Homeowner associations are run by cats

It's always a one-sided story. It doesn't deny the fact that the Gov't is evil.

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I'm an environmentalist, left wing, Ron Paul loving Prius driver with a farm. If you have a problem with that, kindly go take a leap.

You say they are going back to get their house because of a law already in effect? They need to sue the lawyer who represented than and was not aware of this law. $3,000 that they paid him, and $1,000,000 for pain and suffering.

One of my sisters & BILs live in a gate community in Plant City, FL. They love it. They only own one foot off from their foundation. Now sure about driveway. They could not choose house color, nor can it be changed in the future. Whoever oversees the community keeps it exactly the way they like. But then they have a cabin in NC they use 5-6 months out of the year and don't have to worry about how the property is being cared for.

Right off of a golf course. Greens mower comes about 6 AM each day. After a couple of days they didn't even notice it anymore.

I love it!

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I saw something nasty in the woodshed

I wonder if the family had money issues to do loss of income when he was sent to active duty. I would assume he didn't make the same income on NG pay vs his regular job. I think this was a bad call on the HOA's part. They should have worked with the family to make a payment plan. I think the neighborhood would have voted to extend the bill due if asked, I know I would have....your suppose to help out your neighbor.

Kev

What is a deployed soldier going to do about these? I guess his wife could have handled it, but sadly, women often aren't involved in the "man's business"

I'm glad they are going to court over this. HOAs are a bit silly. My GF can't hang a clothes line really?

A lot of my friends are military (I live next to a base) and it seems like every day someone is trying to work out some outrageous situation from a million miles away while being shot at.

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HOAs purportedly exist to protect neighborhood property values by enforcing rules about keeping the place "looking nice." I truly believe that they have the unintended consequence of lowering property value. I for one will not buy into a neighborhood again that has this unnecessary layer of freedom robbing government. I keep my place nice and take pride in it, but I also violate the rules by having tons of vegetable gardens, chickens in a tractor under my deck, a rain barrel, often have implements stored in the back yard that I am working on and I fly an American flag whenever the hell I feel like it. The back yard is not visible to any neighbors as I am on a culdesac backing to a ravine with trees. I am friends with most all my neighbors and friendly to all. I was attacked by 2 loose dogs in the back yard a couple years ago, and it didn't go well for them (2 white german shepards). I think it impressed upon a few that I can be a little much to handle when perturbed.

From the Army Times - July 12th, Mike Clauer said that once he got mobilization orders, he was working so many hours, they may have missed a quarterly HOA payment, and his wife paid some of hte HOA bills after he deployed, but the bills did not indicate any past due amounts. The HOA did not determine if he was on active duty (mix-up between Army and Defense Manpower Center) on his active duty. A US Magistrate has recommended to a Fed Judge that the service man be able to sue the new home owners and the HOA. The HOA doe not believe they should be sued.

im with you.....

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LIVE LIKE SOMEONE LEFT THE GATE OPEN

I have feeling that I'd be so distraught that I'd forget all about that electric space heater setting too near the drapes on my final trip out the door....

Thankfully a mule hasnt kicked me in the head, nor have I won the lottery, so quite unlikely to ever live in one of these situations. Though local zoning and codes and nuisance laws and real estate tax laws are catching up with the HOAs. Its all turning into one big scam to scew your neighbor before he screws you.

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

Otter's idea of reverse hoa is hilarious!! :smiley-laughing013:

It wouldn't help them but it sure would be fun to have a good old fashioned cattle drive through that neighborhood.

I think HOA should be illegal and are very unamerican!

Our gated neighborhood has dirt roads with each lot having at least 5 acres, most have 2 to 3 times that amount. The realtors advertised it as “Country living, equestrian properties, dirt roads, Mayberry-type living, etc." For the past few years there have been 2 factions: those wanting the roads paved and those that don’t. When put to the vote, the “don’t wants” win.

So the “want” group managed to get certain people elected, who then proceeded to decree an emergency road assessment which was another 50% of our HOA dues, then dictated that garbage services and roadside mowing would no longer be covered by the annual dues and we would have to pay for those in addition to the usual fee and the money saved would go to their paving project.

They were making arrangements with a bank using our properties for collateral in which we would have 10 years to pay our share of the nearly ¾ of a million dollar cost. We had to get emergency legal action to stop them.

Then, for the first time in the neighborhood’s history, they did not hold the annual election for the next year's board and member’s vote on the budget in the first week of December. Instead they stalled until mid-February, even though their reign ended Dec. 31, while spending as much money as they could get their hands on and passing as many new rules as they could dictate. They were hoping to stall until the January annual dues were paid, but no one was paying.

Then they tried holding meetings by posting notices in small print in odd places for weird times when no one would be able to come, then postponing the meetings when we managed to show up anyway. Finally, instead of having the annual meeting at the fire house in the neighborhood where all our meetings have been held, they held it at a library at the other end of the county, over an hour away at 6 pm instead of the usual 7:30 pm so folks working in other counties (which is most of us) could not make it.

We all took the afternoon off. They were shocked when so many of us showed up. Then they refused to let us vote because we had boycotted their illegal emergency road assessments. Finally after 2 hours and many people had gone home, we waited them out to the point where they conceded and we voted new people in. The new board rescinded their illegal assessments and plan to take them to court for their actions. The ringleader still has the corporate documents and won't hand over the key cards to the gate.

Turns out the ringleader had been in cahoots with the person he selected to buy out (at 50 cents on the dollar) the unpaid past due balances (while the homeowners; were still liable for 100% of the illegal assessments, plus interes, late fees, and legal fees.

We also voted to amend the bylaws so that in the future the board cannot have emergency assessments greater than 10% of our annual dues. They are trying to get back into power….like we are going to vote for them ever? The ring leader had been president of the HOA 10 years before and was so underhanded no one would vote for him again, so when an honest person resigned from the unscrupulous board, his buddies remaining appointed him. It was like being held hostage for the past 3 years…by a group of terrorists.

Otter for president!