Cynthetik - I agree, but I also know what it’s like to live next to the neighbors from hell. Months of trash stacked up in between our homes, complain and your car window get smashed, call the police, both husband and wife have an instant prepared alibi. Complain to the HOA, and four board members who voted for him to not park his van on the front yard, trash removal, etc., The homeowner makes simple threats "Do this MF’s and you’ll all be sorry!" all four members suddenly have home or vehicle damage. Security cameras catch nothing because they know exactly where they are. Call the police and they are powerless. Then you hear their gossip come full circle when neighbors ask you why you’re racist, why you stole money from the HOA funds, it’s endless. Nothing is their fault, it’s all the fault of the people who tried to get them to be better neighbors. Just saying there are two sides, HOA’s have a function, there is a need, and yes, sometimes that power can be abused.
If they want their house to be purple, so what? I don’t see any reason they shouldn’t be able to paint it whatever color they want. It’s their house. If you don’t like purple, don’t paint your house purple 🤷♀️
My dad lived in an HOA and one day they were out by the pool and a drone came over the fence and was flying around. He went inside and got a shotgun and blasted it. Turns out it belonged to the HOA. They called the Sheriff and the Sheriff said he was within his rights because he owns the airspace so many feet above the property, and since it was in the County there's no laws against discharging a weapon. The HOA sent him a bill for the drone and he's refused to pay it.
Yep actually you own the airspace all the way to heaven but you give an easement to aircraft as long as it does not interfere with your use of the property Causby, 328 U.S. 256 (1946)... Good for your dad LOL
Surprised the Sherrif screwed that one so badly - a Drone or Remotely Piloted Aircraft being shot down is the jursidiction of the FAA, and is a Criminal Offense in the US. There are different states and counties that have laws stating airspace ownership, all are overruled by the Federal laws. Just as you can't shoot at a Passenger Jet, or a News Chopper, you can not shoot at a Drone lawfully. The Sherrif should also have looked at the laws for discharging a firearm in an urban location, there are cases where people have gone to jail under that one for shooting at drones over private property. Now, the HOA, they should also be getting charged for the privacy violations, the very same rules that allow folks to fly drones, also cover the behaviour and use of those drones, and flying low enough to look in peoples windows will get the HOA charged with a breach of the Drone Operators rules by the very same Federal Aviation Administration.
Appears lots of HOA board members are power hungry creeps. Years ago I was visiting a friend who lived in an HOA and was told by a board member I could not park in the driveway and if I did not leave I would be arrested. I told them to call the police. Police came and I explained the situation while the HOA board member kept interrupting me. The officer finally told them to be quiet and then said if anyone was going to be arrested it would be the HOA board member for disorderly conduct. During that time my friend brought out the HOA rule book that only said cars cannot be parked in the driveway overnight. The officer told the board member it was illegal to unknowingly make false claims calling the police. I think the officer was trying to make a point to the board member.
@@randomyoutubeuser8509 Maybe Millennials, but more and more people who are a little older want to get out of the cities and suburbs. No neighbors, no worries about anyone not liking what you do on your own property.
@@randomyoutubeuser8509 lmao who wants neighbors? I live in the middle of the woods and Absolutely would have it no other way. City folk are just scared of the dark woods but heres a protip there is nothing in those woods at night that isn't there in the daytime. So no special boogeyman or anything like that it's the humans you need to worry about.
They are hearding us into cities and subdivisions.soon stores will be closing in the country as well as power companies will start charging outrages prices.or make you pay for power lines,water lines etc to force u out. they want us cattle in high rises or apartments,y u think farmers cant make a living anymore,its not on accident
The funniest story HOA story I heard when I was in Florida was in my brother in law's HOA in Fort Myers. They went after one homeowner, for washing his boat in his front yard, after he would get back from fishing. Unfortunately for them, he was a lawyer, and they made him mad enough to dig out all of the HOA filing documents, and paperwork. He found out they had a made a mistake in their initial filing to become an HOA, sued them, and had the HOA dissolved in court. My brother in law thought it was hilarious, because he hated them, too, and showed me the letter they sent, admitting they had no authority whatsoever any more, but asking the residents if they would voluntarily continue to pay dues to pay for the landscaping maintenance.
If the HOA no longer exists who would the residents be paying the landscaping "dues" to? The HOA board should cease to exist. They should immediately stop drawing pay & all HOA funds should go to continuing the landscape work until the funds are used up. Someone will have to step up & handle things.
My niece lived in a townhouse in an HOA community. She paid $750 a month for just the HOA fee. They were responsible for all outside upkeep. During a windstorm, siding was blown off my niece's house which caused rain to get in between her kitchen ceiling causing her ceiling to fall down. Her homeowners insurance had already assessed the damage and were waiting for the siding to be fixed so they could fix the inside. This HOA tried to tell my niece that they were only responsible for the roof and the front and the back of the house, but since she was end of row they weren't responsible for the side of the building. She tried to reason with them, but they wouldn't budge. Her brother's an attorney so he wrote them a letter and the HOA had that siding fixed that week. Most people don't have a lawyer for a brother and would have to pay to get a lawyer. She bought a new house and she told the realtor, no HOA's.
Lot of money to pay in year after year and get little from it. I always wonder if they pocket a lot of your money for themselves. It's been known to happen.
When I lived in a condo(4 unit buildings 100+ buildings). We had a windstorm. The management who ran the hoa decided to put in new siding. Thing is, they were supposed to have an account to deal with stuff like that. They automatically billed every unit $750. To be paid in two months time or else get fined. Thing is, a good portion of us were living from paycheck to paycheck and could not afford to do that in what they considered a timely manner.
@@makeitso4793 Some HOA's have been convicted of massive theft. I read that it's advisable to get an independent audit every year to prevent this situation.
Over 80% of new housing sold is already controlled by an HOA before it even gets to market. So what exactly is it you're saying about people looking for housing??
I encountered a similar situation with the automobile in my previous gated community. I had a 3 car garage and 4 cars so one remained outside in the driveway. It was a ragtop roadster so to protect from the elements I bought a car cover similar to the one in the video. The tags were current and I drove it when the weather was nice. There was a prohibition against “storing” personal property such as boats etc. in view of the neighborhood. But there was also a mandate that all passenger automobiles MUST be off the street and either in the garage or THE DRIVEWAY by 10:00 pm each evening. I received a letter that I was in violation of “storing” personal property in view of the neighborhood. I pushed back that it was a passenger automobile and that I was REQUIRED to park it there. There was no prohibition against protecting your car with a car cover in the HOA rules. The head of the board finally admitted I was correct, but I’m sure it still drove some crazy for whatever reason. Luckily, I don’t live there anymore!
A family friend bought a house on a big plot of property way back in the 70's. It was 10 acres. An hoa started being built behind him in the early 90's. The only way to get to that community was a road right next to Our friends house. His name was Jack and he like my dad and I were into old cars. Except Jack had a lot more cars than us. He used to have cars parked in a line in front of his barn, people passing by didn't like that so we helped him put a privacy fence behind the barn so the cars were put there. After a few years the wood fence started getting weathered they didn't like that. They didn't like it if he kept his barn doors open. He wasn't even in this hoa. I was only in my teens then I remember once my dad bought one of the vehicles behind Jack's barn, a '40 Chevy pickup. It ran but it looked run down. I remember because my dad let me drive it to the front as he was getting a trailer he had stowed behind the barn. Not long after I was at the front, this car came up the driveway a guy got out and started taking pictures I had no idea what this was about. I asked him what is he doing, he was very rude and asked where jack was. I felt I was being violated, he opened the door of the truck and I got defensive. He took pictures inside the truck, then he marched to the barn calling out to Jack. The barn had an attached garage, the door was closed. He just opens it and barges in. I was on his heels telling him to get out but he ignored me. By then my dad and jack were coming back around with the trailer in tow. I wave them over, this guy was snapping pics in the garage, the barn. I tell them what's up, when the guy sees Jack he just starts at him like a drill instructor. Yelling at Jack about he was told to keep his junk out of sight and that the barn doors were open again and yadda yadda. My dad and I were beyond shocked. Jack just stood there looking at the ground waiting for the guy was finished.. after the guy was done Jack said my friend is buying that junk truck. The guy threatened Jack with a lawsuit. My dad heard enough told the guy to get off the property in a colorful way. After that happened Jack told my dad that hoa is hot on him trying to sue him because his property is an eye sore. It wasn't. He kept the grass cut he complied with them keeping cars out of sight. It was just unreal. Jack was the type of guy you dont treat like that especially on his own property. The odasity of that person forcing his way around on private property just blew my mind. They had Jack scarred somehow. Because I thought Jack would have torn that guy apart. He was quiet the whole time.
@@jonnyboy1817 Jack got diabetes and thought he could beat it. He didn't do anything to help his condition, no doctor is going to tell him what to eat. So he started losing toes fingers feet etc. He started selling his cars he had a lot that were very expensive that went for cheap. Eventually he died I think in '08. His wife was in my opinion mentally insane they had a son who was a nightmare with legs he got ahold of the house somehow kicked his mom out to a elderly home and didn't pay the taxes and eventually lost the house.
HOAs are usually the old busybodies in the neighborhood. My sister lived in a HOA and for some inexplicable reason the HOA busybody decided she did not want cars parked in the clubhouse and pool parking lot. She also decided she hated a person’s house color, all within the guidelines but she didn’t like it. Nice Earth tone. The lady’s home, yard and additional structure were beautiful. The homeowner got fed up and painted polka dots all over her own house to protest after repeated harassment. The HOA lady sued, lost and had to pay up. Don’t push people for ridiculous reasons because you want to be a bully.
Not anymore. Migrants who want your house. Prejudice who want you gone or just to frustrate you and do absolutely NADA to the residents who move 5 families into a single residence with way too many vehicles, gatherings that spill-over to neighbors whose complaints go ignored. It's all B.S.
I painted my house, and ran out of paint literally with only about 5 square feet left. It could not be seen from the street. I get a letter from my HOA about it with a picture. I walked around and recreated the pic on my phone. They literally had to walk about 35-40' onto my property to take the pic. I called and told them I was going to file a trespass charge. They told me they NEVER go onto private property to take pictures. LIARS!
Zoom lens, perhaps. I can take a photo of a hawk in a tree that makes it look like it's 4 feet from me. It's a possibility - I am no sticking up for the HOA.
I got a letter about my car being disable because a neighbor saw it needed a jump. I went into the homeowners association and said nothing is wrong with the car and told they can stuff there stupid letter. Usually it is one or two people who have nothing to do but sit around and report everything they can. I even got a letter for a broken roof title that was in the back of my home and there was no way for anyone to see it, unless they were in my yard. When I asked why there were in my yard, they said there were not. So I asked then how can you write a letter. Well I find out they do not check and just write letter to whoever complains. So I went to all 480 homes and found something wrong and told the HOA we can all play this game. I never got a letter again and 2 months latter the neighbor reporting me for minor thing moved. Then the neighbors who bought the house anded up foreclosing and the bank did not get the grass cut. So I guess that is OK for the bank not to cut the grass for 10 month in FL but a decorative roof title in the back of my home is not. Was so glad to get out of FL. Now I live in beautiful MN where people are pleasant and the community is great. I live in a town with 70,000 people and we have over 70 parks. One is right out by my back-door.
Exactly the second ole boy was dumb enough to tell me he did that his azz would’ve been out cold on the ground and if I caught him doing it he’d be shot
while i understand your sentiment, its difficult if not impossible to do that in some areas, and not everybody has the means to move significantly if they cant find a place that isnt in an HOA
Sadly a lot of areas are mostly HOA. Especially in Florida. So many residents don't have a choice. My brother once got a warning for not raking the leaves in his front yard often enough. It was fall how often was he supposed to rake the leaves?
@@Reverend_Salem Then don't move to that area. That's like saying "I hate the snow, but I'm going to move to Alaska". Plenty of areas that don't have HOAs. If an area is 100% HOA that should tell you right off the bat that life there will be hell.
My cousin lives in a HOA and they had a rule that no trucks were to be parked out of the garage overnight. They had to be in the garage. Well he has a 63 Corvette and his wife has her Mustang Convertible taking up both inside the garage spaces. The truck was a new Ford Pickup and not a work truck. They did not care and was going to give him a fine if it was not moved immediately. He went and bought a beat up El-Camino which was tagged as a car and parked it on the street and not on the driveway and they could do nothing but suck it up. When he learned a lot of the SUV'S were titled as trucks and parking in driveway all night he brought it up at the HOA and told them they were in for a lawsuit if they did not give the owners a fine like they were going to do to him. It did not take but a day to drop that rule from the list. He now parks his truck all night and the El-Camino is gone.
I used to own a second house in Beverly Hills, Fla., that was "deed restricted", but didn't have an HOA! The town's Association made sure that the house's lawns were mowed, junk cars weren't 'piling up',etc. But, when the HOA's enter "private property" w/o permission, the police should intercede & override their authority!
Unfortunately, it's often not obvious when folks buy into a neighborhood just how bad an HOA can become. They may start out okay, but if the wrong person or group is voted into leadership (or an overzealous management company is hired), then the owners are locked into a nightmare and are legally bound by the HOA contract.
i live in Scotland but if i ever became unfortunate enough to have to move to USA and had the bigger misfortune to move into a HOA i would attend the FIRST HOA meeting and make a motion to replace the sitting Board members , then when they're eventually replaced ,make another proposal to abolish HOA.
I've never lived under an HOA but isn't there a contract? This should be examined by a third-party lawyer for unreasonable clauses that allow the HOA folks to be a bullies. These should be changed. A person should be very careful about agreeing to abide by policies that are not in accordance with a set of ethics that prevents tyranny. One sort of person that will always be among us is the person that wants to control everything. They can only be gratified when they get to do as these HOA officials are doing in this neighborhood. @@clotshots9072 They may have been hall monitors in school.
I absolutely hate our HOA. We tried so hard to find a home that was less than 10 years old (because that's what our VA loan required) that was not part of an HOA. That is literally impossible to find in our area.
All snug and cozy in your gated community. Let's not forget what our old pal Benjamin Franklin said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Just saying
@Brian Mino, lol you're stupid. That's not "my interpretation" that came straight from Ben Franklin's letter to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. But you wouldn't know that cause you're an illiterate idiot.
I won't even consider buying a property with an HOA for reasons like this. People tend to think it gives them power over their neighbors' properties, but never think about how it will be applied to their own property. Everyone these days seems to think they have the right to control how others live, but nobody can please everyone and someone will always be at the bottom of the pile as the bs rolls downhill.
Tried do HOA in my community. I've owned 2 houses in the same community for 23 years with NO HOA .All of the sudden, a lady sent everyone letters trying to start a HOA, for a empty lot no one owns and my husband and other neighbors cut the grass when its needed.she wants everyone to give 25 dollars ×26 families when we've been cutting the grass for 23 years. I refused. Don't want HOA that's why we moved there.
It will NOT stay at "25 dollars." Every "HOA" perpetually increases the monthly rent and the corrupt people behind the "HOA" crime syndicate pockets the money. In a few years you'll wind up being charged $1,000 a month rent er "HOA fees" just to exist in your own home. Plus the "HOA" has total power to make itself more and more powerful no limits and can fine you for anything it wants and can foreclose basically flat out steal your home. Never ever ever join "HOA" or allow one to be formed in your neighborhood.
My brother lived in an HOA community and he was on the back side of the community and there was a farm behind him and he bought a section of land from the farmer that basically made his back yard bigger and he set it up to park his RV there and and park the truck he used to pull it and his HOA tried to sue him saying it was illegal for him to buy land from that farmer obviously they lost to my brother in court the HOA system should be illegal in my opinion
That is insane. That HOA is really infringing on what is commonly considered "Private Property" especially the story of actually Breaking In and entering. HOA's may have their looney toon ways but those cannot *Supersede local law about property laws. Private Property IS Private Property period.
So in actuality, when buying a house in high end area with HOA, you really don't own your home. I'm surprised the HOA people don't invade the homes with unannounced visits for inspection. This is criminal, absolute criminal.
I have lived in an apartment most of my life. Me and my husband are preparing to purchase a home. The 1st thing I told him was that I was not moving to a community with an HOA! It would be no different than being in an apartment. You would be paying someone to tell you how to live.
We are getting ready to move again. We love our neighborhood and neighbors the area is not an hoa but the kids are all grown up so we want out of the city. I told my wife absolutely no hoa I will stay were I'm at before I move into an hoa community. We own property up north with a poa and they cruise through all the time looking for any little thing they can, change rules to better accommodate them just ridiculous.
We looked at free standing single-family homes in an HOA type environment. This was about 10 years ago. The prices ranged from $360,000-$450,000. The monthly maintenance fees were $395. The houses came with 2 separate garage doors. However, I was told that the rules stated that your garage doors always had to remain closed. And during overnight hours, all vehicles had to be kept inside. None were allowed to be parked outside over night. I couldn't believe what a bunch of baloney this was.
@@arribaficationwineho32 I cannot imagine a HOA actually able to do this. One is just inviting your stuff being stolen. What is in your garage is none of there business if it does not effect others. Also is a huge waste of energy with cooling and heating cost. I also have a hard time someone who can afford a place that required HOA dues is going to have people living full time in the garage. It would cost a fortune to keep the place cool enough in the summer to stay in there.
If you move somewhere voluntarily giving up some rights, do not be surprised when they actually take them. I had a realtor, when I lived in Oregon several years ago, neglect to tell me that the home I was interested in was part of an HOA. Fired the realtor, and chose another house.
You usually do not have a choice. Most, not all but most homes are under hoas. Sometimes it's a choice between school a with a good rating but how, or school f without one. Then you need to drive your kids every day assuming the district gives you permission to.
@timothydoyle9635 exactly "HOAs" aren't a "choice" anymore. "HOA" is forced on everyone because almost all the new "development" is "HOA." This mafia strong arming monopoly garbage needs to be put a stop to.
I fell in love with this beautiful 2bd 2.5 bath Townhouse. I never lived in a HOA. Downsizing. To smaller dwellings. The HOA fee per month not to bad. Before I made an offer I stopped a few residents asked them their opinions on living there in that nice beautiful clean quiet gated town house HOA. They all said DON'T DO IT. One guy told me they fined him bcuz he put plastic milk jugs in his trash can and not the recycling bin.. That did it.. Rumaging thru ppl trash. HECKS NAH.. I don't know what this country is coming to where we are paying to be harrassed. I found a nice detached stand alone home. No HOA!!
Good for you , I'm also in the process of looking for a home not In a HOA community . They take your money and don't do what their supposed to take care of so f all that noise.
Queen, I own one of the 2bd 2.5 bath in the Hills for more than over 13 years. I absolutely enjoyed the experience of my home. I still live in the Hills and have had very limited issues with the management company and the staff. But you have some valid points, the board and association cooperation are very money hungry; but this community keeps them at bay.
The moral to this story is if your going to buy a place in an HOA read the contract, see if there have been complaints filed against the HOA , be an attorney or don’t buy in one . Not all HOAs are bad , it seems that the ones that have the highest HOA fees are the worst.
my son was renting a home in surprise, az, last year and when he moved out the HOA told him that he was to trim the bushes and cut the lawn before moving out or he would not get im deposit back from them . i stepped in and told the HOA, the different between renters and owners, the owner of the property is to make the repairs not the renter? so we went to court, and won, plus 250,000.00 lawsuit against the HOA . since then all the renters sued receiving alot of money that they paid in every month , which by law you dont have to the owners do?
My landlord was asking me about my junky Toyota pickup I had a few years ago, asking if I drove it and the tag was current. Told him yes and yes. Also told him if it doesn't meet the HOA's approval for the asthetic, I'd be glad to take a sledgehammer to it and put some more dents in it on their behalf. Bunch of busy-bodies, the neighbor across the street has a 20 year old BMW that hasn't moved once in the past 3 years with an expired tag and flat tire that actually is breaking the rules but its still there.
the property manager is guilty of breaking and entering along with his maintenance worker and guilty of destruction of private property.and should be criminally charged. thus giving the members the right to remove the property manager from his position.
When we were shopping for a house. I told the realtor that if it had an HOA or even just an assessment for landscaping a sign we didn't want to look. Passed up a lot of houses that would've been nice because of an HOA. For that reason alone an HOA made selling a house harder and worth less money, it actually reduced the value.
Precisely. HOAs exist because they claim to raise property values. But they do the opposite in a big way because they're ruined their reputation to the point they have the opposite effect. Buy a house with an HOA, pay huge fees to nothing, get harassed, and your property will lose value!
I did security for an HOA community and every complaint was a FINE on top of no cars in the driveway and you better not have more than 2 guest over 😂😂 and this was before the pandemic
Guarantee you first time they said something to me there’d be a half dozen strait piped trucks in the yard nightly couple race cars in driveway and we’d be out there working on them or blaring music till 2-3am nightly lol
There is a difference between keeping your neighbourhood up to a standard agreed by all homeowners, without the need of a Committee! and a lot of self satisfied,power hungry, nosey people who band together to get their standards forced upon others. Thank heavens we are a free country in the UK …we mutually look after our properties and are careful to consult a neighbour if a problem arises. Most things are resolved by a chat,a smile and encouragement. America …time your HOA’s were history!! Liberation is a wonderful thing!!
We escaped a neighborhood with an expensive fascist non responsive HOA. Never ever ever buy a house under the control of an HOA. Our HOA sent a letter that they would be inspecting our fenced backyards; well we have dogs, so i called (takes several tries to get a hold of a nasty condescending manager) and told them i did not want them in my backyard without me home to observe them and secure my dogs. They said they warned me and would be inspecting at THEIR convenience. I arranged to meet the manager demanded to speak 1 on 1 outside, and informed them that i believe in the second amendment and would be installing locks on my gates which are my property. No more notices.
I saw a series of bill boards advertising a new development. Each bill board had a feature, and one of them was NO HOA . It seems that they have been around long enough to anger enough people to loose popularity. Just give people a little power and they will always find a way to abuse it.Authoritarian personalities will always rise to the top.
If you live in a HOA and they are being like this. Get everyone to show up at the next meeting and vote on changing the HOA into a road association. Then the main reason for having the association is to just take care of the road. Which is the main reason most HOA even exist. Counties and cities hate to take over and repair roads that they didn't make.
I feel bad for him. The HOA industry tricks people. Like how you can read the rules when buying and decide if you want to live there. What a ruse. They make up the rules daily and target anyone who calls them out. I am a 3 time former board member so I know the deal. He is right for fighting these tyrants. You have to push back. But he has to be looking for a new place now. One without an HOA. They will be coming after him with enhanced enforcement.
We had an HOA who was nothing more than a Swimming Pool management group. I found them looking over my fence into my back yard. I started looking into its and they were not an HOA AT ALL. One solution is to run for the office and them petition the neighborhood to close the HOA and sell the swimming pool
Look back at 3rd Rock from the Sun Sally Joins an HOA and tells Her Crew (Disguised as humans) to take the WindChimes off the House because it Violates regulation and they are Evicted and Sally realizing she screwed herself as well tells the other members of the HOA Come on cant I stay? please I beg u ( I dont remember exact words but it was sure funny)
From what I know the driveways are a common element HOWEVER they are also not shared with other unit owners so they are common elements that are for EXCLUSIVE use for One unit and only ONE UNIT. The HOA should be careful as the homeowner's could win against this harassment!
I had a terrible problem in North Palm Beach. I decided to move away as did other residents. It was a few people that had too much time on their hands. All the other nearby places said that association was weird. So happy to be away from them.
Tom Slak not not bigger than crime but we had an owner who wanted to park a Dump Truck right in front of a home owner house since it was on “the street “ Your point is well taken We had persons on our board who were unreasonable HOA board and replaced them with reasonable and practical board members The power of Vote Should never be underestimated Just say
You ask what gives them the right? The answer is the people who bought the house with an association agreement and signed the contract allowing the HOA to do so. If homeowners don't want that, don't buy a house in an association. Simple.
Cyndi Rothrock the reason why is because Many times in the paperwork that is signed -the homeowner has agreed to allow it Unfortunately it is one of those read BEFORE one signs We were surprised by what we were allowing and didn't even realize it
@@wuphat It' not that simple. HOA governing documents are now written with vague, overly broad language that enables many HOA boards to often abuse their power. Without any effective oversight or enforcement of what Boards do, home owners are left with the choice of suing the HOA and the Board or putting up with abuse or selling. The old days of HOA's having clearly written covenants for you to review prior to purchasing your house are over. Now the HOA boards often adopt rules and regulations that were not in force when you purchased. Also, boards will often not enforce covenants that they do not want to follow and adopt rules to reprise against home owners who raise concerns about their behavior. Signed by a three time former board President who knows the deal.
This is why you need to read the ENTIRE contract, even if it's 20 pages long, and ask for clarification IN WRITING on anything that might be even the slightest bit ambiguous. If you don't like it, either don't sign it (if possible) or don't buy a house there.
I lived in a townhome and they were redoing the outside of the town homes and I looked in my backyard and they were hooked up to my electric while cutting siding. It ticked me off because they were using my electric without asking me. So what I did was when they were in a middle of a cut I shut off the circuit. We were laughing. I looked through the window and the guy was wondering what was wrong eventually he took his cord out of my plug.😆😃😅🤣😂😉
I remember living in Boca Raton in the mid 80s when the city went after an 80 year old woman's daffodils growing in front of her house. Apparently, there is a flower height ordinance there. They sent an entire crew of 8 guys who sat around for hours in front of her house until they got the go-ahead to hack down her flowers. Which was done by one guy who first spot checked the flowers with a yardstick ruler,then they left. And they fined her 800 dollars for it. There was such an uproar about it,they dropped the fine,but that's Florida for you. Even the laws down there are Karen.
Why would anybody want to give a homeowners association the authority to tell you what you can and can't do on your own property it's just plain ignorant
Heck there was one HOA I remember where board members will unlock and walk into peoples house when they suspect the home owner isn't home to find so called "Violation" without the Owner knowledge. They got caught buy one of the owners in-home security cameras.
My son bought a building with 3 units. It was part of an HOA. The other 5 buildings were 4 unit buildings. His had an "owners unit which was twice the size. When he bought the building unit dues were $120 per month. The HOA lady tried to bill him $480. Because the other building paid $480, and it wasn't fair that he paid $360. The fees covered siding, roof, gutters, landscaping and trash service. All six buildings backed up to the river. But the other five were at the top of the street and had woods down to the river. Very little yard to mow. Our grassy area was more than the other 5 buildings combined. Lawn care was the biggest budget item. The HOA doc's said fees are per unit. So we pay $360 which is 3/23 of the budget. Roughly 13%, but have 16.67% of the buildings and over 50% of the lawn care. In this case the HOA works out in our favor.
These are sometimes ways to reign in an out-of-control HOA. In Texas our legislature prohibited HOA's from banning free standing flagpoles for example. Surely breaking into your residence and rummaging through your stuff is some sort of a violation. Breaking and entering perhaps. And I'm sure that nobody would agree to sign a contract that allowed such a thing. That would be stupid in the extreme. Perhaps their state legislature could require that the HOA contract specifically disallows any such practice under penalty of law. That everything they dictate must be in compliance with the US Constitution.
I lived in Lauderhill back in the 80's and that very same gated community is where the late grate Jackie Gleason lived and when I was working at this news station rival station, we interviewed Gleason who was fighting with the HOA about entering his place while he was out and they wanted to make sure he didn't leave the gas on because the bylaws said they could enter any home with out notice at any time. So I bet things haven't changed and they are entering the homes while the people are not there.
