The grass was always mowed elsewhere but she watched it like a hawk, I'm sure. Cracks in the sidewalk, anything she could think of. I wasn't the only target--everyone was fair game. I guess she just liked her job. A LOT. And it was a very small town so she could drive around the entire town in a day and see if anyone hadn't gotten around to whatever tasks she had sent letters about. I hated her but then again, it was a neat and tidy town. But I picked out my own paint colors, my own landscaping, left my garage half-painted for ages while I mulled over the color (ha, I bet she wanted to fine me for that in the worst way, too bad for her!), etc etc etc. I used to think she was bad enough before I read all these HOA threads. No way would I be happy there. Oddly enough, I moved to a brand new house that looks as if it was built to some HOA standards. Very nondescript and all the newer houses in the neighborhood are matchy-matchy just like you'd expect in a HOA.
|
|
pudgygroundhog
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,643
Location: The Grand Canyon
Jun 25, 2014 20:18:39 GMT
|
Post by pudgygroundhog on Mar 29, 2016 2:31:43 GMT
One new thing I learned today: because I live in a neighborhood with an HOA I'm a Stepford Wife.
Watch out bitches, I will strangle you with my pearls or stomp your toes with my kitten heels if you even THINK of painting your door a non-approved color.
|
|
|
Post by *KAS* on Mar 29, 2016 14:54:32 GMT
I think condos, duplexes and the like are a lot different than HOAs for single family homes. If there were no HOA here there would be no way to split all of the common expenses and make sure that the building as a whole is taken care of. I totally agree. Town house, condo, and/or apartment communities here have HOAs for the specific purpose of dealing with all of the shared spaces. Yes, I live in a condo and was on our HOA board. We sent out very few violations for visual things. Our work was much more focused on collecting dues for all of the shared services, managing maintenance / capital improvements and all of the various vendors, etc. We DO have standards though. No parking travel trailers for more than 48 hours, no gas/charcoal grills on your porch (that's a city law, not just an HOA law), you're supposed to have light colored backing on your window coverings (no mickey mouse sheets as curtains), etc. But we probably sent less than 10 violation notices in the 3 years I was on the board for our 140 units. We're not all judgmental bitches or stepford wives.
|
|
|
Post by *KAS* on Mar 29, 2016 14:57:15 GMT
No, but one person's unique is another person's tacky. That, however, is not the point. The point is that if you as a homeowner buy into a neighborhood with certain standards, you don't get to whine later and say, "But I want to be unique! So the rules shouldn't apply to me!" Of course not. If you buy a house with an HOA you need to abide by the rules. I do wonder though how many people wind up in the situation as the lady in the OP where they were told one thing and then get blindsided with another. I know when I bought my place I was explicitly told I could not get a copy of the bylaws and house rules until AFTER I was the owner. THAT doesn't make sense. The bylaws had to have been on file with the county, or should have been available from the builder if you bought new construction. I had to go through them at closing and sign them, but I had a copy of them prior to that for review.
|
|
pudgygroundhog
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,643
Location: The Grand Canyon
Jun 25, 2014 20:18:39 GMT
|
Post by pudgygroundhog on Mar 29, 2016 15:06:41 GMT
I totally agree. Town house, condo, and/or apartment communities here have HOAs for the specific purpose of dealing with all of the shared spaces. Yes, I live in a condo and was on our HOA board. We sent out very few violations for visual things. Our work was much more focused on collecting dues for all of the shared services, managing maintenance / capital improvements and all of the various vendors, etc. We DO have standards though. No parking travel trailers for more than 48 hours, no gas/charcoal grills on your porch (that's a city law, not just an HOA law), you're supposed to have light colored backing on your window coverings (no mickey mouse sheets as curtains), etc. But we probably sent less than 10 violation notices in the 3 years I was on the board for our 140 units. We're not all judgmental bitches or stepford wives. Speak for yourself!
|
|
|
Post by Darcy Collins on Mar 29, 2016 15:12:12 GMT
I don't have first hand experience but from what I understand that city and counties don't step in unless the hoarding creates a safety or health hazard. Most HOAs covenants have standards that address those situations long before it gets to that point. And they don't have magical powers but some have the right to legally levy fines against homes and can even go as far as to put liens against the homes. Some HOAs have more teeth than others, of course. Maybe I've lived in more rural communities but aside from issuing a violation about the height of grass (and it would have to get to 12" or higher) I've never heard of a city issuing violations for trash, trees, leaves, or snow unless it is at hazard levels. My own father pretty much has a junkyard in his backyard, non working vehicles, heaps of machinery, scrap metal, basically anything he finds on the side of the road that is interesting or he might use in the future is coming home with him and sitting on his .75 acre lot. The town has never issued a warning to him. Some cities issue violations about leaves? Even my HOA doesn't do that! Let me tell you, it's true! I once got a letter from the city threatening me with a fine for snow removal because there was literally ONE INCH of snow on my sidewalk and I hadn't cleared it in 24 hours. That's because I worked 12 of those hours and knew that day was supposed to be warm so I figured it would melt by noon, and it did, and I went to bed when I got home at 8AM and fuck them very much I didn't even have to shovel. But that lady was always on top of things, all of the time. Once some weeds grew up along the alley where there was a lot of brush and bushes and things (and I wasn't the only one with that problem, it was a very hot and wet summer that year and the things grew like--well, like weeds) and I didn't get it wacked fast enough and sure enough, I got a letter about that too. They were I think 6" high at the time. The grass was always mowed elsewhere but she watched it like a hawk, I'm sure. Cracks in the sidewalk, anything she could think of. I wasn't the only target--everyone was fair game. I guess she just liked her job. A LOT. And it was a very small town so she could drive around the entire town in a day and see if anyone hadn't gotten around to whatever tasks she had sent letters about. I hated her but then again, it was a neat and tidy town. But I picked out my own paint colors, my own landscaping, left my garage half-painted for ages while I mulled over the color (ha, I bet she wanted to fine me for that in the worst way, too bad for her!), etc etc etc. I used to think she was bad enough before I read all these HOA threads. No way would I be happy there. Oddly enough, I moved to a brand new house that looks as if it was built to some HOA standards. Very nondescript and all the newer houses in the neighborhood are matchy-matchy just like you'd expect in a HOA. Well if it's a brand new house, I'm not really surprised the colors are coordinated - a builder isn't going to throw in a random lime green house into their development. HOA or not, there's a reason it's called builder's beige - appeal to the most buyers. And FYI, as I stated in my earlier post, I've lived in a similar crazy city with over zealous enforcement - it was way more psycho than any HOA I've ever lived in - you really shouldn't use that as your barometer.
|
|
grinningcat
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,663
Jun 26, 2014 13:06:35 GMT
|
Post by grinningcat on Mar 29, 2016 15:17:25 GMT
Why is that? The only reason I could think of that it might be annoying would be that it could potentially block your visibility when you're backing out of your driveway. I can't think of any reason why it would be an eyesore or somehow different than any other car parked outside of a garage. I've always been puzzled by the car/vehicle/RV hatred some show here It's like it's some odd utopia picture that people want to see or present where people travel by car but they are always tucked out of sight! But I like cars, I enjoy RVs and I don't want to live in some House Beautiful picture perfect place that can't be enjoyed. Yeah. I don't get the "I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANY EVIDENCE OF MY NEIGHBOURS HAVING A LIFE" mentality when it comes to cars, RVs, or whatever. It is kind of the Stepford mentality where everyone has to be exactly the same and god forbid one neighbour likes to get out of the house for a trip in their RV. Is there offsite storage for RVs? Yes, but it's not the be all and end all. It's a hell of a lot easier to store in the yard, especially if you're a frequent traveller. And what's so offensive about seeing one in the neighbour's yard? Seriously, it's just ridiculous. The situation in the OP is just stupid. The idiot neighbours and HOA need to mind their own business.
|
|
|
Post by krc11 on Mar 29, 2016 15:20:54 GMT
My thought is what do the covenants say. Did the builder have the authority to grant her permission? Now I will go and read the other comments.
|
|
|
Post by krc11 on Mar 29, 2016 15:36:36 GMT
I want to paint my front door - teal or green (bright-ish but not chartreuse. Not sure if my HOA will allow it. I might need to travel the neighborhood taking photos of doors. All the ones in my cul de sac are white/ivory or red. Waiting on getting an ARC form to see.
|
|
|
Post by krc11 on Mar 29, 2016 15:55:02 GMT
holy crap. Wed never be able to do that. Dh and I each own a car, we also have a truck, and at one point both of our boys will be driving. Wed have to have a 5 car garage. Yeah, we have four cars. Four drivers. I suppose there's a special place set well outside the gates for those with extra cars? Or families just make do with two cars? Or they all have ginormous garages? I'm dying that there are people so offended by the sight of a car in a driveway. Just imagine if someone dared park on the street! We frequently get cited because the grass is too long (3" or something) or the trash can is out too early. The thing is by the time we get the letter in the mail, we have already mowed our grass or pulled in our trash can. We don't let the grass grow long. But, here it can rain for 5 days straight and the Johnson grass is going to jump up to 12-15" in that time frame. We always mow as soon as it stops raining for a few hours. The citations depend on when the volunteer gets around to inspect, turns in his/her reports and the mgt company gets them typed and mailed.
We had an old rusty Chevrolet window van that my husband used when he was doing yards during a layoff. It was hideous. We usually kept it behind the detached garage (we have a second garage door - don't tell the HOA). But when he was doing yards, he would pull it out and sometimes park it in the driveway if he was going to use it the next day (we had to do a huge car shuffle to get it back to behind the garage. And, mind you, he always parked it up at the top of the driveway where it wasn't visible clear down the street, but was visible from in front of our house. We got cited - our deed restrictions prohibited parking "inoperable vehicles". There is no covenant not to have an ugly but operable vehicle. Pissed me off to no end; the van worked just fine. I got a citation because it was ugly. I spend all my time following the rules and this? I knew who had likely put the complaint in. I had a field day with that one. Parked that sucker in the street (HOA allows street parking). Moved it every day to a new location on the street. I did this for about a week.
On a side note, everyone parks on the streets here. Everyone has 3-4 cars, garages full of junk and short driveways. We are lucky in that we do have a longer driverway and could park it farther from the street.
|
|
|
Post by gmcwife1 on Mar 29, 2016 16:34:04 GMT
One new thing I learned today: because I live in a neighborhood with an HOA I'm a Stepford Wife. Watch out bitches, I will strangle you with my pearls or stomp your toes with my kitten heels if you even THINK of painting your door a non-approved color. It's just as silly for people to think all HOA people are the same as it is for people to think all non HOA people think the same.
|
|
smginaz Suzy
Pearl Clutcher
Je suis desole.
Posts: 2,606
Jun 26, 2014 17:27:30 GMT
|
Post by smginaz Suzy on Mar 29, 2016 16:42:54 GMT
I am just in awe that you have met them all.
|
|
|
Post by crazy4scraps on Mar 29, 2016 17:01:06 GMT
One new thing I learned today: because I live in a neighborhood with an HOA I'm a Stepford Wife. Watch out bitches, I will strangle you with my pearls or stomp your toes with my kitten heels if you even THINK of painting your door a non-approved color. Thank you for my laugh of the day!
|
|
|
Post by melanell on Mar 29, 2016 17:24:14 GMT
I totally agree. Town house, condo, and/or apartment communities here have HOAs for the specific purpose of dealing with all of the shared spaces. Yes, I live in a condo and was on our HOA board. We sent out very few violations for visual things. Our work was much more focused on collecting dues for all of the shared services, managing maintenance / capital improvements and all of the various vendors, etc. We DO have standards though. No parking travel trailers for more than 48 hours, no gas/charcoal grills on your porch (that's a city law, not just an HOA law), you're supposed to have light colored backing on your window coverings (no mickey mouse sheets as curtains), etc. But we probably sent less than 10 violation notices in the 3 years I was on the board for our 140 units. We're not all judgmental bitches or stepford wives. Just to be clear, while I did explain what the term "Stepford Wives" usually means, I didn't call anyone that.
|
|
my3freaks
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,206
Location: NH girl living in Colorado
Jun 26, 2014 4:10:56 GMT
|
Post by my3freaks on Mar 29, 2016 17:48:11 GMT
won't even buy in a development that doesn't insist all cars must be kept in garages overnight as garages become storage sheds for some. Seriously? That's a new level of control I haven't heard of. What is your driveway for, if not for parking vehicles? Why would you or an HOA care if people use their garage for storage? Maybe I read that wrong, but it came across so judgmental.
|
|
|
Post by 950nancy on Mar 29, 2016 18:02:22 GMT
I actually love my HOA. I don't want someone using tires as lawn edging, and having some rules helps assure things stay looking good when you have the stray neighbor who has other ideas. I feel sorry for your friend. This sounds like a lose/lose scenario. I can see people each picking their own preference. Our HOA was defunct many years ago, but I am glad that the neighborhood looks nice after 30 years. One neighborhood over didn't have an HOA and it looks very different than ours and the junk people keep all over their yard would drive me crazy. I think it is just personal preference.
|
|