Why I never want to live in an HOA "community"

[Hawkmoon]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-1-million-hoa-blowup-it-started-with-the-misplaced-flower-pots-11553006590

I've seen it once with a condominium. I never want to be subject to such petty tyranny again.

[brimic]

interesting... but paywall.

[MechAg94]

No paywall for me, but I don't go to that site much.

Is it common for HOA's to cite homeowners with no warning?  I am referring to the citations when he first moved into the neighborhood.  Seems heavy handed to try to fine someone that quickly.  At this point, it looks like both sides are stubborn and refusing to back down. 

[BobR]

Here is a local article about it.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article220612110.html

I just spent 3+ months dealing with an HOA while selling my son's house in Las Vegas, it reinforced my seething hatred of HOAs.

bob

[MechAg94]

Here is a local article about it.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article220612110.html

I just spent 3+ months dealing with an HOA while selling my son's house in Las Vegas, it reinforced my seething hatred of HOAs.

bob

We are all ears if it doesn't upset you too much to tell the story. 

My house is in a smaller city.  Any rules are managed by the city, not an HOA. 

[Scout26]

Just remember that Mike Irwin was once the  Obersturmbahnreichsfurher of an HOA.

[BlueStarLizzard]

And I think I know the real reason the HOA didn't like what he did.

It seems that he found some faults in the original landscaping and building project, like the utility lines not being deep enough, which is why he had to alter his original plan.

How many houses in that development were built by the same contractor as that house? Wouldn't want property values to go down because one guy uncovered some shoddy work, now would we? 

Either that or some people just have WAYYY too much time on their hands that they'd spend so much time and effort bitching over a retaining wall and river rock. *snort*

[Brad Johnson]

Every HOA I ever dealt with ended up the same, run by a bunch of militant do-as-I-say types who won't suffer so much as a blade of grass being out of place. Some will even resort to making up crap if they feel like someone isn't toeing the line. Legalities like privacy, personal property, and reasonable doubt? Pffft! If it's not in the HOA bylaws it doesn't exist.

I'm not real thrilled about some strictures inherent to living inside a city limit but I put up with them because there are significant offsets. An HOA? No way. The city already has enough say over my property. I'm damn sure not going to give a bunch of neighborhood bullies that power, especially when it comes with an unrestricted ability to assess charges and place liens.

Brad

[BlueStarLizzard]

Every HOA I ever dealt with ended up the same, run by a bunch of militant do-as-I-say types who won't suffer so much as a blade of grass being out of place. Some will even resort to making up crap if they feel like someone isn't toeing the line. Legalities like privacy, personal property, and reasonable doubt? Pffft! If it's not in the HOA bylaws it doesn't exist.

I'm not real thrilled about some strictures inherent to living inside a city limit but I put up with them because there are significant offsets. An HOA? No way. The city already has enough say over my property. I'm damn sure not going to give a bunch of neighborhood bullies that power.

Brad

And that seems to be the jist of what an HOA is. Busybodies and bullies who don't have a life of their own.

It's one of those things that could be nice in theory, but it always ends up going wrong... Like socialism and communism.

[RoadKingLarry]

Do you want killdozers?
'Cause this is how you get killdozers.
 

[MillCreek]

Generally speaking, you cannot live in a newer residential community in this area that does not have a HOA.

[230RN]

All this confirms my long-standing and firmly entrenched opinion that anyone who wants to be in politics or on HOA boards should be summarily disqualified.

It all starts with Hall Monitors in High School.

[K Frame]

Yep, all HOAs/HOA officers are just like all guns/ gun owners--scummy ahole criminals just looking to wreak mayhem, death and destruction. They should all be outlawed.



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[French G.]

I never lived in an HOA area. I lived in a (Dr. Evil air quotes) historic district.

I laugh at your petty HOA trials. I did get a ticket once to mow my grass. Gone for a month defending democracy or some such, get a ticket for being a commie.

[sumpnz]

I'm on almost 5 acres outside of city limits.  There's an HOA for the 'hood, but all it really does is maintain the retention ponds.  If they wanted to go after us there's probably half a dozen violations they could fine us over.  But most of the current board is pretty conservative if not libertarian, so they leave us alone.  Should that change I might run for the board.

[MechAg94]

I'm on almost 5 acres outside of city limits.  There's an HOA for the 'hood, but all it really does is maintain the retention ponds.  If they wanted to go after us there's probably half a dozen violations they could fine us over.  But most of the current board is pretty conservative if not libertarian, so they leave us alone.  Should that change I might run for the board.

That is probably the key.  I would be curious what the busy bodies try to do to prevent that.  However, I do agree there should be strict limits on the HOA and how much they can do without approval of most of the owners.

The only HOA I ever fell under was for a townhome community and it was fairly hands off.  They handled all the outdoor maintenance including exterior siding and trim and roofs.  I guess that kept the busy bodies busy enough they didn't bother anyone too much.

[Kingcreek]

My mother had a new house built in a senior HOA. She asked for my advice and told her built it elsewhere. She ignored my advice she asked for and entered HOA purgatory.
She had a water drainage problem and poor construction and elevation issues and no choice but to use the HOA contractor. They told her that was her problem and if she wanted to hire somebody to correct it, that was all on her. She did, had it surveyed, and a reputable contractor that was ready to start when they showed up at her door with the covenant and the relevant portions highlighted that she could not do any work without express permission of the folks that told her to go ahead and do it herself.
F them. She spent $13K fixing the problem, filed a lawsuit and settled for $8K. Then she died and I sold the F’n house for $80K less than it cost her to build it and that was after 7 months on the market.
I would love to be in a HOA. I would drink beer in the driveway, pee in the front yard, let my dog run loose, play ZZ Top real load, and fly the biggest goddam amurican flag I could buy. Then I would skin my deer from a tree within sight of everybody.
Maybe there is a reason I don’t do the HOA thing.

[HankB]

Do you want killdozers?
'Cause this is how you get killdozers.
 

From stories I've read, I'm mildly surprised that some especially dictatorial HOA board members haven't experienced some sort of extra-legal reprisals, anything from someone emptying a couple of jugs of Round-Up on their lawns and ranging up . . . to killdozers and such.

[Hawkmoon]

Generally speaking, you cannot live in a newer residential community in this area that does not have a HOA.

That was my impression in the area around Prescott, AZ, when my late wife and I visited my cousin several years ago and he and his wife were showing us around. It seemed that ALL the new homes for sale were in HOA communities. I guess some people actually see that as a benefit ... 

[Hawkmoon]

From stories I've read, I'm mildly surprised that some especially dictatorial HOA board members haven't experienced some sort of extra-legal reprisals, anything from someone emptying a couple of jugs of Round-Up on their lawns and ranging up . . . to killdozers and such.

Tsk, tsk. Carcinogenic.

White vinegar and salt solution is the way to go.

[MechAg94]

Considering the ease of installing security cameras these days, I would be very careful with any activities such as that. 

[sumpnz]

That was my impression in the area around Prescott, AZ, when my late wife and I visited my cousin several years ago and he and his wife were showing us around. It seemed that ALL the new homes for sale were in HOA communities. I guess some people actually see that as a benefit ... 

Usually the state or county or town requires new developments to be responsible for certain things, whether it's the roads, drainage ditches, or whatever, and the way that typically gets enforced is by setting up HOAs. Which then often set up additional rules to "maintain property values" via various restrictions.  Some are benign, like mine.  Others are psychotic, like the OP.  The median seems to be significantly closer to psychotic than to benign.

[Ben]

I've been in two HOAs - one the nightmare power-hungry kind, and the other one was pretty good.

The first one was during my brief two year stint in LA as a youngster. That HOA president was the poster boy for a smug, arrogant, smart ass "president" who actually one time tried to order me to mop up the water from a leaking pipe in the underground garage "for the good of the building." He of course didn't get his hands dirty (I also didn't take his order). He was a total busybody too - always spying on the residents. After I moved out I'd heard the cops showed up to investigate him for embezzling. I never heard what the end result was.

The other HOA I spent over 20 years in. Other than the monthly newsletters, I almost wouldn't have known there was one. It was a large enough complex that they had a management company running things and the couple of times I needed to bring something to their attention, I emailed the contact and it was taken care of right away.

About the only thing that was probably bad in the latter HOA, was that for about the first ten years I was there, they were patching and sealing all the parking areas every two years, even though it never really needed it. I'm about positive that president had something going with a local asphalt company, because after he stepped down, we had one recoat in the next ten years.

[K Frame]

In reading through those articles, it seems to me that there is a LOT of assholery to be had on both sides. Not just the HOA's.

[Ben]

I'm on almost 5 acres outside of city limits.  There's an HOA for the 'hood, but all it really does is maintain the retention ponds.  If they wanted to go after us there's probably half a dozen violations they could fine us over.  But most of the current board is pretty conservative if not libertarian, so they leave us alone.  Should that change I might run for the board.

I saw a lot of that when I was still looking in Idaho - 5 and even 10 acre parcels in a "subdivision", with like $100 a year HOA dues to take care of stuff like Winter plowing, or else like one subdivision made up of 1-3 acre parcels, maintenance on a shared water well. Mostly benign stuff, no real "rules".  Though there was one 5 acre place that I was kind of interested in, so I looked at the HOA rules - "generators not allowed". WTF? Rural Idaho and you can't make generator noise? Like if the power goes out?