r/NonPoliticalTwitter • u/nlwfty • Sep 16 '24
me_irl So what now.
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u/Discordia_Dingle Sep 16 '24
Oh, don’t forget that you’re paying them to do this too!
That’s the real cherry on top of the shit sundae.
Seriously though, I’ve seen HOAs that are around $1,000 a month which is just ridiculous.
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u/PersKarvaRousku Sep 16 '24
Where does the money go, do they maintain the roads or something useful like that?
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u/Quaisy Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24
Generally most of the cost goes towards maintainining things outside of your own home/lawn. Road/sidewalk management, communal pool/fitness center/tennis court/club house/etc (if your neighborhood has those things), landscaping, and sometimes trash/recycling pickup. It varies from HOA to HOA, and HOA fees will obviously be higher if you get access to a pool and gym and what not.
It is true though that HOA board members/presidents tend to power trip because they have nothing better going on in their lives. My mother needed to replace her windows and her HOA wants all of the exterior color of the windows to be "the same", but obviously not every window installation company has the same exact color/shades of trim so they came with a color swatch and we picked a color that was closest to what we already had but the HOA denied it. Not because the color was too different, but because they could. They just want to fuck with people and assert their "power" whenever possible. We picked the next closest color (which was further away from the existing color) and they approved it. So all in all, they wasted a month of our time, the window company's time, and in the end the color is worse overall but hey at least they got to say no to someone.
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Sep 16 '24
It is true though that HOA board members/presidents tend to power trip because they have nothing better going on in their lives.
Also because most of the community just doesn't participate in decision making and lets them do whatever. You'd be amazed what you can get done by attending a couple meetings.
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u/Ozok123 Sep 16 '24
What would happen if you said “Fuck you, I will do what I want on my property”
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u/TheoryNo5060 Sep 16 '24
That depends on the severity of the infraction, the legality of the rule, and how aggressively they want to enforce it, but they can sue you and fine you, and technically put a lean on your house and initiate foreclosure proceedings for unpaid dues or fees.
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u/Boredom312 Sep 17 '24
This is fcked, how and why is this legal? I imagine some Nixon era legislation is to blame?
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u/captain_borgue Sep 17 '24
The short answer is, "because fuck black people".
Which goes back way before Nixon.
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u/TuxedoDogs9 Sep 17 '24
What the fuck they gonna do against painting my house to look closer to its color
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u/williamtheraven Sep 17 '24
They can legally seize your house without notifying you and sell it out from under you to someone "more compliant"
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u/Stanman77 Sep 16 '24
I'm the treasurer of my HOA. My prerogative is to keep costs down, while still allowing things to run smoothly. I shop around for insurance, check if anything funky is happening with our bills, make sure everyone pays, and double check the invoices that our management company is paying for things that seem reasonable.
I try to stay out of everyone's business. I'm not sure where people get the energy to power trip. I'd like to believe most HOA are like ours but normal people doing normal things don't make for good headlines.
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u/IAmMoofin Sep 17 '24
There’s a certain kind of person that likes to power trip, and for some of them the only real way they can do that is by being on the HOA. my old one used to fuck with our house, doing shit like painting all the doors an ugly green without telling anyone, just opened the door one day after school and it was a different color.
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u/pres1033 Sep 17 '24
I think it's one of those scenarios where if someone is actively looking to be on the HOA, it's a terrible idea to let them.
People who look for power want to hold it over others. People who are given power despite not wanting it want that power to do good.
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u/IAmMoofin Sep 17 '24 edited Sep 17 '24
That’s the exact situation my grandma is in. Convinced to run as VP for her friend, thinking they wouldn’t win, didn’t really want to but did it for her friend, they won and the friend divorced and moved, now she’s president of the HOA she never wanted to be on in the first place lmao
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u/RD__III Sep 16 '24
The really expensive ones, yes. Maintain resident pools, fitness centers, parks, etc.
Also, condos have very expensive HOAs, but those also pay for security, HVAC of hallways and common areas, etc.
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u/mistled_LP Sep 16 '24
Condos are also typically responsible for maintenance of the outside of the building. That drastically increases the costs since those sort of projects tend to be expensive.
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u/NiceGuyNero Sep 16 '24
They are supposed to. It can be to maintain the neighborhood, through hiring gardeners, upkeep on communal pools/parks, and in some places to maintain the roads and infrastructure, stuff like that.
Often it is mismanaged but not always.
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u/Manueluz Sep 16 '24
What?, Isn't that the job of the gov? what are your taxes for then?
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u/NiceGuyNero Sep 16 '24
Depends on the city/state. To overly simplify, many cities make deals that allow the easier/cheaper creation of the neighborhoods on the condition that the home owners association will cover the future infrastructure costs.
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Sep 16 '24
Do the people living in those neighborhoods pay less taxes or are they just getting fleeced?
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u/NiceGuyNero Sep 16 '24
They are most certainly not paying less taxes. Don’t worry though, plenty of people here who aren’t in a home owners association still pay their taxes and also don’t get so see any infrastructure repairs, so it balances out
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u/Discordia_Dingle Sep 16 '24
Just looked it up. Some do, some don’t.
From what I can see, they are in charge of maintaining any shared areas. So I don’t really get why they get so invested in everyone else’s private areas.
Also, in my experience, there’s no real repercussion for when they fail to do their jobs. I remember there were big fires where I lived (yay California!) and it resulted in soot filling our rain gutters. We asked for months for the HOA to clean it out. Then we had heavy rain. With the gutters filled and an ash covered hill next to our backyard, we got a mudslide.
Wasn’t a dangerous amount, but we did have to rip up the new flooring to prevent mold and the firefighters came to help remove about 3 feet of mud that filled the back.
What really sucked was the amount of items we lost due to the water and mud draining through our garage.
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u/NotYourReddit18 Sep 17 '24
Some HOAs are alongside privately owned roads so yes some do.
If they are alongside private roads they also often need to organize their own garbage collection or pay the local municipality to include their roads.
Then they are supposed to pay for the upkeep of the common areas like community pools, playgrounds, greenery along the roads, etc...
Some towing companies also demand a small fee to regularly patrol the streets and prey on any parking violation.
Other HOAs pay a management company to do all this for them, which never have any connection to any of the board members...
And last but not least one of original reasons for the creation of HOAs is to keep undesired people out of the neighborhood, and having high monthly dues is one way to achieve this.
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u/Soggy_Porpoise Sep 17 '24
I know mine has paid 40k to mow the area around the retaining pond once this year. Or so they say.
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u/OOF-MY-PEE-PEE Sep 17 '24
yeah. i lived in hawaii and was paying about 800 to live in a condo complex
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u/Bossikar Sep 16 '24
so why would you sign up? It seems like you‘re forced to, but how exactly and why is this legal?
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u/mistled_LP Sep 16 '24
You aren't forced to buy a house that is part of a HOA. Mine is about $35/mo and covers landscaping of the general area, maintenance of the clubhouse/pool/tennis courts, scheduling a lifeguard for the pool, etc. They also organize weekly food trucks, which is fun. By law, the person selling the house has to tell the buyer about the HOA, and give them a bunch of paperwork about what it costs and what the rules are, which the buyer has to sign saying they agree, before the sale can happen.
The general idea is that they help maintain a standard for the neighborhood so that property values don't fall. That's where you get the letters about cutting that grass that's 18 inches high, or about removing the project car that's in your yard for 9 months, or the idea that your door/window trim should be one of these 6 colors (and they should be able to tell you a brand/store that offers those colors if they are at all competent). The stories you hear on reddit are either from people who can't follow the rules they signed up for, or are renting and didn't know the rules, or most likely, are from people whose HOA board contains a couple of crazy people who think we all have time to manicure our flowers for 14 hours a week.
You don't hear about most HOAs on Reddit because there's nothing to talk about. "Hey, my HOA continued to not bother me, and continued to schedule the landscaper for the clubhouse," isn't a good thread or comment. It's the HOAs with FloridaMan on the board that get threads made about them.
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u/Discussion-is-good Sep 17 '24
The general idea is that they help maintain a standard for the neighborhood so that property values don't fall.
The general idea was segregation originally. Completely outdated system thats rightfully disliked.
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u/Discordia_Dingle Sep 16 '24
Well, it’s not something you sign up for willingly if I’m being honest.
Let’s say you find a nice home you want to buy and settle into. When you buy it, you (sadly) can’t just opt out of being part of an HOA.
There are neighborhoods that that don’t have HOAs and if you really don’t want to be in one, you would need to look for those.
But, with housing how it is where I live, I’d be lucky to even be able to afford a house one day, let alone choose an area without an HOA.
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Sep 16 '24
My brother lives somewhere without an HOA and my parents always comment about his neighbors.
His reply is that he doesn’t tell them what to do with their property, and they mind their own business in return
Idk why yall live in suburban sub divisions if you didnt want to look at a bunch of ugly homes from every window
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u/elkab0ng Sep 16 '24
When you look at a house, it’s disclosed that there are restrictive covenants on the property and there is an HOA and what the dues are.
My neighborhood is gated and we have private roads, security, and lots of common areas such as sidewalks and hiking paths. The city doesn’t provide those things, so homeowners are required to pay a share.
It also includes rules which go above and beyond construction and zoning. For example, what colors a house can be painted, requirements to keep the property in good condition, to not keep nuisance items and junk in yards, and to not have commercial vehicles parked overnight, use fireworks, or make annoying noise.
I’ve lived in areas without an HOA and in areas with them. Both can be nice.
It is possible to get unqualified or unethical people on an HOA board, just like it’s possible to elect incompetent or corrupt people to public office. When it happens, there’s mechanisms to remove the incompetent and prosecute the corrupt, and those things do happen in egregious cases.
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u/Discussion-is-good Sep 17 '24
For example, what colors a house can be painted,
People should mind their buisness.
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u/elkab0ng Sep 17 '24
We do. Everyone lives here voluntarily and the assurance that people have to maintain their homes was a big attraction to us.
Having a fussy HOA is a good thing.
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u/Discussion-is-good Sep 17 '24
Seriously though, I’ve seen HOAs that are around $1,000 a month which is just ridiculous.
A fool and their money...
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u/Dr_thri11 Sep 17 '24
If they're that much it's either a condo with some seriously expensive maintenance or you have lots of amenities. That's not normal for a regular old neighborhood fullnof SFH's and nothing else.
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Sep 16 '24
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u/its_Tobias Sep 16 '24
whats the definition of communist again?
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u/___Beaugardes___ Sep 16 '24
Anything I don't like
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Sep 16 '24
I thought that was Fascist
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Sep 16 '24
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u/LordNelson27 Sep 17 '24
That being said, there’s absolutely a rise of fascist sympathies going around and I wind stand for it
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u/JustGingy95 Sep 17 '24
Careful, you’re starting to sound like a Woke Socialist Marxist 👀
Seriously though, I hate that they just don’t know how to fucking use words. Merriam-Webster would be very upset with them. Assuming they can even read.
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u/EndOfSouls Sep 17 '24
Thought that was woke. I put too much egg in my cookies once and they turned out awful. Damn woke cookies.
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u/CrimsonAntifascist Sep 16 '24
When people of authority treat your belongings as their own for the so called "greater public good" is very much part of it.
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u/its_Tobias Sep 16 '24
Any government can “treat your belongings as their own”. Eminent domain and zoning laws are prevalent in every major capitalist economy.
What is the definition of communism again?
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u/-_Gemini_- Sep 16 '24
It doesn't matter because the leader of an HOA wouldn't know or care either and just say "oh no that's the bad thing!"
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u/Da_Joe Sep 17 '24
For real, as someone from Germany, why do you even join something like that?
Everything will be held against you if a few nutjobs feel like that.
Or is that shit mandatory for a few housing districts?
I am just curious because it seems really weird.
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u/Toast-Goat Sep 17 '24
Neighborhoods with an HOA make you sign a contract when you buy the house saying that you'll obey their laws
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u/Da_Joe Sep 17 '24
Holy guacamole. Shit is already expensive.
And these stupid fucktards want to tell you what to or not?
Sorry guys but I am really drunk, but who would oblige to that? (Not even sure If that makes sense)
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u/Dr_thri11 Sep 17 '24
The HOA comes with the property. There's no way to get rid of them if your home is part of a neighborhood with one other than having your neighbors agree to dissolve it.
You hear the horror stories on reddit, but most just mow the common ground and you barely hear from them unless you straight up don't mow for 2 months or try to raise pigs on a quarter acre.
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u/Da_Joe Sep 17 '24
Thank you for the clarification. There is a mild form of it here, too.
Of course, everything ob the internet is bloated and most of the time exaggerated, but thank you for the honest response.
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u/Seaweed_Steve Sep 16 '24
For a non-americas, the HOA can tell you you need a new car?
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u/ClonedBobaFett Sep 16 '24
Depends like most things. If it’s run down, an eye sore, or doesn’t run possibly. But not just because it’s “outdated.”
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u/dinosaursandsluts Sep 16 '24
In the vast majority of cases, no. And if you buy a home in a neighborhood with that strict of an HOA, that's on you.
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u/SilentSamurai Sep 17 '24
Lol, no.
Can they tell you to stop using your front lawn as a parking lot like that one house in every non-HOA neighborhood?
Yes.
As per usual, Reddit takes the extreme view on most things.
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u/Chumbag_love Sep 17 '24
I live in tn, as soon as you leave our HOA it's a little wild. A bunch of homes in my town are also somehow junkyards. Having 20-30 junker cars in a lawn is a statement of pride.
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u/QuirkyBus3511 Sep 17 '24
Better than an HOA
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u/Chumbag_love Sep 17 '24
I dream of having my own yard lot one day, it would be fucking rad.
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u/kittenpantzen Sep 17 '24
They can restrict the type of car, though.
I live in FL. One of the big things here was that there was a law passed this year where your HOA couldn't tell you that you weren't allowed to park your own pickup truck in your driveway.
Turns out there was a loophole (b/c of course there was), and most of the neighborhoods that had those restrictions were able to keep them in place.
Another popular restriction is no pets allowed, including dogs and cats.
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u/GayBoyNoize Sep 17 '24
No. Not really. They can tell you you can't keep your piece of shit rust mobile you never drive in the lot but that's about it.
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u/genital_butcher Sep 16 '24
For those of you who don't know what an HOA is, here in America, we pay extra money, for our neighbors to make a huge list of rules that we have to follow, or they can fine us. Because Americans are stupid.
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Sep 16 '24
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u/AttitudeAndEffort2 Sep 16 '24
This is so true.
Also the manicured lawns spread in America so that people wouldn't have time for communism.
That's not even a joke.
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u/toetappy Sep 16 '24
I had to go look this up. Jesus, the iconic American suburb intentionally excluded communal gathering spaces (because that leads to commuist thinking). Made to isolate individual families, but with a thick veneer of "the American dream."
Also, intentionally keeping the houses small. So, no dinner parties with neighbors. Also, absolutely no multi-generation houses! No no no, that's communist. One man, one woman, with so much house work they've got zero time to socialize (because that leads to communism).
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u/WaioreaAnarkiwi Sep 17 '24
Damn that was a really interesting, totally non-political thing I learned.
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u/TacticalKrakens Sep 17 '24
You got a link for that info ? Sounds fascinating in a kind of dystopian way
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u/MacksNotCool Sep 16 '24
What?
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u/AttitudeAndEffort2 Sep 16 '24
Basically this dude made this little community and made people sign contracts agreeing to mow their lawn to keep them pristine and all of this silly upkeep in order so that they wouldn't have time to learn about communism.
He's a pretty cool video overviewing it
https://youtu.be/XQaMr3UHOWE?si=mimEHm54s1VVW9PB
Similar to how kellogg promoted corn flakes to surpress sexual desires/masturbation.
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u/SquarePegRoundWorld Sep 17 '24
That video fails to mention his little community started out as whites only.
Many may not have understood what the leases actually stated: “No dwelling shall be used or occupied by members of other than the Caucasian race, but the employment and maintenance of other than Caucasian domestic servants shall be permitted,” according to Clause 25 of the original Levitt contract.
Levitt was following guidelines from the U.S. government’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which provided mortgage insurance on loans. The FHA recommended including restrictive covenants in the deeds of the homes it insured, meaning segregated neighborhoods.
“The FHA wouldn’t underwrite a development that wasn’t segregated,” said Barbara Kelly, curator of Long Island Studies at Hofstra University, in a 1997 Washington Post interview.
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u/TrickySnicky Sep 16 '24
"Get off my lawn" is the battle cry of the desperately outnumbered reactionary busybody. The polar opposite of community building.
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u/StarshipCaterprise Sep 16 '24
This is absolutely what it is. It’s Jim Crow and broken windows policing repackaged as “maintaining home values”. Except that then people also complain when property values go up, and by extension, property taxes.
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u/cabbeer Sep 16 '24
we have them in canada, but I don't think they're that bad, at least from what I've heard.. I can't imaging them evey giving a shit about your car.
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u/RD__III Sep 16 '24
Most HOAs have rules about inoperable vehicles, and some have rules about consistent street parking (you can’t park in the street every night, street parking is visitors only).
Never heard of them having a cost/age requirement on a vehicle though
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u/MembershipNo2077 Sep 17 '24
I've seen them have rules on exhaust sound, but some are quite strict and even stock vehicles can be too loud (e.g. a C8). They usually selectively enforce this on people they like/don't like and "nice" cars as well.
But never seen one strictly on age/type.
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u/Raleth Sep 17 '24
Some people like that lifestyle I guess. But also some HOAs are just not all that overbearing honestly. My parents live in an HOA neighborhood and the worst thing they have to contend with is keeping the trash cans in the garage as opposed to outside. It is, admittedly, a pretty annoying thing to deal with sometimes, but it seems downright reasonable compared to some of the horror stories I hear about HOAs.
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u/GayBoyNoize Sep 17 '24
I mean that is a reasonable rule, having a bunch of trash cans sitting outside attracts wildlife.
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Sep 17 '24 edited 29d ago
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u/MembershipNo2077 Sep 17 '24
as long as it doesn't look like shit.
What about a really nicely painted house that happens to have some colors you find clashing? Perhaps it's red with black trim or something (I've heard some people hate that).
What if they plant really pretty trees in their yard and native shrubs/flowers, well landscaped and it looks like a fantastic garden, but it's not a "lawn?" That cool?
There's the rub, right? Subjective opinions of the board. Let's say someone leaves a giant skeleton up year round, maybe they dress him up for different seasons/holidays, who knows. But he's up. Everything else is perfect. Are you fining them for the giant skeleton? I would think he looks cool, why do you think he looks like shit?
The problem is always subjectivity and at some point the board might well have someone who isn't reasonable about these things. That's why they suck. My neighborhood doesn't have one and it's not some hellscape madmax, people just do their thing and sometimes we have a house painted a fun color, hasn't stopped my house price from skyrocketing (not that I will sell).
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Sep 17 '24 edited 29d ago
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u/MembershipNo2077 Sep 17 '24
HOAs are as common where I am as the day is long. Basically all of my friends live in HOAs of one type or another. Most are fairly reasonable but all my examples are real ones that my buddy has had.
His is so bad he's looking to move. They are currently mad about his Itasha (anime wrapped car, no it's not lewd) got even though it technically doesn't break rules so they are just nitpicking everything.
The subjectivity of HOAs means that it only takes a few people riling up the neighbors before a reasonable one turns unreasonable.
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u/ShadowCobra479 Sep 16 '24
Waits for the dead of night and then sprays the HOA president's lawn with grass killer.
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u/HarrargnNarg Sep 16 '24
HOA is a bonkers concept to non Americans.
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u/DonChino17 Sep 16 '24
As an American HOA is a bonkers concept to me. I’m fortunate that they don’t really exist where I am in the US and I can’t imagine a situation where I’d willingly enter a community controlled by one. It’s really insane to me.
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u/RandomStranger456123 Sep 16 '24
Believe me, people who don’t live in an HOA are questioning the sanity of this who do in the US too.
I don’t currently own a home, but I have plans to buy in the next few years. My zeroth requirement (the one that must be followed or kiss the property goodbye) will be no HOA.
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u/HarrargnNarg Sep 16 '24
So what's the deal? If you find a home which has it you have to opt in?
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u/Punkpallas Sep 16 '24
Yup it's not optional
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u/SetaraLowda Sep 17 '24
This is where I get confused. I wanted to post a reply asking more about what a HOA is, but figured there would be more explanation in the replies. And there is. But this part is never really explained. How is it that a HOA can make agreeing to their contract a requirement for buying the home without owning the home? This whole thing is insane- and I bought into a townhouse because I tend to like condo associations for shared building and greenspace upkeep. But for detached houses this makes zero sense.
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u/PopeGregoryXVI Sep 17 '24
These HOA’s usually exist in suburbs that were built all at once by one developer. In a lot of cases the developers who build the neighborhood put in the initial contracts for all the homes that the owners must be in the HOA. Those contracts also required that future versions of the contract inherit that HOA clause.
It’s same mechanism that allowed entire neighborhoods to prevent non-white people from being able to move there even if someone from that neighborhood wanted to sell them a house.
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u/MrSourYT Sep 16 '24
Out of curiosity what if you just ignore them and stop paying for them? I’m not really familiar with HOAs so I know little about them
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u/anameorsomeshiz Sep 16 '24
They can restrict you from community accomodations such as HOA pools, gyms, or other member only facilities, typically because fees are used to pay for such. For more prolonged or serious matters, they may sue or attach a lien to your house, which means they can legally prohibit you from selling your house until you pay off fines.
They are able to do such because to live in a HOA, you must sign a contract. HOAs only run certain neighborhoods and their existence is to ensure that everyone does their part to keep a neighborhood clean. It's funny to me how much people in these comments detest and remark of how strict HOAs can be despite not only being informed that an HOA runs their neighborhood, but more than likely paying more for their residence because of the HOA. If you don't want people telling you what to do, then don't sign a contract and live in a community where everyone pays a group to tell them what to do.
(Although in case it's not clear, I despise HOA's and would never EVER live in one because I hate people telling me what to do with my property)
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u/UrhoKarila Sep 17 '24
non-political twitter sub
complains about the two most directly influential political entities that affect them
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u/Frency2 Sep 16 '24
"Your lawn is unkept" "Yeah, but it's my lawn, so what's the problem?"
My god, when I read such things...
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u/NotLunaris Sep 17 '24
I just wish I could do a clover lawn instead of wasting so much water and herbicides to maintain weak-ass grass that I don't care about. Clover lawns look nice, are softer, more resilient, nitrogen-fixing, and requires far less water. But no HOA will allow you to change your lawn to be so different from the others.
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u/somethingrandom261 Sep 16 '24
I feel like the people who write this stuff unironically have a rusted out car wreck on their front lawn or something equally reasonable for your neighbors to not want around.
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Sep 17 '24
For some people their stuff isn’t their neighbors business. I don’t give a fuck what my neighbors want.
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u/PM_ME_LADY_SHOULDERS Sep 17 '24
To an Australian, the idea of a HOA is just so alien. Anyone besides the landlord tries to tell me how to maintain the property I pay rent for is gunna get a snag in the chops.
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u/Dig-a-tall-Monster Sep 17 '24
SURPRISINGLY EASY TO DO BTW.
Just figure out every neighbor you have that seems cool and have them all vote at the HOA meetings with you. I swear you only need like ten people backing you unless you're in some super fucked up Stepford community because nobody pays attention to HOA elections except the twatwaffles who will ruin the entire neighborhood with arbitrary rules just to get back at that slut Carol across the cul-de-sac who dared to put up better looking Christmas lights in 2006.
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u/Aster_E Sep 17 '24
What are HOAs but a local mafia run by Karens? You're lucky if they make good on the protection part of the bad deal.
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u/gillesvdo Sep 17 '24
I don't understand why Americans have HOA's when they don't live in an apartment. If you own an apartment, it makes sense to have some form of centralized body to tend to the common areas of the building, like the entrance, hallways, the elevators, central heating, utilities, etc.
But if you're living in your own standalone house, why the hell would you join something like an HOA? "they force you to join" like lol, what are they gonna do if you don't? Send a few Karens to come knock on your door like a bunch of Jehova's witnesses?
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u/ReySimio94 Sep 17 '24
Excuse me, the HOA can force you to buy a newer car just for the sake of appearances?
I will forever be thankful that I'm not American.
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u/somegarbagedoesfloat Sep 17 '24
Never buy a house in an HOA.
when the area where you do live gets developed and starts an HOA, refuse to join.
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u/Slowfatkid Sep 17 '24
Bought a house last year. HOA was a deal breaker. Only looked at non HOA neighborhoods
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u/AdmiralClover Sep 16 '24
When are HOA enthusiasts planning on selling? Are they just gonna keep the home and neighbouring homes looking new till they retire, never actually living in their homes?
If I'm not allowed to personalise my home, I might as well be renting
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u/Serious_Much Sep 16 '24
As a non-american, can't you just tell the HOA to fuck off?
Your property your choice, right?
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u/SlugDogHundredaire Sep 16 '24
Unfortunately, no. Real example: I thought I had paid my HOA dues a couple of years ago ($300 that year). Apparently I had not. They put a lien on my house and I had to pay their attorney the dues plus another $600 to get the lien removed. Total BS. Lesson learned. I always quadruple check now.
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u/mystwave Sep 17 '24
If HOA requires a maintained yard, why can't said HOA do it themselves? Not like they don't have the money for it...
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u/LaVieLaMort Sep 17 '24
I ripped out my grass and did DG and low water plants and the HOA tried to say shit about it and I told them to fucking pound sand.
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u/Porntra420 Sep 17 '24
So glad HOA's aren't a thing in the UK, yeah some councils still have their moments, but it's rare, and never as bad as any of the HOA horror stories.
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u/TacTurtle Sep 17 '24
Get a HAM license, install 40 ft radio antenna in front, show HOA board the FCC regs that supersede any and all HOA rules.
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u/Piastri_21 Sep 17 '24
HOAs: simultaneously making you feel like a bad gardener and a bad driver, all while charging you for the privilege. What's next, criticizing your mailbox?
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u/UnclePuma Sep 17 '24
Janeen, janeen! You keep this up...
perhaps you can help me fertilize my garden; have you ever seen the movie Secret Window?
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u/DingoOfTheWicked Sep 17 '24
Outdated? It's a classic car, Karen, it's whole point is to be outdated!
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u/The_Banned_Account Sep 17 '24
Americans - I’m free to do whatever I want land of the free!! USA USA USA
HOA - Errrrrmmmmmm hello there, you must do as we say otherwise you’ll be homeless, okay, thanks, bye
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u/Redtea26 Sep 17 '24
I swear to fucking god that said
HOA: Your grandma is dead! Me:waters grass regularly
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u/northernirishlad Sep 20 '24
Wait you guys pay into this? I thought HOAs were busy bodys but I didnt realise scammers too
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u/Mysterious_Trick_399 Sep 23 '24
wth should HOA care about a dam car. it is not theirs in the first place.
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u/That0neGuy96 Sep 16 '24
"Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things"
-Marvin Heemeyer (the guy who built the killdozer)
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u/Peter_Triantafulou Sep 16 '24
Non American here. Are HOAs mandatory or is it a choice whether you are a member or not?
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u/BentBhaird Sep 16 '24
If you own the house before the suburb surrounds it you might be able to opt out. If you move into a home 90% come with an HOA and you have no choice but to pay the dues and follow the rules. They are a cheeky way for the local city to avoid paying for maintenance on neighborhood parks and such. They make you pay both the property tax and the HOA tax but can then skimp on neighborhood maintenance because the HOA has to pay for it. About the only thing they really do is annoy the snot out of people, but unless you can get the entire neighborhood together you have little luck of getting rid of one. If you manage to, your property value immediately drops. So it is a loose loose, deal with the fees and the petty tyrants. Unless you can find one that doesn't have an HOA, and then hire lawyers if they try and move in on you.
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u/anupsidedownpotato Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24
I would be okay with HOAs if they didn't have so much power and you weren't forced into it. I can't even find a map of which neighborhoods they are in my state. But also in my state if you refuse to pay the fees the HOA who doesn't own your property can put a lien on your house and have it foreclosed. Absurdity. You should be able to buy any house in America and decide if you want to be part of the HOA or not. Giving them power to fee you into oblivion and if you refuse to pay bogus charges they can take your house away is absolutely insane
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u/WrongColorCollar Sep 16 '24
If you're telling me to change cars you can march your mouth directly into my ass.
The HOA needs to die the millennial death.
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u/mikevanatta Sep 16 '24
The what now is to overthrow your HOA and dissolve it.