Posted on 03/22/2015 10:11:54 AM PDT by Oldpuppymax
The lethality of Home Owner Associations (HOAs) stocked with resident Condo Commandos involves the characteristics of narcissists with delusions of something between grandeur and Godhood. Texas HOA wars are quickly beginning to rival those taking place in Southern Florida. A conservative talk show host from Central Florida E-mailed, wanting more information about what could be happening that is so bad, we’re begging Tallahassee to rally to our defense in the March legislative session. Go to the link below to watch a video of a Homeowners’ Association Board Fist Fight in Houston: (1) Caution: Liberal Use of FU__ can be heard!!
HOA Hell can be seen on this video: A picture phone tossed to the concrete, police arriving, HOA bullying, alleged criminal activity, 911 calls, theft, theft, and more theft convictions; $500,000/YEAR dues; board targeting arrests by Dallas PD!” You can enjoy the song, “I’m trapped in HOA prison,” as well. (2)
BTW, my personal Texas, HOA anecdote comes from a dear friend who survived an Eagle Lake squabble by just retreating into her house. A neighbor spotted her (neighbor’s) cheating hubby looking too long at my pretty friend who decided a fight just wasn’t worth it. However, her son-in-law had to go to the HOA manager’s lair to put a stop to harassment about grass being too long during the time my friend was going through very painful chemo treatments for breast surgery. The HOA person actually took a ruler out to the lawn and measured the grass length!
Elsewhere, a HOA shooter was denied bond after police charged him with KILLING two people during a HOA meeting. (3) “I’ve never had this before,” said the judge. The accused was held without bond and jailed until his trial. He accused the HOA of...
(Excerpt) Read more at coachisright.com ...
here’s the rest; mentions grass measurement... I’ve heard of them doing that in areas of my town..
““not being human…if they were not acting like human beings, I was going to shoot them.” He since changed his plea to Not Guilty.
In yet another video, a desperate HOA director firmly declares their HOA meeting to be Out of Control. Listen to his very strange laugh as he closes down the meeting when one HOA resident told him, “You are mumbling.” He tells another resident, “Step away from the microphone…you are out of order…you can leave any time you wish…we’re at recess now.” He boldly tells another resident, “I don’t have to be polite with you, madam…ha, ha, ha.”
A source told me what happened at a Florida HOA meeting he attended. The meeting became heated and tempers flared when election results did NOT go the way of the entrenched board fossils. I’m quoting exactly now: “A bunch of loud mouth New York drunks” were out in the parking lot, at a local service club. When results of the BOD elections of officers did not go their way, this group began screaming, yelling, acting out, within earshot of Mets’ Stadium. As the Florida twilight turned into southern darkness, my source told me these NY drunks left.
How have HOAs grabbed so much power over the lives of educated, competent, high end achievers, retired professionals, widows, old men and women? Why do residents allow these condo commandos to take control of their money and use these dollars to make them miserable in their own homes?
The truth may rest in what an old man told me when I asked him to stand up to the HOA directors. He said, ” I fought my battles up North…I can’t fight anymore down here.” Yes, HOAs do maintain standards and keep up property values, to a point. However, when these HOA overlords and their heavy handed professional teams of lawyers, managers and repair people ignore the bounds of decency, an affected community can turn very quickly into a living hell. Resident is pitted against resident; people turn their neighbors in, often for petty infractions just to be vindictive for who knows what reason. The use of ridiculous spying methods, keeping a record of those invited into a neighbor’s home, building dossiers on residents–especially those not properly respectful of Association directors—this is the nonsense which must come to a halt.
I’m especially concerned about the use of those dreadful warning letters which do not contain the name of our accuser and which might actually be used as sources of HOA income. Silence, lack of transparency, over reach of authority all make for HOA misery.
If you are fed up and want your HOAs to treat you fairly and with respect, you may contact the following: State Senator Alan Hays (R-Umatilla) 850-487-5011; hays.alan.web@flsenate.gov/ He is in charge of HOA issues. The Florida Legislature convenes on Tuesday, March 3 for a short, one month only session.
Condo Commando Part 1 was posted March 13 on Coach is Right
SOURCES:
(1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrfukhbNqO8 Title: HOA Board Fist in Houston
(2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8YveThMHEM
(3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Coi56KF_ME
(4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8yrKA-7mBI
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However, frequently, the cheapskate members keep dues so low that the HOA has no recourse if a homeowner doesn't comply. They can make threats and levy fines, but they can't enforce them because they have no money for legal fees.
OTOH:
I lived for several years in a rather quiet gated community that had private streets, its own water supply from two wells, and of course an automatic gate.
There were a handful of freeloaders who felt “entitled” and refused to pay for water, for upkeep, and for the electricity that powered the gate and the sole street light, even though dues were a mere $50 a month, including unlimited (not metered) water!
What could we do? One freeloader who refused even to pay the connection fee to the water system, we went out one Sunday morning and cut the pipe to his house. It was our only alternative.
As the former president of a condo HOA, this is reason 316 why I live out in the country: no HOAs. No neighbors either. Just peace and quiet.
No 2am phone calls about taken reserved parking spots or loud parties. No frivolous lawsuits. No foreclosures because a homeowner refused to pay his part of roof repair expenses, etc.
bttt
Good points; I looked for a good while to find a house in an area without an HOA.
The city where I live has basic common sense upkeep rules; for example, grass height limit is 12”, not 3”, and RV’s can’t be so long as to hang over the sidewalk when parked in the driveway.
Not too many people have RV’s anyway.
If anyone does have a small box trailer, they tuck it away behind the fence alongside the house.
Lots of people have those open mesh trailers that can be towed by a truck; they put those in a shed in the backyard, so its out of the way.
Like I said, common sense stuff that nobody would have a big problem with.
Oh, another anecdote about the grass; a lady down the street had lost her job and her lawn mower broke, and she had barely enough to get by on, and pay the bare necessities...
yes the grass did get too long a couple times and the city did paste a notice on her door, but then a couple neighbors mowed the lawn and took care of that till she got a job and bought a mower.
HOA are evil and should be illegal. Property rights USED to mean something. Anyone who thinks that neighbors should have any say in YOUR property is a fool.
bttt
Your experience is the other end of the spectrum.... good on y’all for taking care of it!
In my neighborhood of 100 houses, there’s no mandatory HOA (and the way things got set up back when the houses were built, there’s no way to make it mandatory).
There’s a voluntary $20 a year for a gardener to come and trim the shrubs at the corner of the residential street and the larger street.
Every January the unofficial HOA guy puts flyers out announcing a cleanup day; the residents go out and do a leaves etc cleanup in that entry corner.
A rolling group of 30 households paying $20 each is enough to cover the upkeep.
Simple and no fuss no muss.
You are right.
All that is needed is city rules; basic common sense things like grass no higher than 12”, no blocking sidewalks with too large a vehicle, no junk in the yard- put it behind the fence.
My condo in Dalton, GA has a $110 per month fee, with which all insurance on buildings, on the pool and clubhouse, and all water and sewer utilities are paid. The maintenance on the grounds and streets around the condos never stops, all paid out of the fees.
How many condos in the complex?
Hmm, $100 for insurance, water & sewer...
About the same for me, I’m not in a condo.. works out OK.
Anything more than $100, not including the water & sewer & insurance, would be too much.
There are approx. 200 units spread into four or less units per building. The maintenance of the grounds and streets as well as pool and clubhouse also are paid out of the 110 per month. I consider it a bargain, especially for how well every thing is kept and maintained. The only outside stuff I have to maintain is the high-fenced back yard.
My HOA is trying to take control of the back 10 feet of my property. When I protested at the meeting I received threats.
Reason 316 strikes again :)
You need to be recording that. I would think that would be actionable.
I have seen the ultimate example of horrible HOA/COA wars in FL, and they are a way of life for certain embittered and small minded seniors. Just incredible how much energy and legal fees are being consumed in some of these battles. At the same time, most communities do not engage in these sort of scorched earth conflicts. And the architectural controls help preserve minimum property values.
Like anything else, it is a choice along a spectrum of alternatives. Want complete control? Buy 300,000 acres and put your home right in the middle. Want shared amenities like pools and tennis courts, etc., but don't want to bear the entire cost? Buy a condo in a COA or home in an HOA that provides the amenities at a shared fraction of the cost. All deed restricted properties have the limitations and restrictions recorded in the land records of the county in which the property is located. Most states require that a copy be given to potential purchasers in advance of the purchase becoming a binding obligation.
The covenants and deed restrictions are just a form of a contract. Initially between the developer and the initial purchasers of the homes or condos, they run with the land and become a part of every subsequent transaction of those restricted properties, binding all owners.
My favorite Georgia Supreme Court decision is in a contract case, in which one party was attempting to back out of a contract because they hadn't read a critical part of it. The majority opinion, which rejected the plaintiff's request to be let out of the contract they didn't read fully, stated "those with the ability to read, have the obligation to read." So it is with HOA's/COA's - you have the ability to read and consider the restrictions before you buy, if you find them objectionable, simply buy something else.
In the non-HOA neighborhood we had a drug an prostitution house to ours. The house was bought by a landlord after we moved in and he turned it into Section 8 housing. In the year before we sold it there were more that 100 police calls to that house. This bit of news was reported in the local newspaper after one of the residents slashed the throat of another occupant. Sadly, my 10 year old daughter was a witness to the attempted murder.
Druggies, meth cookers and such avoid HOA housing because neighbors have far more control.
We have never had a problem with the 4 HOA properties that we have owned. We read the contracts, the CCandRs, and all 5 past years of HOA board meeting minutes. We were fully prepared and rational in our expectations. We can leave any time by simply locking the door and not showing up for months. We haven't cut grass in 15 years. We love it.
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