#1
I'm physically disabled, live on the 5th floor, and have a legit service animal and have been here for 12 years. Each infraction was a $200 fine. I racked up close $45k in fines until my lawyers threats became reality in an ADA suit. They still were dumb enough to want to go to court, confident they would triumph because they tried to play the aggressive animal angle but it's a legit service dog, not an emotional security dog, so you could set off an air horn behind her and she is trained not to react. The court didn't just dismiss it but ordered them to not just pay my legal fees but $20k in compensation for the mental and emotional stress that came with that BS.
Home Owners Associations are tasked with keeping neighborhoods neat and tidy, making sure property values stay decent and enforcing rules and regulations.
But as we’ve seen far too often, they tend to take their jobs far too seriously and forget that they too must abide by federal and state laws. There are certain things an HOA is absolutely not allowed to do. One of them is to keep you out of court.
"Snippy associations might make you think they're above the law—but if you're truly in a bind, you can sue your HOA," advises realtor.com, adding that there's a good chance you'll have the upper hand in court, especially if the board of dictators, err directors, acted in an underhanded manner.
HOAs are also not allowed to hush up litigation. They must disclose pending lawsuits to residents.
"How much they disclose will depend on the community's covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and state laws," notes the site. "So make sure you look into both if you feel like something has been swept under the rug."
#2
The fines were dropped after his unit commander attended an HOA meeting and tore into the board about their idiocy in fining a man for wearing a military uniform.
#3
Fifteen.
I've spent a lot of time over the years, wondering "why fifteen?" That seems like a lot of monkeys. Even five monkeys strikes me as somewhat excessive.
Every one of these regulations came into existence because a homeowner caused a problem. Which means that somewhere there's a guy who was doing perfectly fine with fourteen monkeys- but then everything went bum over teakettle when he brought home that fifteenth monkey. Was it just a bad monkey? Did it escape and rampage through the neighborhood?
If you've ever lived under the reign of a HOA, you'll probably know many of them they love a good fine. And while it's not illegal for them to dish out their pink slips, the fines "must be set forth in the association's rules and bylaws," reveals real estate lawyer, Barbara Jordan.
The team at realtor.com advises anyone with an HOA to check the community's CC&Rs before complying with fines. "If that fine isn't listed, you might not need to pay," they add.
If the HOA still goes ahead and digs their heels in, you can appeal the fine. To do this, gather all the evidence you have and present it at the next board meeting. Or, check the appeals process in your HOA documents and follow their specific instructions.
#4
They were not allowed to have flags with more then 3 colors. I assume to keep folks from flying rainbow flags?
One of my houses had a pink triangle flag out of pure spite.
#5
I chuckled, looked him straight in the eye, and said "And that will be met with overwhelming shock and awe. We will all be on the news.".
#6
Their solution was to install speed bumps on a rather steep section of the road which remains snow covered for most of the winter. That alone would have been bad but in choosing said bumps they instead opted for parking stops because the would be more "effective".
This caused many going up to lose momentum slowing for the enormous bumps and spin into the ditch. Those coming down would try to break for them and slid into the ditch on the other side.
I left three messages for the HOA president in a week... none were returned.
Two days after the final call, a friend and I pried them up in the middle enough to get a tow strap under them and yanked them out of the road with his F250.
We left them stacked neatly in front of the HOA president's driveway.
HOAs are not allowed to discriminate, though many of them do it anyway. All HOAs must comply with the Fair Housing Act. They can't stop you from buying a house or living somewhere based on your ethnicity or the color of your skin.
"It also can't kick you out because members of the board hate your religion, because you have children, or because you wear a Yankees hat on a regular basis in deep Boston," adds realtor.com. Some U.S. states have additional protection for homeowners, so it pays to check your local laws.
#7
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#9
Some HOAs might want to stop you from putting a "for-sale" sign in front of your property. But apparently, they're not allowed to - in most states, anyway.
"The Federal Fair Housing Act considers this an infringement on the homeowner's right to sell their property and prevents any restrictions to this," notes property site orchard.com.
But they may be allowed to have guidelines regarding the size, location or design of the 'for sale' signs.
#10
Growing food is for *poors*, apparently.
#11
#12
Didn’t matter it was four friends taking a bike ride or five siblings laying about the grass out front, instant fine. My friend’s mom ended up fined when I walked past her house with my dog, and she was outside with her three kids, and I waved.
Apparently it was to prevent gang violence (in an upper white middle class area where at the time the worst thing that happened was a Super Bowl fight over in like five minutes), but the parents finally had a cow about it and blew up. The rule got easily removed because only like two people on the HOA board actually showed up to the hastily announced meeting (the rest were retirees who lived up north for the warmer months, called snowbirds).
We kids were still discouraged from grouping up outside those particular homes owned by said snowbirds, but nothing else ever came of it.
According to Orchard, HOAs also can't restrict the number of visitors you have. Some tend to do so to limit visitors from parking on community roads or sidewalks.
But the property site reveals that HOAs can only dictate how many people visit you if there is a valid reason related to safety or any other critical community standard. Not just because they feel like it.
And on the topic of visitors, HOA board members cannot enter your home without cause or notice. Check your CC&Rs and state rules to get a better understanding of when they're allowed to enter (with advance notice). Often, it’s in the case of an emergency, to carry out inspections for rule violations, or for maintenance and/or repairs.
#13
Completely unenforceable, but still in the covenants.
#14
#15
Also, potted plants on the back deck could only be certain flowers of certain colors.
Curtains on front windows could only be certain colors or only have a white liner.
And no planting trees, shrubs, or flowers on the front tiny yard. Grass only.
Didn't buy the condo.
#16
Some examples:
- Leaving garage door open during the day (the person was literally leaving their house in the picture)
- Garden hoses visible from street (the person was actively washing their car)
- Poorly kept lawn (the person was actively mowing their lawn after 2 solid weeks of rain)
We also had them crack down on dirty siding panels - *certainly* had nothing to do with the fact that one of the board members had just started a pressure washing company, and he gleefully posted on the Facebook page offering group discounts if entire streets would schedule for the same day.
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