Posted on 03/27/2024 5:32:33 AM PDT by Twotone
I have only once lived within an HOA run neighborhood amd never will again.
They fined us when we did not ask the HOA “architectual review comittee” before we painted the house with a color we did not consult them about.
Then, although our property backed up against a many acre sight that was a preserve owned by the Audubon Society, we were not allowed to put up a chain link fence across the back property line (we wanted so we could enjoy the nature preserve behind us) and were forced to build the one and only kind of fence allowed - a six foot high woood stake fence).
Then they fined us again when we had two palm trees moved from locations no more than three feet from the front of the house (put there by the previous owners). We were fined because we did not ask if we could move the trees to where we did. Apparently the same board never objected to the stupid siting of those trees so close to the house in the first place, which we knew would in time would be a danger to the house in a hurricane, or even just a very bad storm.
Personally I do not believe in personal property covenants where a prior owner gets to dictate conditions about the property to the new owner. I see the legal permission of that as another form of “taking” with the government involvment one of agreeing to the taking by private means.
When I was shopping for a house, I told the realtor to get a map of the city and mark the streets that didn’t have an HOA; I had looked up the city code and found that it was sufficient to keep the neighborhoods looking nice.
I bought in a subdivision without an HOA, which was right next to a subdivision that did have an HOA.
Everyone keeps their yards neat and there aren’t any old cars etc laying around.
There was only one person that let the grass grow, and the neighbors helped out with the mowing. Eventually she moved away and the new owners keep the yard up.
This So wrong on so many different levels...
” But an HOA board itself is an elected group of owner/volunteers whose mandate is to enforce a contract of by-laws that every owner signs at the time of settlement.”
The HOA is an entity to itself. It is made up of the owners of the association and retrieves money from the owners to maintin their property. But to be able to afford its business it uses the money given to it to pay the property management to do the work they are contracted to do on many occassions. And the HOA agrement is a contract within itself and require money to operate. So the entity by itself, is a contractual agreement.
In some state, like in mine, Washington, there are laws that maintain the parameters of an HOA. An HOA does not have to hire a property management company and can maintain its committments to itself. But those committments, like grass cutting and pruning, building repair (defined), painting, and the payment of a gross receipts tax (business and occupation tax) can be their responsibility to the owners and are hired to accomplish things like this. That makes them a business entity.
In the HOA I was in before I bought private, we even were responsible for the street and drain repairs and were not on the county maintenance schedule. That money has to come from somewhere if a property management compny is not under hire and the board is held responsible for the execution of it.
Maybe the term fired is not quite what it sounds like. Maybe disband after contractual committment would be closer to the action. So unless there is an escape clause in the HOA contract, it goes term depending on how it is written. Then it’s a free for all and it goes into encheatment law. Then it’s messy.
wy69
that was 32 yrs ago....
“Quietly and late at night.”
Exactly what I was thinking. A little ‘Come to Jesus’ moment.
This, all by itself is reason these things need to be destroyed. I would never/b> sign an HOA document.
They are essentially unconscionable contracts.If I had boatloads of money I would attempt to buy a house in one of these neighborhoods, cash in hand, and them take the seller AND HOA to court if they refused to sell to me because I refused to join their group. This is forced association and it is blatantly unconstitutional if the state will force you to associate with Nazis in order to complete a purchase.
Absolutely not when you are forced to sign away your rights in order to complete a real estate transaction.
From the article: The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 84% of new, single-family homes sold in 2022 belonged to HOAs.
Can we also put covenants on our property to make sure the home never gets sold to blacks or jews?
I wish you the best of luck (and eternal vigilance) keeping it that way. You're one middle-aged hypenated blonde with a wedge hair-do away from tyranny.
The bigger concern for me is that there is a sizable cohort of owners who want to disband the HOA entirely. That would be a bad idea that has nothing to do with enforcing rules and regulations. The proof of it is that the contingent of homeowners leading this effort are morons who moved in 10+ years after the subdivision was built and didn’t even know they bought a home in an HOA.
Heed my warning ... or not ... as you see fit.
Karen is out there ...
Lurking ...
Drinking cheap chardonnay ...
Looking for an opportunity to pounce.
Eternal vigilance.
My neighborhood is armed to the teeth, and I live in a town with no police department. “Karen” won’t last long here.
Buying a home and then refusing to accept an HOA is like buying a home and demanding that you want to be in a different zip code.
no one is “forced”. If you don’t want to buy in a deed restricted community then go buy somewhere else. It is a choice.
“The most common characteristics were the number of cars parked all over the streets and on front lawns, along with campers, utility trailers and work trucks parked all over the streets.”
Why does that bother you?
“Until the neighbor drops a mobile home in the street opposite you.”
Why would that bother you?
2. Oversized vehicles parked on the street block my view when I’m trying to back out of my driveway.
3. My home is worth 40% more than an identical home in the subdivision up the road with no HOA — because most homebuyers prefer to live in a neighborhood that doesn’t look like a ghetto. Imagine that.
I imagine these HOA entities do vary from one state to another. Ours in our county is mandated at point of sale—wa can’t fire it. I imagine if someone had the energy to corral all 250 adults, a quorum could be raised to boot out a board member or the whole board; but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that. The board meetings usually turn out about five people who have specific complaints.
Ain’t no HOA out here on the farm in central Kansas. I mow my grass when I want to.
It gets in the way of my drag strip.
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