(Hopefully) final HOA update

"Bryan doesn't drive a 1M" (bryantakespictures) 07/19/2017 at 11:55 • Filed to: None

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I finally got an in-person meeting with the HOA president and another board member. Both of them were kind, rational human beings. As it turns out, the HOA management company representative, Jake (the prick) was sending out letters without discussing them with the board. He was responding directly to complaints from people (remember Leonard?) and sending out letters on behalf of the board without their knowledge or approval. The board members didn’t even know what the letters looked like!

When I showed them the letter and the violation photo of my trash cans, they immediately said that the cans were located in a reasonable place and that the rule is unenforceable as written. Luckily, this kind of rule (it’s complicated, and I don’t want to learn enough about the different rules to explain it to you) can be changed with a simple vote of the board and it sounds like they are in agreement that it should not be written this way. What I didn’t get was anything in writing to guarantee that I won’t be fined in the future, but they said we have just changed management companies and the new representative has a “lighter touch.” They gave me their word that they would work on changing the rule. I’d like something in writing, but we’ll see where this goes.

Also, a small note on the lawn care letter: one of the board members said he too got a letter based on a photo taken between mowings! I’d be surprised if anyone interested in putting the time in to be on the HOA board would let their lawn get too bad. My wife went after Jake (the utter piece of shit) more aggressively than I did and got the warning retracted. She’s a keeper, for sure.

None of this changes my stance on HOA’s in general, and learning more about the workings of it in relation to the management company I only regret even more sending in a check every month. We have placed an inordinate amount of power in these organizations and anyone who has ever been to an HOA meeting could tell you how bad an idea that is. I’m glad that these two board members are reasonable, but that doesn’t change the absurdity of the HOA system and the fact that you are required to sign into an agreement with them for almost any new home purchase.

Here’s to another tiny victory! It felt good to put my trash cans back to where they’ve been for the last 7 years and get my patio back.

Here’s a car:

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:01

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Oh man. This is why I am involved in my HOA. I’m actually the VP.

We have a really low $50 annual dues. That’s it. 50 bucks total for the year.

We have ZERO rules. All of our rules default to city ordinance. I work hard to keep it that way.

Some people are insane and want rules about house colors and fences and all this crap. I refuse to allow it in. For the record people complaining are the worst of it.

We’ve currently got a guy simultaneously saying we should deed our “common areas” which are open grassy areas back to the city to avoid the minuscule charge of liability insurance on them and also having him say we should pay more to plow roads that aren’t ours and to fix roads that are the county’s responsibility.

MonkeePuzzle > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:02

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HOA, pronounced:

this thought makes me feel better every time I think of how much I am annoyed by my HOA

OPPOsaurus WRX > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:02

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HOA boards are a place for the average a-hole to feel like they are King. That little bit of power goes right to their head and they can be tough guys until they are face to face.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 07/19/2017 at 12:04

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Wow, congrats. There’s no way I have the charisma or time for that, but you’ve done a good thing.

Robert Belvin > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:05

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HOA’s are a nightmare. Stay strong

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > OPPOsaurus WRX 07/19/2017 at 12:07

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Our HOA actually just held a special meeting to vote to kick a guy off of the board because he was on such an insane power trip. The management company rep said it was the first time she’d actually seem a community get together the 50% vote required to remove someone from the board in 30 years of working there. He posted a string of angry messages on NextDoor in the days leading up to it. We actually paid to have a cop there in case he showed up and acted belligerent, but he didn’t show. Like you said - tough guys until face to face.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:08

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It’s the way it was when I found it and I plan to keep it that way. One of the reasons I picked to move to this neighborhood, I’d be allowed to build a fence and no one had crazy rules.

Big annual meeting tomorrow night, can’t wait to interact with all the crazy bastards in our neighborhood.

Chariotoflove > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:10

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So, when I was on my Board, I was contacted by the president of a sister development down the road. They were considering hiring a management company, and wanted to know if we would like to go in on it. Their community is much larger than ours. We decided that 1) we are too small to get our money’s worth out of that cost and 2) it just adds complication that we didn’t want. We decided to handle things ourselves with just elected homeowners, and it’s worked out well enough so far. You need rational people who are your neighbors so you can talk to them when there is a problem, and you can vote out of office if it turns out they are the problem.

HOA bylaws, covenants, and restrictions generally aren’t written by the people who live in the HOA. They are usually made by the developer who started the community with a one size fits all formula. Nobody really has the time to go through all that legalese; so, the only time anyone finds out that a rule is a problem is when a problem comes up and brings with it an opportunity to change those rules. I had such a problem two years ago when a douche decided to do some stuff that was not approved by his neighbor (who was affected) and not compliant with city code. He took advantage of my relaxed style and lied to me and the Board. This forced us to redefine the architecture approval process with safeguards that tied back to the covenants & restrictions document. This pissed me off because I hate making rules, and I hate enforcing them even more, and it’s people like him that mess it up for the rest of us. Anyway, point is that change happens when good people are in charge, but usually only when a conflict comes up.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:10

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Now that Jake no longer has any power, you can send him a nice GTFAC email!

rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:13

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I was on the HOA board for my condo building in SF for about 5 years. I’d never do it again.

Our board was full of reasonable people who were just trying to make the building work, but we had to listen to idiotic complaints from owners who thought everything they wanted to do was ok (damn the rules!) but at the same time every colorable violation by every other person (whether or not clear) was a fining offense. Most people were fine actually, but we had several people that could be described by the above, and all of them were 40+ year old professionals that wrote childish, ungrammatical and ALL-CAPS emails with complaints.

Quick example: we had a low-ceiling basement that wasn’t used for anything, and signs that expressly prohibited storage of any materials down there. Did an investigation and figured out we could put in simple chain-link storage units cheaply, rent them out to owners as needed, and keep HOA costs down for other owners by utilizing unused space (win-win-win in other words). Spent a year at meetings discussing proposals, including at the annual all-owner meeting. There were some owners storing (against the rules) bikes and stuff in the basement, we didn’t fine them but sent out a lot of notices over that year to move their stuff, politely. As soon as construction started got 2 emails from people saying that we were trying to TAKE AWAY THE STORAGE THEY HAD USED and CHARGE THEM MONEY BECAUSE WE WERE TRYING TO MONETIZE THE BUILDING. Which I’m even sure what that means, but after seeing the profanity-laden screeds directed towards our building manager I told them that I had authorized that person to never respond to unprofessional inquiries, and that I wouldn’t respond to people acting unprofessionally either. Needless to say, I got a few more emails calling me names (RICH ASSHOLE! and the like). Sorry I am trying to make the building work better for everyone, and calling you out for breaking the rules for years (but without fining you).

I’d never buy a stand-alone house in an HOA area because that just seems to attract petty tyrants.

CalzoneGolem > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:14

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I’d be paranoid that Jake and Leonard would be now out to get me. Keep your guard up homie.

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:14

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My parents have the best HOA ever. All it ever does is collect dues to keep the tennis courts and pavilion clean & functional, keep up on the landscaping, and make sure people pave their driveways within a reasonable period of time of building their house. Past that they don’t care about much and rarely even bother holding meetings.

Chariotoflove > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 07/19/2017 at 12:17

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Stay strong and fight the good fight. You always get people who want to creep Socialistic policies into the mix.

You can keep it so simple probably because you don’t have too much money. Once a budget grows to a substantial amount, then you end up getting more structure to the organization to safeguard the money and decide how to spend it.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > MonkeePuzzle 07/19/2017 at 12:17

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Get involved and change the rules. I’ve actively kept a no-rules policy in our HOA. Only City Ordinances apply.

HammerheadFistpunch > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:17

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Just a few more weeks until I’m rid of my HOA. So excited!

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > OPPOsaurus WRX 07/19/2017 at 12:21

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We had our treasurer go crazy recently. If she hadn’t resigned as treasurer she would have been voted out by the rest of us pretty harshly.

It would have helped if she was decent at math.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 07/19/2017 at 12:21

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Then what does it do?

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Chariotoflove 07/19/2017 at 12:23

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oh we’ve got over 20k in the bank right now.

I might recommend some playground equipment for the common areas. Despite the increase in cost to insurance.

We have one main event a year which is one haloween style party in the fall and give out free pumpkins with cider/donuts. Also recommending a BBQ in the summer.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:23

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I’m in an HOA, but it’s only 8 units in our building so we get along fairly well. I get my lawn mowed, my snow gets removed and they insure the exterior of the building. It’s like a hybrid of renting and owning a house. It does cost me $150/mo. But I do feel I get a lot.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/19/2017 at 12:25

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Make sure our streets get plowed, lawns get mowed, entrance signs/gardens are maintained, pays insurance and maintains the common areas, takes disputes to the city and the county as needed (basically we’ll bitch about roads FOR people) and events.

We organize the community garage sale once a year and also what’s known as PumpkinFest leading up to Halloween. We throw a party with cider/donuts we had a bounce house last year and everyone got free pumpkins. Legit good size pumpkins too btw.

I’m going to recommend a summer BBQ for next year that we can plan and organize.

WiscoProud > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:27

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That is a disturbingly bad hood. The rest of the car looks fine, which makes the hood worse. Its like someone is visually trolling people by putting a redneck half-assed “cowl induction” on an otherwise nice car.

Chariotoflove > rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S 07/19/2017 at 12:27

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You remind me of one of my stories. Earlier in our development, the Board decided to move on the suggestion of many of us that we put a playground structure none of our greenbelts. Well, we had a higher proportion of dinks then who complained loudly (and often drukenly) at meetings against using their HOA dues to buy something frivolous like that. We had some epic raucous HOA meetings. It got voted down for several years. Finally we got it done when more of them started having kids.

Fast forward a few years, and we now have a cool paved meeting and events area anchored by that playground. All our property values (and selling prices) are higher because of it. We are working on budgeting enough for a newer and better playground set. Sometimes doing good things for your community just brings you grief, even if it pays off in the end. Go figure.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > CalzoneGolem 07/19/2017 at 12:28

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Jake’s gone now, since he works for the previous management company. Leonard has yet to talk to me in person, though I’m sure he’ll be sad he doesn’t have someone doing his bidding anymore.

The Stig's Missourian Cousin > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:28

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When we were house shopping my #1 requirement was no HOA. I’ve heard far too many horror stories. If i’m paying close to $200k for my own plot of land, I damn well better be able to do what I want (within reason of the city laws) I don’t need additional regulations tacked on just so people feel more comfortable. We ended up in a nice cul-de-sac with like minded people and yea sometimes they’re loud but if we have a problem with them (which we don’t) we can politely tell them to quiet down and they will listen to us. There’s no need to make regulations and such to control it. If my neighbor doesn’t mow his yard, so be it. I don’t care (as long as it doesn’t become the Amazon) but I don’t need someone telling me how high to mow my grass. I’ll get to it when I get to it.

I have a FB friend who always defended HOAs when I ranted about them on Facebook. It’s funny though, he’s super conservative and against government overreach, but he’s also a private pilot that’s making bank and absolutely loves HOAs, because god forbid he be uncomfortable with some aspect of his life.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > Robert Belvin 07/19/2017 at 12:31

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It ebbs and flows, in the 7 years I’ve been in this house there have only been issues about once very 2 years or so.

Chariotoflove > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 07/19/2017 at 12:32

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Like I said, not much. But, that’s enough to have some fun.

Strongly recommend the playground. We put one in and an events area next it. It’s raised our property values, and gives us a great place to do fun stuff. We do Halloween, Oktoberfest, and the Easter egg hunt. Every one of them is well worth the cost ( I volunteer to do the face painting. I keep painting and the parents keep refilling my beer; win-win).

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > The Stig's Missourian Cousin 07/19/2017 at 12:37

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Nothing about HOA’s says “freedom.” I just can’t imagine caring that much about what my neighbors do with their land. If it isn’t loud, doesn’t smell, and doesn’t leak onto my property, what do I care?

garagemonkee > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 12:39

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HOAs can be bad.

HOAs with management companies are all 100% bad.

It’s all about billable hours with them. So they nitpick, but then don’t even live there so don’t give a shit about neighborhood harmony.

But yeah, fuck HOAs.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 07/19/2017 at 13:33

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Ah that’s pretty awesome stuff! Good reason to have a cheap HOA, haha.

I think I’m going to suggest a BBQ, the idea has been floated before, but no-one really followed through.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 07/19/2017 at 13:42

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Yep, we literally have the lowest HOA dues in the whole city. City has over 100k residents lol. They haven’t been raised since the 80's and I see no reason for it. We almost did when we thought we had to pave the roads ourselves. Then we found out it’s Wayne County’s problem. They’ve been SHOCKINGLY responsive.

OPPOsaurus WRX > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 07/19/2017 at 13:42

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I’ve been to a couple town meetings for projects where the neighborhood has gone off and at least once it would have been good if a cop was present. There was one where they crowd had to separate two people or a fist fight would have broken out. There was another meeting where a guy started coming down to the front to confront one of the people. You could almost see the exact moment when the guy realized he was one his way to punch a lawyer in the face and turned around and left after telling everyone to go fuck themselves

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > OPPOsaurus WRX 07/19/2017 at 13:50

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Yeah public hearings in small towns can get pretty heated. The craziest in my town is when the peace-and-love aging hippie crowd nearly gets into a gist fight with developers over cutting down a tree.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 13:51

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It is so weird to hear such bad stories because my only interaction with HOA has been amazing

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 07/19/2017 at 14:04

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That is SHOCKING. Haha. I’ve found my city is pretty responsive to potholes IF you report them.

Bryan doesn't drive a 1M > CaptDale - is secretly British 07/19/2017 at 14:05

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It’s a lot of power concentrated into a few people, so I’m sure it could go either way.

OPPOsaurus WRX > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 07/19/2017 at 16:06

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these people were complaining about a public pool that would have been replacing 2 of 6 baseball fields. they complained about noise and traffic and how the INGROUND pool would block their views....

The Stig's Missourian Cousin > Bryan doesn't drive a 1M 07/19/2017 at 16:58

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But what if i’m uncomfortable???? You expect ME to actually do something about it? It’s way easier to pay someone $100 a month to make sure no one makes me feel uncomfortable in the first place.