Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

They have a good and legitimate purpose. Here is what mine does:

1) Maintain all common areas: entries into the neighborhoods, parks, all sidewalks and trees along the public roads and all the paths, the ponds and lakes.
2) Build and maintain recreational areas: playgrounds, soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, baseball fields, pool, splash pad, keep the pond stocked with fish so that the kids can catch and release.
3) Maintain property values by making sure that the place doesn't turn into a ghetto (which is the purpose most HOAs get the most crap for). You can sell your home and hope for fair market value without having to worry about the house next door that has not had any yard work done in 6 months and has rats running out of the grass into your yard while racoons build a nest in the broken down car in the driveway.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
My only complaint about HOAs is when people bitch and moan about having to follow them. Crap like "evil HOA won't let Veteran put up a flag pole!" stories.

You know there is an HOA before you even buy the house. You can read all the rules before you even buy the house. You sign a document that you read all the rules and agree to them when you buy the house.

If you don't like it don't buy the fething house!

I dont, I dislike people telling me what I can and cannot do with stuff I own. And what if theirs is the only place you can afford a house? Or they extablish one when you are there? In my experiance they are there to make my life hell. Our recent HOA said that we cannot have charcoal BBQ and must have Propane BBQs for "Reasons" we cant park backwards, we can paint our door any color other then the green color. When we wanted new windows we had to go threw them to get approved frames.

That sounds excessivley strict hotsauce... I know the HOA that my wife and I are under isn't so bad. I mean, it's kind of stupid that I can't have my trash receptacles in front of the garage (the only thing that is allowed to be visible/movable in front of the house is a vehicle). There's a rule that, since I didn't buy my house with a fence already installed, if I want to install one, I have to get prior approval, which isn't so bad (as my plan is to find the contractor who did the backline, and have them do the work, or have my family come up some weekend)

But at the same time as some HOAs aren't bad, there's one rule that nearly all HOAs have that I've NEVER seen followed: and that's pets, particularly cats outside.

 d-usa wrote:
They have a good and legitimate purpose. Here is what mine does:

1) Maintain all common areas: entries into the neighborhoods, parks, all sidewalks and trees along the public roads and all the paths, the ponds and lakes.
2) Build and maintain recreational areas: playgrounds, soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, baseball fields, pool, splash pad, keep the pond stocked with fish so that the kids can catch and release.
3) Maintain property values by making sure that the place doesn't turn into a ghetto (which is the purpose most HOAs get the most crap for). You can sell your home and hope for fair market value without having to worry about the house next door that has not had any yard work done in 6 months and has rats running out of the grass into your yard while racoons build a nest in the broken down car in the driveway.

But then they get to the stupid stuff. Like why cant I have a pet moniter lizard I take for walks around the neighborhood?(Actual Rule) Or a miniature horse(Another rule)
Also, why cant me and a buddy at 10:00 a night, not drinking or smoking mind you, have a conversation? Why must a tow company be snactioned by the HOA? Why do they enforce stupid rules like pets but when someone parks behind my car so I cant leave they say "Sorry, cant help you"

 d-usa wrote:
They have a good and legitimate purpose. Here is what mine does:

1) Maintain all common areas: entries into the neighborhoods, parks, all sidewalks and trees along the public roads and all the paths, the ponds and lakes.
2) Build and maintain recreational areas: playgrounds, soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, baseball fields, pool, splash pad, keep the pond stocked with fish so that the kids can catch and release.
3) Maintain property values by making sure that the place doesn't turn into a ghetto (which is the purpose most HOAs get the most crap for). You can sell your home and hope for fair market value without having to worry about the house next door that has not had any yard work done in 6 months and has rats running out of the grass into your yard while racoons build a nest in the broken down car in the driveway.

This is basically what mine does as well, though we don't have nearly that much common areas


But, we're already starting to figure out who wouldn't be doing ANY yard work if HOA didn't require it :( On the plus side, there's nothing in the HOA rules stating that grass must be under a certain height, only that it has a cut/maintained appearance

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
My only complaint about HOAs is when people bitch and moan about having to follow them. Crap like "evil HOA won't let Veteran put up a flag pole!" stories.

You know there is an HOA before you even buy the house. You can read all the rules before you even buy the house. You sign a document that you read all the rules and agree to them when you buy the house.

If you don't like it don't buy the fething house!

I dont, I dislike people telling me what I can and cannot do with stuff I own.

Great, don't buy a house there.

And what if theirs is the only place you can afford a house?

Considering that HOA fees actually make things more expensive it is more likely that you will find a place without one that is cheaper. If it is the only place you can afford then you follow the rules you agreed to follow when you signed the contract anyway.

Or they extablish one when you are there?

That usually doesn't happen though.

In my experiance they are there to make my life hell. [/spoiler]

They are there for the reasons I mentioned above.

[spoiler]Our recent HOA said that we cannot have charcoal BBQ and must have Propane BBQs for "Reasons"

To reduce the fire hazard, to reduce the amount of smoke that enters the neighbors yards and houses. These are two legitimate reasons right there.

we cant park backwards,

Backwards in your driveway? Or backwards on the street?

we can paint our door any color other then the green color. When we wanted new windows we had to go threw them to get approved frames.

Because one of the functions is to maintain aesthetics of the neighborhood and preserve property values for everybody that lives on your street.

One of the "funnier" rules of my HOA is that I cannot fire off a firearm within my property or house.

So, no celebratory fire for 4th of July

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
They have a good and legitimate purpose. Here is what mine does:

1) Maintain all common areas: entries into the neighborhoods, parks, all sidewalks and trees along the public roads and all the paths, the ponds and lakes.
2) Build and maintain recreational areas: playgrounds, soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, baseball fields, pool, splash pad, keep the pond stocked with fish so that the kids can catch and release.
3) Maintain property values by making sure that the place doesn't turn into a ghetto (which is the purpose most HOAs get the most crap for). You can sell your home and hope for fair market value without having to worry about the house next door that has not had any yard work done in 6 months and has rats running out of the grass into your yard while racoons build a nest in the broken down car in the driveway.

But then they get to the stupid stuff. Like why cant I have a pet moniter lizard I take for walks around the neighborhood?(Actual Rule)

Because they might carry diseases and drop lizard poop on the sidewalk.

Or a miniature horse(Another rule)

Because life stock make noise and stink, which affects your neighbors.

Also, why cant me and a buddy at 10:00 a night, not drinking or smoking mind you, have a conversation?

Because there is a curfew that cuts down on noise that can bother your neighbors.

Why must a tow company be snactioned by the HOA?

To make sure that legitimate and bonded tow companies are utilized in the neighborhood so that if they damage anything they are insured.

Why do they enforce stupid rules like pets but when someone parks behind my car so I cant leave they say "Sorry, cant help you"

You can always call one of the tow companies that is sanctioned.

We cannot park backwards in our driveway. and yes, the HOA was established as me and my mother where hear, after we bought it. The door thing is useless because the way things are situated you cannot see he doors until you walk up.
And we have to pay 400$ a month to be part of an orginization that makes out life hell that we just ignore anyway.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 d-usa wrote:


You can always call one of the tow companies that is sanctioned.

Here is the fun part, they have yet to sanction a tow company sense the rule was implemented. So none can come in due to the rule, So a car cannot be towed in our lot.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
We cannot park backwards in our driveway. and yes, the HOA was established as me and my mother where hear, after we bought it. The door thing is useless because the way things are situated you cannot see he doors until you walk up.
And we have to pay 400$ a month to be part of an orginization that makes out life hell that we just ignore anyway.

Im not sure, but there should have been legal recourse to keep your family from being "forced" to join an HOA, if one was formed AFTER you moved in.


And honestly, I'd better get a gakload in return for 400 bucks a month. the neighborhood im in is only like 20 a month. Also, as to the mini-horse thing, it could come down to a zoning thing, depending on where you live (i honestly have no idea if California has a "ranching/farming" zone that is different from Commercial/Residential zones)


The lizard thing doesn't make sense to me either, unless the rule is specifically that you can't walk a lizard on a leash round the 'hood. Most people that I know keep lizards as a caged/indoor animal, so wouldn't walk them anyhow.

If you pay $400 a month in HOA fees then you should be able to find a cheaper place to live, since you could pay $375 more in rent/mortgage and still end up paying less.

Did you guys have a vote to establish the HOA?

My bad...its 250$ a month 150 for insurance. But it was there but didnt do much beyond manage the roads and the pool. But for some reason some lady came in and started making these rules by a board of supervisors that pay to get on the board. It is kinda like a dictatorship.

So run to get a seat on the board when the next elections come around.

Um like I said, you PAY to get on the seat. It isnt an election.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Um like I said, you PAY to get on the seat. It isnt an election.

That sounds seriously suspect.

Should be able to link to the rules (at least mine has the rules online).

I would like too, but It would show exactly where I live and I would not like that.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok, looking around, we do have elections.....But I talked to a few off my neighbors, None of us ever remember voting for awhile or getting anything about voting

Hotsauceman, wow that's just awful!

I would find it very hard to not invite the members of an HOA to a cocktail party.

Oh, gin & tonic?. No, sorry I only make molotovs!

Ok, my place is weird. it seems the HOA, while elected, has to follow rules of the people who own the land on it(Like the No BBQ thing) This is weird.

Live out in the country. I turned down some nice houses with HOA at 5 a month I just do not want to deal with "Stupid". Nice house with some land with a natural spring on it and a stream. Nice downward slope that works really well as an impact area to go plinking

You are free
You are free
You are free
You are free to do what we tell you to do

They don't seem to be fixed 'structures' to me. Kid and parents should exploit loopholes to give the figurative finger to these whiney d-bag's

You are free to buy a home without an HOA. Bad try, 2/10, better luck next time.

 d-usa wrote:
You are free to buy a home without an HOA. Bad try, 2/10, better luck next time.

I'm going to sue you for libel. It was 2.5/10 AT LEAST, BUDDY


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 d-usa wrote:
You are free to buy a home without an HOA..

Are you suggesting 9 year old kids can purchase homes?

The kid should put that gak on wheels and give a big finger to these overly litigious morons.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:

Our recent HOA said that we cannot have charcoal BBQ and must have Propane BBQs for "Reasons" we cant park backwards, we can paint our door any color other then the green color. When we wanted new windows we had to go threw them to get approved frames.

You can tell a crazy organisation when they deny people the goodness of charcoal cooked meat, or hate green doors.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:
One of the "funnier" rules of my HOA is that I cannot fire off a firearm within my property or house.

So, no celebratory fire for 4th of July

But , but, what do Muslims do at weddings then??

Oh and hotsauceman I think you cannot keep a monitor lizard because restraining a lizard with a leash would be almost impossible , potential toy dog-icide might also have something to do with it.

I'm still hung on the charcoal bit for BBQ. What's the justification I wonder

I've seen what happens behind the green door...

 d-usa wrote:
I've seen what happens behind the green door...

So retro

 Jihadin wrote:
I'm still hung on the charcoal bit for BBQ. What's the justification I wonder

Usually it's that they smoke (when lit, or at least when lit amateur style without using the magic that is a chimney starter) and that smoke blows onto other properties and into other buildings.

Or it's because the HOA doesn't have enough Carbon Credits, it is California after all...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Jihadin wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
I've seen what happens behind the green door...

So retro

Respect the classics man!

 d-usa wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
I'm still hung on the charcoal bit for BBQ. What's the justification I wonder

Usually it's that they smoke (when lit, or at least when lit amateur style without using the magic that is a chimney starter) and that smoke blows onto other properties and into other buildings.

Or it's because the HOA doesn't have enough Carbon Credits, it is California after all...

Yep. I understand now.

If someone is bothered by smoke I think they need an attitude adjustment. It's fething smoke. If it carries the smell of crisping fat to you so much the better. If you are a defective person and it causes you asthma then that's your fault ,not the legend having the best time honoured tradition of roasting meat over a fire. It's like me expecting the world to have 10 foot high signs for everything because I am short sighted.

It's probably the carbon credits though

 Jihadin wrote:
I'm still hung on the charcoal bit for BBQ. What's the justification I wonder

Dirtier smoke? Seems like it would stand to reason that the charcoal barbecue would throw out more ash and particulates, which may damage paint or discolor structures?

As far as the main article goes, I don't really see why this is an issue. The kid/family did a nice thing. They were informed through reasonable channels that they had inadvertently violated an ordinance, without receiving any punitive measures provided they came into compliance. And complying with the law would be as simple as attaching the box to their home.

Although this HAS led me to want to make one of these for my own yard.