Silly HOA Rules

[blue2000]

Not to hijack, but anyone want to explain to me WHY they would live somewhere with an HOA? 

Some people are just starting out/have a small income, etc., and can only afford this type of home. Some HOA's aren't that bad, and people have a good relationship with their neighbors, and the board members.

Other people live there because they like it this way.

Seriously.

I know people who are so obsessive-compulsive about their homes that they would come up with new HOA rules, just so everyone's home will look like a perfectly put-together carbon copy. Something along the lines of Stepford Wives, but with houses. When I'm visiting relatives like this, I always want to rearrange things, just to give the place some life.

[jais]

It just seems odd to me.  I grew up in the middle of nowhere, though.  Some farms, some people just had horses. We had nothing but a big yard!    It's so strange to me to drive by and see developments where all the homes are the same style, the same color, the same everything.  I just can't imagine.  Though, if it's cheaper, it's probably what BF and I will end up with so I hope I end up in a nice one! 

[Ohjustlovely]

You shall not allow your children to color with sidewalk chalk on the driveway nor on the sidewalk on your property, nor on the sidewalk in front of your house.

'

    Yes!  I had someone bring that up at one of my HOA's meetings!   Unbelievable!  Like, they do not want to wash it down, it's not their job ....

[ginlyn32]

Most of the newer developments are going to be some sort of HOA. Even if you buy land with the intent of building a house on it, you may have a covenent on your property. This is the same as an HOA. The person selling the land comes up with it. My folks bought some land about 10 years ago that had one and they had a square footage rule on theirs. Your home had to be at least 1500 sq ft.

They also could not build a modular or have a trailer. If they built a shed or any other out-buildings, they had to be per the covenent.

That seems silly to alot of people, but HOA's really do keep the property values from going down. And they keep people from doing things like keeping old junk cars in their driveway or old appliances on their porch. Or trash from accumulating around the yard.

We got a nice little letter in our mailbox last summer saying that we had to edge our driveway. I say if your life sucks that much that you have to go around and complain about whose driveway needs edged, then you can just do it yourself!!!

Ginger

[Sophia]

....

That seems silly to alot of people, but HOA's really do keep the property values from going down. And they keep people from doing things like keeping old junk cars in their driveway or old appliances on their porch. Or trash from accumulating around the yard.

...

But, isn't that what city ordinances are for?    Where I live the city rules say that your grass can't be longer than X.  No junk cars.  Fences in good repair.  Trees trimmed to be no lower than 7 feet from the sidewalk.  My city also mandates that the house be at least 75% brick.  As far as I am concerned the city mandates what is needed for property values, without the silliness of no flags. 

My biggest problem with HOA's is that the rules can change after you move in.  A friend of mine had an HOA law unofficially named after her because they painted the trim on their brick house a color other than brown.  The neighbors were so aghast that they made a "all houses must be brown" rule. 
I will never live under an HOA.  Ever. 

Did y'll ever read the story about the most expensive dog ever?  I think it was in one of the Rich Dad/ Poor Dad books.  The guy would wait until a condo skyscraper needed more funding to complete.  Then he would go in and buy at a discount every unit of a popular model.  So, if someone wanted that model, they had to buy from him.  Because of these sales the builder could get more funding.   The buyer would have it written into the core paperwork, i.e. unchangeable by the later HOA, that So_and_so is allowed a dog in the condo.  Always, the HOA would get snobbish, make rules, give him grief, socially cut the buyer's wife.  Eventually, they would sell their last condo there and start someplace else. 

[Cyndi]

The watching of House is forbidden in the houses of anyone whose surname begins with the letter S.

All the doorknobs in your house should be silver.

No brown grass is allowed on your lawn.

[Pixie]

So I guess in general they are a good thing, but some places just take it too far?

Some are good, some are bad, it depends on the members as all changes to rules must be voted on, and in our HOA it had to have 2/3 majority to pass.


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[Shoo]

Some are good, some are bad, it depends on the members as all changes to rules must be voted on, and in our HOA it had to have 2/3 majority to pass.

Same with ours.  It was very hard to make changes to the bylaws of our HOA.

[Moralia]

Wind chimes are only permitted in the back yard, must all be tuned to C-Major and only aloud to chime during regular business hours.

[blue2000]

All garden gnomes must have blue pants and red hats.

In addition, they CANNOT under any circumstances be pushing yellow wheelbarrows! Only brown, simulated-wood wheelbarrows, please.

[jais]

All garden gnomes must have blue pants and red hats.

In addition, they CANNOT under any circumstances be pushing yellow wheelbarrows! Only brown, simulated-wood wheelbarrows, please.

You have now violated the purple only rule!!! 

[behindbj]

I live in a neighborhood with brick sidewalks in the fronts of the rowhomes.  I am in an end unit, and there is an actual concrete sidewalk that runs along the side of my home.  I told the neighborhood kids that they could draw with chalk on my sidewalk on one condition - that I was allowed to play hopscotch with them if I wanted.

And I do.  Sometimes they'll see me in my kitchen and tap on the windows to let me know they're out there about to play hopscotch.  It's quite a sight...

Back to the rules:  Houses and trim may only be the colors approved by the Smithsonian as having been available in Ancient Babylon.

behindbj, who lives in an historic home and may only paint her trim in colors of the era in which the house was built (1860's).

[ginlyn32]

....

That seems silly to alot of people, but HOA's really do keep the property values from going down. And they keep people from doing things like keeping old junk cars in their driveway or old appliances on their porch. Or trash from accumulating around the yard.

...

But, isn't that what city ordinances are for?    Where I live the city rules say that your grass can't be longer than X.  No junk cars.  Fences in good repair.  Trees trimmed to be no lower than 7 feet from the sidewalk.  My city also mandates that the house be at least 75% brick.  As far as I am concerned the city mandates what is needed for property values, without the silliness of no flags. 

Not in the town I am from in Indiana! We had many neighbors (not on our street) who did not keep up their property. They would put old junk cars in the back yard, keep old appliances on the porch, let their yard go to weeds or just dirt....you name it. We had one neighbor who liked to keep all their worldly possessions in their front yard. They had old sofas and chairs on their porch for yard furniture...it was nasty.

So the ordinances are there on paper, but you have to have the manpower to enforce them. Our little county didn't and didn't want to hire people to do it. It was even worse in the county...people who didn't live inside city limits.

Ginger

[kingsrings]

This was a real one.

No flags, American or otherwise may be flown on the property.

For crying out loud, it was my uncle's house and he was a disabled Korean war veteran!

I'd like to see someone try and tell me I can't fly the American flag on my house.  Can you say lawsuit?

This is actually quite common in a lot of HOA's. It is put in place to prevent someone from flying a flag that might be inappropriate or offensive to someone else. A Nazi or a Confederate flag, for example. It's stupid, but I see their point.

[kingsrings]

Outside social gatherings at your house may not be more than 5 people. And when gathered outside, they may not step foot to socialize outside of the boundaries of your front lawn. No sidewalk, driveway, or street socializing allowed. In fact, that rule applies all the time for when one wants to socialize.