HOA news

[alarmguy]

Beautiful home.

The angel figures reminds me of an HOA in the neighboring county that's made some local headlines the last 2 years. The small town HOA was fairly relaxed with low dues and mostly let people be unless there was a serious environmental or health issue. Well, nobody wanted to manage it, many favored dissolving the HOA completely, but the board felt that a way out was to relinquish regulatory control to a management company. The company had (supposedly) stated that no drastic changes would be made, merely a change in point of contact. They went back on that day 1 when they released a 50+ page book on the new laws that would apply to the neighborhood.

The last board members must've just been oblivious to what they were doing. The management company doesn't even have an office or any kind of local contact. The nearest point of contact for them is 3.5 hours away in Charleston. The new rulebook they released was essentially a copy/paste of the rules they enforce in the suburban neighborhoods there. Here's just some of the new rules they put in place...

- HOA dues increased from $225/yr to $550/yr. (no increase in common public benefits from this)
- Homeowners have 90 days to come into compliance. No exceptions can be made. All regulations are non-negotiable.
- No displaying of religious figures to include angels, crosses, depictions of Jesus or God, scriptures, sculptures, bibles, decals, bumper stickers, signs, and flags. This also includes figures inside the home visible from outside.
- Nothing can be hung or suspended on outside doors to include wreaths and signs.
- Only plastic mailboxes permitted and must be black in color. Mailbox posts must be natural wood colored with no painting.
- Driveways must be concrete and free of any cracks. No asphalt, cement, brick, or rock/dirt driveways allowed.
- No boats, RVs, campers, or trailers permitted on any property, regardless if visible or not.
- No above ground swimming pools, hot tubs, or anything of the like. In-ground pools limited to 12 ft x 24 ft or 288 sqft in size, can be no deeper than 5 ft, and must be on the backside of the property and concealed by a wooden or wood colored plastic privacy fence a minimum of 6ft tall.
- Displaying flags of any kind, as well as erection of a flagpole, is forbidden.
- No vehicles older than 15 years old permitted. (no exceptions, even for pristine condition classic cars)
- One outside light permitted by the front door only with a max of 800 lumens. Flood lights, pathway, driveway, and step lights forbidden. Christmas lights permitted only on elevated outside trims, porch railings, and in windows. Christmas lights must be static on, (no flashing, sequential, or waving lights) and must be turned off between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am. No Christmas lights permitted prior to November 1st or after December 31st.
- No Christmas or holiday decorations permitted on the front lawn, on any vehicle, driveway, or siding of the home to include air up figures, light sculptures, flags, etc... This includes any holiday, including 4th of July and Easter.
- No patriotic symbolism permitted.
- No open carry of firearms permitted. (despite being legal with a permit in the state)
- No street parking permitted. (visitors and homeowners alike)
- No trees taller than 10 ft permitted on any property. (then proceeded to give a list of "approved" trees)
- Houses must be painted mono-color in one 1 of 3 approved colors. Only black or gray roofs permitted.
- No stained or tinted windows permitted on any home or building on any property.
- No grills, smokers, or other outside cooking permitted where smoke and smell may carry outside of your property.
- One storage shed permitted, must not be visible from the road, and a max on the size it can be.
- Any garage must be attached to the home and cannot be larger than 2 vehicles.
- Certain dog breeds not permitted to include pitbulls, rottweilers, dalmations, malamutes, chow chows, dobermans, shepherds, akitas, cane corsos, wolfhounds, bloodhounds, great danes, bull mastiffs, tosa inus, wolfdogs, saint bernards, huskies, boxers, jack russel terriers, labradors, great pyrenees, newfoundlands, and deerhounds.

As if that wasn't all bad enough...

- Any violations of these regulations committed by any visitor including renters, business personnel, private visitors (including visitors of renters), and neighbors are the liability of the homeowner. It is the homeowner's responsibility to ensure all visitors are aware and in compliance with HOA regulations. The only exception is official government and county and city personnel in the act of official business.
- Management company retains the right to enter and inspect any property, with or without the homeowner's consent, with or without the homeowner's presence, with minimal notice, to investigation violations of, or to ensure compliance with, HOA regulations.

That's not all of it either. It's absolutely insane and completely irrational to think people can subjected like that, much less have to conform to that with a 90 day notice. It's been tied up in court between a coalition of homeowners against the management company. Roughly 40% of the homeowners took advantage of the high real estate prices last year and GTFO.

The example someone mentioned above of the HOA sending fines for a visitor parking outside the home. That's happened a few times in that neighborhood with fines issued. The management company wouldn't budge, if they could even get ahold of them. Most calls to company go to voicemail with no callback, yet they're fast to issue fines for violations. A lot of people have gotten notices of liens against their homes due to non-compliance over things that can't be easily changed like the size of their in-ground swimming pool and age of their vehicle. They've only been saved by a fast-tracked county ordinance to overrride many of the regulations, which likely only came to fruition because one of the elected county council members lives in that neighborhood.

I guess this is why you don’t live there and others do

 

[DriveHard]

Move. If the choice is a terrible situation or finding something better why put up with it?

Have you seen interest rates lately? For now I would rather put up with dictators than try to finance another home purchase.

 

[alarmguy]

Why do people think that if you don't want to live in an HOA, your yard must be a trashed landfill?

View attachment 131651

If my house was in my MIL's HOA, there would be 3 violations in this picture.

1. Shrubs partially obscuring windows
2. Flagpole
3. Political sign

HOAs are the pinnacle of narcissism, whether they realize it or not. It's the ultimate playground for someone seeking an inflated sense of self-importance while also able to play the victim anytime they feel like it.

If you don't pay my mortgage or my taxes, you have ZERO right to tell me what I can or can't do with my property regardless of how reasonable or logical those demands may be. It's that simple.

As for bad neighbors, I solved that issue by not having neighbors. Rural life FTW!

For the same reason that people think living in an HOA is terrible, except if you are not an HOA your neighbor can treat his property like a landfill

 

[brianl703]

Only if they are private roads that the public is not allowed on.

What do you define as a private road that the public is not allowed on?

These aren't gated communities. There is nothing preventing anyone from driving through the neighborhood if they want. But the streets are owned and maintained by the HOA.

 

[alarmguy]

Have you seen interest rates lately? For now I would rather put up with dictators than try to finance another home purchase.

Clearly, you made the wrong choice by moving into a homeowner association community.
But the majority of the homeowners rule, so it’s a bed thing if you don’t agree with them

 

[alarmguy]

What do you define as a private road that the public is not allowed on?

These aren't gated communities. There is nothing preventing anyone from driving through the neighborhood if they want. But the streets are owned and maintained by the HOA.

If the streets are owned and maintained by the HOA, they’re private roads and they have a right to stop the public from traveling on them. It’s called private property. However, I guess you can allow people onto your property if you wish or the county is providing financial assistance to allow it.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Beautiful home.

The angel figures reminds me of an HOA in the neighboring county that's made some local headlines the last 2 years. The small town HOA was fairly relaxed with low dues and mostly let people be unless there was a serious environmental or health issue. Well, nobody wanted to manage it, many favored dissolving the HOA completely, but the board felt that a way out was to relinquish regulatory control to a management company. The company had (supposedly) stated that no drastic changes would be made, merely a change in point of contact. They went back on that day 1 when they released a 50+ page book on the new laws that would apply to the neighborhood.

The last board members must've just been oblivious to what they were doing. The management company doesn't even have an office or any kind of local contact. The nearest point of contact for them is 3.5 hours away in Charleston. The new rulebook they released was essentially a copy/paste of the rules they enforce in the suburban neighborhoods there. Here's just some of the new rules they put in place...

- HOA dues increased from $225/yr to $550/yr. (no increase in common public benefits from this)
- Homeowners have 90 days to come into compliance. No exceptions can be made. All regulations are non-negotiable.
- No displaying of religious figures to include angels, crosses, depictions of Jesus or God, scriptures, sculptures, bibles, decals, bumper stickers, signs, and flags. This also includes figures inside the home visible from outside.
- Nothing can be hung or suspended on outside doors to include wreaths and signs.
- Only plastic mailboxes permitted and must be black in color. Mailbox posts must be natural wood colored with no painting.
- Driveways must be concrete and free of any cracks. No asphalt, cement, brick, or rock/dirt driveways allowed.
- No boats, RVs, campers, or trailers permitted on any property, regardless if visible or not.
- No above ground swimming pools, hot tubs, or anything of the like. In-ground pools limited to 12 ft x 24 ft or 288 sqft in size, can be no deeper than 5 ft, and must be on the backside of the property and concealed by a wooden or wood colored plastic privacy fence a minimum of 6ft tall.
- Displaying flags of any kind, as well as erection of a flagpole, is forbidden.
- No vehicles older than 15 years old permitted. (no exceptions, even for pristine condition classic cars)
- One outside light permitted by the front door only with a max of 800 lumens. Flood lights, pathway, driveway, and step lights forbidden. Christmas lights permitted only on elevated outside trims, porch railings, and in windows. Christmas lights must be static on, (no flashing, sequential, or waving lights) and must be turned off between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am. No Christmas lights permitted prior to November 1st or after December 31st.
- No Christmas or holiday decorations permitted on the front lawn, on any vehicle, driveway, or siding of the home to include air up figures, light sculptures, flags, etc... This includes any holiday, including 4th of July and Easter.
- No patriotic symbolism permitted.
- No open carry of firearms permitted. (despite being legal with a permit in the state)
- No street parking permitted. (visitors and homeowners alike)
- No trees taller than 10 ft permitted on any property. (then proceeded to give a list of "approved" trees)
- Houses must be painted mono-color in one 1 of 3 approved colors. Only black or gray roofs permitted.
- No stained or tinted windows permitted on any home or building on any property.
- No grills, smokers, or other outside cooking permitted where smoke and smell may carry outside of your property.
- One storage shed permitted, must not be visible from the road, and a max on the size it can be.
- Any garage must be attached to the home and cannot be larger than 2 vehicles.
- Certain dog breeds not permitted to include pitbulls, rottweilers, dalmations, malamutes, chow chows, dobermans, shepherds, akitas, cane corsos, wolfhounds, bloodhounds, great danes, bull mastiffs, tosa inus, wolfdogs, saint bernards, huskies, boxers, jack russel terriers, labradors, great pyrenees, newfoundlands, and deerhounds.

As if that wasn't all bad enough...

- Any violations of these regulations committed by any visitor including renters, business personnel, private visitors (including visitors of renters), and neighbors are the liability of the homeowner. It is the homeowner's responsibility to ensure all visitors are aware and in compliance with HOA regulations. The only exception is official government and county and city personnel in the act of official business.
- Management company retains the right to enter and inspect any property, with or without the homeowner's consent, with or without the homeowner's presence, with minimal notice, to investigation violations of, or to ensure compliance with, HOA regulations.

That's not all of it either. It's absolutely insane and completely irrational to think people can subjected like that, much less have to conform to that with a 90 day notice. It's been tied up in court between a coalition of homeowners against the management company. Roughly 40% of the homeowners took advantage of the high real estate prices last year and GTFO.

The example someone mentioned above of the HOA sending fines for a visitor parking outside the home. That's happened a few times in that neighborhood with fines issued. The management company wouldn't budge, if they could even get ahold of them. Most calls to company go to voicemail with no callback, yet they're fast to issue fines for violations. A lot of people have gotten notices of liens against their homes due to non-compliance over things that can't be easily changed like the size of their in-ground swimming pool and age of their vehicle. They've only been saved by a fast-tracked county ordinance to overrride many of the regulations, which likely only came to fruition because one of the elected county council members lives in that neighborhood.

That’s total Nazi Germany totalitarianism. This clause could get them sued into extinction:

*No displaying of religious figures to include angels, crosses, depictions of Jesus or God, scriptures, sculptures, bibles, decals, bumper stickers, signs, and flags. This also includes figures inside the home visible from outside.*

That’s religious discrimination. Funny thing they only included symbols of Christianity.

 

[brianl703]

If the streets are owned and maintained by the HOA, they’re private roads and they have a right to stop the public from traveling on them. It’s called private property. However, I guess you can allow people onto your property if you wish or the county is providing financial assistance to allow it.

The only practical way to stop the public from travelling on these HOA-maintained roads is to make it a gated community. They generally aren't through-roads so there's little reason for anyone to drive on them when they don't otherwise have a reason to.

 

[DriveHard]

Clearly, you made the wrong choice by moving into a homeowner association community.
But the majority of the homeowners rule, so it’s a bed thing if you don’t agree with them

Um...maybe you didn't read my post. The homeowners are NOT in charge of the rule. We are being dictated by the single company that developed our property, and continues to develop their investment. I knew what I was signing up for, but the problem arises when the HOA makes changes at their whim, and the home owners have no say. The rules have changed several times in the ~9 months we have lived here. If there were even a chance to run for office to help, I would gladly do it. No...we are under rule of the developers.

Your statement is false....I am part of a social community with the rest of the owners. None of us are happy with the situation, we have no power to make any changes.

Bright side - none of us turn each other in for silly grievances. We work it out together.

 

[John Galt]

Beautiful home.

The angel figures reminds me of an HOA in the neighboring county that's made some local headlines the last 2 years. The small town HOA was fairly relaxed with low dues and mostly let people be unless there was a serious environmental or health issue. Well, nobody wanted to manage it, many favored dissolving the HOA completely, but the board felt that a way out was to relinquish regulatory control to a management company. The company had (supposedly) stated that no drastic changes would be made, merely a change in point of contact. They went back on that day 1 when they released a 50+ page book on the new laws that would apply to the neighborhood.

The last board members must've just been oblivious to what they were doing. The management company doesn't even have an office or any kind of local contact. The nearest point of contact for them is 3.5 hours away in Charleston. The new rulebook they released was essentially a copy/paste of the rules they enforce in the suburban neighborhoods there. Here's just some of the new rules they put in place...

- HOA dues increased from $225/yr to $550/yr. (no increase in common public benefits from this)
- Homeowners have 90 days to come into compliance. No exceptions can be made. All regulations are non-negotiable.
- No displaying of religious figures to include angels, crosses, depictions of Jesus or God, scriptures, sculptures, bibles, decals, bumper stickers, signs, and flags. This also includes figures inside the home visible from outside.
- Nothing can be hung or suspended on outside doors to include wreaths and signs.
- Only plastic mailboxes permitted and must be black in color. Mailbox posts must be natural wood colored with no painting.
- Driveways must be concrete and free of any cracks. No asphalt, cement, brick, or rock/dirt driveways allowed.
- No boats, RVs, campers, or trailers permitted on any property, regardless if visible or not.
- No above ground swimming pools, hot tubs, or anything of the like. In-ground pools limited to 12 ft x 24 ft or 288 sqft in size, can be no deeper than 5 ft, and must be on the backside of the property and concealed by a wooden or wood colored plastic privacy fence a minimum of 6ft tall.
- Displaying flags of any kind, as well as erection of a flagpole, is forbidden.
- No vehicles older than 15 years old permitted. (no exceptions, even for pristine condition classic cars)
- One outside light permitted by the front door only with a max of 800 lumens. Flood lights, pathway, driveway, and step lights forbidden. Christmas lights permitted only on elevated outside trims, porch railings, and in windows. Christmas lights must be static on, (no flashing, sequential, or waving lights) and must be turned off between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am. No Christmas lights permitted prior to November 1st or after December 31st.
- No Christmas or holiday decorations permitted on the front lawn, on any vehicle, driveway, or siding of the home to include air up figures, light sculptures, flags, etc... This includes any holiday, including 4th of July and Easter.
- No patriotic symbolism permitted.
- No open carry of firearms permitted. (despite being legal with a permit in the state)
- No street parking permitted. (visitors and homeowners alike)
- No trees taller than 10 ft permitted on any property. (then proceeded to give a list of "approved" trees)
- Houses must be painted mono-color in one 1 of 3 approved colors. Only black or gray roofs permitted.
- No stained or tinted windows permitted on any home or building on any property.
- No grills, smokers, or other outside cooking permitted where smoke and smell may carry outside of your property.
- One storage shed permitted, must not be visible from the road, and a max on the size it can be.
- Any garage must be attached to the home and cannot be larger than 2 vehicles.
- Certain dog breeds not permitted to include pitbulls, rottweilers, dalmations, malamutes, chow chows, dobermans, shepherds, akitas, cane corsos, wolfhounds, bloodhounds, great danes, bull mastiffs, tosa inus, wolfdogs, saint bernards, huskies, boxers, jack russel terriers, labradors, great pyrenees, newfoundlands, and deerhounds.

As if that wasn't all bad enough...

- Any violations of these regulations committed by any visitor including renters, business personnel, private visitors (including visitors of renters), and neighbors are the liability of the homeowner. It is the homeowner's responsibility to ensure all visitors are aware and in compliance with HOA regulations. The only exception is official government and county and city personnel in the act of official business.
- Management company retains the right to enter and inspect any property, with or without the homeowner's consent, with or without the homeowner's presence, with minimal notice, to investigation violations of, or to ensure compliance with, HOA regulations.

That's not all of it either. It's absolutely insane and completely irrational to think people can subjected like that, much less have to conform to that with a 90 day notice. It's been tied up in court between a coalition of homeowners against the management company. Roughly 40% of the homeowners took advantage of the high real estate prices last year and GTFO.

The example someone mentioned above of the HOA sending fines for a visitor parking outside the home. That's happened a few times in that neighborhood with fines issued. The management company wouldn't budge, if they could even get ahold of them. Most calls to company go to voicemail with no callback, yet they're fast to issue fines for violations. A lot of people have gotten notices of liens against their homes due to non-compliance over things that can't be easily changed like the size of their in-ground swimming pool and age of their vehicle. They've only been saved by a fast-tracked county ordinance to overrride many of the regulations, which likely only came to fruition because one of the elected county council members lives in that neighborhood.

FYI. I violated 15 of those rules with my home. Built in 1880. Silly

 

[RDY4WAR]

Um...maybe you didn't read my post. The homeowners are NOT in charge of the rule. We are being dictated by the single company that developed our property, and continues to develop their investment. I knew what I was signing up for, but the problem arises when the HOA makes changes at their whim, and the home owners have no say. The rules have changed several times in the ~9 months we have lived here. If there were even a chance to run for office to help, I would gladly do it. No...we are under rule of the developers.

Your statement is false....I am part of a social community with the rest of the owners. None of us are happy with the situation, we have no power to make any changes.

Bright side - none of us turn each other in for silly grievances. We work it out together.

Look into the laws for your state (they differ in each state), but here in South Carolina, if you get a clear majority of the homeowners involved and committed to retain a lawyer to fight for you, you can file a class action lawsuit to fight the developers. A community in our county managed to oust the developers entirely that way.

 

[brianl703]

Um...maybe you didn't read my post. The homeowners are NOT in charge of the rule. We are being dictated by the single company that developed our property, and continues to develop their investment.

Yes. It's true in most cases that the HOA governing documents provide that the developer has a majority of the votes in the HOA until they sell a certain percentage of the houses in the development.

 

[RDY4WAR]

That’s total Nazi Germany totalitarianism. This clause could get them sued into extinction:

*No displaying of religious figures to include angels, crosses, depictions of Jesus or God, scriptures, sculptures, bibles, decals, bumper stickers, signs, and flags. This also includes figures inside the home visible from outside.*

That’s religious discrimination. Funny thing they only included symbols of Christianity.

Yep. That one is at the forefront of their lawsuit. They're also suing a no-grandfather clause on 3+ car garages, pools exceeding size, etc... stuff that you can't just replace. I know a couple houses in that neighborhood with 3 cars garages with a 2nd story above it. You can't just knock out the garage when it's supporting the rest of the house, yet the management company expects them to do that. lol

A fellow disabled veteran and service dog owner, who went through our service dog training organization a few years ago, lives in that neighborhood. His service dog is a 170 lb great dane. The management company sent him 2 letters over a few months about needing to get rid of his "dangerous breed" of dog or could face the dog being removed. His lawyer responded to the 2nd one with a copy of ADA laws and threatened a massive lawsuit if they tried to forcibly have the dog removed. They haven't messed him since then.

The whole mention of only Christian related religious material annoyed me. I told my veteran buddy he should put a big crescent and star (Islam) up in front of his house and see how the company responds.

 

[sk_pete]

Thankfully no such bs in eu.

 

[alarmguy]

Um...maybe you didn't read my post. The homeowners are NOT in charge of the rule. We are being dictated by the single company that developed our property, and continues to develop their investment. I knew what I was signing up for, but the problem arises when the HOA makes changes at their whim, and the home owners have no say. The rules have changed several times in the ~9 months we have lived here. If there were even a chance to run for office to help, I would gladly do it. No...we are under rule of the developers.

Your statement is false....I am part of a social community with the rest of the owners. None of us are happy with the situation, we have no power to make any changes.

Bright side - none of us turn each other in for silly grievances. We work it out together.

Oh, I guess I misunderstood you. I did not know that the properties are still being developed. The developer is always the sole administrator, sole controller until such time the community is finished then control is turned over to an elected by the homeowner HOA board.
These are all in the documents when people move into a community and then you given to you before you close.
The builder or the developer always has complete control according to the documents provided to you when you purchase, in those documents are details on how control is turned over once the development is completed.
You are correct sadly you have no say. But as a true blooded American you can break chops LOL if everyone was annoyed enough to place signs, call in violations. Noise complaints ect but I know most people don’t like to get involved even if you wanted to.
I agree with you just so we’re clear now that I understand what you were posting about and you were in a terrible situation with a lousy developer.
Now if you could get everyone together and ….. hmmmm

 

[Skippy722]

- Displaying flags of any kind, as well as erection of a flagpole, is forbidden.

- No open carry of firearms permitted. (despite being legal with a permit in the state)

American Flag Act of 2005, if they go after a reasonable display of the American Flag they’re in violation of federal law.

And if I understand South Carolina law correctly, they can only temporarily ban open carry and must apply for a permit to do so, and the ban is only for the duration of whatever event they applied for. Sounds like this HOA wants to be sued!

 

[aquariuscsm]

American Flag Act of 2005, if they go after a reasonable display of the American Flag they’re in violation of federal law.

This kind've behavior just totally blows my mind! If these types of people hate it here so much and think they have it so bad here, why don't they just leave?

 

[alarmguy]

American Flag Act of 2005, if they go after a reasonable display of the American Flag they’re in violation of federal law.

And if I understand South Carolina law correctly, they can only temporarily ban open carry and must apply for a permit to do so, and the ban is only for the duration of whatever event they applied for. Sounds like this HOA wants to be sued!

In most all cases an HOA can not interfere with rights granted by the federal government.
One example would be an HOA can not prevent you from installing a reasonable TV antenna to receive TV broadcasts, this goes for over the air TV and also a small satellite dish if a certain size. The FCC has ruled Americans have a right to do this,

Interesting point about state law. I have no clue, interesting about the open carry as I live in the state and have a CWP which is required for open carry. You can be banned from any private property including commercial businesses ect and I assume that would be also HOA property as it’s not public.

 

[alarmguy]

American Flag Act of 2005, if they go after a reasonable display of the American Flag they’re in violation of federal law.

Im not so sure if I am reading this act correctly but I take it as banning flag polls are not in any violation.

"States that nothing in this Act shall be considered to permit any display or use that is inconsistent with: ... (2) any reasonable restriction pertaining to the time, place, or manner of displaying the flag necessary to protect a substantial interest of the condominium, cooperative, or residential real estate management association."

To me is seems to leave open "reasonable restrictions" that might be considered as only being able to display on Federal Holidays ect.

Clearly it is saying in the above quote that "NOTHING in this ACT shall be considered to permit any display or use"
I am almost certain this means an HOA can ban flag polls and place other restrictions. We see it in the news every once in a while.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

The truck owner should just tell them to shove it where the sun don’t shine.

The HOA is telling him to do that!

I agree with the HOA here, if you have a garage, part that giant pile of waste in the garage. If it doen't fit you shouldn't have bought it. Park it in the rv/boat corral. This ain't skid row with them po boi showin' their bling bang.

Most ALL "nice" neighborhoods require this. I lived in a ritzy town (up the street from Jay Leno) in a country club neighborhood with my parents when I was a teen.
I wasn't much for the country club "phoney baloney" so that's why I moved out in the sticks into an untouched town in a log cabin.