Love Your HOA?

[BUD]

Be glad you don't live in Texas....http://consumerist.com/2010/06/homeowners-association-can-foreclose-on-your-house-over-500-in-dues.html

[jdread]

HOA's can be a good thing and a bad thing. We have one now and I am sick of the nosy people riding around on golf carts pointing at everything. My dues are paid in full on time, yard is maintained by a lawn service, cars are new and clean and I have no junk around my house but every time I look out they are riding past and looking. We are closing on a house on some land in Mansfield the end of this month and I can not wait to sell this one.

We have one neighbor that bounced a check for their dues and still have not made it right. They say they can not afford it but must have fired off $1000 worth of fire works in their driveway last night. If you are loosing your home because of unpaid dues then you need to get your priorities straight.

[Back Marker]

i don't feel like reading GA's statutes governing HOA's. from another state (down below) HOA's can only put a lien on the property.

don't complain about the nosy ones on golf carts. it's cheaper than having a rent-a-cop patrolling the neighborhood.

-a|ex

[Mongo]

Lien yes, foreclose no in GA.

FWIW - I hate HOA's and nosy ****ing asshole neighbors. I'd rather live in a trailer park with trash than with people like that.

[MrBlah]

I think they started out with good intentions, mow your grass, don't leave crap in the yard, don't let your house fall apart

but what they are now, is completely out of control and unfortunately I do not see that changing

[Mongo]

Great idea until humans become involved...

[G_MAN]

I think they started out with good intentions, mow your grass, don't leave crap in the yard, don't let your house fall apart

but what they are now, is completely out of control and unfortunately I do not see that changing

Some people go to work to feel important, other go to church, and the rest run the HOA. :lol:

[mrmekon]

My dad is the president of his neighborhood's HOA and when he got elected he started going to all these seminars put on by lawyers about what HOAs can and should do in GA. He has assured me that the power they have in GA is absolutely disgusting.

The bricks are collapsing off the front of the condo I'm renting, and the HOA was going to replace them and then withdrew their offer because I had the wheel off my bike to get a new tire put on, and "repair and maintenance of vehicles" is a violation of the HOA rules. Luckily, my landlord is a nice guy and doesn't blame me (he never gave me a copy of the HOA rules).

BTW, read that again: MAINTENANCE OF VEHICLES is prohibited.

[KTM Rider]

If you are in a common area such as a condo parking lot indeed it is. In my garage its fine. In my driveway, so long as the vehicle doesnt sit and become inoperable, its also fine.

These things do in fact protect other residents because without them someone could park abandoned and broken junk cars in the lot or in my case in their driveways and that would be an eyesore that drives property values down.

I dont think the application of the rule should be so strict that it should prevent you from changing your tire on your bike which should take no more than a few hours at worst but the spirit behind the rule is good. Additionally, I am surprised you were not able to explain the tire thing to the person complaining and resolve it informally. Is there more to the story?

[mrmekon]

I fully understand why the rule exists, but it is written so simply that it ends up banning even the most simple things, like replacing a battery. Obviously you don't want your neighbor doing a 6-month restoration project in a community parking spot. I think a more sensible rule would be no vehicle can be left in an inoperable state for longer than a few days.

There's no more to my story, my landlord just called and told me to put the wheel back on immediately. It was off for a couple of days (new tire wasn't holding air, had to order replacement valve). It only takes 5 minutes to remove or replace, so I was going to use it as a theft prevention method like you would do with a bicycle, but I guess that's not going to fly :up:. I put it back on with the flat tire still mounted, and then it sat for two months because I couldn't ride :crackup:

[winmutt]

HOA's are like unions. They are really good when you need them and as soon as they fulfill their need they become parasitic.

[Butthead]

the beauty of america -- you can choose to live under a hoa or not.

[Karl Hungus]

HOAs protect your investment. If I'm in a neighborhood where I can see a bunch of houses from my front door then I want some rules and I want them enforced.

I lived in a neighborhood where people had concrete deer with broken antlers and legs in the front yard, and repainted houses in awful colors. I didn't like it.

[winmutt]

HOAs protect your investment. If I'm in a neighborhood where I can see a bunch of houses from my front door then I want some rules and I want them enforced.



According to the article they will repo your investment and sell it for a few grand.

[mrmekon]

HOAs protect your investment. If I'm in a neighborhood where I can see a bunch of houses from my front door then I want some rules and I want them enforced.

That's the intention, but more and more rules creep in over time. My parents' HOA bylaws have page after page describing which sorts of flags can be displayed on your property and where and when. It's best to have a lawyer help you if you want to hang a flag on your property.

Their HOA also forbids parking in the street. I parked in the street once when I was visiting them and one of the neighbors drunkenly smashed into my car and refused to pay for the damage, claiming I was at fault for violating the HOA rules. Unfortunately for him, I don't live there so the HOA rules don't apply to me. And the city of Roswell owns the street, not the HOA, and the Roswell Police did NOT agree with him :rofl:

[winmutt]

And the city of Roswell owns the street, not the HOA, and the Roswell Police did NOT agree with him :rofl:

Thats priceless.

[Karl Hungus]

According to the article they will repo your investment and sell it for a few grand.

Only if they don't pay the fees which were clearly spelled out when they signed the papers. If you let your house go to avoid a few hundred dollars you owe then you're too stupid to live among people who own a house.

[winmutt]

What do I care, I think anyone that lives in an HOA gets what they deserve.

[Dan43]

Only if they don't pay the fees which were clearly spelled out when they signed the papers. If you let your house go to avoid a few hundred dollars you owe then you're too stupid to live among people who own a house.Screw an HOA and their "fees". The government already abuses it's authority in matters of property rights, I'll be damned if I ever give a private organization the right to fine me for what I do on my property.

[TLR67]

What do I care, I think anyone that lives in an HOA gets what they deserve.

Yep.. Protection from the rift raft.... Ours does a good Job... Enjoy!

[winmutt]

Yep.. Protection from the rift raft.... Ours does a good Job... Enjoy!
The only reason an HOA is needed is because building codes aren't enforced properly.


The government already abuses it's authority in matters of property rights, I'll be damned if I ever give a private organization the right to fine me for what I do on my property.
Amen.

[Karl Hungus]

Moving into a neighborhood that has covenants means you agree to follow the rules. You probably can't fly a Nazi flag, even though you have that right under the First Amendment. The reason it's in the covenants is because they have to anticipate that idiots will be able to afford a mortgage.

[KTM Rider]

My HOA benefits my property more than it bothers me...but I also make an effort to follow the rules I agreed to when I moved in. In 4 years we have received the occasional letter and they usually are stupid things people have complained about given the spirit of the rules that put in place which we were accused of violating and while I will admit every time we did violate a rule it was like the occasion regarding the tire change in the parking lot. It was temporary and for us maybe a day or two at most. Common sense would tell me that unless something go unchanged for a week or more its not a big deal. Was I a little annoyed receiving the letter when I got it? Sure I was because we all get upset when people point out our mistakes but it was an infraction nonetheless and rules have to be applied equally to the 1 day offender and the habitual offender absent language detailing enforcement in another manner.

All in all I think the enforcement does help. I have seen the alternative.....I see it all the time driving through other parts of Cherokee County. If I had 5-7+ acres I probably wouldnt care but if my neighbor who I can clearly see from my house decided to park an RV in his side yard or a monster truck or a bunch of old junky cars or any number of things....pink flamingos, concrete yard animals.....whatever I would hate it.

[Karl Hungus]

Screw an HOA and their "fees". The government already abuses it's authority in matters of property rights, I'll be damned if I ever give a private organization the right to fine me for what I do on my property.

That's the thing. If you read all the documents you'd understand that it isn't fully your property. It's a neighborhood where everyone has agreed on the rules. No surprises.

Your hostility toward this concept indicates that you wouldn't be a good fit anyway.

[TLR67]

The only reason an HOA is needed is because building codes aren't enforced properly.


Amen.

Codes and rules........ Like Trailers, Tarps... Pink Flamingo's and BS like that..

[TLR67]

My HOA benefits my property more than it bothers me...but I also make an effort to follow the rules I agreed to when I moved in. In 4 years we have received the occasional letter and they usually are stupid things people have complained about given the spirit of the rules that put in place which we were accused of violating and while I will admit every time we did violate a rule it was like the occasion regarding the tire change in the parking lot. It was temporary and for us maybe a day or two at most. Common sense would tell me that unless something go unchanged for a week or more its not a big deal. Was I a little annoyed receiving the letter when I got it? Sure I was because we all get upset when people point out our mistakes but it was an infraction nonetheless and rules have to be applied equally to the 1 day offender and the habitual offender absent language detailing enforcement in another manner.

All in all I think the enforcement does help. I have seen the alternative.....I see it all the time driving through other parts of Cherokee County. If I had 5-7+ acres I probably wouldnt care but if my neighbor who I can clearly see from my house decided to park an RV in his side yard or a monster truck or a bunch of old junky cars or any number of things....pink flamingos, concrete yard animals.....whatever I would hate it.

+1 to that...

[mrmekon]

In all of the places I've lived, the ones with the nicest overall ambiance and happiest residents were the ones with simple HOA bylaws that were enforced as seldom as possible. The absolute worst were the ones inhabited by predominantly wealthy folk (my parents' neighborhood, and a high-rise in Buckhead), and the ones with no HOAs were generally fine except there is always one house that either looks like hell or constantly has police in front of it.

God help you in a Buckhead high-rise. My friend was fined for walking through the lobby with her laundry hamper :crackup:. Their automatic parking garage gate also wouldn't trigger for a motorcycle, so screw them.

[02ep3]

HOA's are only as good as the people running them.

Unfortunatly, you often get a bunch of folks with nothing better to do than become intoxicated by the small dose of power membership on the HOA board grants them. The Texas thing is a a great example of retards getting on these boards. Which unfortunatly, proves the norm not the exception.

I'm very lucky that my HOA is pretty reasonable. We're not a huge community, so that helps. Mostly they bust people's chops for parking in visitor spaces, which I like, it keeps the community from becoming a parking lot. Most of the people on our board are frugal almost to a fault. This is not bad because they've been successful in not raising our fees and avoiding special assessments for the last couple of years.

It does boil down to perspective. If you're the guy not picking up your dog crap, having renters park in visitor spaces perpetually, have a busted garage door, etc, then i'm pretty sure you'd think the HOA is a power hungry waste of time. If you're that guy's neighbor, the HOA is the only one protecting your sanity.

[Spicoli]

My HOA ensures my neighrborhood looks like nice and my neighbors keep their home looking nice. It also provides me with nice amenties like a playground, soccer field, clubhouse, free use of gas grills, lighted tennis courts and a swimming pool with a diviing board. I'll take it.

[Dan43]

That's the thing. If you read all the documents you'd understand that it isn't fully your property. It's a neighborhood where everyone has agreed on the rules. No surprises.

Your hostility toward this concept indicates that you wouldn't be a good fit anyway.

Unless the neighborhood is paying my mortgage then it aint't their property. Would you pay me to take a partial ownership stake in your car and give me the authority to tell you how you can use your car?

[jlcnuke]

Unless the neighborhood is paying my mortgage then it aint't their property. Would you pay me to take a partial ownership stake in your car and give me the authority to tell you how you can use your car?

Bad analogy. HOA's came into being because nice neighborhoods with increasing home values saw an increase in people of lesser means being able to afford to buy those homes which resulted in property values reducing when the "new neighbors" could no longer care for or didn't bother to care for their properties. If you let your car turn into a non-running rust-bucket it doesn't affect the value of my car. If my neighbor decides to let his yard have 2 foot tall weeds for lawn, broken windows, loud obnoxious music 24/7 and 4 non working cars on blocks in his front yard it DOES affect the price I will get for selling my home. HOA's protect your investment. Some abuse that power and some don't bother enforcing it to protect a home but the vast majority are used to preserve the increase in property values for everyone.

Try selling your home for a decent price if I move in next door, demolish the home and build a dildo and vag shaped abode with satanic markings all over it while leaving rusting cars in the front yard with satanic cult chanting played at a medium to loud volume 24/7 and a flashing billboard advocating leaving God and religion. I doubt you get 1/2 what you paid for it and I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy living there anymore.

[02ep3]

Try selling your home for a decent price if I move in next door, demolish the home and build a dildo and vag shaped abode with satanic markings all over it while leaving rusting cars in the front yard with satanic cult chanting played at a medium to loud volume 24/7 and a flashing billboard advocating leaving God and religion. I doubt you get 1/2 what you paid for it and I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy living there anymore.

Ha ha ha. You never know, build something like that and you might get a flood of tourists getting their polaroid taken in front of it. Charge $10 bucks a pop and you're recouped your losses!

[Karl Hungus]

jlcnuke, that's an excellent post. You explained the value of a HOA perfectly. They're not all perfect, but the purpose makes sense.

[tigerrider]

... and build a dildo and vag shaped abode with satanic markings all over it while leaving rusting cars in the front yard with satanic cult chanting played at a medium to loud volume 24/7 and a flashing billboard advocating leaving God and religion.

I don't know where you went to design school, but I am liking where you are going with this...
Remind me to contact you when I do an outbuilding.

On topic: Hates HOAs but after the house across the steet became a rental and now has a mattress in the driveway, trash, weeds etc. and NO one parks in their garage..I can kinda miss it.

[Mongo]

According to the article they will repo your investment and sell it for a few grand.

Totally destroying the home values in the hood at the same time - gotta love it :)

[Karl Hungus]

A local story on this subject. It seems that foreclosure can be an option in GA if the homeowner owes at least $2000.

http://www.ajc.com/business/some-hoas-sue-or-568408.html

[Georgiacbr]

A local story on this subject. It seems that foreclosure can be an option in GA if the homeowner owes at least $2000.

http://www.ajc.com/business/some-hoas-sue-or-568408.html


That's F up where are peoples compassion lately it's not like there some special elite place to live anyways. Cutting someones water off who has Cancer is BS. I would love to shut off the power on the Hoa board members to give them some ideals (paybacks a bitch) LOL