[Malacoda]

So, a $120 charge turned into damn near $2,000, and the HOA isn't "really" an HOA, but a loose association of their neighbors?

Frankly, I'd rather live next door tot he Mengeles. They'd probably be more neighborly.

ANd I'm waiting to see what the HOA defenders have to say on this one.

You'd have to be NUTS to live in a development with an HOA.

[buffyt]

A friend of mine who lives a couple of blocks to the south of me is a very active person in the Republican party. She has held fund raisers for the Bushes, Tom DeLay, Ron Paul, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, etc. in her home. She told me the other day that her HOA doesn't allow campaign signs in the front yard in her neighborhood! I told her I would not put up with that, also being active in the Rep. party. She said "We decided to do that!" I can't believe anyone would want to live on her street and be unable to have a campaign sign in the yard once every four years. We have deed restrictions that call for a garage, brick homes, home a certain size... but no HOA.

[RossA]

The Mengeles might give you some lamp shades as an Xmax present.

[cupcakes]

This is what I loathe about most neighborhoods today. Instead of getting off of one's a$$ to see if a neighbor whose yard is unkempt or looking in on an aged couple to see if all is allright when you know they have a debt, they choose to take these folks house away. Perhaps if someone had talked to these folks, they could have made a small collection for them--120 bucks is not a lot.

We have never lived in an association for this reason, but we had a butthole neighbor who called the city once on us(this was after the birth of our first baby) because we had some weeds growing along the side of the house(which we had always been told was city property anyway, but we usually kept up with it until, at this small moment in time--3 months--our lives got hectic). Not one person ever asked even in casual conversation if we needed help. After that, we had little to do with our neighbors not knowing which one was a$$hole enough to report a problem instead of offering first time parents some help(even if it was just giving us a reputable landscapers number we would have appreciated it).
It just galls me because when we shovel snow, we do part of our neighbor's sidewalk up to where their driveways start. We just don't think twice to offer help, but nobody seems to want to do this anymore and instead get some glee out of reporting other people for a minor offense and one with which they have never asked their neighbors if they would be willing to cooperate or offer their help to fix. Instead of trying initial, less intensive steps that will probably work with most people, neighbors just go straight to the top and report away.

[sweetliberty]

"You'd have to be NUTS to live in a development with an HOA"

Amen to that. As if there aren't enough people who believe they have license to meddle in your business as it is.

[BJungNan]

I completely agree with you. This is an outrage. Certainly the $120 should have been paid - it is a stupid amount to lose a home over - but it looks like the costs escalated way out of control with late fees and penalties.

From $120 to $2000, that is really bad. Some would say usurious.

[SoCal Pubbie]

I won't defend the home owner's association in this case. I have enough trouble with mine! Assuming the story is as written then the HOA could have put a lien on the house, or taken some other action to deal with the situation other then forcing the owners out of their home.

On the other hand, to see one case of HOA abuse and make a blanket statement about all is like seeing one story of corrupt police and saying "You'd have to be NUTS to live in a development with a police department".

[lawdude]

"You'd have to be NUTS to live in a development with an HOA."

I am preparing to sell my home and move to full-time RV lifestyle. One of the BIG selling features of my house is that there is NO HOA.

I have lived in the Phoenix area for 42 years and all of the new construction is with HOA. Breaking them is nearly impossible.

Most people love them to begin with and then after they see that it is Nazi like, they get unhappy. UNLESS they are on the board. Then they become part of the problem!

[neutrino]

You'd have to be NUTS to live in a development with an HOA.

That's a fact!

[FITZ]

You'd have to be NUTS to live in a development with an HOA.

I think so. It's hard to believe people want to sign away their property rights for the security of having others tell them what to do.

[MissAmericanPie]

The U.N.'s Agenda 21 is promoting it in cities and townships across America. A thick, expensively packaged, packet was hand delivered to our door and every door in town urging that we develop neighborhood associations.

The packet contained instructions on how to form one, and listed different problems that can be cured by these associations. "Is your neighborhood plagued by traffic because of a nearby church?", "How to have a quiet neighborhood by dealing with traffic and noise polution", "Are your neighbors doing their part by maintaining their homes and landscape"?

I toss'ed it in the trash after reading it to my husband and thought everyone else with good sense would also. Now I'm finding out that many neighbors have gotten together and formed a neighborhood association, now we have a website, a $250,000.00 grant from the city for anything the association votes to spend it on.

[af_vet_rr]

You'd have to be NUTS to live in a development with an HOA.

You do realize the benefits of living in a development with a HOA, right?

You see, the HOA works to insure that property values remain high through various things - making sure lawns are uniformly cut, your mailbox is of a pre-approved design, you only have certain types of trees and plants, you never ever park in the grass or leave your boat in the driveway, you only paint your house one of four approved colors, you never add a shed or any other detached structures, etc.

By doing so, your home's value rises, so that when you sell it (like everybody does - nobody cares about living in one place for longer than 10 years anyways) you get more money.

Your $130,000 home becomes worth $160,000 when you sell it. So what if you pay substantially more than $30,000 in higher property taxes and required work in the meantime, that's a dirty little secret that doesn't need to get out.

[pointsal]

The HOA probably needs a load of horse manure dumped on its front steps.