HOA Cites Homeowners for Speeding in Private Neighborhood

[Acevalefor]

Thought this could use some discussion. Everybody loves to hate HOAs.

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/11/0...d-enforcement/

It's a sore subject for me because of past experience with crazy HOA board members.
I had an atv that I kept in my garage several years ago. The house was part of a HOA that had a rule that you could not store anything except your vehicles in the garage. This included household cleaners, gasoline, lawn care items, tools, etc. The list was incredibly long. When I got popped for having my atv in there, I told them to fuck off and die (not literally) because it was a vehicle and their rule said nothing about having to be street legal. The president of the HOA then petitioned to have the rule changed. While she waited for the next quarterly meeting, and since I had defied her "order" to remove the atv from my garage, she heckled me about everything she could. It turned sour real fast. As soon as the petition "passed" (i.e. she paid enough board members to pass it) she showed up with reinforcements. In the end, I never removed the atv from my garage and I proved just how incredibly invasive HOAs can be.

Fast forward 10 years to this article that I found today. This brings a whole new level of bullshit to the world of HOAs trying to force rules and regulations on people. Especially the part where homeowners are responsible for their guests' actions even outside their home. What do you guys think?

[Omnipotent]

Patriot Act, hiding ATV's is terrorist shit bro

[Cleverness]

I never really understood the concept of HOA but maybe that's cause I've spent my whole life living in the ghetto and an apartment. If I own or am paying mortgage on a house, what gives someone or a group of people the right to dictate what I can do in it? Like keeping it presentable is 1 thing(you don't want to be THAT house when people drive down the street), but saying what I can keep in my garage is dumb. If they outlaw pizza ovens then I'd probably murder them all, my dream as a child was to always have a house, with a giant pizza oven in the garage.

[Kohan]

Thought this could use some discussion. Everybody loves to hate HOAs. [...] What do you guys think?

I worked in Property Management for a while, and I was directly responsible for sending out everything from community-wide flyers to individual fines. In some communities, the board of directors was more relaxed; in most, especially since they were in extremely affluent areas, they weren't. Constantly, we had to deal with people stealing the association's money for their own personal use, their screaming at us for not backing them on every single issue, and every bit of drama you can imagine that a power-hungry old man or woman—otherwise unimportant in life—would have. Truthfully, if the world were in the mood for live dramas back then as much as it is now, they could have had a field day with our Property Management adventures. Embezzling, adultery, deaths...

As for your garage issue, I believe that's entirely bullshit. I'm not at all surprised that the HoA board member(s) harassed you, but it's in your garage, which I assume was otherwise neat; considering, it should have been left alone.

That said, this radar matter is 100% legal, and unlike your garage case, I would support it 100%. If they're regulating what happens on the private streets that the association is responsible for, that's allowed, and if people are speeding in a residential area, I wish we could go one step further and have their licenses taken away. If you need to be told that you shouldn't speed in a residential area, you're certifiably an idiot anyway, and I wouldn't trust you with the privilege of driving. Of course, that's not how things work; considering, fining is the way to be.

[zoobernut]

My wife and I rented a condo one time that had a HOA that cited us for not using our garage for vehicles. We vowed to never live in an area with a HOA ever again. They were incredibly rude, and condescending to us about the whole affair. The idea that someone else can dictate to me what happens inside of my own house is just ridiculous.

[Acevalefor]

I never really understood the concept of HOA but maybe that's cause I've spent my whole life living in the ghetto and an apartment. If I own or am paying mortgage on a house, what gives someone or a group of people the right to dictate what I can do in it? Like keeping it presentable is 1 thing(you don't want to be THAT house when people drive down the street), but saying what I can keep in my garage is dumb. If they outlaw pizza ovens then I'd probably murder them all, my dream as a child was to always have a house, with a giant pizza oven in the garage.

The intent is to do exactly that. To keep "that house" from being in their neighborhood. But there will always be the control freak that gets off by telling other people how to live. Invariably, that person finds his or her way onto the board of directors for the HOA and proceeds to royally fuck up everything that the HOA is supposed to work for. When I first bought the house I was talking about, the rules for the HOA were fairly simple and worked well to maintain a nice clean neighborhood. Then when that lady took over, she thought she was the Evil Queen and the entire neighborhood was her kingdom to rule over. It took me and a few other people standing up to her to knock her off her throne. She ended up in jail after she went ape shit and ran her car through the gate at the rec center and into the pool. Shortly after that, I sold my house so I never got to see the end of the saga.

She never did ban pizza ovens though....

[Kohan]

My wife and I rented a condo one time that had a HOA that cited us for not using our garage for vehicles. We vowed to never live in an area with a HOA ever again. They were incredibly rude, and condescending to us about the whole affair. The idea that someone else can dictate to me what happens inside of my own house is just ridiculous.

That's definitely what the average HoA is like. The board members are bitter, enraged old people, usually, who eagerly flaunt their power whenever they can.

[Tricen]

Don't join an HOA if you don't want to put up with the rules?

[Cantih]

Don't join an HOA if you don't want to put up with the rules?

Trouble is, depending on the homes available in your area, you may not have a choice.

[Acevalefor]

That said, this radar matter is 100% legal, and unlike your garage case, I would support it 100%. If they're regulating what happens on the private streets that the association is responsible for, that's allowed, and if people are speeding in a residential area, I wish we could go one step further and have their licenses taken away. If you need to be told that you shouldn't speed in a residential area, you're certifiably an idiot anyway, and I wouldn't trust you with the privilege of driving. Of course, that's not how things work; considering, fining is the way to be.

I understand and support the idea and am one that throws a 2x4 in the road if you fly by my house at 40. However, my issue is that instead of working out a deal with local police, or hiring a security guard, they just put the responsibility for someone else' actions on the homeowners. It can and will get sticky really fast when drunk uncle Tom gets mad and leaves because he was cut off of the egg nog.

The correct way to do this is how it is done in many other private neighborhoods across the nation. Pay the local police to patrol the gated community or even let them issue the tickets from the radar traps the same way they would from a red-light camera. Don't penalize the homeowners.

[Acevalefor]

Don't join an HOA if you don't want to put up with the rules?

See my comment above about power hungry nobodies.

HOAs are not inherently a bad thing and the rules I agreed to were just fine when I bought the house. But get a few board members who like their high and mighty positions, and suddenly in a single meeting ridiculous and unnecessary rules can be passed that enrage the whole community. From there, shit spirals downhill as things get more and more petty.

[Xtrasweettea]

I never really understood the concept of HOA but maybe that's cause I've spent my whole life living in the ghetto and an apartment.

HOAs usually are suppose to help with keeping houses and property at a specific market value by setting rules to the types of housing (like a brick/mortar home versus modular), the type of maintenance to the outside of those houses, and general rules for driving.

Though, like anything ran by baby-boomers who feel they're self entitled to tell others what to do, the board easily gets corrupted. An episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit covered HOAs, though I think it really covered yards. The episode gave a great example of people telling people what to do in order to feel important in their petty, little lives.

[Eurell]

Should they try to stop speeding? Sure, of course.

Charging someone $15 because their guest went 1 mile over the speed limit though? Thats absolutely fucking retarded.

[Melena]

Not surprised to hear this. Had a neighbor about 20 years ago who built a batting cage along side his house and the HOA flipped their shit despite everyone except for the neighbor complaining going who gives a shit.

[Kohan]

I understand and support the idea and am one that throws a 2x4 in the road if you fly by my house at 40. However, my issue is that instead of working out a deal with local police

Police don't have jurisdiction over private streets. Any that are hired for this sort of thing are off-duty, or aren't police officers at all; rather, they're enforcers from private firms.

As an aside, I do agree that being as strict as to charge someone for being a mere mile over is ridiculous. That's being too anal, but of course, HoAs specialize at such nit-picky behavior.

[Xno Kappa]

My HOA is pretty awesome. They keep my fuck face neighbors from bringing down my property value.

[Jaybar]

Archaic mythos of the American Dream is to blame.

But seriously, who speeds in a residential neighborhood?

I feel sorry for people that are stuck choosing a place to live where the only viable locations are fucked-up suburban sprawl and fucked-up suburban sprawl v.2 (now with more HOA)

[-Zer0-]

There are so many egotistical property managers and HOA members here in SF it's ridiculous. SO many things they get away with because home owners don't care until it's too late. I don't really know how HOA is in Colorado, but SF can be horrendous.

[Kohan]

There are so many egotistical property managers and HOA members here in SF it's ridiculous. SO many things they get away with because home owners don't care until it's too late. I don't really know how HOA is in Colorado, but SF can be horrendous.

Not to mention the fact that most "property managers" aren't even licensed. It doesn't help that the average person doesn't even know that you can be licensed for this sort of thing. Furthermore, the management companies themselves must also be licensed to practice realty, but plenty of smaller apartment complexes are managed by landlords who aren't. Again, the tenants not knowing any better is oft to blame for this sort of thing carrying on, not to mention the deception of the landlords themselves.

http://www.allpropertymanagement.com...alifornia.html

[Plow]

It's a private neighborhood, including the roads, meaning the police don't... police... it.

So, uh, why the fuck not? You know everybody that lives there knows the cops can't fuck with em and drives like absolute retards.