Restrictive covenants ,etc are basically the offspring of gated communities. These places wanted uniform building codes, styles, landscaping, land use, etc.In some locations a neighborhood may be outside town or city limits where no pordinances exist...People want to be able to enjoy their property but not that much. So when one buys a home ,they agree to the restrictions..Over the years, regular commuinties such as the one I live in have adopted this idea. However, the problem is this..The people who run these associations have gone to extremes..Plus they operate in a virtual vacuum. Here in NC the State govt had to pass a law that prevented HOA's from foreclosing on homes. In NC HOA boards used to have the power to foreclose on a home because the homeowner did not pay their annual dues or altered their home's appearance without seeking approval form the board. The State wisely legislated this out of existence. They are accountable to no one and make capricious decisions based on emotional issues. Often, cliques form in these neighborhoods and ...well you get the picture....But that's the thing. Things like this that you mention would be illegal according to my cities codes and the city will take care of it. If you don't mow your lawn in our city and someone complains...and you don't take care of it after the city contacts you then the city will mow your yard for you and charge you by putting a lein on your house. Let's just say most people mow their yards.
Maybe HOAs are mostly in non-organized townships and such so that there aren't any city codes that will take care of these things?
HOA! GRrrrrr
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I'm the president of my HOA and we are getting ready to foreclose on a home now. They are only behind on their $16 a MONTH dues to the tune of over $2000 BEFORE penalties. Without the ability to foreclose in a reasonable amount of time there is no fear of the HOA.
Why should anyone "fear " their HOA?...What makes you or anyone else think that an unelected independent board of people accountable to no one should have the legal authority to take a home from someone over such a small matter..
BY that logic, a contractor should have the same rights..Suppose a home improvent contractor came to your home and did the work satisfactorily. You then reused to pay the contractor..Should he be given the right to foreclose on your home over a small debt?...Now please, foreclosure is no small matter..HOA dues are trivial in the grand scheme of things..
To foresclose on a home worth hundreds of thusands of dolllars over a $2000 debt is outrageous...However I am not without sympathy...As with the contractor in my scenario above, your HOA should certainly have recourse. Ever hear of a lien?...That's how it is done..
The people in the NC State Capitol aren't the best but they were certainly wise in their decision to dial down the heat HOA's can put on homeowners. HOA's here in NC still have the right to place liens on deadbeats..That's enough...
Anytime you allow some people to tell you what you can do and can't do with you land you are asking for trouble. The guy next to me I had always got the feeling he felt he owned my house. He has only been here for four years but quickly got involved in the HOA. The guy I talked to today that was the rep of the HOA sounded reasonable. I told him I knew my rights and I don't actually have to do anything to the dish but I was willing to cover it up with a bush. I was then informed what types of vegetation were allow etc... so I said I would just wait for him to come over. This stuff can reach ridiculous heights.
I was thinking the same thing. A lien should do the trick and wake them up. Being 2,000 in debt with dues at only $16.00 a month is very ridiculous. Some people though seem to go on some real power trips. It seems kind of evil. What happened to love thy neighbor.
Anytime you allow some people to tell you what you can do and can't do with you land you are asking for trouble. The guy next to me I had always got the feeling he felt he owned my house. He has only been here for four years but quickly got involved in the HOA. The guy I talked to today that was the rep of the HOA sounded reasonable. I told him I knew my rights and I don't actually have to do anything to the dish but I was willing to cover it up with a bush. I was then informed what types of vegetation were allow etc... so I said I would just wait for him to come over. This stuff can reach ridiculous heights.
Don't offer to be play nice nice with these people..The more you try to plaese them, the more they think they can control your property..The things to do are ...Say nothing..Only if you think it looks good for you, then plant the shrub..Do not do this to please the HOA or the jerk next door...
On occasion I have run into people who want the Dish installed but due to the location they say they don't want ot upsrt their neighbors or "rock the boat"..My resonse is this: DO your neighbors hold the note on your home?...Of course this is after I make it very clear that the FCC rules prohibit such restrictions..I get pretty bent out of shape when a customer gets all jello spined over what their dopey neighbors might think and it costs me an install. ...
Anyway, case and point in you rpost..you made a good faith offer and the HOA decided it was ok to dictate the terms of an offer YOU made..At that point I would just walk away and do nothing..You owe your HOA nothing..Screw them...
"Power trip"...Now we have the key point...That's the crux of the matter..Some, not all. But some HOA board members take their new found authority and get very serious with themsleves.
Trust me, when the HOA boards found they could no longer do these land grabs I am sure they let out a collective whine..
From what I understand SC does not allow HOA's the power to foreclose as well.
Never heard of a HOA foreclosing on a house. The legal way to do it is put a lien on the property, and when the property is sold the HOA lien is paid off, before the seller receives his money from the profit of the sale.
Some have made comments that HOA officers have been jerks. Yes, I have seen that any times before, but I have also seen individual home owners who are also jerks. They have to buck everything and push everything to the limits. I think some of them move into a HOA community just to cause trouble. If they didn't want to follow a few rules, to maintain a decent looking community, why did they move into a HOA community to begin with.
Remember, it is easy to get rid of the officers who are jerks, when it comes time for the annual election, start a campaign against them to vote them out. If they are that much of a jerk, it shouldn't be very hard to get support, to get them out of office. If you can't get the support to remove them from the position, maybe you have to re-evaluate the situation and see who the real jerk is.
The biggest problem with HOAs is the fact that no one wants to serve on the Board and committees, so a lot of times you end up with the people with ego trips running them. maybe the answer to having a productive HOA is to GET INVOLVED.
It really isn't that easy to rid of officers because they form cliques that support each other. Not everyone has to live next to the jerk so he may come off as an okay guy to most. I've lived here for 14 years and have never turned in a neighbor or even been inside the HOA office. I've had a hand full of problems with neighbors throughout the years and have been able to solve problems with a talk and a handshake. I've never been over to the house of the neighbor that turned me in but he has been over at my house on a monthly basis complaining about this and that. One of the funniest things he wanted me to do is wet down my yard before my yard guy came over so it wouldn't kick up dust on his car. We have way to many trees on these lots because of HOA laws and it is difficult for grass to grow in so much shade. What grass I have left would be ground up by the lawn mower. Like I said this guy is on a power trip. He use to park in front of my house (This is a no no according to the laws) so my grass would die and not his. I notice today he is on his lot.
You said something about who the "real jerk" was. I hope you were not talking about me. I've been nothing but nice to the guy. He turned me into the HOA police without even talking to me. I could understand if had talked to me but I refused to do anything. Then he would have had no recourse but the HOA.
yes..get involved..But when in 2005 we got a three day notice of our annual meeting which the board conveniently scheduled for 6pm, it's tough to get there on time and not miss work...
Anyway....IMO and in the opinion of both the NC and SC State govts, HOA's should not have the power to take property based on such trivial pursuits as HOA dues...If a homeowner is in grave violation , no doubt those actions are also in violation of local ordinances in which case the homeowner would be subject to civil or even criminal penalties.
As far as neighbors who are jerks, if they are that bad, sooner or later thay run afoul of the law.. I lived next door to one of these neighbors form hell. Loud music ,drugs, all night parties, vicious on the the loose dog....It all ended for these friggin rednecks one night..I get home form my part time bartending job at 3 am..The 14 yr old daughter is sitting in her driveway while kids were inside the house partying while the parents were home..This little hussie starts in and I told her if she didn't shut yer yapper I was going to call the cops..She said go ahead, so I did...an officer showed up like 5 mins later. I told him about all the crap I was putting up with...He promised me that this would end..soon..The next night I get home from the same job at the same time..4 cop cars in the drive at the house of horrors..Never heard a peep out of those a**holes ever again...Cops told me they handed out serveral underaged drinking citations, arrested the parents on charges of providing alcohol to minors as well as the max midemeanor pot posession charges....
What does this have to do with jackass neighbors and HOA's?..Everything..Like I said a POS neighbor will eventually make a fatal mistake of going beyond breaking a few dopey rules and become a law breaker.
Wow now that is a bad neighbor. No this guy is on a power trip. I don't see him breaking any laws. I had to laugh when I saw where he parked today. I guess he thought I would turn him in to the HOA. It was dumb of him to make an enemy of a neighbor that has been so nice to him. Every little infraction he makes of the HOA laws which is quite extensive like putting your garbage out before 5:00 he will be thinking .... is he going to turn me in? I think one day when he is out blowing off his yard at 8:30 pm, I'll walk out with a camera and take a few pictures. He has been divorced three times...I wonder why?
If developers and contractors are worried about their communities going down the sh*tter, then why not set some rules, bound by a contract, covenant, whatever, but screw the HOA..don't change them, or, don't change them without unanimous support of all the homeowners. Say you can't paint your house pink? Make it a rule up front. Don't sell me a $150,000 house and change the rules 3 years down the line.
igator, no way was I referring to you. Please don't think I was. It was just a blanket statement about sometimes the jerk can be certain members of the HOA Board and sometimes it can be the homeowner.
I have been involved with the HOA as a board member in the last two communities I have lived in. The reason I got involved with the first one was because we had a board that was on a ego trip and thought they were going to do what ever they pleased. Some of us got sick of it and got the support of the community and got them voted out. After that I told myself I would stay involved when ever I could.
In my present community we have an excellent board, we all work together. Not only do we run the business of the HOA, but we also run community activities which bring the community together for events throughout the year. And, they are attended by young and old.
You are right about being involved. Street activities are a wonderful idea. We use to do that sort of thing when I first moved here. Sharing a beer and a meal with your neighbors goes a long way in promoting good tidings and harmony. :up
That is what a HOA is all about. The covenant are originally set up by the builders and developers and when they finish building out the community, they are turned over to the HOA. Without the HOA who would enforce the covenants? Also as we found out you have to fine tune them as they are not always correct. As ours was telling people exactly where to place their satellite dish and that they couldn't have a TV antenna, on their roof. That is an example of covenants we had to clean up and make legal.
Remember the only way the covenants can legally be changed is by a vote of the majority of the homeowners. It can't be changed by a few people. Remember the HOA board's job is to enforce the covenants, that were approved by the homeowners.
When changes are made to covenants, by a majority of the homeowners, whether or not I am in favor or not, I have to except it as that is what the majority of my neighbors want done. If a person is not willing to go along with what the majority of your neighbors want, then I would suggest to that person, do not buy in a HOA community and take your chances in a none deed restricted community.
This type of shenanigans occur all the time..The cliques form amongst board members and their friends and they start making up rules as they go without the homeowners having a say or even a clue.
Our board is so bad , there is a husband and wife as board members...
After that littel stunt they pulled in 2005 when they gave three days notice to the residents as to when and where the annual meeting was to be held, the residents really don't care what the board says or any of the stupid committees...
My wife and I are hanging around here to build equity. We'll be out of here in a few years..Other people on my street who are long timers are sellling or thinking of selling.
This is a nice neghborhood. Middle class with people of all walks of life and bets of all, pretty quiet. But the greed of the HPA baord is making people angry because the board keeps raising the annual dues and we see no improvement in services for that extra $$...
I understand your position. I also understand that you don't understand Florida law. Here any HOA with more than ten properties, by law, must have a certified property manager that is licenced by the state, to manage the property. Along with the board, the property manager decides what to do about this kind of problem. In accordance with the laws of Florida, this property has had a lien on it for over two years now and the property is going down hill fast. It is not only becoming an eye sore it is becoming a danger to the community. The owner is refusing to pay any bills to anyone including his mortgage except to the point of having the home taken away. He's a deadbeat. In this scenario in NC the owner could just go on for YEARS and the HOA and all the other debtors would be on the hook until the owner did sell or died. THAT is not what is supposed to happen.
Your analogy of the contractor is not even close. The contractor doesn't live next door.
As for HOA dues being trivial....no they aren't. If everyone decides that then the HOA can't function. Many HOAs pay utilities, do lawn service and pave roads. What happens to YOUR property values when the road in front of it crumbles or the private sewer line continues to leak in your front lawn?
If the majority of the homeowners in your community feel the same way as you do, then it should be no problem getting the clique removed from the board.
As far as the annual meeting being called in 3 days, I can't speak for N.C. but here in Florida they are required by law to notify all homeowners I think it is either 60 or 90 in advance. If they don't they are in violation of a state law.
If the situation is as bad as you say, and the other homeowners are as fed up as you are, you need to get together to elect people that will do what the MAJORITY of the homeowners want. As I have stated before, it does work. One thing I have seen, many of the communities have very qualified people to run their HOA, but those people elect to not get involved, so what happens is people who are not qualified get in the positions and really mess things up.
Wow!! We really have kinda gotten off subject. Hope everything works out good for igator99, with his dish.
After reading more of the replies I want to restate a couple things.
My HOA puts notices out of meeting 90 days in advance.
Our rules are easy on the association and not very restrictive. None of this business of when you can put out your garbage or you can't ever have a boat on the property. We do have some rules....things like no vinyl siding and no parking on the lawns. Our big rule, in the covenants is no rental property allowed.
Other than those things we are pretty close knit, we want our values kept up.
One of the big things I pushed when I became president of the HOA was sat dish information for everyone. So few people know about it that I was surprised. Now we have several new ones in the neighborhood. I'm sure Comcast is POed!!!
My HOA puts notices out of meeting 90 days in advance.
Our rules are easy on the association and not very restrictive. None of this business of when you can put out your garbage or you can't ever have a boat on the property. We do have some rules....things like no vinyl siding and no parking on the lawns. Our big rule, in the covenants is no rental property allowed.
Other than those things we are pretty close knit, we want our values kept up.
One of the big things I pushed when I became president of the HOA was sat dish information for everyone. So few people know about it that I was surprised. Now we have several new ones in the neighborhood. I'm sure Comcast is POed!!!
I'm glad HOA's can foreclose on a house in Texas. Otherwise, we could have dues scoffers who lived in their houses for thirty years without paying anything and the HOA would be powerless until they tried to sell.
HOAs can be good, or bad, or mixed. No one likes being told what they can do or not do with their property until their neighbor wants to do something with his property which diminishes or ruins your enjoyment or the value of yours.
Keeping on track, the one thing HOAs cannot do is impose something contrary to state or federal law on you, like these dish restrictions. Yet, they try.
HOAs can be good, or bad, or mixed. No one likes being told what they can do or not do with their property until their neighbor wants to do something with his property which diminishes or ruins your enjoyment or the value of yours.
Keeping on track, the one thing HOAs cannot do is impose something contrary to state or federal law on you, like these dish restrictions. Yet, they try.
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