# HOA Horror Stories



## knight1fox3 (Jan 11, 2018)

Some of these have been discussed here at random and I just came across this story on the local morning news. Post 'em here if you've encountered any HOA (home owners association) horror stories (or even unusual favorable stories).

http://abc7chicago.com/home/hoa-demands-homeowners-leave-garage-doors-open/2923891/

The HOA we belong to is pretty minimal. When we first moved in, I think we were asked to contribute to a collective HOA fund to have grass mowed in any open lot areas. And that is like $20 every other year. Plus I'm pretty close with both the president and treasurer and there's typically not much that goes on (thankfully).


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## Supe (Jan 11, 2018)

I got cited in 2014 for an unapproved addition of a storm door to the house (clear glass).  I had already been living there for two years.  The storm door had been there since original construction in 2000.

There has been a ton of other petty bullshit warnings that come in the mail.  I got tired of them and started responding in legalese, citing portions of their own covenant with interpretations of their definitions, etc. and how they were being met.  My personal favorites are when they tell me to do something, but then don't cite an actual violation.  For those, I respond that since no violation was cited, I considered the matter resolved, which then resets the clock another 30 days minimum.

I even exposed a clause in there about "Recreational Vehicles" to justify my race cars being parked in my garage.  They have separate clauses on unregistered vehicles and non-running vehicles being parked on the property, but recreational vehicles are OK.  Well, my race cars are for recreation, they're vehicles, and they don't define an RV as a motor home/camper/etc. anywhere, so I win again!  Used that one to make my whiny little bitch of a neighbor eat crow, and then turned him in for violations of his own. 

They also have a two hour max for automotive "repairs".  I've responded to that one by calling them improvements or modifications, and not repairs.  I have also closed my garage door for 5 minutes, grabbed a beer, and then reopened it to restart the clock.  

I guess you learn _some_ things working in nuclear.


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 11, 2018)

Supe said:


> I guess you learn _some_ things working in nuclear.


That's for [email protected] sure! Right @Flyer_PE?


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## Road Guy (Jan 11, 2018)

We are in one and for the most part its fairly drama free. I don’t like them but the value of my house is up over $100K in less than 4 years so I cant complain.

 

Biggest issue recently is we had a lady sue the HOA over “emotional” something or other, she had gotten both the “cookies with Santa” and the Easter Egg hunt cancelled, not because she is Jewish or some other religion but just one of those typical I hate religion people. She got ridiculed deservedly on the nextdoor site and the HOA settled for something like $50 grand with her to help her move to another neighborhood.  Everyone got pretty pissed the board settled since Santa and the easter bunny have been declared by the courts as not religious symbols.  But there was a guy who kept posting the video from south park of the song “kyles mom is the biggest bitch in the whole wide world” and linked her to it.. I hope she moved to a neighborhood where there is a future oil and gas explosion…

 

But other than that most people just do what they are supposed to, paint their house when it needs it, mow the grass, no junk cars allowed on the street or driveway, no RV’s etc


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## ruggercsc (Jan 11, 2018)

This thread ruined my day.  I used to set up H.O.A. as part of my Land Development duties.  I have served on 19 boards, set up Architectrual review boards, and conducted Architectural Reviews.  I have been threatened, been told "How can I sleep at Night" , have heard "We have been swindled", and been told by a drunk in the audience who sat in the front row at every annual meeting "you think you a big shot up there in a tie".  

In my own H.O.A. I had to threaten lawsuits twice and had to hire an attorney once (I prevailed both times).  I was getting fined $10 a day (which I never paid) and according to thier interpration I am probably still in violation and would thus technically owe $43,800, plus interest, in fines. 

I will never live in a H.O.A. community again.  Ever.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Jan 11, 2018)

No HOA's where I live now, but I have a fairly strict property manager. Hasn't been a problem so far.

Back when I lived in Denver, the HOA there was actually pretty chill. We (the neighborhood) had 2 issues in the 5 years I was there. The first was that all residents and their guests had to park in the garage/driveway. Essentially no on-street parking. But they set it up in a way that they couldn't run the plates of the car so they would only cite the house that the vehicle was parked in front of. A couple families would have a babysitter during the day who would park on the street and they would get routine letters about it. My next-door neighbor got a warning from the board because of my car once.  

The second issue was that one of the residents decided to move away but keep his house as a rental. One of the tenants signed a 3-yr lease, paid cash up front and promptly setup a grow house. The HOA had no recourse over it and several of the other residents were very pissed about the whole situation. Ultimately, the homeowner was able to evict based on the "no unauthorized modifications to the house" clause after the tenant had re-wired the electric system to bypass the meter.


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## Flyer_PE (Jan 11, 2018)

knight1fox3 said:


> Supe said:
> 
> 
> > I guess you learn _some_ things working in nuclear.
> ...


I was once informed that the best legal minds the utility had were employed as engineers at the nuclear plant.


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## Audi Driver P.E. (Jan 11, 2018)

I have lived in several and have, to this date, only had relatively positive experiences with them.


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## Flyer_PE (Jan 11, 2018)

No HOA here.  That's one of the reasons we live where we do.  I'm pretty sure the HOA at my last house would be throwing a fit about the farm tractor I keep parked in my garage.  I'd be using the same RV argument Supe is using for his race cars.


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## MA_PE (Jan 12, 2018)

I've never lived within the bounds of a HOA.  However we did live in a condo for awhile which had a "condo association".  The annual meeting was nothing more than a [email protected] session with a lot of whining.  I would not have a lot of patience with some of these HOA regulations and fools that try to enforce them.  I don't think a HOA community would work for me.


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## jeb6294 (Jan 12, 2018)

I wouldn't even call what we've got a HOA.  We voluntarily pay, I think, $35 per year to keep up the landscaping around the entrance and for several neighborhood parties during the year.


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## Road Guy (Jan 12, 2018)

They built an over 55 neighborhood next to our last subdivision in Atlanta, at first I thought that would be pretty terrible but as I continue to live in suburbia the thought of no trampolines,no basketball goals, no kids around 24-7 I have to admit it seems pretty nice!


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## BamaStrucPESE (Jan 12, 2018)

Practically every neighborhood in the Houston area has an HOA. I've seen annual fees can be as high as $1500/year, but it includes several community activities/membership to facilities including pool.  My neighborhood was built with a country club near by, so my dues are only $200/year but have to pay much more to be a part of the CC.

I had to submit a form to the HOA when I upgraded my drainage system, the president came by gave it a cone over and approved. He said in 20 years, they have had only a few problems, like someone wanting to paint their house pink, raise live stock in the back yard.

I never wanted to live in an area with an HOA, but so far I have had no issues with it.


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## ptatohed (Jan 13, 2018)

When I bought my current house (gated community) in late 2008, it was a foreclosure (great recession) (.....the only reason I was able to buy in this neighborhood - I got a "$550k" house for $340k).  Well, the front yard grass was dead, right?  It took all my resources at the time to get into this house so I was nearly broke.  I couldn't afford sod.  So I went with grass seed.  It was coming in but apparently not fast enough for the HOA.  Warnings turned to fines, fines turned to fines with late fees, etc.  I refused to pay.  They took me to small claims court.  They won.  I still refused to pay.  I let my credit take the hit because I was so stubborn to pay.  To this day, I can't explain it but eventually it was marked as a 'paid' judgment on my credit report.    I then disputed it with the 3 credit bureaus and even the 'paid judgment' was removed from my reports.  

I had built an 8'x8' Tough Shed on  my side yard around 2010.  It sticks over the 6' fence maybe 1'.  In 2016, I got a violation for it stating it is visible from the street and was not approved.  Really?, 6 years later you notice?  lol  I had to retroactively submit an ($100!!!!) architectural review for it as well as obtain adjacent neighbors' signatures for their ok.  I paid the $100 (that hurt) and got the signatures.  The HOA approved it with the requirement to screen it from view from the front.  I added some vine type plants to screen it.  All is good.  

There are pros and cons to an HOA.  I do like that they keep the neighborhood looking good but it is annoying when they bust your [email protected] over little things.  My friend has no HOA and when I visit him, it drives me nuts to see trash cans left out days after trash pickup, cars with car covers, cars on jacks, boats on driveways, trailers on the driveways, RVs, etc. but I also don't care for Nazi HOAs.  So, a moderate HOA is ideal for me.


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 13, 2018)

It's comforting to know that there are others out there who are just as frugal as I am (if not more). :thumbs:



ptatohed said:


> My friend has no HOA and when I visit him, it drives me nuts to see trash cans left out days after trash pickup,


LOL, I would mostly do this just to annoy you.


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## ruggercsc (Jan 13, 2018)

ptatohed said:


> When I bought my current house (gated community) in late 2008, it was a foreclosure (great recession) (.....the only reason I was able to buy in this neighborhood - I got a "$550k" house for $340k).  Well, the front yard grass was dead, right?  It took all my resources at the time to get into this house so I was nearly broke.  I couldn't afford sod.  So I went with grass seed.  It was coming in but apparently not fast enough for the HOA.  Warnings turned to fines, fines turned to fines with late fees, etc.  I refused to pay.  They took me to small claims court.  They won.  I still refused to pay.  I let my credit take the hit because I was so stubborn to pay.  To this day, I can't explain it but eventually it was marked as a 'paid' judgment on my credit report.    I then disputed it with the 3 credit bureaus and even the 'paid judgment' was removed from my reports.
> 
> I had built an 8'x8' Tough Shed on  my side yard around 2010.  It sticks over the 6' fence maybe 1'.  In 2016, I got a violation for it stating it is visible from the street and was not approved.  Really?, 6 years later you notice?  lol  I had to retroactively submit an ($100!!!!) architectural review for it as well as obtain adjacent neighbors' signatures for their ok.  I paid the $100 (that hurt) and got the signatures.  The HOA approved it with the requirement to screen it from view from the front.  I added some vine type plants to screen it.  All is good.
> 
> There are pros and cons to an HOA.  I do like that they keep the neighborhood looking good but it is annoying when they bust your [email protected] over little things.  My friend has no HOA and when I visit him, it drives me nuts to see trash cans left out days after trash pickup, cars with car covers, cars on jacks, boats on driveways, trailers on the driveways, RVs, etc. but I also don't care for Nazi HOAs.  So, a moderate HOA is ideal for me.


Some HOA's would put a lien on your property if allowed by State Law and the DCCR's for violations (A lot of times they can only file liens for unpaid assessments. In some rare circumstances some HOA'S have actually foreclosed on homes for not paying fines.  

At some point you might check your title to see if any liens have been paced on it. This was common practice by HOA's before the Great Recession, but a lot of them stopped the practice.  HOA's liens were pretty far down the waterfall after tax lien's, mortgage lien's, municipal lien's for code violations, etc.  HOA's  were never getting their lien's paid off, so some stopped the practice.


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## matt267 PE (Jan 13, 2018)

ruggercsc said:


> Some HOA's would put a lien on your property


I would never sell the house. I would also make arrangements to have it burned down upon my death.


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## ptatohed (Jan 14, 2018)

ruggercsc said:


> Some HOA's would put a lien on your property if allowed by State Law and the DCCR's for violations (A lot of times they can only file liens for unpaid assessments. In some rare circumstances some HOA'S have actually foreclosed on homes for not paying fines.
> 
> At some point you might check your title to see if any liens have been paced on it. This was common practice by HOA's before the Great Recession, but a lot of them stopped the practice.  HOA's liens were pretty far down the waterfall after tax lien's, mortgage lien's, municipal lien's for code violations, etc.  HOA's  were never getting their lien's paid off, so some stopped the practice.


I could be totally remembering this incorrectly but, from what I recall, the law is different when it is the main monthly HOA dues that you are not paying vs. the late fees/fines that you are not paying.  I thought my research (at the time) indicated an HOA can not evict/foreclose you if it is only fines that are not being paid.  In my case, I have always been current on my main monthly dues - it was the fines that I refused to pay.  I guess they could have placed a lien on my house with the judgement they were awarded in court.  Luckily they did not.


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## ruggercsc (Jan 14, 2018)

ptatohed said:


> I could be totally remembering this incorrectly but, from what I recall, the law is different when it is the main monthly HOA dues that you are not paying vs. the late fees/fines that you are not paying.  I thought my research (at the time) indicated an HOA can not evict/foreclose you if it is only fines that are not being paid.  In my case, I have always been current on my main monthly dues - it was the fines that I refused to pay.  I guess they could have placed a lien on my house with the judgement they were awarded in court.  Luckily they did not.


I think in most states that may be true, but some states I believe may still allow it (Depends on state law and your DCCR's).  The general direction of most states is that recent laws/ruling are favoring the property owner vs. the HOA. 

In any case, it would an extreme circumstances where an H.O.A. forecloses because of fines.


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## mudpuppy (Jan 15, 2018)

I could never live in an HOA.  I leave my garbage can at the end of the driveway all the time (because I'm not hauling it up and down our 550' driveway every week), I mow my lawn when I feel like it, I never water the grass, my garden gets overgrown with weeds, and I like to shoot off fireworks and guns in my back yard.


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## Supe (Jan 15, 2018)

^^^ That was my last place.  Boy, do I ever miss it.


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## Road Guy (Jan 15, 2018)

I almost forgot, our last neighborhood I was actually on the board for 6 months, I was basically "the guy" who voted no on any non essential expenditure, I believe I irritated the other stay at home moms on the board who wanted to spend every nickel in the account, then I missed the bi -annual meeting when my daughters softball team was in the playoffs and they did some weird rule where you can vote out a board member that doesn't show up for the annual meeting.. Then I went into the database at work (I worked at the County) and dropped our neighborhood a decade from the subdivision resurfacing list   the following Monday..


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## ruggercsc (Feb 28, 2019)

Why I love HOA's (especially in Tennessee):

https://jalopnik.com/insane-hoa-threatens-fine-after-car-leaves-dick-shape-i-1832906729

https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/02/28/disabled-homeowners-denied-needed-modifications-tennessee-fair-housing-council/2941944002/


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## Supe (Mar 4, 2019)

ruggercsc said:


> //www.tennessean.com/story/money/2019/02/28/disabled-homeowners-denied-needed-modifications-tennessee-fair-housing-council/2941944002/


Yeah - lets see how well that HOA's bargain-bin lawyer on retainer does against a hot-shoe pro bono attorney who rams the ADA up their ass just for the glory of it.


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## mudpuppy (Mar 4, 2019)

Supe said:


> Yeah - lets see how well that HOA's bargain-bin lawyer on retainer does against a hot-shoe pro bono attorney who rams the ADA up their ass just for the glory of it.




Yeah, disabled war hero being screwed by HOA in the news... this can't end well for the HOA.


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## RBHeadge PE (Mar 4, 2019)

Supe said:


> Yeah - lets see how well that HOA's bargain-bin lawyer on retainer does against a hot-shoe pro bono attorney who rams the ADA up their ass just for the glory of it.


They're gonna get their asses handed to them. All they can do is delay the inevitable, albeit with a seven to eight figure cost.

Even a sh$%^y lawyer would have immediately advised them that this a lost cause and that they should approve the ramp and in-home improvements ASAP.


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## User1 (Mar 4, 2019)

I bought a foreclosed townhouse as my first home which was part of an HOA neighborhood. I think I paid like 125/mo and it covered insurance for drywall out, lawn, landscape, snow removal etc. 

I was considering getting satellite instead of cable and I had to put together a proposal of which part of the roof I was going to put the dish on, so I went with cable instead. 

I was an annoying neighbor who fought with the association because we had back to back rows of houses, with our garages on an interior drive between the rows (if that makes sense) and this one person would park their car in the entry part of the drive, in front of the mailboxes, and there was no way you could see beyond the street parking and around their car to see if someone was trying to come out of the (now single lane) drive. So i fought and fought and fought and finally they painted the area as a no parking zone. then i moved. 

it was the worst in the winter when iced roads and you're turning into the drive and someone else is trying to leave the drive and it's like well shit (or get hit)


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## Road Guy (Mar 4, 2019)

......and sometimes you live near what I call annoying / do gooder neighbors who don't call the HOA but call the "city"

We came home from a great day of skiing and a really shitty day of being caught on the wrong side of an avalanche late last night to find a cop and animal control in my driveway around midnight.  A neighbor had called the police because my dog was outside (it was -5). She (the dog) has access to a doggie door into the garage with an actual heat vent stubbed up through the basement near her bedding. Note that the dog wasn't barking they were just irked that the dog was "outside" in the cold, 50 lb border collie with thick fur.. people are just so f'n stupid..

The cops had entered my backyard and put the dog in the animal control van until we showed up and showed them that the dog had access to the house and a fucking heater!- The cops and the bitch cunt animal control lady apologized and gave us our dog back.. (we had some issues a few years ago with the BCACL before when probably the same neighbors kids cut through our yard, left the gate open allowing said dog to escape to give out aggressive licks to kids down the street..

I was too tired to say anything last night but I really want to know if they have the legal authority to enter my property and abduct my property without a warrant?


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## mudpuppy (Mar 4, 2019)

^Saw videos of the avalanche on the news this morning.  Crazy!


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## jeb6294 (Apr 10, 2020)

Saw a story pop up recently about an HOA threatening to fine a family $100 a day for a camper in their driveway.  They put it there because she is a nurse and doesn't want to expose one of her kids with pre-existing conditions.

I think I saw that the camper is back at the storage place because, for the moment, she is able to do her work from home but she expects to be called in as the workload increases and staff ultimately have to drop out either due to infection or overwork.


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## ruggercsc (Apr 10, 2020)

When we move, the first requirement will be no HOA and no exceptions.

Note:  Hypervolt Plus massage tools ad is blocking the submit button and a refresh shows women's clothing with sunflowers all over it ad blocking the submit button.


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## Road Guy (Apr 10, 2020)

thats fucked up about the camper, thing, I would get that to some news station and let them feel the wrath - 

Our HOA sent out a letter that basically they wouldnt be doing much while this was going on, not that they did much, but the said they dont even expect to open the pool this summer.  I hope someone is hoping to not pay them - I think we are gong to not make the next quartrly payment and see what happens


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