Homeowners Association sent us a noise complaint letter...

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I honestly don't know why anyone would want to be part of a home owners association. If I buy a house, I think I should be able to do whatever the hell I want with it.

When I was looking to buy a house, my wife and I saw a beautiful single family, fully finished, selling well below the comps for the area. We rushed out to see it thinking we found the steal of the century.

When we got there, we say why it was so cheap. The next door neighbour (less than 50 feet away) had one of the worst houses I have ever seen. It was essentially a junk yard with a decrepid shack in the middle. The house had holes in the roof and were patched with all different colours.

My wife and I didn't even tour the house.

HOA's will prevent this from happening.

 

[JS80]

"Sorry, won't happen again."

/thread

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: Anubis
no you are still wrong
if you live in a upscale place where HOAs most often are then that usually takes care of itself, as someone buying a 400K$ house isn't gonna have a car on blocks on his lawn

the people who run HOA's are pretty much nazis

Wait a minute... people who don't have $400K homes can't expect to have a good neighborhood? Lots of neighborhoods where homes cost much less than that have HOAs. $400K get's you a gigantic home here. Anyway, trust me, around here you need an HOA to protect your neighborhood... it goes in the crapper otherwise.

 

[Panthro]

HOA = Socialism/Communism

 

[Henrythewound]

Every HOA I have been under have been composed of people who like to dictate how you get to run your own house/yard.

Actual quotes I have heard:

"That bush isn't 5 ft from the wall, I'm getting out the CCR's"
"You should cut your tree in half, I can't see the mountains"
"I wish your dog had been put to sleep"
"You can't tell me what to do, if you do I'll tell you to go to hell!" (said to me after confronting my neighbor about THROWING WATER on my dog from their side of the wall)

my next house will NOT be under a HOA, that is my first stipulation, not # bedrooms, not the building style I want, NO HOA

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Thraxen

Originally posted by: Anubis
no you are still wrong
if you live in a upscale place where HOAs most often are then that usually takes care of itself, as someone buying a 400K$ house isn't gonna have a car on blocks on his lawn

the people who run HOA's are pretty much nazis

Wait a minute... people who don't have $400K homes can't expect to have a good neighborhood? Lots of neighborhoods where homes cost much less than that have HOAs. $400K get's you a gigantic home here. Anyway, trust me, around here you need an HOA to protect your neighborhood... it goes in the crapper otherwise.

Hmm the house we moved out of when I completed 6th grade did not have an HOA and the last time I drove by it it definitely was not "in the crapper". The house we moved into after that did not have an HOA and 36 years later my mother was able to sell her house after the first weekend it was listed so that neighborhood is definitely not "in the crapper" either. Oddly enough a development not far away that was built with an HOA about 15 years later is most definitely in the crapper.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: Linflas
Hmm the house we moved out of when I completed 6th grade did not have an HOA and the last time I drove by it it definitely was not "in the crapper". The house we moved into after that did not have an HOA and 36 years later my mother was able to sell her house after the first weekend it was listed so that neighborhood is definitely not "in the crapper" either. Oddly enough a development not far away that was built with an HOA about 15 years later is most definitely in the crapper.

Note that I said "around here". I'm not saying they are necessary everywhere.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Drekce

Originally posted by: joshsquall

Originally posted by: imthebadguy
tell em to "Have a coke and a smile and shut the fvck up!"

Agreed. Homeowners Associations are the scum of the earth. They're for old people and women with entirely too much free time to shove their noses up other people's asses.

Wrong. Homeowner's associations are for people who care how their neighborhood looks and would like to create an environment that fosters increases in the values of the homes. If you don't care about that stuff then move to a different neighborhood.

I got tired of my neighbors who let their yards waste away and never cut the grass.

no you are still wrong
if you live in a upscale place where HOAs most often are then that usially takes care of itself, as someoe buying a 400K$ house isnt gonna have a car on blocks on his lawn

the people who run HOA's are pretty much nazis

haha, in my neck of the woods 400k buys you a tiny 2br in the ghettos where the neighbors grow weed in their yard and park their cars in their lawn on cinder blocks.

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: Henrythewound
Every HOA I have been under have been composed of people who like to dictate how you get to run your own house/yard.

Actual quotes I have heard:

"That bush isn't 5 ft from the wall, I'm getting out the CCR's"
"You should cut your tree in half, I can't see the mountains"
"I wish your dog had been put to sleep"
"You can't tell me what to do, if you do I'll tell you to go to hell!" (said to me after confronting my neighbor about THROWING WATER on my dog from their side of the wall)

my next house will NOT be under a HOA, that is my first stipulation, not # bedrooms, not the building style I want, NO HOA

I agree that HOAs allow for this. It is doubly bad because of the amount of power the HOAs generally have. Unfortunately the types of people who tend to run for the positions tend to be control freaks.

The only way I have seen to prevent this from happening is to be on the board.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: Maximus96


haha, in my neck of the woods 400k buys you a tiny 2br in the ghettos where the neighbors grow weed in their yard and park their cars in their lawn on cinder blocks.

LOL, my house is half that with 4br and roughly 3000 sq ft.

 

[Henrythewound]

Yes, I am seriously considering running for one of the officer positions next time around even though it will be hard to stomach.

 

[Kroze]

i got a letter telling me to shovel the goddamn snow!

 

[SithSolo1]

My condo complex has a HOA but they are pretty cool considering 70% of the tenants are college student. They same can't be said for the tenants themselves though. I've been here almost a year and had new neighbors move in about 2 weeks ago, two guys my age. Not 4 days after they move in they had the nerve to ask me to turn my HT down. Granted it was mid-night but it was mid-night on a Friday -_- and the receiver was at -30db on a scale of -80 to +9db. I even had the sub off.

 

[sao123]

you just have to figure out how to use your HOA to be an asshole to the neighbors who annoy you.

 

[spacelord]

I've been in subs with HOA for the past 8 or 9 years. They can be a pain in the butt, but they mostly don't bother me. A majority of the people that bitch up a storm about it are people who sit on their ass and don't do anything except complain about this or that. They complain about how they don't like how certain things are handled..over and over, yet they don't offer any constructive criticism or offer to help out. The best thing is that they complain about things that were CLEARLY in the rules when they purchased the house.. they knew what they were getting into.

As far as your noise issue.. I would send a quick latter back just to get them off your back..trying best not to imply any self guilt.
When I lived in an apartment, the neighbors would just call the cops to my parties..haha.. oh the fun days.

 

[Fingolfin269]

If you don't like the HOA then there is only one thing you can do.

Run for President of the HOA.

Win the election.

Dissolve the HOA.

 

[SithSolo1]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
If you don't like the HOA then there is only one thing you can do.

Run for President of the HOA.

Win the election.

Dissolve the HOA.

The President can't dissolve it alone. It is put to a vote among all the board members.

 

[xrax]

find out who complained and get even.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
If you don't like the HOA then there is only one thing you can do.

Run for President of the HOA.

Win the election.

Dissolve the HOA.

The President can't dissolve it alone. It is put to a vote among all the board members.

Okay next time I'll add a section describing all the steps in between. Why not point out that just because you run for president doesn't mean that you will win?

 

[Garet Jax]

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
If you don't like the HOA then there is only one thing you can do.

Run for President of the HOA.

Win the election.

Dissolve the HOA.

The president generally has no more voting power than any other member. In addition, most HOAs are set up so as to require a majority vote to pass new regulations.

Finally and most importantly, there are many things the HOA cannot do without including the entire voting body (all home owners) in the vote. When these votes occur, the voting body generally needs to have a certain percentage participation and a certain percentage of accepting votes to be considered valid.

 

[pulsedrive]

Originally posted by: Kroze
i got a letter telling me to shovel the goddamn snow!

Dude that is a LAW in most cities. Even if you live on a city run street, if the sidewalk goes in front of your house, YOU are responsible for clearing it.

 

[Henrythewound]

Fu*k tha snow POlice

 

[oogabooga]

A buddy of mine's HOA won't let people change their car oil in the street.. driveway.. even their garages


I suppose as long as where i live the HOA isn't imposing that's fine, but to restrict work in a garage that is quiet? I think that might be going too far.

 

[pulsedrive]

Originally posted by: oogabooga
A buddy of mine's HOA won't let people change their car oil in the street.. driveway.. even their garages


I suppose as long as where i live the HOA isn't imposing that's fine, but to restrict work in a garage that is quiet? I think that might be going too far.

The reason they do it is to prevent oil leakage into the ground, etc. Not saying I agree with it, but that is most likely why they do it.

 

[Kroze]

if the sidewalk is city's property, why should i clean it.