School me on HOA's.

Shit like this is why I would never even consider buying a place with a HOA. :down:

 

Nope, but Maine and many other states allow HOAs to be established by a majority rather than 100% agreement, specifically to eliminate 'holes' in the HOA, such as my property would be.

 

Nevermind...

 

wasn't paying attention...

 

When an HOA is established, it normally has a specific term which can be renewed and extended as long as people still want to use the organization. If at the time of expiration it isn't renewed, then it goes away along with all the covenants.

In Georgia, I think it requires 80% of property owners within the defined boundaries to agree to form an HOA. They do have a number of legal responsibilities with the state, including annual financial reporting.

 

In Oregon they are actually deed restrictions. Which unless they violate discrimination laws (I see old ones all the time that say no coloreds or jews allowed) they are basically law. They can even foreclose on your property AHEAD of your mortgage liens if they want to. Major pain in the ass.

 

I wouldn't mind one where I live if they just made you take care of your place. Almost all the houses in my neighborhood are in nice shape but a couple are total pits and one dude has a huge 5th wheel camper that looks like it hasn't moved in 10 years in front of his house that I wouldn't mind seeing go away... I know they are generally evil though and was a big reason my dad moved out to the country.

 

Two stories, one is minor one is major:

Minor: Buddy moves into a new place with a new baby (TONS of diapers and trash). The HOA has some weird thing going on with the trash collectors. So the HOA pays for trash, BUT he can't upgrade the size of his trash cans to account for the amount of diapers. He called the trash company and the HOA and they basically said suck it.

Major: My old boss lives in Westlake Village on weird little body of water there. When they had the Northridge earthquake, a number of their foundations were cracked. But the HOA decided they wanted to get WAYYYY more money then they needed since all of the other HOAs are suing the insurance companies, they decided they wanted more money too. So they go to court, takes YEARS! And lose. Not only lose, but are forced to pay for the insurance company's lawyers. Total cost was like over 11million and who has to pay for it? The home owners because the buttheads that were running the HOA thought they could make out easy with some extra cash. The total cost to the home owners ended up being like 20k a year for 5 years.

HOA's suck. BUT they keep an area nice and keep the riff-raff out.

Also, I know HOAs can keep you from renting your place. Like only 10% of units can have rentals, etc.

 

I like our HOA. They're not over-the-top and they (appear) to keep the people who forget to mow their lawn at least once every two weeks, take their garbage cans in never, and/or leave all their crap on the lawn, in check. I never hear about them (except when it's time to write a check), so I take that as a good thing.

Then again, I complained about oil on my driveway ..

 

Take a look at the bank account (from member dues) of a prospective HOA and what it's legal requirements are for the use of the account. The account info is available to owners and prospective owners. Power mad HOA officers may have a worse bark than their bite if the HOA board and members don't want to spend the saving account on legal fees and such enforcing all the crossed t's and dotted i's.

 

I just closed on a condo on the intercoastal in Sunset Beach, only 9 units, we do have "that guy" who is the current President of the group.

We bought unit 2, we looked at unit 1 last year, when we rolled up on the scooter last year to meet the realtor, he met us before the thing was on its side stand and told us "motorcycles" are not allowed.

I asked the realtor for every document from birth till now concerning the HOA rules and amendments. Nothing in those after a 1996 amendment forbid motorcycles. We didn't go for that unit but this year when unit 2 went up for sale we jumped on it. I checked with dits and then passed it bye our city's attorney. The guy doesn't know his shit, or he flat out lied to us.

They also limit pets to 1 under 25 lbs, the folks we bought the condo from had two dogs, the asshole guy has two pets also so they ignore the rules, I have that on film.

It will be interesting but the place was a no brainier, we, and he will adapt, as I type this I'm on the deck looking out on the water.

My current plan is to take over the HOA over time and become "that guy" minus the attitude, from the homework I've done, the other owners are ripe for a coup.

Fun, fun

 

I've got a co-worker that bought a foreclosure, HOA tried to get them to pay back fees on the foreclosed property, they lost. They leave him notices if his lawn isn't mowed to the correct height and edged properly.
I'd get even by figuring out who was the pain in the ass and tossing bermuda seed into their sod lawns.
I'll never live in a home with an HOA. I'll take the neighbor that grows tomatoes in their front yard and paints their house purple over some power hungry HOA.

 

Agreed.

My neighborhood HOA has pretty much just lapsed over the last 5 years. I stopped receiving the bill each year, and there's no BoD at all anymore. The neighborhood has shifted more towards renters, and nothing is being enforced. It's basically gone down hill drastically.

Unless you're planning on parking an El Camino with only 1 intact window and a torn up mattress in the bed on your front lawn, then I don't believe having an HOA is necessarily a negative thing.

If you're in a neighborhood with a little more land, they can be restrictive about what you build and I'd prefer to not have an HOA. In a tighter/smaller neighborhood where there's a real chance of it going to shit, I think they're ok.

 

They are evil, and if you break the rules, the head of the HOA will send a Tibetan thought form to kill you and dispose of your body.

 

HOA's are another layer of unnecessary, voluntary(at least in the choice of buying into one) government.

I have enough government regulation already, thank you. No HOA for me as long as I can maintain a single-family residence. Hopefully by the time I need to move to a condo, I'll be too old and sick to care about the HOA/Condo Assoc.

 

I love Hoa's....they will have sex w/out having to invest much time/$ with them. They are awesome.

 

Had a HOA when I lived in FL, was nothing but a pain in the ass and will never buy into that crap again.

 

Was she Korean?
Did she have an Adam's apple?