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.
Life in liberal land is hell. Keep voting democrats!
These are ordinary residential lots. Most folks don't know until they violate a rule.
Life in liberal land is hell. Keep voting democrats!
Ah, the joys of collectivism.
(hoping I don’t need the /s)
I’m betting she planted in the “common area”.
Absolutely right. I hear so many people complain, but then they are unwilling to serve. I have served on my Condo Board several times. I insist that everything be done according to the CC&R’s. That is the fairest way. Don’t move there if you don’t want to be bound by CC&Rs.
And no one was a bigger violator of my condo association’s rules than the board members themselves. The woman across the parking lot from me would have her boyfriend washing his car in the lot and another one’s dog was about 25 lbs over the limit. Both fine offenses. What did I get fined $25 for? Throwing a football with one of my friends during the halftime of a Pats game. “Organized sports on the property were not allowed.” After putting the condo back on the market I set up my drums in the basement. They didn’t see that one coming!
Welcome to Duloc, such a perfect town
Here we have some rules, let us lay them down
Don’t make waves, stay in line
And we’ll get along fine
Duloc is a perfect place
Keep your feet off the grass
Shine your shoes, wipe your...face
Duloc is, Duloc is
Duloc is a perfect place
‘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.’
Thats interesting! So is it about money or making an example of her...or both?
I own a home in New Hampshire. I was the first occupant of that home. When I moved in, the woman next door (Massachusetts refugee) had a garden planted on my lot. She said the builder gave her permission to plant the garden there and that the realtor assured her the property adjacent to her lot ‘was more like hers than the owners’ due to the geometry. I told her she should harvest the garden in the fall, but not plant one there in the spring. She did not speak to me after that. At the other end of her lot, she used the other abutter’s land to store debris. She also removed all the lot line stakes.
A few years later, a couple moved in across the street. In the course of improving their lot, they accumulated a substantial amount of debris. They burned the debris on the lawn of an unoccupied adjacent lot. These people were from Michigan.
Makes me wonder where this person in Portsmouth is from who thinks her rights are somehow more important than those she entered into a contract with.
A very provincial view of it. Perhaps its the general tenor of the neighborhood that draws these cretins.
When the rules are laid out in the CC&Rs, and you buy into an association that’s the way it goes.
Don’t move into a place with an HOA, if you are not willing to be governed by the those very CC&Rs.
Exactly.. Condo communities usually have a least one little dictator on the board.. They Love spending other peoples money on what they deem to be important (not unlike our elected officials).
Unfortunately, people who feel they can’t afford a nice single family home..or those who want/need all the maintenance done for them.. give up some freedom for that convenience.
I have little sympathy for condo owners who are **shocked** ( yes, **shocked!**) that they can put statutes of the Virgin Mary on the front steps, fly the US. Marine Corps flag, paint their front door red, hang fuchsia curtains that show in their front windows, store their 14 ft sail boat on the back deck, or plant whatever vegetation that they want. If restrictions and HOA’s are not what they want, then DO NOT buy there!
M husband and I have had 13 years of basically very satisfying condo living,...BUT...we did our research **BEFORE** we bought, and were completely willing to abide by the HOA rules. We are grateful not to have to worry about lawn care, or outside maintenance. We can travel anytime we want on a whim. The condo manager will check on our property while we are gone to see that everything remains safe and sound. Because we are an HOA community, we are extremely unlikely to get a meth house next door, ( as happened in our old neighborhood), and, if this were to happen we have considerable power to get rid of them. As we grow older, we will likely be able to stay in our own home longer because we do not have the worry of outside maintenance. The neighborhood is always well maintained, and this helps preserve the value of our investment......
BUT.....We knew BEFORE we bought what restrictions condo living entails and were completely prepared to accept that.
If someone wants to live where there is a mandatory HOA, they need to read the fine print.
I prefer to do as I choose, so I’ll continue to live in the woods forever, even if it is in a tent under a tree.
True! 16 years ago.. due to divorce and lack of funds.. I reluctantly moved into a condo.. Five years ago I was asked by the president of the association to be on the board. It’s a real eye-opener.. I do my best to keep them honest and fair ;)
Nothing is worse than being ruled by petty fascists — except for being ruled by stupid petty fascists. Well-maintained flower gardens enhance property values.
I don't like to admit it but I'm starting to feel the same way about my country.
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