SPOT-ON! That nonsense about cars on blocks, etc.. is just that, nonsense. We purchased almost 50 acres of timber and plan on building right in the middle of it. I'll have a toilet and car tire planter if I so wish!
Posted on 03/20/2012 11:26:44 AM PDT by grundle
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (CBS) – Kimberly Bois’ tiny front yard garden isn’t much to look at right now. But in a few weeks, it’ll be in full bloom, and every blossom will cost her dearly.
Even though she says her builder gave her permission to do a little planting, the current condo board now says she’s in violation.
They’re charging the Portsmouth, New Hampshire homeowner $50 a day for being so petal pushy. That fine has reached close to $6,000, plus the board’s legal fees.
“It’s just not a happy place to live anymore for me,” says Bois, who planted the small flower bed with the help of her mother, who has since passed away.
She says, “It just feels like we’ve been bullied and really all we wanted to do was have a conversation to figure out how this can benefit all of us.”
A new certified letter arrives every month, ordering Bois to uproot her garden and keeping track of her fines.
It got so bad, she contacted a Realtor friend of hers to talk about just selling the place that she has owned since 2008.
That’s when she got the real shock: the board put a lien on her townhouse for their fines.
Bois says the whole situation has, “gotten out of control.”
She even offered to pull up the flowers and pay part of the board’s legal fees a couple of weeks ago – an offer she says was refused.
The association’s bylaws don’t expressly forbid planting flowers on your property, Bois explains, nor do they explicitly allow it.
Board members have told Bois they just want all the units to look the same.
“Now we’ve gone down a rabbit hole that I just can’t seem to get out of and it’s very sad, and it’s upsetting,” she says.
WBZ reached out to the attorney who represents the condo association, but he did not respond our request for comment.
That which is expressly allowed is required.
I had a friend in Las Vegas that lived in one of the big planned communities. You have probably all heard the stories of HOA Nazis doing insane crap like measuring weeds in a yard....
One morning my friend looks out his window to see a man hunched over on his driveway. Curious, he goes out to see what was up. It was an HOA Nazi literally measuring the single blade of grass growing up between the expansion joint in his concrete driveway.
He was then lectured by said Nazi, issued a ‘ticket’ and told to keep better care of his property in the future or face eviction.
Following the threat to the Nazi’s life, he received a $50 fine in the mail along with a ‘friendly’ suggestion that he consider relocating to another residence more in line with his ‘beliefs’.
I have my own horror stories with the only HOA I ever lived in. But that one takes the cake.
Agreed.
We wander on our 25 NH acres without interference from anyone. Although we do get some weird, or perhaps scared, looks from non resident passerbys while practicing with the rifles in the summer.
No way this side of hell I’d pay the owned house cost for what amounts to a rental apartment.
Yikes! I’m in a tiny development,, There are only 4 of us on the board.. People don’t even show up for the general meetings! But believe me,, We do have our share of aggravation so I feel for ya!
Without that, HOAs contracts are allowed to assume presumptive supremecy.
she’s not a number..
Wow.. People like that board member are on a power trip.. Do they not have anything better to do other than bully others? They look for trouble!
All neighborhoods have their drama.. and as peaceful as mine is.. I’d move to a farm with 50 acres in a heartbeat! I love people but most of them tick me off :)
That is for sure-when I was young, I lived in apartments that had fewer rules than most mandatory HOAs......
“Live Free or Die”...*snicker*...
“People like that board member are on a power trip.. Do they not have anything better to do other than bully others? They look for trouble!”
People who get on condo boards are the same people who get on school committee, the library association or town committee - by definition they have nothing better to do.
The rest of us with jobs, families and lives are out living them and can;t be bothered with what other people do.
I have a friend that lives in a HOA controlled development. However he was the second one to build a home there and the HOA came along several years later on. He’s grandfathered in as NOT being a member.
And every year it seems like he gets a nasty-gram from the HOA attorney about something or other usually dues and the Lawn. The last time it happened he sent the Attorney a bill for his time to deal with the nonsense and pointed out his Grandfathered status. They didn’t pay his bill and he didn’t pay theirs. LOL
I have no sympathy for anyone who chooses to live in a condominium or a neighborhood with an “association.”
The lesson she teaches is that before buying, you ALWAYS read the condo documents and regulations to the last detail, and if you have questions get the answers in writing from the association.
When she moved in she agreed to abide by those rules, stupid though they may be.
What sort of laws were enacted by the Virgin Mary and why would anyone post them on their front steps?
“Nazis in homeowner’s associations are just frustrated because they couldn’t get appointed or elected to positions which wouldn’t allow them to boss more people around.”
Yep. Way too many folks that sit on these association boards have the perfect personalities to fit right in with Himmler, Eichman, and the rest of Hitler’s ex-chicken-farmer monsters.
I guess you didn't take the time to go to the linked site and watch the video where they explained that NOWHERE is it written that she can't plant flowers nor is it written that she can. In other words, she hasn't violated any contract that she signed, but maybe the association is.
So, I guess you side with the condo Nazi's that anything that isn't expressly permitted is automatically forbidden. I think with your anti-liberty attitude you would be more comfortable over at DU.
I have little sympathy for condo owners who are **shocked** ( yes, **shocked!**) that they can NOT put statutes of the Virgin Mary on the front steps, ...(etc.)
This particular incident was part of news article posted some time ago on Free Republic. A condo owner wanted to put a small shrine to the Virgin Mary outside in front of house. The association rules said, “No statues!” I suppose that also included statutes of frogs and flamingos as well!
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