More HOA goodness

[kranky]

Yeah. Someone called the cops about my dogs barking one time. I literally had no idea this was going on because they never bark when we're at home, so I didn't know they were barking when we left.

Had they come and talked to me I would have gladly done something about it, but they just up and called the cops. I didn't do anything about it. It's just a $15 fine if we get called for barking dogs. I'll gladly take the $15 fine to piss my neighbors off for not having the courtesy to come talk to me first.

You know, maybe things worked out for the best. In Upper St. Clair, that is probably a $500 fine.

 

[bignateyk]

You know, maybe things worked out for the best. In Upper St. Clair, that is probably a $500 fine.

Hah, yeah probably. Upper St. Clair is the definition of HOA hell.

We ended up staying in State College and buying a nice 10 acre piece of semi-wooded semi-meadow property. I can't even see the closest house to me due to elevation changes and trees, but I am surrounded on all sides by HOA neighborhoods. Poor bastards. Meanwhile I can shoot my guns, have bonfires, keep horses, and do whatever the hell I want.

So I guess the guy who called the cops is happy that we ended up moving.

 

[Linflas]

My philosophy is that I pay the HOA to do that sort of thing and that is their responsibility, so why shouldn't I ask them to say something? I have no authority, so me asking them to take them down probably won't do any good -- I guess we'll see next February and March when I have to ask him.

Actually unless it states explicitly otherwise in the articles of incorporation for your HOA what the dues are paid for is to pay for upkeep and maintenance for the common areas. In single family communities these are normally nothing more than entrance signs if they exist, tot lots if they exist, and the storm pond(s). Townhouse communities typically have more common areas including the parking lot and access roads which they generally have to pay for keeping cleared in winter as well. Otherwise your dues are supposed to be banked for emergency expenditures regarding the above areas. Many HOAs use a portion of the dues to pay a property management company to handle things like collecting dues and maintaining the books and accounts. Some will also negotiate agreements for trash service and add that fee to the dues. All the HOA board work other than that handled by a management company is done on a voluntary basis by whomever you as a community elected to serve on the board at the annual meeting. If your community is anything like the 2 I have lived in you are lucky to get enough people at the annual meeting to have a quorum for electing board members.

 

[waggy]

i leave my lights up all year. No you can't see them from the road unless they are on.

this homeowner is a idiot.

 

[FDF12389]

That rav4 would have been able to move those block. Dude needs to man up.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

If your community is anything like the 2 I have lived in you are lucky to get enough people at the annual meeting to have a quorum for electing board members.

I think I'll run for a board position in the next election. I like my chances.

 

[Dulanic]

I think I'll run for a board position in the next election. I like my chances.

I'd like your chance too, I think you'd fit right in. Glad I'm not your neighbor. I completely keep up my property and you wouldn't have a chance to complain, I just wouldn't like you.

 

[thegimp03]

It's easy, rent a jack hammer = problem solved

Yeah, I was going to say either rent a jackhammer or rent a pickup and hook a chain on the back of it. Also, find out where the board of the HOA lives and put the same blocks in front of their garage and see how they like it.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I'd like your chance too, I think you'd fit right in. Glad I'm not your neighbor. I completely keep up my property and you wouldn't have a chance to complain, I just wouldn't like you.

Well, damn, now I'm going to lose sleep tonight. How will I survive? I mean, I'm really trying to give a crap, but I just can't!

 

[thegimp03]

We had an HOA issue last year where my wife's car got towed for being parked in a resident parking spot (we are residents). The tow fee was > $500. We wrote a letter to the Board of Directors and they cut us a check for the same amount as the tow fee.

Funny thing was, at the same time this was all going on, residents of our area were going door-to-door to get our names on a list to recall the Board and vote a new one in. While we wanted to have the Board recalled and a new Board put in place, we told them all the same thing, that we were awaiting judgment on our refund and wouldn't put our names on a list in case it created a certain bias against cutting us a check. Turns out we get our check and deposited it, the next thing we did was vote in a new Board. I went to the Board meeting and smiled at all those jackasses as I voted against them.

 

[kranky]

If your community is anything like the 2 I have lived in you are lucky to get enough people at the annual meeting to have a quorum for electing board members.

Where my parents live, there is no shortage of retired busybodies eager to tell other people what to do and sue people, and they seem to be entrenched on the HOA board. They walk the neighborhood (or ride on their golf carts) with cameras hoping to find some violation so they can run home and sent out a stern letter filled with dire warnings about legal action. It's how they pass the time.

Their board had an "extra" assessment of $800 per home to cover legal fees to fight my parents on a BS issue which my parents eventually won. Part of the settlement was that my parents were exempted from paying the $800.

I don't think HOAs are inherently evil - it's who is on the board that determines if it's going to be good or bad. And it seems that over time, the trend is towards the bad. The good people serve some time, they wear out, and step aside at some point. The seats get filled by people who are frothing at the mouth to "set things right". That's when the fun starts.

 

[Dulanic]

Well, damn, now I'm going to lose sleep tonight. How will I survive? I mean, I'm really trying to give a crap, but I just can't!

It's OK I can deal with it too. Just maybe one day you'll grow up from your anti social nature and not make enemies of your neighbors. Just saying... what's the point of being a douche to people? Especially in RL and they are your neighbors.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

It's OK I can deal with it too. Just maybe one day you'll grow up from your anti social nature and not make enemies of your neighbors. Just saying... what's the point of being a douche to people? Especially in RL and they are your neighbors.

Exactly -- tell them to stop being douches and quit littering their lawn!

 

[SparkyJJO]

Sorry, but I don't think it is unreasonable to request that your neighbor regularly mows his/her lawn and puts up their decorations in a timely manner.

Request? No, of course that's not unreasonable.

Force? That's going too far.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Request? No, of course that's not unreasonable.

Force? That's going too far.

"Forcing" someone to keep their lawn mowed is going too far? For one, when you buy a house, you're obligated to do certain things to maintain it. Secondly, many cities and towns have ordinances and if you don't do it, well, it will get done and you'll have to pay for it.

Seriously, why do people buy houses and not keep them up? What's the point, especially in this housing market when neighbors are trying their hardest to sell homes? People just have no sense of pride these days. I'd be so embarrassed to live in place that wasn't kept up.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Then dump the busted up chunks on the HOA president's doorstep, in front of his door so he can't get out.

Dump them in his yard nd on top of it put a sign tht reads.
"The new HOA has assessed you a $14,000 fine for leaving ugly rocks in your yard. Please remove them at once or we will steal your house."


I will never live in an HOA. People say, oh some HOA's aren't bad, but how the hell do you know before you move in?

It's one of the greatest business ideas ever. Get people to buy homes, yet they don't actually own them because you can forclose on them and take their home and they can't do shit about it.
Anyone that willingly signs to be in a HOA deserves whatever happens to them.

 

[lord_emperor]

The actions of the HOA in this case are illegal, blatantly violating collection laws.

Here's hoping he sues the HOA into oblivion.

 

[Arkaign]

Dump them in his yard nd on top of it put a sign tht reads.
"The new HOA has assessed you a $14,000 fine for leaving ugly rocks in your yard. Please remove them at once or we will steal your house."


I will never live in an HOA. People say, oh some HOA's aren't bad, but how the hell do you know before you move in?

It's one of the greatest business ideas ever. Get people to buy homes, yet they don't actually own them because you can forclose on them and take their home and they can't do shit about it.
Anyone that willingly signs to be in a HOA deserves whatever happens to them.

^^ This.

Regardless of whether or not you have to live with a HOA, if you live in any kind of organized neighborhood you almost certainly already have city ordinances and such anyway. Voluntarily signing up with an HOA is like handing an unlubricated dildo to a group of sadists, turning around, and dropping your pants. Oh, and paying for it.

I'll never understand how so much "Mericka!" "Freedom!" type of folks get suckered into even less-free environments than mere local gov't already provides.

Nanny state!? YES PLEASE, not only do I want to be told what to do by City, County, State, and Federal authorities, but I want to give up even more to a bunch of HOA jacktards. GG fools.

 

[Jeff7]

Yeah. Someone called the cops about my dogs barking one time. I literally had no idea this was going on because they never bark when we're at home, so I didn't know they were barking when we left.

Had they come and talked to me I would have gladly done something about it, but they just up and called the cops. I didn't do anything about it. It's just a $15 fine if we get called for barking dogs. I'll gladly take the $15 fine to piss my neighbors off for not having the courtesy to come talk to me first.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot going on in the way of hurt egos, and not giving a damn about other people.


"Oh, my dog's barking is annoying you? Fuck off, get off of my property, or I'll shoot you as a trespasser. Sucks to be you!" - assuming it doesn't degrade beyond that right from the start.
So yeah, they'll call the police because some people just love to be violent, arrogant assholes.


Or "please turn down your music, I'm trying to get ready for a test tomorrow." I'm sure sometimes you might get someone who actually gives a damn about other people, and who will turn it down, or put on headphones. Typically I've ended up with the passive-aggressive sort, who'll turn it down for all of about 3 minutes, then it goes back up to the "seismic disruption" setting.

 

[Nebor]

^^ This.

Regardless of whether or not you have to live with a HOA, if you live in any kind of organized neighborhood you almost certainly already have city ordinances and such anyway. Voluntarily signing up with an HOA is like handing an unlubricated dildo to a group of sadists, turning around, and dropping your pants. Oh, and paying for it.

I'll never understand how so much "Mericka!" "Freedom!" type of folks get suckered into even less-free environments than mere local gov't already provides.

Nanny state!? YES PLEASE, not only do I want to be told what to do by City, County, State, and Federal authorities, but I want to give up even more to a bunch of HOA jacktards. GG fools.

I wish I could rep you for using the word "jacktards." :biggrin:

I mean up reputation, not report. What part of Dallas do you live in again?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Kinda ridiculous...actually beyond ridiculous. I would have moved those blocks and put them in front of the HOA president's house.

I laugh when people talk about freedom in American and yet they live in a HoA. Some of these super strict HoA's are ultra restrictive and suppressive. I know I'll never live in one, mostly because I do my own landscaping and I change it every year, new plants, flowers etc. I shouldn't have to ask permission to plant flowers in my own freaking yard.

I live in an HOA community and I plant whatever flowers I want in my entry area. I tore out the oak they had planted in our yard years ago and put in a queen palm tree. Stupid place for an oak tree anyway, it would have torn up the sidewalk, our driveway, the road, and probably our foundation eventually.

 

[Mike Gayner]

It goes both ways. My HOA doesn't enforce things enough, in my opinion. For example, we have a neighbor who goes all out for Christmas -- he has lights and dozens of props in his yard, such as deer, etc. The problem is that the last 2 years, he literally has not put the stuff away until the middle of March. It looks stupid and trashy to see Christmas decorations out in the middle of March. I reported it to the HOA and they actually said "There is nothing we can do." Seriously? You couldn't have at least said "Hey, we've had complaints about your decorations being out 2+ months after the holiday ends -- can you put them away?"

Fuck you, if I want to leave shit on my lawn, what the fuck has it got to do with you?

 

[Arkaign]

I wish I could rep you for using the word "jacktards." :biggrin:

I mean up reputation, not report. What part of Dallas do you live in again?

I'm in Plano atm, luckily not in an HOA area. I hope to retire somewhere about ~1h outside of DFW, or perhaps find a job I can telecommute from sometime during the next decade or so.

 

[Arkaign]

Btw, community/neighbors are important to me. I keep my yard clean and orderly, but it's not my place to demand anyone else do so. The city has enough ordinances and penalties already without an HOA profiteering even further. I also find that simple courtesy and communication go a lot further than one might think. There is a neighbor three doors down who got a couple of the yellow 'warning' postings a little while back, and I had seen the guy who owns the place a couple times while running. He turned out to be a very nice disabled Korean war veteran who doesn't have any family around, so I started taking care of his lawn and fixed his deck up a bit. I like working with my hands, and damned if he doesn't make the best god-damned coffee I've ever had. Win/win.

 

[Krynj]

Btw, community/neighbors are important to me. I keep my yard clean and orderly, but it's not my place to demand anyone else do so. The city has enough ordinances and penalties already without an HOA profiteering even further. I also find that simple courtesy and communication go a lot further than one might think. There is a neighbor three doors down who got a couple of the yellow 'warning' postings a little while back, and I had seen the guy who owns the place a couple times while running. He turned out to be a very nice disabled Korean war veteran who doesn't have any family around, so I started taking care of his lawn and fixed his deck up a bit. I like working with my hands, and damned if he doesn't make the best god-damned coffee I've ever had. Win/win.

That rules. Good on you, man.