They had the personal freedom not to buy into an HOA property and they had the personal freedom not to voluntarily cede part of their property rights to the HOA.
They have zero grounds for complaining.
Who buys a home, the biggest investment of their lives, and doesn't read the fine print?
Colleen and Rodger Sauve, both smokers, filed a lawsuit in March after their condominium association amended its bylaws last December to prohibit smoking.
You have an excellent point. I specifically looked in neighborhoods with no sort of HOA or convenant when I bought my first house a number of years ago so that nobody could tell me what I can or can't (legally) do with my property.
If it wasn't in the rules when they bought into the HOA, they should have been grandfathered in because those were not the terms they agreed to when they moved in..
Methinks the Courts need to move to cut the teeth out of HOAs...
Sometimes, for particular zealots, the very fact that someone somewhere is doing something of which you don't approve, reinforces perceptions of that act's impact on you. TRANSLATION? Morelike the 'affected' tenant's protestations are false - equivalent to the old people in Florida lying about the ' ooh so confusing' ballots, etc. Regardless, the affected tenants (the smokers) should sell their unit and move somewhere else that assholes don't live.
Of course you missed the part where the bylaws were amended last year, 5 years after they had purchased the town home.
Funny that you berate them for not reading the fine print, you didn't even bother to read the entire article with comprehension before spouting off.
Colleen and Rodger Sauve, both smokers, filed a lawsuit in March after their condominium association amended its bylaws last December to prohibit smoking.
Seems to me that when they purchased their property, smoking WAS NOT a problem: the operative word here being AMENDED.
This was an amendment to the by-laws that went into effect last December. Presumably this was after the couple bought their condo unit. If so, this is a change in the terms and conditions after the purchase.
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The rules were changed....who doesn't read the whole post?
First you can't decide to be a part of the HOA. If you buy a property covered by an HOA you are a member and must abide by the rules. Secondly, if I am reading the article correctly, the HOA changed the rules after they moved in. I think they have a very strong case for appeal on the last point.
They have zero grounds for complaining.
You argument applies to anyone buying into an HOA property, not just the smokers that bought in.
Did you read the article? The HOA articles were amended after they moved in.
Two points:
The article states the condo HOA AMMENDED their regulations, in include smoking WITHIN the units. These owners never signed up for that.
Secondly, ALL condominiums, townhouses and almost all new suburban homes now have home owner associations. Many times too, these organizations (as in this case) act as little dictators....
I would continue to fight this--how any organization can tell you you cannot do a legal act inside the walls of your own home is beyond me.
I would smoke in the house anyway...and make them get a warrent to search the place (unlikely) to prove it.
It's coming....if it's not already here.
Sorry, but I believe privacy rights trump the decision of these bored, crypto-Nazi homeowners associations.