Posted on 10/29/2018 6:13:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
In the 2000s, the Parkers thought they were buying their dream home. It was advertised at an excellent price and came with customizable options. The home was located in Peoria, Arizona, adjacent to Phoenix. The development was new, with an HOA managed by a management company.
While the Parkers were viewing the house, they asked the salesperson if they would be able to expand their three-car garage to a four-car garage. The sales person said yes, that would be no problem.
In 2016, the Parkers proudly put up a campaign sign in their front yard for Donald Trump, the only homeowners in the development to do so.
Mr. Parker was elected to the HOA board for awhile, but left after getting frustrated. But while there, the family learned the rules for additional building on the property and complied when they started their garage addition. This meant sending a letter requesting permission to the HOA board along with a copy of the plans and the permit from the city. Per the HOA rules, if the HOA board doesn’t respond to a request within 45 days, it’s deemed approved.
A few weeks later, the city asked them to change their building plan slightly. They made the changes and submitted the revised plans to the HOA. Again, the HOA board did not respond within 45 days, so the Parkers thought everything was fine. They resumed construction of the garage.
On January 9, 2017, when the garage was close to completion, the Parkers received a Notice of Violation in the mail from the management company. It did not specify any offense. They were then contacted by the Architectural Review Committee, a subsidiary of the HOA. The ARC chairman CC’d two neighbors on an email to them. The Parkers figured out he had put two of his neighbors on the ARC — but there hadn’t been a meeting, necessary to vote in officers, since October 2016. They were apparently put on the ARC illegally. An HOA board member was also later added illegally, to replace the president of the board who moved out of the development. The HOA justified it by claiming that A.R.S. 10-3821 applied, allowing them to take action without a meeting. But that law applies to nonprofits, not HOA boards. HOAs are different because they include homeowners who have a right to vote. They are governed by Title 33 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.
The HOA board next sent the Parkers a letter refusing permission to build the additional garage — despite the fact that it was already built at this point. The ARC claimed that one corner was too close to the fence. This was because the city had them move the garage back, which changed the distance from 10 feet to 8.2 feet.
The Parkers thought they could submit a variance to take care of the problem. Instead, they received a letter from an HOA lawyer on April 20, 2017. There still hadn’t been any HOA board meetings since October, so the legal action appeared to be illegal. On May 5, the law firm sent them another letter, selectively quoting the CC&Rs.
The HOA finally sent out a letter announcing a board meeting in August, almost a year after the last meeting — but it was executive session only, so residents weren’t allowed to attend. The HOA lawyer attended along with the illegally elected board members.
The Parkers asked for mediation. It took place in September. At the mediation, one member on the HOA board suggested fining the Parkers as much as $35,000, as a “deterrent” to others.
The HOA finally scheduled a board meeting for residents to attend on December 17. It was chaotic, with other residents angry at the way the HOA was treating them. An election was scheduled for January to elect new officers. Ken Palmer ran for president, but the HOA pulled some slick maneuvers to keep him from being elected.
The Parkers finally could not handle any more stress, it was having an effect on Ken’s health. They were told that even if they were to eventually win, they would have to go through a lengthy appeals process that would cost them $50,000. They worked out a settlement of paying the HOA $10,000. They spent another $13,000 on legal fees. They essentially paid a lot of money to make it go away.
The management company was started in the 1990s. It has expanded to manage 700 HOAs. It operates in five states. There are thousands of employees. They collect payments, bank them, keep records, pay for insurance, hire vendors, manage the property, fix sprinklers, pay for a community manager to be on call, manage meetings and make filings at court. They also manage pools and common areas in the HOAs that have them.
Officially, the management company receives nominal reimbursement from homeowners’ fees. But they actually make their money from secret affiliate fee arrangements. In order to bid on projects in the development, vendors must join the Community Association Institute. That requires them to give a hefty kickback of 20 to 30 percent to the management company on each project. That money is how they are able to litigate against homeowners. The management company also makes money suing homeowners over HOA fines. If they don’t keep up with the fines, they foreclose on their homes and flip them, making a profit.
Free market proponents don’t want to regulate HOAs because they consider them private associations. But several court decisions have held that they are quasi-governmental. Phoenix lawyer Jon Dessaules, who represents homeowners in lawsuits against HOAs, observed, "Homeowners associations really are privatized government without accountability. We can control everything from what you paint your home to when you cut your yard, but we aren’t accountable to you and don’t have to respond to you." They are similar to Public-Private Partnerships, which entail government granting monopolies to favored corporations which no longer act like free market entities and are controlled substantially by government. Local governments authorize developers to include HOAs. Since 90 percent of the new houses in Maricopa County are located within an HOA, it is almost impossible to avoid them.
The Parkers believe they were originally targeted because of their Trump yard sign. Many of the people attracted to serve on HOA boards are little Napoleons, eager to flaunt their power over others. This totalitarian mindset should not be allowed to abuse people for their politics. Fortunately, Arizona’s Governor Doug Ducey is cracking down on HOA abuse. One bill would have helped the Parkers, requiring HOAs to treat all of their meetings as open meetings. But it’s too late for them.
Well, I don’t blame you.
In Texas signs can go up 90 days before an election. How’s have no real say BUT the Beta signs went up in March and April.l9ng before they were legal
I did not complain which I should have. The Cruz campaign made sure to follow the rules,
Don”t leave stay and make sure we stay Red nd prosperous.
Actually the HOA can not forbid that. Freedom of expression.
We call them house Nazis around here. In most cases you can’t avoid them. I would guess that every new subdivision developed in the Indianapolis area in the last 30 years has had one. They tell you what trees you can plant, what mailbox you can have, what color you can paint your house, etc. They are usually run by little tyrants that love to abuse their power. Often times they are lawyers or someone who works in a law office, which gives them insight into state and local laws that the average homeowner doesn’t have. It’s why every house in the neighborhood is cookie cutter down to the flowers in the window boxes. They all reflect the taste of one or two people. Cities like them because often times the HOA provides city service to the ‘hood’ at no cost to the city i.e. Snow removal and nominal security. We have had similar issues around here where HOAs have tried to take people’s homes without compensation because of HOA violations. It’s all in the VERY fine print of the papers you sign when you buy a house in certain developments.
Our HOA forbids political signs, but it hasn’t stopped several from posting campaign signs for the Dem congress candidate.
Back in the first miserable four years after Hussein seized power, we put up a Don’t Tread On Me flag (we aren’t in an HOA). A few days later, we got a notice from zone enforcement warning us to fix our driveway—the asphalt was broken up and in need of repair.
The zone enforcement officer was a middle aged black woman.
Here is the deal: our driveway NEEDED repair. Yet so did a few others on the street. No one else got a warning.
Just a coincidence.
Are you alleging that the article posted is complete fiction?
On what basis are you suggesting that it cannot be true?
Helps maintain property values.
We move into an “HOA” 10 years ago. One of the flyers they sent out for “dues” said they were voluntary. Which made me curious. I asked for CC&Rs/bylaws a couple of times and never received.
Finally figured out that it’s not an HOA under the law (required by my state to be on file at State and County), but just a bunch of local homeowners taking voluntary dues “for maintenance and beautification projects”. They do ask for volunteers to take on the roles - but no elections either.
At this point I’m convinced they are just people trying to keep the place pretty...they have replaced signs and such...but also done things the city is supposed to already be doing. I haven’t paid dues in years and have gotten no feedback on any questions I’ve asked.
The rules vary from state to state and depend also on the CC&Rs. The HOA in our area was dissolved after 10 years where the BOD was recalled a total of 5 times. Finally had a BOD elected on the platform of eliminating the HOA - which it did, with 90% of the homeowners voting to end it.
Our HOA is 50 years old and I am sure has changed over the years. But a HOA IS a governing body, which the members have the greatest control over. That government which governs closest to those governed, governs best.
I am involved in our HOA for the purpose of maintaining and bettering our community. Do I seek a fiefdom? No. I do not care about power. I care about my home's value and being able to enjoy the amenities which are common the everyone.
Yes, there are rules. If you don't like them, don't move here. Do not move here and assume that the rules don't apply to you. If you don't like a rule, get involved and change it (if you can garner the support of the community, but don't be surprised if people like the rule.).
Since the governed body is small, you do have a lot of power to get things done and changed. Unlike going up against the city, state or feds.
Bottom line: Quit whining, get involved or get out.
In my community, a condo association owns the lawn areas in front of the units and does not allow any political signs in those areas at all. This is nondiscriminatory and avoids messy sign wars between owners.
Yes, I think you did fall into a better situation. Condo living is perfect for anyone retired or in busy career who wants an as-is nice living space, no lawn labor, etc., and expects nothing more.
Viewing the photo above, this guy bought his house in a completely different HOA situation, with an appearance of an open campus of individual houses, and from the get-go was quite mislead by the seller-agent, who knew he needed the add-on, and guaranteed it.
His Association’s Rules were familiar to him, since he’d also served a stint on the board. He followed them, if his story is accurate. The Association apparently ignored him until they could roll him, after the rule of “45 Day HOA Non-Response Consent”. He proceeded and was well invested in the add-on.
A good example of a bad example of one HOA. Yikes!
‘An’
HOA’s are very useful. They stop people from not mowing the yard for months, parking boats in driveway, cars on blocks in the front yard, giant campers on the street, putting up junky shed’s and cheap chain link fence. We have an HOA and it does wonders to keep your property value up. If you don’t like HOA’s don’t move into a place that has them, as for me, they work. Sure, they can be run by jerks, but ultimately they will get ousted.
The HOA can not forbid the signs according to federal law
In our line of work, we go into a lot of residential communities. The HOA communities are almost always better maintained and have higher property values.
Have to take the good with the bad.
The busy bodies always seem to seek out the board positions, but it’s not that hard to make their lives miserable and get them to resign if they get out of control.
See my other posts on this thread. Poorly researched, full of errors...fake freaking news.
HOA’s are highly regulated in Florida. It’s nearly impossible for a few to have total control and dictatorship unless no one else bothers to get involved or know what’s going on.
HOA’s are not for everyone. People who don’t want to follow the rules to look elsewhere to live.
HOA’s have their advantage if managed properly. No junkers, no messy landscape, security, a path to deal with disruptive, noisy neighbors.
Of course the downside is always that the busy bodies always seem to gain power.
That picture does not look like Peoria Arizona.
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