Homeowner finally wins: HOA Spends $300,000 In Legal Fees Over A Pick-Up Truck

[PieIsAwesome]

ummmm why?

Because I don't like them and do not want to maintain them? I've seem houses with no lawns and instead a sort of giant driveway paved with some stone or something and I like the way it looks. A neighbor from where my parents live also cemented over his whole backyard. No stupid lawn or yard maintenance. Win.

 

[Anubis]

Because I don't like them and do not want to maintain them? I've seem houses with no lawns and instead a sort of giant driveway paved with some stone or something and I like the way it looks. A neighbor from where my parents live also cemented over his whole backyard. No stupid lawn or yard maintenance. Win.

ok then, most people don't like the feel of living in a parking lot. IMO that's very strange

 

[rockyct]

Because I don't like them and do not want to maintain them? I've seem houses with no lawns and instead a sort of giant driveway paved with some stone or something and I like the way it looks. A neighbor from where my parents live also cemented over his whole backyard. No stupid lawn or yard maintenance. Win.

Just do what people in AZ or other areas with tight water restrictions do; make a native plant garden with gravel cover. The entire front yard being a driveway looks pretty ugly but to each his own I guess. Even if you did that, you're really only going to hurt your property value anyway.

 

[Gothgar]

But where did the HOA get the money from

 

[zinfamous]

my dad suffers from his HOA in Jax, Fla. The neighborhood is on a waterway (most houses have boat access in the rear--Intercoastal Waterway.)

He's a biologist, so he's always been a fan of "diverse lawn stylings." Fucks try to force him to pump nitrogen and fucking pointless chemicals and other poisons into his lawn so that it conforms to their ridiculous ideal of what one's green hell of a lawn should look like. ...and that's only half of the issue. The fact that they live on a waterway, makes such behavior a criminal act, more or less (well, it should be.)

The asshats are only serving to destroy the water resource that they cherish, such that they can enjoy their non-native, ugly ass green mats.

The one thing I really like about Berkeley is that not one house looks the same (I think developers are banned, or something), and every lawn is either a jungle, or some elaborate, well-mannered garden with vegetables and various sensible plants (native).

 

[zinfamous]

ok then, most people don't like the feel of living in a parking lot. IMO that's very strange

yeah, that's odd. Just let shit grow. Mow when necessary. win.

 

[Eli]

How can ANY of you put up with this kinda nonsense? It makes me angry that such things even exist, let alone that they seem to have free legal reign. I find it absolutely unbelievable that a HOA is part of the property deed.

So you're saying that if I want to buy piece of property under a HOA, there is NO possible way for me to avoid joining said HOA? It's locked in with the property deed, with no possible way out?

How is this even possible? It seems illegal on so many levels, I just can't believe it.

It's my house, I will determine what is proper and what is not. Not my neighbors. They can kiss my ass. If I want my lawn to be 10 feet tall, that is my business.

What if you buy a property outright with cash? Its yours. Not the banks, not your neighbors, yours. I can't imagine them being able to force any HOA bullshit on you. Again, how can this be legal? How can anybody be okay with this? Is the world really that full of sheep?

Ugh.

 

[Anubis]

How can ANY of you put up with this kinda nonsense? It makes me angry that such things even exist, let alone that they seem to have free legal reign. I find it absolutely unbelievable that a HOA is part of the property deed.

So you're saying that if I want to buy piece of property under a HOA, there is NO possible way for me to avoid joining said HOA? It's locked in with the property deed, with no possible way out?

How is this even possible? It seems illegal on so many levels, I just can't believe it.

It's my house, I will determine what is proper and what is not. Not my neighbors. They can kiss my ass. If I want my lawn to be 10 feet tall, that is my business.

What if you buy a property outright with cash? Its yours. Not the banks, not your neighbors, yours. I can't imagine them being able to force any HOA bullshit on you. Again, how can this be legal? How can anybody be okay with this? Is the world really that full of sheep?

Ugh.

lots of people have mental issues that aren't diagnosed, they want to live in a 1960s sitcom town where everything is the same and perfect. think mary K or the truman show like BS. they live under the false notion that unless they make a law for everything their development will turn into garbage dump

 

[rockyct]

How can ANY of you put up with this kinda nonsense? It makes me angry that such things even exist, let alone that they seem to have free legal reign. I find it absolutely unbelievable that a HOA is part of the property deed.

So you're saying that if I want to buy piece of property under a HOA, there is NO possible way for me to avoid joining said HOA? It's locked in with the property deed, with no possible way out?

How is this even possible? It seems illegal on so many levels, I just can't believe it.

It's my house, I will determine what is proper and what is not. Not my neighbors. They can kiss my ass. If I want my lawn to be 10 feet tall, that is my business.

What if you buy a property outright with cash? Its yours. Not the banks, not your neighbors, yours. I can't imagine them being able to force any HOA bullshit on you. Again, how can this be legal? How can anybody be okay with this? Is the world really that full of sheep?

Ugh.

If there is an existing HOA, and if you want to buy a house there, you have to sign the HOA agreement before you can buy the house. If you don't follow the restrictions or pay the fines, they will put a lien on your house. They will get their money and they have the power to do it even if that means that they will sell your house and get the money from the sale.

That's why so many people are against HOAs. They can wield a huge amount of power and can be very dangerous if run by a few people who have time on their hands.

 

[Kelemvor]

I don't know why anyone would live somewhere with an HOA. Sure it might seem fine when you move in but they can fine you for anything. My house, My lawn, Fuck you.

 

[aigomorla]

Most definitely excellent.

Dude i seriously hate HOA's also.

Whats messed up tho, is its going to be EVERYONE including him that will have to pay part of the 300k.

HOA's get there money from the residents.

Unless he's exempt from paying HOA fee's.

Several realtors were either pissed or tried to explain it, but we were having none of that. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

Dude any agent who first gets pissed off at you, you shouldnt do business with period.
The agents job is to find your exact wants, not to get pissed at you for not going with what they recommend.

I had an agent get annoyed at me.. i straight up told him thank you for your time, but i want someone else.
I told him straight up, i aint gonna take his bullshit, and him cooping an attitude with me.
I even told his boss, im not happy with this guy, because of such an attitude, and if the new agent shares ANY COMMISSION with the old agent, i wont buy it from them period.

I got a new agent right away, and never heard from that prick again.

Agents should bend over for you, not the otherway around.
That's why u pay them a very large commission.

 

[Kelemvor]

Hmm, no facebook group for Home Owners Associations Suck. Someone should make one. heh.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I used to cut the grass in my younger days for a place like that. There is always some anal retentive moron there. We hada guy come out with a ruler and make sure the grass was 4.5" at random locations since that was in our contract. Of cours,e the point of hte contract was that if things looked crappy, we had to go fix it immediately. People from the neghborhood used to tell us that they thought he was a moron to.

 

[zerocool84]

Lot of HOA hate here...as usual.

In SoCal, where I live, probably half of all homes are under the rule of an HOA or two even. I've lived in my current home for 10 years now and only had one instance where the HOA sent me a letter about my front lawn. I had sprayed some weed killer on a patch of lawn that was infested with weeds to kill it, well, it killed the lawn too. I simply explained that I was waiting until the weed infestation was dead and then I would re-sod the lawn. They were fine with that and I never heard another thing from them.

I push the rules too, I work on my car in the garage from time to time with the door up, I leave my garage door open when it's hot out to get a breeze through the house...never had a problem.

One thing I will commend them for is the landscaping and recreation areas in our community. They keep the grounds looking nice, the trees trimmed, and the common area walls painted and maintained and they generally don't harass the homeowners much.

No duh. Of course there's HOA hate. Maybe you like being told how your house has to look and what you can do with your own property but others prefer to do what they please with their own property. Some people in the house behind me painted their house hot pink. Does it look ugly??? Yes. Do I care? No. It's their house that they paid for and they can make it look as ugly as they want.

 

[Mike Gayner]

We don't have HOA's where I'm from....somehow our neighbourhoods don't turn into cesspits of trash and cars on blocks, and all of our lighting works, and if the road gets damaged the city fixes it :hmm:

 

[lykaon78]

Probably 75% of the people here complaining aren't home owners.

Yes, some HOAs suck. Some a perfectly reasonable. Our HOA has basically 5 rules; no above ground pools, no privacy fences, keep your yard mowed, no boats/campers/RVs on the lot for more than 72 hours, and some size and design limits around external storage sheds. Beyond that our $110 annual dues go toward the maintenance of our common area (entry lighting, light landscaping, and mowing). With the exception of the mowing, there are not city ordinances to cover the other restrictions.

As a homeowner, I'm glad that my neighbors can't build a crappy above ground pool or park their camper in their back yard. The HOA also stays on top of the city to keep the yards of foreclosures maintained.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Probably 75% of the people here complaining aren't home owners.

Yes, some HOAs suck. Some a perfectly reasonable. Our HOA has basically 5 rules; no above ground pools, no privacy fences, keep your yard mowed, no boats/campers/RVs on the lot for more than 72 hours, and some size and design limits around external storage sheds. Beyond that our $110 annual dues go toward the maintenance of our common area (entry lighting, light landscaping, and mowing).

As a homeowner, I'm glad that my neighbors can't build a crappy above ground pool or park their camper in their back yard.

See above. I'm a homeowner, as are about 50,000 other people in the city I live in. Somehow we manage to live in attractive streets without the need for HOA's. Anyway what business is it of yours if I want to put up a fence or have an above ground pool or keep a boat on my ample property?

 

[sdifox]

Probably 75% of the people here complaining aren't home owners.

Yes, some HOAs suck. Some a perfectly reasonable. Our HOA has basically 5 rules; no above ground pools, no privacy fences, keep your yard mowed, no boats/campers/RVs on the lot for more than 72 hours, and some size and design limits around external storage sheds. Beyond that our $110 annual dues go toward the maintenance of our common area (entry lighting, light landscaping, and mowing). With the exception of the mowing, there are not city ordinances to cover the other restrictions.

As a homeowner, I'm glad that my neighbors can't build a crappy above ground pool or park their camper in their back yard. The HOA also stays on top of the city to keep the yards of foreclosures maintained.

Home owner since 2003. Always lived in a house. Never had to deal with HOA though.

 

[alkemyst]

We don't have HOA's where I'm from....somehow our neighbourhoods don't turn into cesspits of trash and cars on blocks, and all of our lighting works, and if the road gets damaged the city fixes it :hmm:

hard to fuck up a cave dwelling. Don't you get all your lighting from fire and the sun? How do you put an alpaca up on blocks? I am curious about that one.

 

[alkemyst]

See above. I'm a homeowner, as are about 50,000 other people in the city I live in. Somehow we manage to live in attractive streets without the need for HOA's. Anyway what business is it of yours if I want to put up a fence or have an above ground pool or keep a boat on my ample property?

because what a neighbor does on his property affects other's property values.

 

[Mike Gayner]

hard to fuck up a cave dwelling. Don't you get all your lighting from fire and the sun? How do you put an alpaca up on blocks? I am curious about that one.

Yup you're exactly as stupid as the average American it seems. Which explains why things like HOA's are common over there.

 

[Exterous]

How can you see a problem with that? I can park my vehicle on my property any way I like and it has nothing to do with you.

Sadly HOA's do not work this way - for the most part their rule is law until a court battle decides otherwise. My parents live in a HOA that said someone with a classic pink Cadillac, that was in perfect condition, could no longer park it in their driveway (when the weather was nice) because 'no one wanted to see old, junk cars' and it wasn't their primary vehicle

If they thought you might be speeding through the neighborhood they would put a 'Speeding Notice' in your mailbox - until it was pointed out that was illegal

 

[KMFJD]

See above. I'm a homeowner, as are about 50,000 other people in the city I live in. Somehow we manage to live in attractive streets without the need for HOA's. Anyway what business is it of yours if I want to put up a fence or have an above ground pool or keep a boat on my ample property?

It's definitely an American oddity...

 

[Anubis]

As a homeowner, I'm glad that my neighbors can't build a crappy above ground pool or park their camper in their back yard. The HOA also stays on top of the city to keep the yards of foreclosures maintained.

man you would hate it here, every other house has an above ground pool in one area of town. dude across the street parks his camper on his front lawn almost every Thursday and Monday when hes loading/unloading it. Tons of people run daycares out of their houses and have toys and kiddy pools in their back yards. Some dude a block away parks like a 40ft boat next to his house all winter.

 

[bullbert]

man you would hate it here, every other house has an above ground pool in one area of town. dude across the street parks his camper on his front lawn almost every Thursday and Monday when hes loading/unloading it. Tons of people run daycares out of their houses and have toys and kiddy pools in their back yards. Some dude a block away parks like a 40ft boat next to his house all winter.

Do you live in a suburban or urban city? Most cities have codes against the last three of your examples.