“Why do you hate community standards so much?”
I don’t. I hate HOA’s, and you have the two mixed up.
1. Because they are often arbitrary
2. Because there is no due process
3. Because there is no, or very little, check on their power
4. Because the remedies/penalties they seek are out of proportion with the infraction
5. Because they are often run by a cabal or block of homeowners that have the base necessary to rotate their people through the leadership positions ad nauseum.
6. Because in most cases they interfere with the quiet enjoyment of your property.
7. Because they often duplicate municipal laws already on the books.
8. Because they do as much to reduce the value of the home as they do to preserve it (dues; impediment on what you can do with your new home v. the HOA as a deterrent to a member who brings down the value of all homes through negligence)
9. Because the municipalities use them as a crutch to avoid enforcement of the laws already on their books.
10. Because they have the power to tax, and they can use that power to force somebody out of their home, again without due process.
11. Because it is thinly disguised fascism.
Both houses I’ve purchased, I had ZERO idea there was an HOA until AFTER the deal closed. Both cases, I was lied to by the realtor. If the HOA was a feature of living in the neighborhood, then why not list it on the brochure and the website?
It is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to find a home that isn’t subject to an HOA. Community standards are what we had in the 50’s. You didn’t need covenants to tell you that you should keep your lawn mowed.
If you are going to tell me what color I can paint my house, you can help pay my mortgage too.
As long as I adhere to the building codes, then I should be able to do what I want to with what I bought, as long as my use of the property falls under the concept of ‘quiet enjoyment’.
The legal concept of ‘quiet enjoyment’ should be enough for a neighborhood to go to court and compel a negligent neighbor into compliance.
Anything that brings the value of the property in the neighborhood down by a significant amount, for example, isn’t quiet enjoyment.
Telling me I can’t park my knaffing truck in my own driveway is fascism. The petty sh!theads in my neighborhood measured the height of my lawn WITH A RULER.
Now, if you want to create a gated community, and you make somebody SIGN A DOC UP FRONT TELLING YOU ABOUT THE HOA, and you all want to voluntarily sign away your freedom, don’t let me stand in your way. It is a free country, and the freedom to be a complete idiot is often and evidently enjoyed here in the US.
For me, I have enough involuntary government intrusions on my life at this point. I’m looking to actually offload many of them if I possibly can.
I keep voting for Republicans, and for the life of me those intrusions keep increasing. In fact, they keep creating brand new HOA’s every time I pop my head up. Nixon gave us the EPA, for example.
No sir. I’m all for community standards. I’m very much against micro-fascist oligarchies.
Y’know, the Pilgrims came to America to escape the HOA back home. When they got here, they set up their own HOA.
Each American colony began as an HOA. And as they grew, each village, county, etc. had its own HOA. If you didn’t like the HOA where you lived, you could move somewhere more to your liking.
HOAs are the essence of self-government. A community determines its own standards.
It’s interesting and encouraging to see communities develop their own methods of self-government in the midst of overbearing “official” government entities. For too long we have permitted our communities to be overrun by the “I’m going to do whatever I want and you can’t stop me” types (such as several posters in this thread), and those who are able have joined communities willing and able to govern themselves.
Rather than create or remain in communities with likeminded people, troublemakers muscle their way into communities where they’re not wanted, disturbing the peace, safety and tranquility. They move into quiet neighborhoods and bring their noise with them. They move into clean areas and bring their trash with them. They move into safe communities and bring their crime with them. They move into morally upright schools and bring their depravity with them.
Rather than contribute to a good community, they leech off those who make it good, and leach away the goodness. And when a community objects, their objections are overruled by “official” governments. They force their way in, and then they destroy.
When we choose to live together, we must either sacrifice a bit of freedom or else live in perpetual turmoil with one another. Such perpetual turmoil inevitably leads to ever harsher restrictions necessary to maintain the peace. (”Never let a crisis go to waste!”) Those who demand infinite freedom with no concern for their neighbors are choosing a road that leads to less and less freedom. They talk about loving freedom even while their misuse of it depletes their own and others’ freedom.
If a community of people cannot govern themselves - or if they are PREVENTED from doing so by a court, etc. - they must and will be governed by a superior government. Like little children squabbling incessantly over their toys, their mother has to come take the toys away. And it won’t matter who’s at fault when the tyrant steps in. We’ll ALL lose freedom because of a few troublemakers who have no respect for the standards of the community they’ve joined.
I had a friend who had a problem with a neighbor like that. One Saturday before he mowed the guy was kneeling next to his lawn with a ruler and a camera. He turned on the sprinkler. The nosy neighbor was livid. He did it three times that morning until he mowed it in the afternoon (reel mowers don’t care if its wet). Only wish he had videoed it.