HOA issue, what do you think?

[Linflas]

I don't really want this to be a thread about HOA's so please if you hate them there are lots of threads here already that you can discuss that in (and personally I am not a big fan of them myself). The HOA in my community requires a 6' fence around any yard that has a swimming pool built in. The county code is 4'. 2 years ago my next door neighbor had a pool put in and was trying to get them to go with the county standard and during the ruckus this caused it turned out that another house in the community had a pool and a 4' fence. The owner of this house was on the architectural review committee when this pool was put in and the HOA board allowed it to stand while requiring everyone since to have a 6' fence.

Fast forward to today, I am now part of the HOA board mainly because I was really annoyed with the way my neighbor was treated by the previous board and the way they seemed to be determined to be much more activist than previous HOA boards had traditionally been. The people with the out of compliance fence are now selling their house and I am of the opinion that they should be required to either bring it into compliance or provide notice the the buyers that they will have to bring it compliance. Am I being unreasonable?

Cliffs:
-HOA requires 6' fence around yards with pool
-Former board member has 4' fence which came to light when another owner had pool installed
-They are now selling house and I think they should be required to provide notice to buyer that house is not in compliance.

 

[Ramma2]

Yes, they should have to provide notice.

 

[SpunkyJones]

I think the fence should be in compliance before they sell.

And by the way, HOA's suck ass. Just had to add that.

 

[Vette73]

How about don;t be a dick of a HOA like all the others and make the rule 4'


Oh wait then it would just not be a HOA if you were nice or even found out he probbale has something, letter, saying 4' was ok when he put it in. As such it would be grandfathered in and then you still look like ass.

Get a life and let people live.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Have their pool booted and towed.

 

[spidey07]

Why not just change the rules to 4'?

I don't think it is up to the sellers to provide notice, that is up to the due diligence of the buyers.

 

[BassBomb]

I have a 6ft fence and no pool....

I WIN!

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: SpunkyJones
I think the fence should be in compliance before they sell.

And by the way, HOA's suck ass. Just had to add that.

Actually by being required to provide the notice would likely force them to fix it as part of the sale is pretty much my thought, especially given the current real estate market.

How about don;t be a dick of a HOA like all the others and make the rule 4'


Oh wait then it would just not be a HOA if you were nice or even found out he probbale has something, letter, saying 4' was ok when he put it in. As such it would be grandfathered in and then you still look like ass.

Get a life and let people live.

Tried that and it failed to pass by 2 votes back when my neighbor wanted to go with the county standard.

Why not just change the rules to 4'?

I don't think it is up to the sellers to provide notice, that is up to the due diligence of the buyers.

By law we have to provide a disclosure packet of anything that is an outstanding issue with the property.

 

[mugs]

I think you should change the rule to allow 4' fences, unless you have a good reason to require 6' fences.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: mugs
I think you should change the rule to allow 4' fences, unless you have a good reason to require 6' fences.

"Senior Skinny Dipping"

 

[PingSpike]

HOA should vote to dissolve itself.

 

[Queasy]

Was the 4' fence around the other pool before or after the rule was put in?

For my new house, we bought it with a storage shed in the back. It was built several years ago before a new rule was put into effect in our neighborhood banning storage sheds. We were grandfathered in but it keeps coming up every time someone in the neighborhood wants a storage shed.

 

[Baked]

Pour cement into their pool, then bill them for the cement.

 

[Mursilis]

Originally posted by: Linflas
I don't really want this to be a thread about HOA's so please if you hate them there are lots of threads here already that you can discuss that in (and personally I am not a big fan of them myself). The HOA in my community requires a 6' fence around any yard that has a swimming pool built in. The county code is 4'. 2 years ago my next door neighbor had a pool put in and was trying to get them to go with the county standard and during the ruckus this caused it turned out that another house in the community had a pool and a 4' fence. The owner of this house was on the architectural review committee when this pool was put in and the HOA board allowed it to stand while requiring everyone since to have a 6' fence.

Fast forward to today, I am now part of the HOA board mainly because I was really annoyed with the way my neighbor was treated by the previous board and the way they seemed to be determined to be much more activist than previous HOA boards had traditionally been. The people with the out of compliance fence are now selling their house and I am of the opinion that they should be required to either bring it into compliance or provide notice the the buyers that they will have to bring it compliance. Am I being unreasonable?

Cliffs:
-HOA requires 6' fence around yards with pool
-Former board member has 4' fence which came to light when another owner had pool installed
-They are now selling house and I think they should be required to provide notice to buyer that house is not in compliance.

Seems like the question isn't "Am I being unreasonable?", but more along the lines of "What is the board legally required to do/allowed to do?". I'm not sure HOA has authority to force a property owner into compliance after allowing a prior waiver on the 4' fence. Looks like it's time to read up on HOA law in Va.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: mugs
I think you should change the rule to allow 4' fences, unless you have a good reason to require 6' fences.

No it was part of the original ARC guidelines. From what I understand when people get additions like this approved they agree that they will abide by the existing rules and covenants. Since she was on the ARC it was assumed that they knew the requirement and it was only when the issue became heated that it was discovered that they were not.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: mugs
I think you should change the rule to allow 4' fences, unless you have a good reason to require 6' fences.

No it was part of the original ARC guidelines. From what I understand when people get additions like this approved they agree that they will abide by the existing rules and covenants. Since she was on the ARC it was assumed that they knew the requirement and it was only when the issue became heated that it was discovered that they were not.

Yeah, so this person is a bitch who enforced a rule for someone else but not herself. But still, I don't see a reason to keep the 6' rule if the county only requires 4', unless the HOA has a reason to require 6'. Some reason other than because that's the way it's always been.

 

[ViviTheMage]

that shit gets grandfathered in....imo

 

[buck]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Have their pool booted and towed.

:thumbsup:

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: BassBomb
I have a 6ft fence and no pool....

I WIN!

I have a pool and no fence....

I WIN!

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Have their pool booted and towed.

:laugh:

Personally, I feel it should just be grandfathered in.

 

[lokiju]

I think you guys need to change your rules to 4'.

 

[villageidiot111]

What difference is the extra 2ft of fence going to make? I'm pretty sure a 4ft fence will do everything you want the 6ft fence to do.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: lokiju
I think you guys need to change your rules to 4'.

Like I said earlier when my neighbor was fighting with the HOA board over the fence for her pool she ended up forcing them to poll the community about changing the rule to be in agreement with the county. She had both our signature and the neighbors on the other side of her house saying we were fine with a 4' fence. I urged her to not go the poll route but she agreed with the board to abide by a poll. When they did the poll they of course worded it in such a way as to make it "for the children and safety" and it was only like 2 or 3 votes out of the people that bothered to vote that carried it for the keep it as is side. With all of that on the record it seems the board and community could be held partially liable in the unlikely event that a child did get injured somehow in this particular pool after climbing over the fence since they/we knew of the non-compliance and took no steps to bring it into compliance.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: mugs
...But still, I don't see a reason to keep the 6' rule if the county only requires 4', unless the HOA has a reason to require 6'. Some reason other than because that's the way it's always been.

I wonder if the reason the original 4' motion failed was because there's already a bunch of 6' fences that might clash when people start putting in 4' fences (which the obvious exception of the previous board member's fence).

So yeah, in effect, "that's the way it's always been", and as a result there's a bunch of existing structures built around that rule.

Is this the case OP?

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: mugs
I think you should change the rule to allow 4' fences, unless you have a good reason to require 6' fences.

No it was part of the original ARC guidelines. From what I understand when people get additions like this approved they agree that they will abide by the existing rules and covenants. Since she was on the ARC it was assumed that they knew the requirement and it was only when the issue became heated that it was discovered that they were not.

Yeah, so this person is a bitch who enforced a rule for someone else but not herself. But still, I don't see a reason to keep the 6' rule if the county only requires 4', unless the HOA has a reason to require 6'. Some reason other than because that's the way it's always been.

Reasons, We are the HOA, and your overlords, we don't need no stinkin reasons.