Careful there! Are you certain they are allowed to come to you? I mean come on, inviting a junk dealer into the neighborhood?????

 

It's well nigh impossible to get housing without covenants. Driven by the money supply for subdivision and contstruction. The banks want an HOA. So even the 10 acre lots get one. So the argument that it's something you voluntarily accepted is becoming bogus. One has no choice.

 

Thank god where I live in Venice Beach, I get more crap from the neighborhood crackheads than any type of homeowners association. They are easier to deal with/tune out.

 

They knocked the woods next to my 46 year old house and put up 12 houses that would be apartment buildings elsewhere in the world.
At a backyard get together the guy next to me asked me if I wanted to join the HOA they had formed. I almost spit my beer on him from suppressed laughter. I would be the first they would go after. I have a Tralex out front and a full shop on back. Folks stop by now and then for little fixes and to shoot the $hi) no cars on blocks or parts sitting around but I have been know to work on things in the large parking area in front of the shop. The sound of a grinder the glow of a TIG and the clatter of wrenches = Saturday for me. (no one has figured out the the 20000HZ HF of the TIG is where the TV picture noise comes from) There are houses on my street that are not picture perfect but it is a nice place to live warts and all. Why do I care if the guy up the streets babysitter parks a car on the street? Get real and let people live. Too far out of hand and the law of the land comes into play otherwise butt out. Got a vine that bothers you? Cut it down. The vine not on you property? STFU and go mow your own lawn.

The real problem with HOAs is the uneven or draconian enforcement of the rules. My brothers got a HOA nut job that walks the streets on trash day with a tape measure checking that the trash cans are in the right place. I kid you not. I will stick with the USA thanks.

 

A better way of making the point I was trying to make above. And even those who review the covenants of a HOA and sign them at closing NEVER find a clause that says: "These rules sound reasonable now, but please know that they will be enforced in a haphazard, inconsistent, descrininatory manner, by our neighborhood megalomaniacs". THAT nobody signs up for!

 

HOA is really something the gov't want, not something the developer wanted. with HOA, the city can dump lots of maintenance responsibility to YOU who pays the HOA. HOA are NEVER funded property to do all the maintenance. it is also a wonderful mechanism for lawyers to file class action lawsuit against developers.

my HOA does not allow me to wash cars. well, so i just do that around 3am.
they do not allow cars to be parked on my street or driveway either.
lots of other strange requirements.

 

You guys are lucky you don't live in Switzerland. Beautiful country but the entire place is run like a giant HOA. I have some friends that have been living there for a couple of years and the stories they tell are funny - except that they are true.

Talk about ****!

 

My HOA has been okay. I got a letter when I forgot one of my cars on the street. I am allowed to leave cars on the driveway, but not for more than 3 nights in a row. But, they haven't enforced that rule since I've parked a car on my driveway for weeks at a time without moving it.

I also own a truck that is visually dispicable. I leave it at my work place so I can do errands (I commute in by train). But from time to time, I bring it home to haul stuff and wash it. I don't like to leave it on my driveway because it is downright ugly (dents galore, bent bumper, broken tail light cover, rust on the steel wheels, etc.) But, when I do leave it on the driveway, the HOA leaves me alone. They will, however, cite me for putting the car on jack stands on the driveway. So, I work on the car inside the garage.

I hate 'some' HOAs, but in general, the neighborhoods that have HOA's look more tidy. I had an acquainance who left his dilapidated Thunderbird on his driveway for years. It was an eyesore, and I felt sorry for his neighbors. No amount of coaxing would get him to donate the vehicle or take it to the junk yard. He was the prime example of a homeowner I'd like the HOA to deal with. Some HOA's are evil, but not all.

 

I bought my house because there is no HOA. I've had my fill of HOAs after living in S. Florida for four years.

 

In our HOA nobody seems to care. Watching our HOA in action is like watching a Chinese fire drill--which is fine by me. For example: Some streets have parking on one side only, and no parking signs on the other side. For some reason those no parking signs keep disappearing...

And while others have pointed out that the covenants were signed. I see nothing wrong with signing them and then working to change/subvert them. This isn't a religion.

 

Mine is a riot too!! A bunch of busy bodies with nothing better to do. They actually went on to someones roof and tore off his satelite dish because he never got permission to mount it!

I can't wait till I fire up the newly rebuilt 3.4 (which will be nice and loud). It should smoke pretty good for the first few minutes too. Oh and there will be plenty of tunning done in the driveway too as we attempt to set the new ECU up enough to get some break in miles on it........

Any guesses as too how much the fines will be?

Cheers

 

LOL. Just before I sold my house my then neighbor came over to get me to sign off on his new garage. He's building it to house his boat and big old dually pickup - both of which were clearly banned by the 'covenants', which I tossed in the trash. I guess I'm just that sort of scofflaw.

The garage is HUGE.. almost as tall as his 2-story house.

Next place I buy will have not such HOA BS. What a load of hooey. Hell, the next house I own I plan will acutally be an aircraft hanger, sine I can't find the 6-car garge 2-bedroom house I want.

 

I hate HOAs! I lived in a condo for 3 years that had HOAs. Somehow I only received minor grief for having a trailer occassionally and working on my cars in my garage (even with the door shut - the grouchy people just "knew" I was working in there...).

My proudest moment was the day AFTER the 1996 Telecom Act was passed. I had a DirecTV satellite dish put up instantly (mmm, NFL Sunday Ticket). This, naturally, prompted the "you are not allowed to put up any antenna, have it removed or you will be fined, blah blah" note within a week. I responded to this with, "as per section X, paragraph Y of the recently passed Telecom Act, all homeowners, including condominium owners, are permitted to free access to all media and the means necessary to receive it". The act specifically called out that satellite dishes for condo homeowners was permissible by the law. I never received another complaint on that and within the next week the HOA had sent out a letter to all owners asking if we wanted to put up one big dish to prevent everyone from having small dishes!

I moved to a property with no HOA or convenants. I want no part of that nonsense ever again.

 

ENVY

 

I've dodged the bullet so far. Imagine driving home in a 355 Challenge Car and then my 993 RS race car. We're the Griswalds of our small neighberhood. I am in the market for a nice mid-70's model RV that I can park in the front of the house.