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Says: "Oh, yea now I'm not alone." (Reply to this comment)
by thedudewho
Great Paper,
Renter here ("boo, hiss" or so my HOA would say). My (landlord's) HOA uses defamation and liable; not because my patio isn't clean, not because my dogs bark (they don't), but because of the people I hang out with and calling the HOA on its own rules.
After being approached by my (drunken) neighbor and told: I was a criminal, "We know what you are doing up there", "the cops where going to arrest you", and "your land lord was going to kick you out."
The Problem: I was hanging out with my other neighbor (a renter as well). Long hair, plays guitar in a rock band (at bars and in the studio, not at home) and has a child of 3 who is not silent (I personally like the sound of children; ever see "children of men"? Spoiler: no more kids).
Unfortunately I had the audacity to have friends of my own choosing. To make matters worse told my drunken busy-body neighbor to "read the HOA rules about sending complaints to the management company in written form so they can be handled in a professional manner." I also stated he should mind his own business and get some hobbies.
I now have a running fine for being a nuisance: Threatening and harassing people. Slander is hard to take; luckily the local Sheriffs department isn't falling for their crap (sorry, other words escape me). After being called out for nothing three times a deputy "dressed down" the most offending board member by yelling (he had to raise his voice to be heard over her loud yapping): "Lady you've got to be quiet and listen to me, there is nothing going on here, you are not the only resident of **** ***** stop calling us when there is nothing going on". P.S. the local talent really showed their professionalism, my respect for law enforcement did go up a few notches.
So now my landlord thinks he has Freddy Kruger in his condo. No re-sighing of the lease. I may still prevail thanks to your inspiration. Keep-up the good work.
Thank-you.
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Jan 31 '10
12:44 pm PST
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Re: good piece (Reply to this comment)
by kcsvazus
That is good, be very, very afraid of these gulags. Although fundamentally unconstitutional, the courts have upheld their legality (scary thought that). One thing this very excellent article did not include is that municipalities love these associations because they remove the burden of providing streets, sewers, lights, etc from the municipalities. However, homeowners in these associations do not get a break on taxes for this, in essence paying double taxes.
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Jun 12 '04
12:04 pm PDT
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HOA Seminars (Reply to this comment)
by bonniesocean
I agree that tension is caused in HOAs. There are many reasons. If homeowners would stay involved, making sure that the right people are on the Board, there would be less anger in the community. Visit HOASeminars.com.
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Feb 02 '04
2:18 pm PST
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Never gonna happen... (Reply to this comment)
by whatcityplease
...in my family. I've known many people that have lived in such subdivisions and communities. I think maybe only a 1/3 of them we're completely positive about their HOA. A closer friend of mine sold a beautiful custom home near a golf course after 6 months of residence because he felt he was going to kill somebody (not seriously) because of the oppressive rules. Things he thought were benign in nature, such as mowing lawns on weekend evenings were major infractions. His crime? He was gone overseas for a month, the grass grew too long in the process and was given 2 infractions 1) for the grass overgrowing, and 2) failure to notify the HOA of his absence and arranging for a "groundskeeper" to tidy up his yard.
Some HOAs-not all ofcourse-have such stalinistic rules Robert Mugabe might as well be in charge. As a child, my family had lived in a couple such communities, but their experience was positive. The HOA was limited in scope, and membership was voluntary, if one can believe that. Membership was encouraged of course, but the rules fit on just 5 pages if I recall. Not so with my friend, his "HOA guidelines" totalled nearly 300 pages, and yep, the grass rule was in it, worded in such a way you'd need an attorney to explain it to you.
I will not live in one. I will not have anyone tell me what I can or cannot grow, install, trim or otherwise do to improve the value (financial or emotional) of my home. If I choose to put in an elaborate deck and swimming pool next year, only to replace it with a Japanese tea garden 10 years later, the only people I want to deal with is the city permit office. I have enough headaches with them already to be dealing with a bunch of NIMBY types with the power to throw my family out their neighborhood.
But to be fair, like I said, not all HOAs are evil opportunistic socalist organizations. When limited in scope and authority, the do provide benefits such as keeping neighborhoods tidy, more clout when it comes to dealing with services such as trash removal companies, and their own "block watch" programs in effect.
I'm still going avoid them like the plague however.
Corbett
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Jan 14 '04
10:21 pm PST
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We won't move to a house that has a HOA.. (Reply to this comment)
by tiffer0220
By me in South Florida, theres been an ongoing lawsuit between one man and his HOA because he put in a flag pole in his yard and flew ole glory...The HOA did not like it, said it's against their rules and took him to court. His house is now in foreclosure due to all the legal fees, etc. Even though Governor Bush signed a law allowing people to fly flags in a respectful manner and not be hassled by HOA's.
My in-laws received a letter from their HOA saying that if they did not clean their roof, the HOA would put a lien on the house...
Good article here..We will never move into a house that has a HOA because I am not about to have some board or some person tell me how I can and cannot run the outside of my house.
Tiffany
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Jun 19 '03
7:44 am PDT
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good piece (Reply to this comment)
by cntaur5
You've got me scared of those "home owner groups".
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Jun 18 '03
3:00 pm PDT
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True (Reply to this comment)
by punkrawka
You are exactly right.... my family doesn't have a homeowner's association, but my aunt gets so much crap from hers it's just unbelievaable. Great essay -- you should try more political-type stuff around here :)
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Jun 18 '03
7:00 am PDT
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Fantastic.. (Reply to this comment)
by gatorgirlie
This was so insightful and interesting.. I'm sure you got an A for it in your poli-sci class.
Thanks for sharing it with us.. I despise HOA's.. and I'm determined to build a house outside of their sphere of influence. Unfortunately those types of communities are extremely rare (especially in Orlando, where buyers love the "canned" subdivision.. you know, where every house is the exact same color and style). I think I may end up buying land out in a remote part of Central Florida and building out there. I honestly couldn't deal with someone telling me what color to paint my house and how to treat my shrubbery.
Have a great day!
Jen
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Jun 18 '03
12:06 am PDT
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Excellent Review (Reply to this comment)
by kparsons13
I remember when that case happened in Arizona and I it really saddened me. The HOAs are everywhere out here and I personally would never be able to handle it. It may keep one person from parking their boat in their yard, but honestly those aren't the important things in life. Once again, you have made me think. I love that.
K Parsons
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Jun 17 '03
11:52 pm PDT
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