More crazy neighbor stories

[Donald]

More crazy HOA stories. Neighbor spread HollyTone down on some planting beds. Apparently it smells like coco. I walked my dog in my back yard and she took two steps onto the neighbors property to sniff. Normally she would stay on my property. I called her but at 14 think she is going deaf. She was off my property for less than 30 seconds. Neighbor contacts the HOA board saying my dog was off leash on his property.

A few days later neighbor spread hundreds of mothballs around his back yard. A strong smell of mothballs just walking in my backyard. Toxic to humans. Mothballs are EPA registered and it's illegal to use them in an inconsistent manner from how they are labeled. Outdoor use is not allowed. I complained to him and he removed them. Said they were to deter my dog. They can contaminate the soil, ground water and hurt natural wildlife. I contacted the state Department of Agriculture about improper use of a pesticide by my neighbor.

 

[shortyb]

Bravo called, they want to do a reality show.

 

[demarpaint]

Everything I read and learn about an HOA makes me want to live in an area with one even less! I'd be knocking on my neighbors door and inform them they're going to be reported. As much as I want out of my house I have to say I have no problems with my neighbors. I did when we bought this house close to 30 years ago, and knocking on the problem neighbor's door resolved it, quickly.

 

[gman2304]

Some folks just aren’t built for HOA living!

 

[dnewton3]

Q: How is this HOA related?
A: It's not.
It's a neighbor thing. The HOA has zilch to do with this storyline. Kind of misleading... Thread title updated.

I've lived in places without HOAs, and now live in one with an HOA. Both have advantages and disadvantages. But this storyline is about the difficulty of getting along with a neighbor. I can attest 100% that this is NOT unique to a HOA living environment.

 

[mk378]

None of this would be happening if you used a leash like any civilized dog owner does.

 

[Lubener]

Can't we all just get along??

 

[Chris142]

Why'd would you even live in an area with an hoa? All my life I have only heard bad from them.

 

[scoot]

Can't we all just get along??

Nope , half of society has a mental illness

 

[dnewton3]

Why'd would you even live in an area with an hoa? All my life I have only heard bad from them.

Again - this thread has nothing to do with a HOA; it's about neighbors who can't seem to get along. I'm not picking sides; just explaining why HOAs aren't to blame here.


As to your question, HOAs most certainly do have their purposes.
- keeping property values aligned with expectations by restricting undesirable stuff like junk in the front yard (such as beer cans, broken down vehicles, unkempt lawns, etc ...)
- restricting noisy events at odd hours (like shooting guns at 1am for the fun of it ... or running 'quads at 2am on a school night ...)
- not allowing RVs and/or mobile home trailers to be the primary residence on a lot in a well-developed neighborhood
- providing private services/facilities for a collective goal (pools, tennis courts, clubhouse, snow-removal and private road maintenance, etc)

People who don't want to be controlled in any manner should not live in a HOA. But let's not pretend like all HOAs are evil; that's just patently untrue. And HOAs most certainly protect one's investment, as well as assure some semblance of civility in the absence of any controls. I have had some really horrible, terrible neighbors who had no self-control and no respect for others. They took a great environment (a quiet, rural setting) and ruined it for a series of three other homes back in the woods. And there was nothing we could do about it, other than move to an area which had some reasonable HOA controls.

 

[AZjeff]

None of this would be happening if you used a leash like any civilized dog owner does.

Yeah, these stories seem to begin with my dog was off leash and stepped onto the neighbor's property... respect your neighbor's property line and you won't have problems. Lots of people walk their dogs here and don't think twice letting Fido pee or poop on someone else's front yard landscaping. Even if they pick it up which all do but the slobs the lingering smell encourages other dogs to do same. This isn't an HOA problem it's an owner not respecting other's property problem. We now have 3 dogs who walk on leash and are never allowed to do business on someone's property and aren't put out the back door when we go away to bark until we get back. We have a barking dog problem directly behind us that isn't an HOA problem, it's an owner problem. In this town if a dog barks for more than 5 minutes it's in violation and can be reported, city ordinance not HOA. The neighbors are going to meet the animal enforcement officer when I've had enough.

Why'd would you even live in an area with an hoa? All my life I have only heard bad from them.

We've been in this HOA for 7 years and have no problems with it. Yes I can't rebuild the engine on my driveway or paint my house red or keep a boat in the front yard and have to keep the property up to a certain standard and am fine with it. I do my OCs in the garage and did a pretty extensive rebuild of the Jeep in the garage with no problems.
As said above some people just aren't meant for HOA living. All of the complaints I've seen come from people doing things that they agreed not to do when they moving into the HOA development and signed that they read the CC&R agreement and agreed to follow the rules. No doubt some HOA board members should not be on the board but they can be forced off in the next election. The media only reports the tiny percentage of crazy stuff.

 

[4WD]

Nope , half of society has a mental illness

Yeah, yeah, but in my case it’s her !

 

[wavinwayne]

So glad I managed to buy my current house in an older, well established community, a block from the lake, with no HOA!!!

 

[PontiacHO]

So the neighbors dog can come on your yard and poop and it’s ok then?

 

[02SE]

Around here there are leash laws. The entitled dog owners ignore the leash laws, and usually ignore the piles of poop their dogs leave in neighbors yards, or anywhere really.

One day when arriving home, I actually had some 'Karen' type no-leash-using dog owner tell me I should open my gate, to allow dogs to run through my yard. I said "I will, as soon as you pay my property taxes". She scoffed, and went on her entitled little way. I know my neighbors, but she isn't one of them. I suspect she came from the higher housing density neighborhoods about a mile away.

No HOA here, but my few neighbors take pride in their properties, and those who aren't fenced and gated are strongly considering doing so.

 

[Fattylocks]

Why'd would you even live in an area with an hoa? All my life I have only heard bad from them.

To take advantage of all the amenities a well run HOA provides you.

 

[opus1]

To take advantage of all the amenities a well run HOA provides you.

^This. In addition to some property standards, my HOA is responsible for maintenance on the retention ponds and common-area walking/bike paths. Things are handled properly and probably for a quarter of the cost that the city would charge us if they took over the maintenance.

 

[Wylie6G72]

I detest my HOA, not because they hassle me, but because they don't hassle other people nearly enough. I've been meaning to call them about a sign that's been posted at one of the community entrances, right by the landmark sign, advertising a business. "We pick up poop". Classy. I hope I don't find out that the HOA actually gave these mouth-breathers permission to put that sign up. And if they didn't, why have they yet to notice it after months of it being there?

For the next 12 years that I have to live in this house, I'd prefer my neighbors to keep their property looking decent. Most of the people who took care of their properties have moved and been replaced by people who couldn't care less. The people who bought the house to the west have never heard of weed killer, park most of their cars in the street, have obnoxious friends who like to do burnouts in the street, and have no sense of common courtesy. I have them on video coming onto my property and posing for pictures in front of my front flower beds while we were both at work. I guess that means because they don't expend the time and effort to make their front yard look decent, they think it's ok to fall back on us to provide the backdrop for their photos. I would address this with them, but they would have no idea why I was even bringing it up. Not at all an HOA issue, just my own crazy neighbor story.

Things backslide quickly without an HOA. My prior neighborhood proved that.

 

[gfh77665]

Everything I read and learn about an HOA makes me want to live in an area with one even less!

Thing is, you NEVER read about all the good HOA's, or the amount of property value they preserve for the homeowner.

 

[gfh77665]

Why'd would you even live in an area with an hoa? All my life I have only heard bad from them.

Thing is, you NEVER read about all the good HOA's, or the amount of property value they preserve for the homeowner.