I see a lot of complaints about heavy-handed government types, but what about these homeowner associations? I put a pink flamingo in my front yard for one evening during a party, and I get fined $10 by some "covenants committee" of the homeowner association for my neighborhood.

I called the management company for the homeowner association to see if they were serious, and sure enough they are. I'm told that if I dont pay on time, I can be refined every ten days! They also told me that I signed a document when I bought my townhouse that I would agree to all these rules.

I must confess that when I bought my house (first time for me) I signed a mountain of paper, and I can't say that I didn't sign whatever they are talking about. I knew that I had to pay dues to the homeowner association, but I thought that was for use of the pool and tennis courts.....I didn't know I was giving a bunch of busy-body neighbors the right to tell me what I can do with my home and yard!

I am new to the area and to this whole homeowner association thing. Can anyone tell me if they really have the power that they claim to have?

They sure do. You signed it, you're bound to it. If you don't pay, they'll eventually put a lien on your property.

Sucks, but planned communities are the future..

well... you moved into a neighborhood in this snobby area and did not expect all this to happen?


sounds like your neighbors are nazis, BTW, and you should consider moving.

Unfortunately these fascist associations are rampant in this area. They're good protection against the nightmare neighbor that will turn his property into a pokemon theme park, but there are waaaaay too many people that are itchin for someone to violate the agreement.

I just got a letter from my condo association telling me to take down my xmas lights from my balcony. They were well hidden and I hadn't turned them on since winter, but they at least gave me a warning.

As much as I consider good relations with neighbors to be important, I personally would have the strong urge to tell someone to fuck off if I were you.

I was in a bar one night hucking darts and some buttwipe was bitching about his homeowner's association, "they can't do this to me" and this and that. Didn't want to start a fight but wanted to respond with "yeah they can, dumbass and you signed a paper saying they could. Deal." Maybe something to add to the "you know you are from NoVA when..." list is "you despise your homeowner association."

Wow, that is ridiculous. I thought my HOA was bad for requiring me to paint my door the exact shade of the exact brand of paint that it is now.

One pink flamingo, I am going to stop complaining about my HOA, apparently they are saints.

We've actually just started ignoring our homeowners association.

Major landscaping, new front door, new siding, repainted shutters, and they give us notice that our mailbox needs painting?

The busybodies from my street have moved on. They used to walk around the neighborhood and cite people for various violations. But not themselves, of course, like the time they were firing bottle rockets off on the 4th, which were landing on the roofs of the surrounding houses.

Fire hazard, anyone?

the formar elected sheriff of fairfax, carl peed, used to do the same thing in July 4, shooting off illegal fireworks that landed on others' roofs.

I know, one of the roofs was mine. I grew up across the street from him. He's a nice man in a lot of ways but epitomizes the above-the-law attitude of cops around here.

Fortunately my homeowners association doesn't give a shit, I haven't seen them even send paper work out in a few years. 10 years ago they used to organize block parties, and fundraisers and work days for the community field. Now I have no idea who maintains it, I think it's just a guy who does it with his riding lawnmower.

I've heard some pretty nasty stories about painting certain colors. In the past, I had to do ALOT of work trying to mix paint to an exact shade, even when the person paying for the paint could careless. They simply were trying to avoid a citation.

A pink flamingo lawn ornament? A ticket? That's hideous.

Most HOA are loads of crap they think there just making the neighborhood better by setting al these rules to make living there more appealing. A few months ago I got a notice that my garbage can which was next to my house was too visible. I still moved it in time before they fine me but its still ridiculous.

My friend, who lives in one of those new classy developements has been just pissing off his HOA pres. by putting a pink flamingo up. They might be too afraid to touch him though becuse hes jewish. Fight the fight

I appreciate all the replies!

To those who expressed sympathy or have had simular experiences: Thanks for
your words or support...at least I know I am not alone.

To those of you that basically told me to deal: Well I have no choice, now do I? I plan on paying the fine, and I need to find my copy of the rules somewhere so I don't get any more notices. So believe me I am dealing.

But it just rubs me the wrong way. When I was renting I couldn't do anything I wanted with the space I lived in. I figured once I own my own place, I would have more freedom. But I guess I'm getting the old reality slap in the face.

And to kklare who wrote....

kklare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Unfortunately these fascist associations are
> rampant in this area. They're good protection
> against the nightmare neighbor that will turn his
> property into a pokemon theme park, but there are
> waaaaay too many people that are itchin for
> someone to violate the agreement.
>

Well maybe I **AM** the person they designed these rules for! Because I think a pokeman theme park would be kinda cool...(smile).

-Toby

I want a lego swingset in my frontyard

Toby Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------->
> But it just rubs me the wrong way. When I was
> renting I couldn't do anything I wanted with the
> space I lived in. I figured once I own my own
> place, I would have more freedom.

Maybe you forgot, but we live in America.

Toby,
It's true, you signed it. They are bored housewives and old people with nothing but complaining to do. There is no friggin way to get out of it. Well there is a way... kill them, kill them all. That would teach those fuckers.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

But how does the homeowners association get the power in the first place? Not being allowed to buy a house without signing the H/A paperwork sounds like a scam to me unless they are the owners (sellers) of the house.

People tolerate them because they do have benefits. For one, things like trash pickup contracts can be better negotiated when you have hundreds of houses to gets bids with as a group, as opposed to each neighbor paying the standard price for individual house pickup. Another is that things like the pool and groundskeeping are included.

If you think you have been treated unfairly, just sue them. I'm not joking... my neighborhood managed to get an unfair policy changed via the Virginia court system when our HOA implemented something that dicked half the residents and gave the other half a good chunk of dedicated property not subject to country real estate taxes and with maintenance paid for out of the Association.

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you think you have been treated unfairly, just
> sue them. I'm not joking... my neighborhood
> managed to get an unfair policy changed via the
> Virginia court system when our HOA implemented
> something that dicked half the residents and gave
> the other half a good chunk of dedicated property
> not subject to country real estate taxes and with
> maintenance paid for out of the Association.


Can you expand on that situation? I'm interested and would like to hear more about it.

This is going back a while so my details are fuzzy, but here's what happened:

A section in our neighborhood I was in at the time had a mix of townhouses... half had driveways and garages, half had full basements and no driveways/garages. The developer "cheated" on their community parking space count by counting driveways and garages as available parking. The Fairfax County dumbshits let them get away with it and as a result there weren't a lot of spare parking spaces in the community. The people without garages complained, and convinced the HOA to enact a one-reserved-space policy for only the non-garage houses. They then tried to make this a two-space reserved policy, which would have left something like only ten non-reserved spots left to serve 70 houses.

So in effect the HOA ceded community property over to the control of half of the individual residents. While the "garagers" had to pay real estate tax, maintenance if something broke, etc on where they parked, the "non-garagers" got free paving, pothole repair, and all tax-free with maintenance paid for by the garagers too. The garagers got pissed and took the HOA to court, where the HOA was forced to come up with a policy that didn't favor one set of homeowners over another with community property. The end result was one reserved space per house (all of them).

Man that just sucks for both sides. Developers rarely consider parking conveniences when building townhomes, condos, or apartments. They know that most people don't pay attention to the parking (unless they can't park) when they look at a place and find out when it's too late.

Yeah, I moved there from an apartment and when I was in the apartment I told myself I'd never put my money down toward a place where I couldn't control my own parking... nothing like coming home late and finding nowhere to stick the car. I gave up half a basement but didn't care.

It does suck for both sides, but after it was resolved I didn't hear a whole lot of complaining about the outcome... people just kind of accepted it. It's not like there weren't other places to move if you wanted reserved parking for more cars. Do they even build townhouses _without_ garages anymore?

Um,... very few new townhouses are built without garages.
VERY few.

You guys do understand that home owners associations are made up of your neighbors AND you? If you don't like how it is being run you have the complete right to either run for office or propose changes to the current rules enforced by the community. They are not a bad thing in most cases, unless you are apathetic do nothings and just complain about something you can but won't change.

However. if you are a renter you are screwed.

ha. not in my neighborhood. the renters are allowed to attend condo association meetings, and my own brother was a renter who was responsible for a patently unfair pet policy being put in place. I think the renters should not have as many rights. They have no equity, do not directly pay into the condo association, and they also have a proxy called the LANDLORD who can attend these meetings.

Renters are allowed to attend, but they do not get to vote. Only the owner can do that. While your brother may have asked to have a policy brought up, he had no power to turn it from a proposal to reality. The home owners did that and can be the only ones truely responsible for it. In essence your brother was a lobbiest for his own interest group.

HOAs are formed at the time of the initial developments inception, in most cases. The developer creates a set of rules to keep the neighborhood looking nice during the construction phase so they can sell at the highest price. Then afterwords the rules are turned over to the community and a self voted board. Thats when the fun begins about stupid rules and overbearing people assert power unless good people run it properly.

My community is great, we have good people on the board and they care about making good rules. If you break the rules they let you know and let you fix it. If you refuse to fix it, they will fine you, but noone has done that yet. The rules themselves make sense, can't change house/door color without approval, kids/adult kids have to put their toys away, leave the parking spots for visitors, and no watermellons growing in your front yard :) . Yes, some people have tried, but it was easy enough to fix. The place looks great and noone complains because it all makes sense.

Then again I rented in a "Wish we were rich" community once where they wouldnt let me have a motorcycle parked in a legal parking spot. I was a renter, therefor screwed. That was only one of the many, many stupid rules they had and would regularly change meeting dates to keep people from going and straigtening the situation out. Landlord didnt want to help, so I moved. Could have sued (some of the rules were illegal) but realized how stupid it was to rent anyways and bought a place.

Again, if you hate your rules, change them or ask your landlord to help you change them. Don't come here and complain about how "unfair" the rules are if you have never gone to a meeting.

HOA's can suck my nuts. I used to live on Scotch Haven near the Vienna Metro. There was this asshole that came by regularly complaining about everything. I didn't even own the house. I rented. I should have told him to go to hell, but I'm too nice.

If the flamingo thing had happened to me, I'd be pissed. It's not worth squabbling over $10. Right now they have all the power and can charge you more and more. I would pay the $10, and then SCREW with them.

Find out who reported the flamingo. If they won't tell you, then claim that the fine is not valid and you deny having a flamingo on your lawn. Threaten not to pay the fine until they reveal who complained. Once they reveal who the rat bastard is, scour the rule book and report everything that person has wrong with their house. I would also do the same to anyone on the board that had a hand in fining you versus notifying you.

As long as you are looking at the rules, also go over it with a fine toothed come and make note of what you are allowed to do. Then pervert it beyond the original intent of the rule. For example, if you are allowed to put up christmas lights, this would be a great time to put them ALL OVER your house. I'm sure there are lots of people on craigslist and freecylce that would be happy to let you have their cristmas lights.

And remember..... HAVE FUN!!!

actually, when you bought the place, you should have had 72 hours to review your HOA docs. If you didn't like what you read in those 72 hours, you could have backed out of your contract with no strings attached. I'm sorry that you are dealing with that though!!

yep, exactly 72 hours to read an 8000 page document.

seriously, PP, you're right. She said that and I just disregarded it right away. 72 hours to read a "document" written in fine type over several hundred pages, containing legalese and other barely decipherable cryptospeak.

Get with the rest of us in the real world who are just trying to get a quiet place to live and maybe stand out a little so our guests don't have to remember the condo number everytime. Nothing garish.

Further, every hoa doc has clauses saying they are subject to change, and we were in fact talking about changes that get made through committee when we were already on premises, so what does that magical 72 hours have to do with the conversation anyway?

Sounds to me like you're one of the assholes who tells on everyone and you just want to shut us up...

I hate fricken HOA's.. I just bought a townhouse and they are already bitching about how this screen on the second floor window has a little hole in it. I had to actually have them come out to show me, because I couldn't find it. They stood there for a couple of minutes and then found it. I was like you got to be kidding me. They told me that things like this bring down the values of everyone's houses.

I so wanted to strangle that lady.

A goddamn small hole in the screen isn't going to bring down the value of homes.

I remember going to my first HOA meeting somewhat excited about it. It was my first home, and first HOA meeting. I sat there and listened to neighbors complain about one house being "pink" and another couple asking why they are being required to change their door when it's been the same door on their house for 15 years. At first, I thought it was funny, but after about a half hour of that I left.

Just got a letter from my condo association telling me to remove my 5 foot ladder from my back deck, as it is not a storage area. That one is going on the fridge, un-friggin-believable.

kklare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just got a letter from my condo association
> telling me to remove my 5 foot ladder from my back
> deck, as it is not a storage area. That one is
> going on the fridge, un-friggin-believable.


Find the condo of the person that create the letter and burn their place down. It seems like the only option left.

RaginBajin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Find the condo of the person that create the
> letter and burn their place down. It seems like
> the only option left.


probably the guy that lives downstairs from me; don't want to burn my place down.

kklare Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RaginBajin Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Find the condo of the person that create the
> > letter and burn their place down. It seems
> like
> > the only option left.
>
>
> probably the guy that lives downstairs from me;
> don't want to burn my place down.

well, then I'm out of ideas.. sorry. :)

RaginBajin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> kklare Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > RaginBajin Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> >
> > > Find the condo of the person that create
> the
> > > letter and burn their place down. It
> seems
> > like
> > > the only option left.
> >
> >
> > probably the guy that lives downstairs from
> me;
> > don't want to burn my place down.
>
> well, then I'm out of ideas.. sorry. :)
>
>
>

Take your ladder and everything else you have in storage (ideally heavy shit that you don't give a shit about) and block the front door of whoever this prick was that wrote the letter. Then when you see the prick tell him you found a new storage area.

homeowners associations are good and bad, i live in one and i like it because it helps keep the neighborhood crime free or at least a little haha, but also it increases the value of your house tremendously by living having a homeowners association
there are some gay things, like they can tell you what to do to y our house, where you can have a basketball hoop, where you can park, you cant have ur car on a jackstand for more than 24 hours just stupid shit like that

I'm not sure the mere existance of an HOA reduces crime in a neighborhood... I think moving to a neighborhood with a high ownership rate (as in the owners live in the houses) and a neighborhood watch organization would be more helpful.

I'll have to check with my HOA to see if they have any documentation on what hoop placement and parking rules have to do with homosexuals but in the meantime I'll take your word for it that there is some connection.

If you don't like HOAs, buy old houses. I've owned two house (one in Springfield and one in Arlington) and neither had an HOA. Never had any big problems with neighbors. The worst was some couple going through a divorce and each refused to mow the lawn. Small price to pay for freedom. And that house increased 64% in price 2.x years anyway.

As mentioned above, HOAs are implemented at development time, then enforced later on through contract clauses that force sellers to pay penalties to the HOA if they sell without the HOA clause, or something like that. I wonder if inhereting would break the contract chain. Maybe foreclosure, too.

no, I am sure the language in those contracts uses the word "transfer" instead of "sale" to refer to situations where HOA compliance passes on to the next owner.

But what's the leverage on someone that inherits? The leverage is against the person that signed, meaning the dead guy. An inheriter never signed, and the penalties only apply to the one that did sign, who's dead.

LOL you're very funny

The title to the house doesn't just magically change hands by virtue of death and inheritance... the inheritor has to have it legally transferred (which means they will sign their name to it at some point). There is just no money changing hands...plus we can disregard this in light of the fact that in most cases persons inheriting an estate or a portion thereof also inherit the responsibilities imposed by it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2005 09:30PM by rstidman.

Its not about who signs, its rights retained by the original owner/developer. These rights are enforced by the HOA against all future owners no matter how you obtain the property.

Just buy a house in Greenbriar.

At closing, you will be presented with a legal paper to sign stating that you will follow the HOA rules. Since Greenbriar was built over 37 years ago, and the HOA has not enforced the rules in over 20 years, you are in the clear. (Only the county rules apply... Zoning, Health, etc.)

Even membership in the HOA is voluntary (although at $15 a year, it is not too bad)!

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2015 02:35AM by darbrewe.

Greenbriar is one of those "lost communities"... It has a Fairfax Zip Code, Chantilly School District, Sully Voting district, and (for the most part... 378-xxxx) a Herndon phone exchange.

Built in the mid/late 1960's, single family houses, 3 - 5 bedrooms, .25 acre (or larger) lots. There were problems (and still are for some) with the construction of the houses in Greenbriar (thanks Levitt!!!), but most of these have been resolved through 35+ years of renovations and general changes.

The community is split about 40%/40%/20% between families with young (under 18) children, "short term families" (Gov't and/or DoD families who will only be here for their tour of duty), and Others (usually long time residents or renters).

Shopping center within walking distance, has everything but a good neighborhood pub/bar. Swimming pool in center of community, but membership is not part of the house, must be purchased through a private sale from a current shareholder. Good park/woods running though the community (great place for kids/tree forts (do you remember them?)).

Elementary schools are both being renovated / expanded, Jr. High is Rocky Run, and HS is Chantilly. (I'm not going to say too much about any of these schools... I went to each of them as a kid, and do not want to relive any of those memories!)

Only real problem with Greenbriar is the $$$!!!! Average selling price lately has been $450K, with a high of $777K! And property taxes of about $4K per year. (Still better than the $750K+ townhouses being build on Popular Tree Rd!)

In addition, you can then be part of the Fairfax Underground crowd that is also part of the Chantilly/Centreville/Western Fairfax forums.




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2005 08:25AM by SRE.

$15 a year?! Communism! :)

LOL!!!!!!

And for all that $$$ you get a community phone directory, Easter Egg hunt, Concerts in the Park, Holiday Party, support the scout troops (Boy and Girl), and it pays for the community center.

They can do alot more with the little money when they don't spend all their time (and our money) on "enforcing" HOA rules!!!

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2015 02:35AM by darbrewe.

HOA meetings have deteriorated into weasel parties. What was once an organization dedicated to preserving the neighborhood is now something that threatens to fracture it. I urge you to attend one of your HOA meetings and see for yourself.

Hi Toby I'm new to this forum-
I read your HOA problem- FYI- your HOA CANNOT fine you UJTIL you are given a hearing with the Board of Directors-then and only then can fines be assessed to a homeowner- before the hearing you must receive notice of the hearing certified mail no less than 14 days in advance of the hearing - the letter must state the violation, the date,time ,place of the hear- that is when the Board of Directors makes their determination of the case - for more info on HOA's and Condo go to
dpor.org- these are the people that regulate HOA's and Condo Assoc.
you do have rights even if you did sign an agreement to abide by the rules and regs of the community.good luck

perhaps his association explicitly states that pink flamingos are forbidden and will result in an automatic $10 fine.

(1) most HOA docs are not thousands, or even hundreds, of pages long.

(2) +1 to the guy who said it's a bunch of old housewife hags who wanna recapture their high school power-trip glory days.

(3) i used to live right by the vienna metro, too. got plenty fucked by my HOA -- to the tune of about $3000. so i feel your pain.

(4) i paid through the fucking nose to buy a house smack-dab in the middle of vienna. why? well, first, i wanted to live in vienna, but a very close second was that THERE IS NO HOA.


i cannot tell you how wonderful it is to actually like your neighbors, not to have them tell you how to live your life, what to plant, what to keep where, and so on. it's a like a damned rebirth.

some people actually seek out homes with HOAs for the simple notion that if the neighbors do something they don't like, they have someone to complain to.

PaperPusher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> some people actually seek out homes with HOAs for
> the simple notion that if the neighbors do
> something they don't like, they have someone to
> complain to.


and those people are crazy. i hope all crazy people do this. then they will all live in the same place, and we will know where those places are, and we can tactically nuke them.

vote "wow" in 2008.

don't kill them, just mess up their lawns. that'd keep them busy reporting each other for months

HOMOWNERS ASSOC.'S ARE FULL OF FASCIST MINDED ANTI-PATRIOTIC HOGS!

Zombie thread rises!!!

Geez, you poor bastards. The folks on my dirt road have no HOA - when the road needs fixing, we meet on the street and pass the hat. When my neighbor had to clear a bit of forest that bordered my yard (roots were getting into his septic field), he came over to apologize for knocking down the trees even though it was his yard. I offered to help him take them down. Somehow it sounds like HOAs really bring out people's inner dick. You have my sympathies.

HOAs are what happens when you give too much power to busybody dictator-wannabe libs who love to tell everyone else what to do and how to run their lives. Sickeningly like the religious right. OTOH, if you move into a place that has an HOA and you never bothered to read the documents, you're an idiot and deserve what you get.

Per the flamingo issue:

I saw an ad somewhere around for a small business that rents out flamingos for parties and for the high school kids to flamingo the yards of their favorite teachers at graduation. Rent about 100 flamingos, then in the wee hours of the morning repopulate the yard of the person who turned you in. Take pictures, then send them as a "complaint" to the HOA with the pictures. If they don't fine that person $10.00/each flamingo, then sue them for discrimination!

@Abelard - http://www.helium.com/items/1499225-acting-superior-has-nothing-to-do-with-being-superior

It seems that the older communities built outside of the towns, burroughs, and other specially unique taxing districts may not be as strict about the condo and townhouse HOA rules. It is not that they don't bug people--they just seem to let things go until they absolutely have to bug them, or until the so-called "idle busybodies" force them.
We needed a new roof for quite awhile, due to a large tree with low branches near the house--the branches were rubbing off shingles every time the wind fronts changed to be out of the north. Also, the roof flashing was perforated by squirrels sheltering in the attic during the winters. The HOA never bugged us about the tree or the flashing or the "extra denizens" in the house, even though they seem to be adamount about enforcing the "no feeding the birds." rule.
Finally a freak derecchio-like windstorm one summer took out the tree completely. The HOA never noticed the roof until grass and little baby trees began to sprout in places up there...(We are in a 25 year old townhouse developmemt out in the once-rural areas of Loudoun County).
Then there are the neighbors--right now their back yard looks like the county dump before it gets plowed under. It usually stays like that all year around until the spring HOA "walkthroughs" of the community begin. Their front lawn looks like what it is--a storage plot for the wheelies and scooters and bikes used to keep their 24 hour a day cash only (read "Look Ma, No Taxes!)" daycare center charges occupied when the population gets too big for the small condo to hold. Here, the HOA allows such small businesses to thrive (even when the resulting noise gets to be a nuisance to the neighbors).
The HOA here will also allow overpopulation to take place in the units, despite the county laws spelling out the maximum number of persons permissible per square feet of room space! Not to worry about inspections from Social Services, fire marshal, etc, since its under the radar no one ever knows it exists...
And, every year, around graduation time, the big tree in the yard across from us gets completely swathed in toilet paper--no one has ever caught the culprits, nor did the HOA ever unclothe that tree--we just have to wait for the winds and storms to eventually strip all the TP out of it. We never found out what the annual tree-papering event was all about! Now that the tenants over there moved out, we will see if it continues this year.
I can remember one incident where the townhouse just up the street woke up to find their yard just filled with pink flamingos! They left them out there for a number of days, also--apparently the HOA was late to call them down for that if indeed they ever bothered!

Oh yes, and we have the "firecracker" issues too--on the night of 4th of July, I got home from work to find my assigned parking spot hijacked, and our neighbors had planted their family, friends and broods of kids right on our lawn, and they were setting off all their fireworks from our lawn right in front of our condo and these were landing on the dry grass and leaves in our yard. I thought of calling the LOUDOUN COUNTY SHERIFFS office to complain, but figured that they would be too busy doing the same thing to their own neighbors to bother with my problem, so I resigned myself to an observation post overlooking the yard with one hand on the phone and one on a bucket of water until the rugrats next door finally went inside to go to bed. The burned off grass in that spot still has not come back--Why ruin their lawn if they can ruin their neighbors yard and let them get fined instead for it)?
So, those of you feeling smothered by the old busybody biddies spying on you out the windows might want to wander around out here in Loudoun County and do some looking at some of these communities out here that are 25 years plus old. If you can go out beyond Leesburg away from the newer cluster communities and find a house you can pretty much do what you want except during the drought months, when there are county wide bans in effect. Fairfax is getting too built up to get away from the covenants, there is little available land left for rugged individualists to colonize! Most of the folks like you are commuting in from West Virginia or the Shenandoah mountains, where they have control over their own property.

Growing up in a HOA (Both Parents Board Members, Presidents Etc...)I knew the rules, I was harassed, but they didn't have a leg t stand on, I moved from a HOA to a Civic Assoc, I can tell you its nothing less, except they want to think they have HOA rules, Now I deal with the county since they Know I know, All I can tell you is Read the Rules so you can break them Properly.

VA has more planned communities with HOAs than in previous places I have lived. You pretty much have to deal with an HOA if you buy a house (or townhouse) that it is less than 10 years old.

For the most part, I disagree that the majority of HOAs are abusive. Some are, but from my experience and observation, most are not.

My mom lived in a small GA subdivision without an HOA. Someone smashed into the sign at the entrance of the subdivision, and it stayed broken and battered for many years, until one resident literally walked around the neighborhood collecting donations to fix it. Even then, most of the residents didn't want to pay (or couldn't afford to pay), so this person ended up doing it himself. He was not very handy, and the entrance looked (and still looks) like a couple of fraternity brothers tried to fix it the morning after a kegger. In that same subdivision, people routinely let their grass become a jungle, and there was no recourse other than to report them to the city. Sometimes the city did something about it, usually weeks or months after a complaint, and sometimes they didn't.

If you value a certain consistincency and quality of life, I think HOAs serve a purpose. If you're more of a free spirit, and don't like people telling you what to do or how to live your life or how to maintain your home, that's fine. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. My brother is that way. Just don't move into an HOA community then bitch about the rules.

If everyone acted like responsible adults, there would be no need for HOAs. The problem is that mortgages are given to white trash, black trash, and foreign trash - none of whom know how to live like responsible civilized human beings with some sense of hygeine and decorum. Trash on the front lawn, cars on the front lawn, Christmas lights in July, broken windows patched with duct tape, appliances stored in the driveway, boarding houses, Harleys at midnight, etc. All of this in what starts as a "nice" neighborhood. They want to live in that nice neighborhood but don't want to be nice neighbors.

Most HOAs are reasonable. A few are not and get all the press. Most homeowners are reasonable. A few are not and necessitate the need to set standards.

Usually the HOA does not know about it unless some dweeb turns you in. So for the gal that had the Pink Flamingo - you have a nasty neighbor who must have been jealous of your party - and that's how they dealt with it.


There are some people who can go years with out having a complaint - it;s all in who your neighbor are and how long the violation stays out in your front yard.

Burgermeister Wrote:
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> If everyone acted like responsible adults, there
> would be no need for HOAs. The problem is that
> mortgages are given to white trash, black trash,
> and foreign trash - none of whom know how to live
> like responsible civilized human beings with some
> sense of hygeine and decorum. Trash on the front
> lawn, cars on the front lawn, Christmas lights in
> July, broken windows patched with duct tape,
> appliances stored in the driveway, boarding
> houses, Harleys at midnight, etc. All of this in
> what starts as a "nice" neighborhood. They want
> to live in that nice neighborhood but don't want
> to be nice neighbors.
>
> Most HOAs are reasonable. A few are not and get
> all the press. Most homeowners are reasonable. A
> few are not and necessitate the need to set
> standards.


HOA's where started to help the county in its operation. The US Govt was not designed to operate as it does today, neither was the county. HOA's where designed so the county didnt have to worry about the Upkeep of the community. Lake Braddock, Burke Center and many others handle the day to day operation, Pools, Streets, Common Area. The county doesnt need to worry about it, you can opt to have FXCO do leaf removal, we have rec centers. Most people contract for Trash Removal just to name a few things. The Presidents of HO or Civic Assoc delegate a liason with the county to hear thoughts etc. Blight is controlled by the county and depending on your Covenants of a HOA they may or may not be able to act, they can threaten but if its not a COVENANT they don't have leg to stand on and the County Zoning can step in. Bylaws enable a HOA to change rules that they cannot get enough votes on to change on their own but wish to have as part of their rules. MOST HOA covenant changes require 75% of the membership, not the ones voting but in total. As I said before, read the rules, learn the rules and breakk them properly, if the county allows it, then the fight in court would be short if any at all., as another thread on here about Clifton eludes that its residential, the truth is unless Main Street Clifton or Historic there is nothing that anyone can do bout Davis Store and the Guns issue. Clifton is not Residential, it is a area of the county where you have to have 5 acres at a minimum to build on, they don't want the high Density there, but its less Urban than Burke Center. When most HOA's where set in place the BOS wasn't making a large salary as they do today, and The Hoa was a way to remove burden. Civic Associations have even less bite than a HOA does. Again Read the Rules, Lern them and then you can decide if you have broken one.

They can, but I think it is insane to do this to you and I would pitch a fit about it too. People here need to stop obsessing over harmless things their neighbors do. Even if it was a concern they could have called you and asked you take it down and warned you if you did it again they would fine you.

Do you mind posting the name of the community you live in, going to be looking to move in the next year and I don't want to deal with idiots like your homeowners association?


Toby Wrote:
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> I see a lot of complaints about heavy-handed
> government types, but what about these homeowner
> associations? I put a pink flamingo in my front
> yard for one evening during a party, and I get
> fined $10 by some "covenants committee" of the
> homeowner association for my neighborhood.
>
> I called the management company for the homeowner
> association to see if they were serious, and sure
> enough they are. I'm told that if I dont pay on
> time, I can be refined every ten days! They also
> told me that I signed a document when I bought my
> townhouse that I would agree to all these rules.
>
> I must confess that when I bought my house (first
> time for me) I signed a mountain of paper, and I
> can't say that I didn't sign whatever they are
> talking about. I knew that I had to pay dues to
> the homeowner association, but I thought that was
> for use of the pool and tennis courts.....I didn't
> know I was giving a bunch of busy-body neighbors
> the right to tell me what I can do with my home
> and yard!
>
> I am new to the area and to this whole homeowner
> association thing. Can anyone tell me if they
> really have the power that they claim to have?

Yes but not all planned communities are bad. I live in one and have had no problems with association or the neighbors.


ben Wrote:
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> They sure do. You signed it, you're bound to it.
> If you don't pay, they'll eventually put a lien on
> your property.
>
> Sucks, but planned communities are the future..

katiesmith Wrote:
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> Yes but not all planned communities are bad. I
> live in one and have had no problems with
> association or the neighbors.
>

Everybody in an association is one election away from having major problems.