My family sold land to a developer in the 80’s and they built a nice little community that turned into an HOA, the HOA committee seems to think our family farm is part of the HOA…it is not…long story short is when we get stupid letters from them we file them with our lawyer and then fire up the old tractor and spread manure on our hay fields just to get them riled up.
I'm agree, but I live in a part of PA where HOAs are pretty much every community. It's almost impossible to get good property without dealing with these criminals in the Poconos
Yup remember the story he did a while back where a man's body was donated to charity and instead of going to science it was used in a live atopsy in a hotel convention room that creepers bought tickets to ...that was legal
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket You have some strange thinking. If something we are doing as a society is wrong, we should stand against it instead of allowing it and criticizing others for being preyed upon.
Yeah, they take too many of our freedoms away and nothing can be done about. We are helpless here in this world and our laws deprive us of every freedom we are supposed to have!!!!!!!!!!
My first house was in an HOA. That's back when I was young and couldn't see past the "Wow, I don't have to worry about mowing or snow removal!". Couple years down the road I realized I couldn't re-finish my own deck how I wanted. I realized I couldn't start a backyard garden. I couldn't even put planter boxes on my deck. I basically had no right to do ANY landscaping work at all. Then I realized the HOA could vote for even more rules and more restrictions. And the kicker was when I realized they could assess everybody exorbitant fees to cover things like "We need everybody to re-side their house, so here's your 6-months warning that you have to come up with $10k before the end of summer." Needless to say, I moved and made sure my new house had no HOA. I will NEVER live in an HOA again. An HOA might be OK for people who want to live life in a perfectly manicured neighborhood with no personality, but not me. In an HOA you don't really own your house. Not sure what the point of home ownership is if you want an HOA. Just rent. You'll have the same restrictions.
And don't those monthly HOA fees more than make up for lack of rent as well, on top of property taxes and mortgage if you have one? (no HOA thankfully here, no mortgage, and my property taxes are very reasonable. Looks like this year's is a tad over $1600, which I will slap on the CC soon.
My friend’s uncle has a condo in Southern California. They charge over $500 a month in dues, there is no pool, tennis courts, gardens, club house, no common area gardens, or any other amenities. Just a partially in ground parking area (private garages), an electric gate, and a dumpster. Where do the dues go?
We live next to a big HOA 5000+ homes. The hoa installed a sewer treatment plant 15 years ago and the county hooked up additional communities to it. An individual bought a house and tore it down to build what he wanted. The county approved the home with a pool and septic. The pool was installed then they went to install the septic and we’re told that it’s to close to the creek. So this man paid out of pocket to have his house connected to the sewer. The pipe was a 1/4 mile long and runs in front of our house. Fast forward to this week we are having problems with our septic so we asked what is required to hook up to the sewer. 1 we have to pay for the grinder pump $9000 2 we have to pay a contractor to connect to the pipe. 3 Because we weren’t invited to connect when the plant when it was built we have to “catch up”. 4 the privilege to connect to the pipe is going to cost us $14,000. Next we asked if we were going to be forced to connect they said no. When we asked for a permit to have our septic redone we were told they aren’t granting any permit for new or repair permits. In conclusion if you want to learn how to extort anyone just work for the state of Maryland. 😔☹️😞😕😡🤬
My parents bought the house I grew up in back in 1968. The HOA rules at the time were very mild, and contained no language that dictated that changes to the rules applied to any existing home owners. Over time, rules were added, changed, removed, etc. When the HOA tyrants tried to enforced rules that didn’t exist when my parents signed, they told the tyrants to pound sand. Of course, the tyrants claimed “the rules are the rules.” My parents, particularly my Dad, told them they signed a contract and would abide by the contract he signed, and nothing more. There was a rule added about 10 years after my parents bought the house that allowed the HOA to update/modify the rules without having to get renewed by-in. The tyrants often referred to the rule but my Dad stood his ground and pointed out the version he signed did not have any such provision and he would not abide by any changes or rules that did not exist at the time he signed. Of course the tyrants threatened legal action. But our nextdoor neighbor was a lawyer, and then a judge. He bought his house 5 years prior to us and knew the rules. He attended the meetings and laughed openly whenever the tyrants tried to pull their crap. They never did do anything to my Dad. When my parents sold the house 30 years later, in 1997, he was never so happy to get away from an HOA and their crap.
When they built a new HOA neighborhood behind my small ranch they go the zoning changed for the neighborhood but mine didn't change and when they started complaining about my rooster crowing the county told them I was zoned for livestock and even if my zoning was changed I would be grandfather in. It's been almost 20 and several roosters and new owners still complain and still get told it's not my problem.
I would do two things: 1, buy a shitload more roosters. 2. Send all who complained about you a very nice hallmark card thanking them for giving your cock so much attention they had to call other people about it. That might shut them up
"Get out of the HOA fee" and the other hand they are charging the new homeowner a "Welcome to the HOA" fee. So HOA double dipping on the same real estate transaction.
After you leave, wtf are they going to do? Put a lien on the old house? Go for it. HOAs don't have nearly as much authority as they claim / people think they do. That said, I would still NEVER EVER EVER buy a house with an HOA
@@gorak9000 they have alot of power while you own a home in them, as the deed has restrictions granting them it. Once you leave however, your right, they are boned. Best they can do is sue you, at their own cost, for the amount in the contract and not a penny more (no late fees, fines, etc). That said due to some of the weird powers they do have, failing to pay may actually void the sale of your property. Depends on the location and how thick the judge is.
Lol me picturing a guy with a sleazy looking pimp suit on... "Pleasure doing business with you" As he smiles and you catch light glinting off his gold teeth.
I once considered buying a house in an HOA that had, among many others, a vaguely worded bylaw to the effect of "bikes may only be ridden in the HOA for transportation purposes". I emailed the board and asked if that meant children couldn't ride bikes for recreation. My kids like to ride bikes. The board didn't write back. I didn't buy the house.
Good call. That rule was probably implemented specifically because they don't want kids riding around the grounds. Much better to find another place where the kids will be happier than to be the guy complaining about HOA rules.
I do kinda wonder, how else do you ride a bike for, other than for transportation? maybe haul a thing behind you for transportation? But even then you are riding it to transport yourself from point x to y, to keep goods safe.
Many HOAs won’t share their bylaws with shoppers; you only get a copy at closing. Are you supposed to stop the closing while you review the HOA book and then back out of the sale at the bank if you don’t agree? How are you supposed to be an informed home buyer if you can’t see all the obligations on the property?
As Steve said, HOA covenants are treated as contracts by the courts. You can't enter a contract that hasn't even been shown to you. Once you have decided you're interested in buying, you should be able to secure a copy of the obligations that come with the home purchase. If the association refuses to provide it, then yes, absolutely you should walk away. It would be the same as someone presenting you with a contract, and then refusing to allow you to read it. Signing would be foolish.
@@joesterling4299 How about they all post their rules and regulations in a manner easily accessible to ANYONE. HOA webpage, bylaws link. Super easy, barely an inconvenience.
I bought my first home in 1978 in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. The home was built in 1948. It didn't exactly have an HOA, but during the closing I was handed a poor photocopy of a several page, typed document and informed that these were the "Covenants." A few months later, I was filing some papers and took the time read the Covenants. I was astonished to read that the Covenants prohibited the sale of the home to "Negros, Mexicans and persons of the Jewish faith." We had a lovely Hispanic family living across the street from us, so I suspect that this article of the Covenants had not been enforced at least since the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. But it was an interesting historical artifact.
Yep...the deed to my grandparents home they purchased in the 40's (from the Swannanoa Corporation...a land company which was a subsidiary of the local coal company) contained the clause that the property "could never be purchased or rented by a Negro or of anyone with African descent."
That's an old old over from post ww2. Government would subsidize loans to get people to move to the 'burbs and that was written into the document. And it was meant to be there in perpetuity. But that's now illegal. Part of ye olde redlining.
I remembered reading a story about grandparents who had to take in their grandson after his parents were killed. The hoa evicted the grandson because he wasn't 55. Wonderful people at that hoa. I think the grandparents moved out.
@@froggergypsy4596 military should ban members from having kids until they leave the service just my opinion Or be boys with boys on ships and girls with girls on ships No more assaults
There are elderly communities that restrict younger people. That is for a reason as the community is for retorted people but not their family. I agree with this rule.
Any age discrimination should be illegal, either you are an adult or your aren't that's all that should matter. I'd say sue over it, but no one is dumb enough to sue to get into an HOA that will just take retribution once you're in. HOAs are trash, it's why I'll never live in one.
I've seen a HOA that sent fines to someone I knew because they had that coloured rear lighting that matches what's on their TV and the changing colours could be seen from the street and they were fined for having non-approved lighting colours. They ended up having to buy blinds (of an approved colour and style of course) that would block all leaking light to stop their nosy neighbours from narcing them out for watching TV the way they liked in their own home. Disgusting.
The way I see it, the fact that an HOA can foreclose on a property you “own” proved you don’t actually own it. I would never consider living in an HOA under any circumstances. I would rather be homeless.
Have friends that were in a HOA community that had the window treatment color approval issue and none of the colors would match their furniture or interior paint colors and the HOA (primarily president Karen) would allow a variance. The read the rules and there wasn't a requirement to have window coverings so they didn't put any up. My friends are naturists (nudists), not rules against being naked in your own home. After about 2 months, the color variance was approved.
Back in the day, I was a productive realtor. Whenever I took a buyer to see a potential home in an HOA subdivision, l'd first take them for a cup of coffee, and give them "The HOA Talk". I was good at convincing buyers to switch from a subdivision property, to a home with a 3 to 10 acres in the country. I always told them getting a home with acreage was a bit like a lotto ticket. Historically homes with acreage around cities appreciate more. I probably put around a hundred people into homes with acreage. I've been retired for a while, so I haven't checked up on many of them. We're in Austin Texas, so if they had kept their property, most of them are many millions of dollars better off. If you're young, buy a home with as much land as you can afford. Find a realtor who knows how to put deals together. If you're adventurous, buy a lot of land in a bad neighborhood, in a promising city. The average home my customers would have bought in HOA subdivisions, would have tripled in value. The average home my customers got with acreage would have gone up 2000% or more. No one can predict the future, but having some land under you, is a pretty safe bet. Before you know it 30 years will wiz on by, and you're retirement comfortable. Personally, I prefer a home where I can have a race car in the driveway, a fishing hole, and target range. Yeah I don't always have the best of neighbors, but there's so much distance from everyone else, that isn't really a problem.
Steve, I just want to point out: as much as it should be illegal under contract law, there are plenty of HOAs across the country that use various legal loopholes to prevent residents and potential residents from having any opportunity or avenue to read the actual bylaws and are still allowed to hold residents to those hidden bylaws. Most of those loopholes amount to using a clause that says "you have to obey x" and then the courts agreeing that they don't have to reveal what x says because it's not in the contract. Again, it should be a violation of contract law, because these things are supporting documents, but time and again weight of precedent has granted HOAs in multiple states this right to violate contract law as regards community bylaws in confidential withheld documents that can only be seen by the administrators of those HOAs.
ISPs do this as well. Comcast gets away with putting a link to terms and conditions in their contracts. They update the terms and conditions at will with no notice to customers, but because the link in the contract does not change they are somehow permitted to get away with it.
Yeah, do not buy a property without confirming either it's not in an HOA or you agree with the HOA rules. Assume the worst; every rule will be enforced, and then some. This includes condos, too.
Condos are usually worse than single family because single family neighborhoods often become more relaxed and the HOA may never meet except for a yearly rubber stamp required by law. Condo boards are there forever.
Even if you agree with the rukes: You must be OK with ANY arbitrary rules, that could be created in the future,. You are only ever ONE election away from a bad HOA board.
As the president of one of those good HOAs who regularly tell members that we are not the police, think it needs to be said that in many of these cases it is not the actual HOA or the board members who charge these ridiculous fees. It is the management companies that fully take advantage of every legality to rape homeowners. My association has 180 homes and we charge $300 a year. When I took over the board we had a management company that demanded we double the fees so that we could pay them, the management company, their absorbent fees. Obviously not everyone feels comfortable managing their on own HOA, but if at all possible I would highly recommend it. It is not uncommon for a management company to charge $20,000- $30,000 a year to do the bare minimum for a small community. They are the biggest ripoff scam out there.
My late wife was on oxygen. We had to keep a 50 gallon oxygen tank right next to our front door. She would fill her smaller portable one with this bigger tank. Because it was so heavy and bulky, we had to keep it by the front door, so when it needed to be refilled, the truck that did it would just pull up front, and not have to drag a big 5.5 foot tall tank around my house every other week. Oxygen is very flammable, so it was imperative that no one brought any open flames to the front of the house. Mind you this was a townhome, so I had a neighbor to one side (I was an end unit) so not only was it important to have no open flames for my homes safety, but my neighbors as well. Of course, if a 5o gallon tank were to explode, it would destroy our townhome, and the one to my left that was not connected. So, when I got the tank, it was a rule to put up a warning sign to warn others of this potential hazard. My HOA took a picture of the warning sign in the window (the small window over the front door had a 8x10 warning sign of the oxygen tank) and threatened to fine me for having an unapproved decoration displayed. I explained to them that if they were smart enough to read the sign, that they would know it was not decoration, and if they were smart enough to put an email together, then they were smart enough to reread it and see just how stupid it was. I told them that if they didnt care about my neighbors they would have to go tell them before I would take the sign down. Needless to say, they quickly dropped it, and I was never fined. I left Snoqualmie Ridge specifically because of their HORRIBLE HOA. I warn every person that thinks about moving out there that $600/month to be harassed for stupid shit is not worth the views.....
@@wayneegli8379 a pressure vessel can rupture. That is not the contents exploding. Oxygen is not fuel. It is an oxidizer. Its only role in combustion is allowing the fuel to burn. If there is no fuel, oxygen cannot burn. The danger is that in a high oxygen environment, many fuels can autoignite, and any fuel will burn more violently.
Can’t imagine selling myself into this. But then, I own my house for the purpose of having a roof over my head. I leave my neighbors alone and they leave me alone.
I get along with my neighbors they give me eggs from their chickens i give them tomatoes off my garden we both own part of a large forest and we let each other hike on the other’s land
I had to fire my last Real estate agent because he keeped showing me homes with hoa after i told him multiple times that i would not buy a house with a hoa no.matter how small or reasonable it was made out to be
Our condo (in Reston VA) was the first piece of real estate the wife and me ever bought. The condo HOA was ok - trying to do the right things to manage the complex. The RESTON HOA was straight out of Dante's Inferno - we didn't have to deal with them, but the condo board did. Reston was so picky that since they could look into the condo lobbies, they could dictate the color of the carpet. We never bought into one since, and never will again.
In my area, every house built in the last 50 years is in an HOA, there are literarily no acceptations at all. Choices are to either move to another city or buy something built in the 1950s.
This is my primary reason for never wanting to own and live in an HOA. Maybe is ok for an investment home I plan to rent, but I would never live in one I owned.
@@sphbecker Or build a new home in an older neighborhood. My current neighborhood near downtown Orlando was built up during the 30's to 50's and has no HOAs. Tear downs are a regular thing here with new houses sprouting up weekly.
@@WhiteG60 or simply that no bylaws can be changed unless all following procedures are followed: 1) A notice of the bill of intent is formally served to each member with reciept of delivery logged with a third party. 2) A formal re-election of at least 2/3rds of the board is held, including the presidential position with at least three unrelated candidates per position and at least 66% of the members present and accounted for at the election. 3) The new board then reviews and confirms or rejects the bill of intent to add or alter or remove a bylaw.
@@sphbecker Mine was built in 1900 as a boarding house for the steel mill that used to be on the other side of the tracks. In fact, it is a good bet that most of the homes in this neighborhood are from the 50s or earlier.
Years ago had an article of HOA that fined residents for non approved houseplants inside, HOA board members/managers were caught using camera on a stick to look into upper floor windows, had in HOA contract that they have authority to look into homes at any time.
I remember reading about that. HoA 'enforcers' would go around the neighborhood using selfie sticks to peer into the upper level units to inspect both the balconies and what they could see in windows looking for violations.
That last bit should be deemed unconscionable, as it is a violation of the Supreme Law of the Land (that 4th article of the Bill of Rights, that no contract can override.)
When i was shopping for a house about 10 years ago, i was ok with moving into an hoa neighborhood. I did, however, read the hoa documents before making an offer on a house. When i tried to get the hoa documents for one of the houses, the hoa management company told me the documents were not available to people that did not own property in the neighborhood. She said i would receive a copy at the closining. I quickly told my realtor that i would not consider a house in that neighborhood.
There are many old mines, wells, and holes in the hills; Plus the police departments are severely understaffed. Glad I grew up in the country and acquired this knowledge.
Just say NO to HOA. My Aunt bought her house outside Sacramento and 5 years later, she got a letter from the HOA telling her the "new window" next to the door was out of compliance. She had never replaced the window, it was that way when she bought the house 5 years earlier. HOA did not care and told her to change it to the "matching" window. Turns out it already was the matching window. HOA still wasted her time over months with this and had sent her fine notices of over $1000 on this window, which had never been touched and WAS in compliance. HOA, like many "elected" politicians, can be stupid. Just say NO to HOA. LOL My Aunt still lives there...now almost 20 years in. That HOA President was "removed" from office not long later. No issues in the last 15 years.
Unless it's already in the agreement that changes can be made without notice and are binding, and it will be considered as a contract, changes must be approved by those who agreed. But it takes a special kind of person to agree to that.
@@OneWildTurkey this kind of clause is standard in most HOA's or a clause that says the board/ committee of the HOA can change the rules when ever they want. you can argue that you could get on the board and convince others to undo something but as steve said, often these boards are controlled by people with nothing better to do or in more recent developments the developer.
You *can* do something about it. Run to be on the HOA board. I can guarantee you'll win, because so few people vote or volunteer to do so there's almost always unfilled positions.
I lived in military housing and when I tried to move, they couldn't conduct the inspection until 3 weeks after I wanted to move. That meant I had to keep renting until they got around to inspecting. Can you imagine a rental service where you have to rent until the company performs an action, which they can delay at will? They didn't understand why I was upset.
@@jdigi78 "MILITARY" they automatically pull the money from your pay if your not paying, it will also get recorded in your file that can get you denied a promotion you can also get hit with "Office Hours" basically a low level military court that can assign punishments, fines etc...
Im a very vindictive pr!ck, I would find a way to screw them over in about 2-3 years. Like sign them up for a Playgirl subscription, Readers Digest, & about 30 different subscriptions, sent to their personal house. Its a huge P.I.T.A. to get resolved. Anyone can do that to anyone who p!sses in your cornflakes..js...
I had housing at Fort Irwin try to do this to me when I was ETS'ed out of the Army. They tried to tell me I had to keep paying for 4 weeks after I left LMFAO they got nothing from me as I was now out, I called them up and told then to go F themselves I refused to pay. Nothing they could do as I already ETS'ed and had my golden ticket (DD-214).
@@ghostshadow9046 Exactly. If I, as a civilian, overdraw my checking account, I pay a fee to my bank. If a member of the Army overdraws their checking account, they pay a fine to the bank, AND can face an Article 15 hearing, resulting in potential loss of 1/3 of monthly pay for months, and other penalties. And this can happen to you even if the person who overdrafted your account is your spouse or child.
True story. I had such a bad time with my HOA because I am a gun owner that after almost a year of harrassment I let the house go into foreclosure rather than deal with them one more day. Probably not the best way of handling that situation but very satisfying. BTW I also live in Fort Mill, SC
OK I have a question for you suppose you live in an HOA you’ve been there for over 20 years. And you have a homeowner next to you Who rents out the home out too people who are always partying and rude. You complain to the HOA but on the HOA they happen to have a friend who is the homeowners Association President now they turn on you saying that you lied and they wanted to charge you $1400 in attorneys fees when you have proof on your security camera that you are telling the truth but they don’t allow you to tell your side of the story. how does one fight the HOA back Especially when you’re being bullied by them any advice would be greatly appreciate it
You did a great job listing issues with HoAs and there’s still three more issues I’m seeing with mine. 1) A lot of homes are now owned by REITs and property management companies, who have a legal team on staff. So if you think the rules about everything looking just so are great because it polices your neighbors, nope. Unless you have 20k to spend on lawsuits, you’re bound, but your corporate neighbor can probably get out of anything they want to with enough litigation that you have to pay for from your dues. 2) There’s really no standard of service required from HoA unless you can pay for lawsuit. They apply your check to your neighbor then never send you a late notice so you find out 3 months later when it goes to collections with their special HoA collections law firm that will now charge you daily legal fees? Grats on your extra 1k bill. Cable company you can refuse to pay and leave bad reviews until they forgive, but HoA can just charge you daily late fees and take your house. 3) A bad board can use the strictest interpretation of the rules to “drive out” anyone they don’t want in the neighborhood. $100 fines if your trash can is outside after 5pm on garbage fee or there is a single lone weed mixed in your grass. Great tool for racists, classists, ageists, various types of phobe.
Some of these HOAs need to be seriously reined in. That's an example of nothing more than a money grab because they can. We have a similar issue in our mostly benign HOA. The board decided it was a good idea to pass along fines for a property to new owners. So imagine this situation: you have a truly miserable neighbor that never cuts their grass, has loud parties, parks their cars on everyone else's property, throws trash everywhere, and is nothing less than a nuisance. After months of asking them to shape up the HOA reluctantly decides to impose a fine. The neighbor wracks up $7500 in fines which are essentially punitive in nature. The neighbor finally moves, new neighbors move in and clean the place up, then get a $7500 bill that was left over from the previous owner. The fine was intended as incentive to clean up the property but the HOA instead was fixated on dollar signs. The situation doesn't improve anything and nothing is gained except bad will and a few extra dollars that aren't needed. That's a broken system.
If the amount was revealed to the buyer ahead of time, that would be fine, because they could factor it in to negotiating the price. It should probably be done as a lien on the property. If it wasn't disclosed ahead of time, I don't think they could enforce it unless they actually had a lien, in which case I don't know the laws on liens.
hoa's should be outlawed. we started a couple wars a few hundred years back because we didnt like being told what to do on our own land, why should we put up with it now?
OK I have a question for you suppose you live in an HOA you’ve been there for over 20 years. And you have a homeowner next to you Who rents out the home out too people who are always partying and rude. You complain to the HOA but on the HOA they happen to have a friend who is the homeowners Association President now they turn on you saying that you lied and they wanted to charge you $1400 in attorneys fees when you have proof on your security camera that you are telling the truth but they don’t allow you to tell your side of the story. how does one fight the HOA back Especially when you’re being bullied by them
I've only had an HOA once - when I was much younger and dumber and bought my first house without knowing any better. It didn't take long to make make me want out when they tripled the monthly dues to $375/month - and that was only beginning of my HOA woes. I moved into a non-HOA neighborhood as soon as I was able, and will NEVER live in an HOA again. To me, a cardboard refrigerator box under a bridge would be preferable to an HOA. At least I didn't get a bill for leaving. As for the rule book, that came in the form of what I can only guess was 6th generation mimeograph copies. Most of the pages were just unreadable splotches of ink on the paper. I asked, repeatedly, for clean, readable copies, but they never arrived.
My baseline question always is: How neurotic do you have to be to feel the need to, and the love of, living in an ultra-conformist neighborhood with no individuality in the houses and yards? Where anyone who doesn't comply is severely punished? Anybody who really *wants* this has problems. Different from I wanted that house and it happened to have an HOA.
On the flipside are those of us who don't want to live next to a yard full of abandoned boat trailers, chickens crowing at all hours, neighbors running yard sales every day, and trash stacked up all over. That's what HOA's prevent. Sure, some of them overstep. But they serve a useful purpose.
The HOA is there to own the shared parts of the community, and to protect the builder while they sell homes before all the other homes are finished. Read the HOA documents and don't move there if you don't like it, just like you should read your deed and not buy the home if it doesn't include the property you think it does. It isn't that difficult.
I brought one home in 2012 in Illinois and it was not disclosed we had an HOA. Now, we never had an issue with them, but I was upset it was not disclosed, and we only found out when the Board President made a welcome visit. My second home I purchased in 2017, we made for damn sure we didn't have an HOA! I don't like HOAs, for those that do good for you. I will not have anyone policing me about my property, what is should look like, so on and so on.
It happens right now. It's called City or Municipal Government. Then you can add in the busybodies like the Environmental wackos and the Historical nuts. A guy I work with tried to get a permit to have a tree on his property removed. The person who handled the permits was also the head of the local Environmental group and his permit was denied. Three months later the tree came apart in a windstorm and almost destroyed his house. The same clown cited him for having a tarp on his roof while waiting on it to be repaired.
@@jimcDelta Yes, limited government is best. But that wasn't the purpose of the OP's comment, which is along the lines of all the other self-congratulatory comments you see on any video about HOAs. He meant he would only buy outside an HOA, which is his right, but you can miss out on good investment opportunities if you don't consider owning in an HOA.
I lived in a condo that had 3 HOA (Condo, drainage and landscaping for master planned community) cost me over $1k to get all the documents emailed to the buyer. We moved to a house with not HOA and we will never go back to an HOA.
I remained the President of my HOA in Colorado for more than 8 years simply to keep the rest of the board from making a bunch of silly rules. I had Veto power. Ironically, about the same time I left the two board members that wanted to make all the rules were selling their homes too, so perhaps the rest of the residents still have sane reasonable rules to follow. My Wife sold her home in Iowa and the HOA tried to asses her a transfer fee. I told them the buyer could pay that, we would not.
I would never be part of an HOA. I do mean NEVER. Entering in to a binding agreement that could change at the whim of someone named Karen without cause or reason is something I'm not up for. Especially when it's about my home. Anyone entering any contract sight unseen is foolish. I'm surprised a house would ever sell under those terms.
Ignorant comment. HOA's can't make up rules on a "whim". The board has to go through a process, and then they get applied. And if you don't like them, take a seat on the board and change the rules. Yes, if you enter into a contract without reading it, that would be foolish. Here's a tip: If you're considering buying a property in an HOA, read the rules before you decide. Genius idea, right?
@@beakt Bob's the president, jim, secretary and joanna is Bob's sister, the third person on the board, all good friends. They get to not liking you and you have something in your yard they don't like and they got nothing to harass you about... They will make a new rule, on a whim... Also, Read some other comments, by laws are not always available to prospective buyers.
@@N942UW You're right. You know why? Because I didn't like how the HOA was being managed, and there were stupid rules that needed to be repealed. Instead of going on TH-cam comments and whining about HOAs as if I'm some sort of hero, I got on the board and repealed the stupid rules and put in a lot of work to find and hire a new management company that is much better than our old one.
Neal Boortz used to say on his radio program that each year two HOA's in the USA should be selected at random and if they have more negative complaints than letters of thanks the offending HOA board would be lined up and executed in a televised public display.
Yeah, but then people like me would just write in letters of complaint because _screw them._ Some might argue that's the system working as intended, but...
There's an HOA that was making people leave their garage doors OPEN. I love to hear stories where people were there before an HOA took over and they refuse to join, so they end up in court...
The old president of the HOA understood that there are six houses on our street that are not part of the HOA. When the new president took over, she came and knocked on our door (during the pandemic, no less) demanding we make a whole huge list of changes. She had my elderly father so confused, because we deliberately never bought into the HOA. She had him believing that we had been basically grandfathered in against our will (which is not a thing) and we now had to make all these changes. When I got home, I find her at the front door talking to my elderly father like he's a child, and my poor father just about near tears because he's so confused. I initially tried to calmly explain to her that the HOA ended at literally the house next door, and our property and the next five properties were not part of the HOA. She insisted I was wrong, and I told her to maybe contact her lawyer and get a copy of the map, as well as any documents my father supposedly signed which put him in the HOA. She left but got petty after that because she figured out she was VERY wrong and started getting code enforcement to come out every couple of weeks. Every time either she or the code enforcement officer would come out, it would horribly upset my father and it took DAYS to get him calmed back down. I finally told them if they came back one more time, I was pressing charges against the HOA and the city for harassment and trespassing, and I would consider adding pain and suffering since they seemed to take glee from upsetting my father as badly as they kept doing so. The code enforcement officer got the message, but the HOA president didn't until my dad actually called the police on her and she did get trespassing charges slapped against her (she might have friends in code enforcement, but I have friends in the police department). The HOA voted a new president in pretty soon after and we've had no problems for the past few months, but it was an eye opening experience, that's for sure.
The thought that an organizations like HOAs, that can control pretty much any aspect of your property, and can CHANGE THE RULES after you purchase, is at all permitted in the USA boggles my mind.
OK I have a question for you suppose you live in an HOA you’ve been there for over 20 years. And you have a homeowner next to you Who rents out the home out too people who are always partying and rude. You complain to the HOA but on the HOA they happen to have a friend who is the homeowners Association President now they turn on you saying that you lied and they wanted to charge you $1400 in attorneys fees when you have proof on your security camera that you are telling the truth but they don’t allow you to tell your side of the story. how does one fight the HOA back Especially when you’re being bullied by them
@@richard5981 with your own lawyer, i'd wager. more ammo for my 'dont join an hoa' arsenal. seriously, i've never heard about any hoa ever that didn't eventually try to fuck someone over. if it hasn't happened yet, just give it time.
@@richard5981 To be clear (in case it wasn't) I very against the idea of HOAs. As for your theoretical, I've got no clue. I think you're only recourse, assuming there's no chance of proving illegal actions are happening, would be to leave (and pay some crazy 'leave' fee where applicable)
My fun HOA story (actually my parents'): their HOA stipulated that the HOA would be responsible for regular road maintenance. Given that this HOA was a community that crawled about 2 miles up a pack-n-seal/gravel mountain road, that seems like an important bylaw. Turns out, though, that the bylaw is satisfied by mowing the strips of grass next to the road. We found that out the fun way when the road was more pothole than road and the HOA refused to repair it. We took the HOA to court over it, and the judge declared that it was enough for them to mow the side of the road -- that counts as road maintenance.
When we were looking at houses I specifically said no HOAs. Passed up a few nice houses because it was in an HOA. So I’m reality the HOA actually brought down the value of the house! For me anyway.
Not just for you. HOA properties on average appreciates much slower than non HOA properties. In otherwords, they actually hold down your property value than otherwise.
@@taoliu3949 That's only going to accelerate as more people experience the "joy" of living in in HOA. People won't be able to give houses away in HOA's eventually, and the demand for non-HOA houses will go up. It's only a matter of time
I have never lived in a home with a HOA nor will I ever do so. The two things I tell any realtor helping us look for a home is one, NO HOA, and two, No restricted deeds. My sister bought a house only to find out their deed prohibited putting up a fence. I have seen deeds that prohibited adding another building, including a shed. I'm looking at farm land right now and I am requiring that the mineral right be included.
One thing to keep in mind is that while you can change things that aren't pre-approved by submitting a request, you really need to look at what that request process is. It can be extremely daunting to the point it looks like you need a lawyer, landscape architect, and someone with a PhD anti-obfuscation just to submit a request.
As someone from the UK it makes me laugh when Americans call it the land of the free but you cant even change the colour of the blinds without a fine. HOA in the UK are not a thing and frankly im baffled as to why they exist. Other countries get on fine without them.
My sister was in an HOA that passed a rule about the paint people could use to paint their houses, only allowing one specific brand and only a certain range of colors, without informing the residents or allowing for a vote on the matter by the residents. It just so happened that the only source for that paint within 100 miles was owned by the HOA director's husband, and that the paint was marked up to about three times it's price in the rest of the country, at over $150/can. That was an expensive mess. My sister is now thankfully out of that home and HOA, and she, along with the rest of the family, swears against ever buying a house in a HOA area again.
Our old neighborhood HOA kind of charged money when you left. They had scholarship money set aside for kids enrolling in college and that was nice to apply for. But when you sold your home, 1% of the selling price went into that fund. It was in the contract when we signed, so there it was. The kicker was that we sold that house and moved 1 year before our oldest went to college. We never got any value out of that fund, but we definitely paid into it.
Years ago we built a custom home in an HOA which had an exterior paint color pallette but the wording about the colors was vague. OK and not OK Examples were displayed such as; brown, grey, sand were considered OK and colors like pink, purple, yellow, etc. were not OK. What they said to me was the exterior of the home colors must be compatible with the colors of nature. We painted the exterior wood trim white and the HOA board had a conniption stating we were violating the color pallette. At great expense they insisted we have the trim repainted. I met with the board and asked them to be more specific on what was meant by 'the colors of nature.' They showed me pictures of sand, several earth tones and the like. I showed them several pictures of snow and stated, 'those pictures of snow are considered colors of nature.' I never heard another word about us having to change our color except they did add white as a not OK to the color sample . Our exterior white home color was grandfathered in. lol
This is what I'll never understand about HOA's. I've had to rent apartments for years and the very thought of grey and beige paint makes me hemorrhage internally. It's the colour you choose specifically to be bland and uninteresting. "Welcome to our town! You'll see it's devoid of any character or joy and is depressing af! And that's how we like it... Also, that'll be $600 a month for the privilege of us forcing you to be just as depressed and boring as the rest of the town, ty very much."
@@archygrey9093 I think this often too. You often hear people who make up pros to living in an HOA say "No ugly Blue or Green houses!" Like... If blue and green offend you, you shouldn't live in a house at all, what you need is a deeeeep bunker or cave, because the sky is gonna blue and the plants are gonna green, and no amount of being a nosey, horrible Karen is going to change that.
In a story authored by Judy Dutton dated Jan 9, 2018 an Auburn, CA HOA at Auburn Greens issued residents a letter demanding that they leave their garage doors up from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily Monday through Friday to prove that no one is living in the garage or else they face a $200 fine.
Finding the "perfect" home is like finding the "perfect" life partner. Do lots of critical thinking research and put the human reaction of "love" on the back burner until you know all the facts. It'll not only save you money, but emotional distress as well.
Politicians are trying to rid schools of teaching Critical Thinking. Seriously, I have heard politicians making speeches about it. And I am not talking about Critical Race Theory, but the ability to think through problems.
In a world where some foreign corporation is not on the way to buy the house out from under people needing a place to live just so the corporation can 'pump-n-dump' for profit, careful consideration of a home is a prudent plan. But today's market is all about artificial scarcity, leading to people jumping the gun, offering tens of thousands of dollars over asking price, and buying broken structures just to be sure to actually HAVE a home.
My aunt was in an hoa neighborhood for almost two decades then it fell apart because everybody stopped paying the fee. The street lights got turned off and the hoa died.
When we lived in La Palma, California, there was a city ordinance prohibiting HOAs. La Palma is small and the city decided it could make rules so that HOAs are irrelevant. Where we now live, there is an HOA. It maintains some of the boat docks, the parks, and has architectural approval. One annoyance is when they want color samples when we repaint our trim the same color it has been for 30+ years and the stucco the original La Habra Stucco Co. color. (when we moved in I got a La Habra Stucco color sheet and found the color. That makes patches and painting match.)
Steve, ya, read EVERYTHING! Was a senior buyer, read lots of contracts. Anything not clear or “fishy”, went to legal. Last house I bought, present one, I chopped up the offer to purchase, lawyer made one minor change. The realtor said, they’ll never accept this. Nothing unreasonable. Boy, was she surprised when accepted. In Canada by the way. If you don’t understand, ASK. Everything should be as clear as optical glass!
I will never live in a HOA again. Sold a home in 1 many years ago and purposely picked a home without one. I remember when neighbors talked about forming one I said I will refuse to join it and not a damn thing they can about it. Ultimately about 6 of us said no way and they never formed one even though 20 others wanted one.
I fired two realtors because they kept trying to show me HOA homes despite my insistence against them. One of the realtors even showed me one and said it was not an HOA home to get me to go see it, but there was a flyer on the counter top upon getting there that introduced the perspective buyer to the mandatory HOA. HOAs are not for me because I like freedom - as much as I can scrape up!
I have a question; I once bought a house that I was told was not in an HOA, and no there was HOA paperwork at closing. But shortly after moving in I was hit with the HOA welcome group giving me the by-laws. And appears they were there and that the neighborhood was registered as such and if i refused to comply they could put a lien on my property. Lawyer told me this was legit. I have since sold the house and the HOA was not problem, they were a laid back, they just wanted the dues to upkeep a neighborhood playground. So the question is if you are not told you are buying a house that is in an HOA, and you see no paperwork stating that, are you still bound by the HOA?
That would be a matter of state law. And didn't you say a lawyer already answered that? Why would you take a poll on youtube to get the answer to a legal question a lawyer already answered for you?
@@darrennew8211 I did not press the issue, this case the HOA was not a bother, so I was more annoyed than anything. I mean the dues were only $100 a year. In my area apparently the HOA incorporation are on file in the county records, and follow the property whether you are informed our not. I was more curious as to what shuld be the case in informing you there is an HOA, shuld you be told, or just be ambushed by it?
I had a friend move into an HOA. He wanted to paint his house, picked out the color from the list they approved BUT it turns out they get to pick the color from the list so they don't have too many houses with the same colors.
Exactly the same issue I had in North Texas. Twice annual fee to get out. And of course they get the new buyer to prepay upon entry. Its a money grab with no added value.
HOAs - the bane of owning a property. When I bought my house I was forced to sign a document saying I would hold the realtor harmless for insisting that I did not want to see any HOAs properties. Turns out this state thinks its discrimination to not want an HOA encumbered home.
The discrimination angle is more about realtors engaging in real estate steering. "Oh this minority family wouldn't be interested in this gated community because it has an HOA." It's not a problem of discriminating based on HOA/no HOA, it's that it can be seen as being indirectly influenced by one of the protected classes of the fair housing act. (race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, disability) Not that it really matters in the end as so many realtors engage in it and no one ever seems to receive any kind of repercussions from it. Time and time again there will be news stories about sending two different people with similar income and preferences to the same realtor and getting noticeably different suggestions and properties with the only objective difference being race.
I lived in a brand-new condo building in Calgary, Alberta. They were literally finishing the top (4th) floor for occupancy when we moved into the main* (1st) floor. Shorty there after, the 2 buildings in the complex were sold to a new "management company" (Boardwalk Developments). Remember that name, and run if you encounter them. They promptly posted their company signage all over the building, with new (not negotiated in our original contract) rules and policies. We made immediate steps to move. I was moving car-loads of small stuff to the new place after I finished work, I was told I had to pay $150 move-out fee for elevator lock-out (1st floor ?) and "open door" fee.
They always use the argument protecting property values. In my mind, an HOA would actually reduce property values for exactly the reasons you are describing.
I got a letter from our HOA's new management company to let me know the yard needed to be mowed. I checked the date of their "inspection". It was a couple days after my lawn service mowed. I get all my mail at a PO Box, so I know what happened, the management company saw that and figured absentee owner, he doesn't know if the lawn is mowed or not. I kept all the documentation knowing if I ever have some problem with the management company I have a get out of jail card.
@@paigeb1318 There are 55+ HOA's too and you don't want to be in the pool or spa too long, lots of those dumb residents are going in with their diapers on (or not).
MY HOA charges fees because WE own and maintain the streets in our community, TWO pool complexes (with spas), full time security (it's a gated guarded senior community in Palm Springs), saunas, gymnasium, library, sports complex (including tennis courts), rec center, and a passel of other things. The HOA can KINDA be pricks about some things, but they mostly let people just live their own lives. Garth, don't be a little prick! Your kids probably crap in the pool more than any seniors.
@@maxsdad538 That shows how much sense it makes to be in an HOA. You fund for the streets and maintain them, need security because the city police will not patrol in an HOA. You pay the same property taxes even though the HOA fees charge for the same so its duplicate cost. I see no reason to consider someone a prick because their neighbors are going into the pool with their depends on, or not. My kids know better, they got trained Mr. expert.
I recall back in ‘08-‘09 after the mortgage collapse we were looking at properties in FL as the bottom just fell out of the pricing. There were just hundreds of houses that were previously appraised at over $300k that were selling for $60k-$100k, with some as low as being in the $30k range and some homes even previously valued into the $500ks. We looked at quite a few and even made an offer or two and we quickly determined HOAs weren’t for us as there wasn’t one that would give us a copy of the bylaws and rules/requirements before you signed a purchase contract; we said look we aren’t even making an offer or signing anything without the rules first, because you don’t know what you’re getting. We even looked at a house that I think was originally assessed at like $360k and was beautiful outside and then when we went in it was completely torn up with broken walls and pipes and wiring being removed, there were no lights left and just couldn’t believe how bad it was, but it was beautiful on the outside. It’s amazing that things seem to be right back to what it was like before the crash and yet, again, people are talking about how things are only ever going to get more expensive so you better buy now. I think we’re a few years away from another market reset as values are just so overly inflated right now, or maybe this is just are future.
My condo hoa takes out a fee that usually happens when moving. The fee is to cover the expenses the hoa has for updating the record of what and how much any apartment are mortaged and to what bank. They have some costs related to that and since many have a mortage when you move you need to pay the fee to have that removed from the record, and the new owner has the s as that one usually have a mortage when moving in. But can also happen if you do some big changes in the mortage like taking out a other one. That is reasonable and points to a direct cause and reason and only happens to the ones using that service. If you have no mortage then no fee. A general "move out fee" is horrible!
I am in a hoa and I am mostly happy. Some hoa’s are better than other. My worst experience is in historic neighborhoods that are not hoa’s, but can be more restrictive doe to historic covenants. Our hoa pretty much let’s everyone do what they want and just maintains the yards and common areas
For now - just wait until Karen gets on the board. Why would you risk the uncertainty? The only rule with HOAs is - if it has an HOA, just say "NO WAY"! Simple (and it rhymes)
Depends on the hoa. Our hoa bylaws require 75% of the homeowners to agree to any bylaw change and 66% to increase any dues. The board of five need a majority to spend money, but they can only spend what they have collected. They can’t collect anymore unless most homeowners agree
@@gorak9000 you said what I came here to say. For now, indeed. These things can change at any time without any warning, but you can never be rid of the HOA.
My hometown. The HOA is owned by Clear Springs Development. One of the Springs developers (Will Close) has been arrested a few times for cocaine trafficking. The mom however, is near saint status in Fort Mill.
The son Elliott Close, one of the HOA owners, ran for Senate . That family owns most of Fort Mill. The own Spring's Mills . Once one of the largest textile mills in the world.
@@50jakecs Govt is shorthand for government. An HOA governs the land inside of it... In other words, it's essentially a form of government (governing body of a nation/state/community), which sits below a local government in terms of hierarchy. Federal>State>Local>HOA. This means it *is more government. They charge you money, which is more taxes (compulsory contribution to revenue for a government) to pay. So more taxes. There are plenty of examples out there of HOAs pulling stupid BS. That's more BS. What, exactly, is your issue with this guy's comment?
Two things: 1. I'm a Realtor. I always offer to read the CC&Rs for my buyer clients during their transaction. Some accept and some don't. Not being an attorney, I only slept them to items that look out of the ordinary and suggest they speak with an attorney if they have a concern. 2. I'm also on my HOA Board. I fight to ensure we don't have garbage restrictions or garbage fees. Serving 9 out of the last 10 years, we've been able to not increase our annual fees at all. That will likely change in the next year or two but so far so good. So, we're one of the good HOAs. There are awful ones though. We budget based on fee and fine revenue. Revenue from fines (for the few areas we do stongly enforce) has actually been our hedge on inflation. That an HOA would have an "exit fee" like this is money grabbing and selfish. There is a "resale certificate" fee that is charged to the buyer's side in a transaction but it's minimal to cover the processing expenses of our community management company and add $100 to the general fund. In 10 years there have only been two complaints about the fee and we simply tell people to research what other HOAs charge at sale. They shut up when they learn we're charging about 1/2 of what the next lowest community charges. I'm not a fan of overregulation but in this area, some people get greedy for some reason. READ ALL GOVERNING DOCUMENTS BEFORE BUYING INTO AN HOA! You'll avoid the bad ones and look forward to living in a good one.
No such thing as a “good” HOA. But if people are dumb enough to live in one, then they need to learn the hard way. Any group of nobodies that feel the need to tell people what they can or can’t do with their own property deserve to catch a bus when they walk across the street.
I live in a good HOA. My realtor provided all of the CCR info and other disclosures before the closing. Learned that we have an airspace easement due to light aircraft flight paths, lol. Previous neighborhood was turning into an eyesore so I welcome the hoa rules to preserve our values.
You may be one of the good ones but most real estate agents, closing officers and HOAs are really good at controlling the narrative, the goal is to get the deal done and collect their cut for the least possible effort. Offers to read the documents or allow time to review them are often insincere and there is huge pressure on the client to comply and not ask questions. It isn't by accident that all of this is saved until the last minute when the clients financial and emotional stake is the highest. As I said, you may be better than this but this is what the real estate industry has created and it is intentional.
This reminds me of the “Exit Tax” levied by the great state of NJ. Simply, if you sell a residence and don’t buy a replacement within state, then you owe NJ a percentage of the sale.
I think the HOA need to be put under the 14 amendment and Constitution. Because basically they are a form of a local government. You pay taxes (HOA Fees) They can take your house for not paying fines or HOA fees You get fined. (They can enforce punishment on you.) You can (for the most part) elect your board members, or maybe vote on bi-laws I wonder what the legal arrangements would be to treat all HOA as a local government, and enforce the Constitution on them.
I am glad I am not in a hoa. I have heard where a person who owned the house through family for decades, ended up almost out of their property because the hoa didn’t like the homeowner not paying dues plus the land was worth a bundle so the hoa while the family was away had changed locks, forged the signature of the homeowner so they could put a lien on the home and sell it. The reason they didn’t get away with it was because when they went to court, they had to show the name on the paperwork and the name was misspelled and signature did not match so the hoa got hammered so bad they had to disband because they couldn’t pay the judgement. Also just so u know the family didn’t pay the dues because they never were a part of the hoa.
My family sold land to a developer in the 80’s and they built a nice little community that turned into an HOA, the HOA committee seems to think our family farm is part of the HOA…it is not…long story short is when we get stupid letters from them we file them with our lawyer and then fire up the old tractor and spread manure on our hay fields just to get them riled up.
Love it!
Hahaha
Fresh country air! lol
Plant poison ivy along the fence line. 😁
@@equallawandorder5393 noooo…..morning glory or bamboo
To me an HOA is an absolute reason to not buy a house. When I bought my house the relator was told first off "No HOA"
I'm agree, but I live in a part of PA where HOAs are pretty much every community. It's almost impossible to get good property without dealing with these criminals in the Poconos
Relator?
Never live in a hoa area
@@TomSestilio Search older neighborhoods, that is how I have avoided them. Also sometimes older homes in HOA neighborhoods haven't joined.
Where I live, it's super hard to find a home not within an HOA. But there's no way I'm buying a house within an HOA again.
Just because it's legal doesn't make it right.
Just because it's right, doesn't mean it's legal. 😒
Yup remember the story he did a while back where a man's body was donated to charity and instead of going to science it was used in a live atopsy in a hotel convention room that creepers bought tickets to ...that was legal
@@hattielankford4775 If somebody's not getting paid it's illegal , for sure .
@@GeorgeWashingtonLaserMusket You have some strange thinking. If something we are doing as a society is wrong, we should stand against it instead of allowing it and criticizing others for being preyed upon.
Yeah, they take too many of our freedoms away and nothing can be done about. We are helpless here in this world and our laws deprive us of every freedom we are supposed to have!!!!!!!!!!
My first house was in an HOA. That's back when I was young and couldn't see past the "Wow, I don't have to worry about mowing or snow removal!". Couple years down the road I realized I couldn't re-finish my own deck how I wanted. I realized I couldn't start a backyard garden. I couldn't even put planter boxes on my deck. I basically had no right to do ANY landscaping work at all. Then I realized the HOA could vote for even more rules and more restrictions. And the kicker was when I realized they could assess everybody exorbitant fees to cover things like "We need everybody to re-side their house, so here's your 6-months warning that you have to come up with $10k before the end of summer." Needless to say, I moved and made sure my new house had no HOA. I will NEVER live in an HOA again. An HOA might be OK for people who want to live life in a perfectly manicured neighborhood with no personality, but not me. In an HOA you don't really own your house. Not sure what the point of home ownership is if you want an HOA. Just rent. You'll have the same restrictions.
HOA's are for people that want to be controlled they want someone else to dictate how they live.
And don't those monthly HOA fees more than make up for lack of rent as well, on top of property taxes and mortgage if you have one? (no HOA thankfully here, no mortgage, and my property taxes are very reasonable. Looks like this year's is a tad over $1600, which I will slap on the CC soon.
Renting is better than hoa
You still have renters rights
Hoa is naziland no rights like Talmud folks
My friend’s uncle has a condo in Southern California. They charge over $500 a month in dues, there is no pool, tennis courts, gardens, club house, no common area gardens, or any other amenities. Just a partially in ground parking area (private garages), an electric gate, and a dumpster. Where do the dues go?
@@princessmarlena1359 Into the pocket of the corp that owns the HOA.
We live next to a big HOA 5000+ homes. The hoa installed a sewer treatment plant 15 years ago and the county hooked up additional communities to it. An individual bought a house and tore it down to build what he wanted. The county approved the home with a pool and septic. The pool was installed then they went to install the septic and we’re told that it’s to close to the creek. So this man paid out of pocket to have his house connected to the sewer. The pipe was a 1/4 mile long and runs in front of our house. Fast forward to this week we are having problems with our septic so we asked what is required to hook up to the sewer.
1 we have to pay for the grinder pump $9000
2 we have to pay a contractor to connect to the pipe.
3 Because we weren’t invited to connect when the plant when it was built we have to “catch up”.
4 the privilege to connect to the pipe is going to cost us $14,000.
Next we asked if we were going to be forced to connect they said no.
When we asked for a permit to have our septic redone we were told they aren’t granting any permit for new or repair permits.
In conclusion if you want to learn how to extort anyone just work for the state of Maryland.
😔☹️😞😕😡🤬
My parents bought the house I grew up in back in 1968. The HOA rules at the time were very mild, and contained no language that dictated that changes to the rules applied to any existing home owners. Over time, rules were added, changed, removed, etc. When the HOA tyrants tried to enforced rules that didn’t exist when my parents signed, they told the tyrants to pound sand. Of course, the tyrants claimed “the rules are the rules.” My parents, particularly my Dad, told them they signed a contract and would abide by the contract he signed, and nothing more.
There was a rule added about 10 years after my parents bought the house that allowed the HOA to update/modify the rules without having to get renewed by-in. The tyrants often referred to the rule but my Dad stood his ground and pointed out the version he signed did not have any such provision and he would not abide by any changes or rules that did not exist at the time he signed.
Of course the tyrants threatened legal action. But our nextdoor neighbor was a lawyer, and then a judge. He bought his house 5 years prior to us and knew the rules. He attended the meetings and laughed openly whenever the tyrants tried to pull their crap. They never did do anything to my Dad.
When my parents sold the house 30 years later, in 1997, he was never so happy to get away from an HOA and their crap.
Your comment is meaninless here. YOu are just bragging!
When they built a new HOA neighborhood behind my small ranch they go the zoning changed for the neighborhood but mine didn't change and when they started complaining about my rooster crowing the county told them I was zoned for livestock and even if my zoning was changed I would be grandfather in. It's been almost 20 and several roosters and new owners still complain and still get told it's not my problem.
I would do two things:
1, buy a shitload more roosters.
2. Send all who complained about you a very nice hallmark card thanking them for giving your cock so much attention they had to call other people about it.
That might shut them up
"Get out of the HOA fee" and the other hand they are charging the new homeowner a "Welcome to the HOA" fee. So HOA double dipping on the same real estate transaction.
After you leave, wtf are they going to do? Put a lien on the old house? Go for it. HOAs don't have nearly as much authority as they claim / people think they do. That said, I would still NEVER EVER EVER buy a house with an HOA
@@gorak9000 they have alot of power while you own a home in them, as the deed has restrictions granting them it. Once you leave however, your right, they are boned. Best they can do is sue you, at their own cost, for the amount in the contract and not a penny more (no late fees, fines, etc).
That said due to some of the weird powers they do have, failing to pay may actually void the sale of your property. Depends on the location and how thick the judge is.
Lol me picturing a guy with a sleazy looking pimp suit on...
"Pleasure doing business with you"
As he smiles and you catch light glinting off his gold teeth.
I once considered buying a house in an HOA that had, among many others, a vaguely worded bylaw to the effect of "bikes may only be ridden in the HOA for transportation purposes". I emailed the board and asked if that meant children couldn't ride bikes for recreation. My kids like to ride bikes. The board didn't write back. I didn't buy the house.
Working as intended.
@@andrewhawkins6754 probably so. As the saying goes, "one man's bug is another man's feature."
Good call. That rule was probably implemented specifically because they don't want kids riding around the grounds. Much better to find another place where the kids will be happier than to be the guy complaining about HOA rules.
Probably hated children, too….
I do kinda wonder, how else do you ride a bike for, other than for transportation? maybe haul a thing behind you for transportation? But even then you are riding it to transport yourself from point x to y, to keep goods safe.
Many HOAs won’t share their bylaws with shoppers; you only get a copy at closing. Are you supposed to stop the closing while you review the HOA book and then back out of the sale at the bank if you don’t agree?
How are you supposed to be an informed home buyer if you can’t see all the obligations on the property?
Ask realtor, if they won’t give it up … huge red flag
As Steve said, HOA covenants are treated as contracts by the courts. You can't enter a contract that hasn't even been shown to you. Once you have decided you're interested in buying, you should be able to secure a copy of the obligations that come with the home purchase. If the association refuses to provide it, then yes, absolutely you should walk away. It would be the same as someone presenting you with a contract, and then refusing to allow you to read it. Signing would be foolish.
Yep... I ran into this in Myrtle Beach SC. I did NOT Buy the Property!
If it were that good, they would show it to you first..
@@joesterling4299 How about they all post their rules and regulations in a manner easily accessible to ANYONE. HOA webpage, bylaws link. Super easy, barely an inconvenience.
I bought my first home in 1978 in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. The home was built in 1948. It didn't exactly have an HOA, but during the closing I was handed a poor photocopy of a several page, typed document and informed that these were the "Covenants." A few months later, I was filing some papers and took the time read the Covenants. I was astonished to read that the Covenants prohibited the sale of the home to "Negros, Mexicans and persons of the Jewish faith."
We had a lovely Hispanic family living across the street from us, so I suspect that this article of the Covenants had not been enforced at least since the passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. But it was an interesting historical artifact.
living in an area that over the last 20 years has turned into a ghetto... the no negro clause isn't a bad thing...
Yep...the deed to my grandparents home they purchased in the 40's (from the Swannanoa Corporation...a land company which was a subsidiary of the local coal company) contained the clause that the property "could never be purchased or rented by a Negro or of anyone with African descent."
That's the reason we still have HOAs today. Notice that the houses aren't the only thing that are all the same colour in 99% of these communities.
That's an old old over from post ww2. Government would subsidize loans to get people to move to the 'burbs and that was written into the document. And it was meant to be there in perpetuity. But that's now illegal. Part of ye olde redlining.
Living in Sandy now, not a single thing has changed.
I remembered reading a story about grandparents who had to take in their grandson after his parents were killed. The hoa evicted the grandson because he wasn't 55. Wonderful people at that hoa. I think the grandparents moved out.
when I lived in Florida same thing was happening with grandparents who had to watch grandbabies because parents sent overseas in military.
@@froggergypsy4596 military should ban members from having kids until they leave the service just my opinion
Or be boys with boys on ships and girls with girls on ships
No more assaults
There are elderly communities that restrict younger people. That is for a reason as the community is for retorted people but not their family. I agree with this rule.
@@froggergypsy4596 these communities do not allow children. Oh well. If parents go overseas, the remaining parent can take children.
Any age discrimination should be illegal, either you are an adult or your aren't that's all that should matter. I'd say sue over it, but no one is dumb enough to sue to get into an HOA that will just take retribution once you're in.
HOAs are trash, it's why I'll never live in one.
I've seen a HOA that sent fines to someone I knew because they had that coloured rear lighting that matches what's on their TV and the changing colours could be seen from the street and they were fined for having non-approved lighting colours. They ended up having to buy blinds (of an approved colour and style of course) that would block all leaking light to stop their nosy neighbours from narcing them out for watching TV the way they liked in their own home. Disgusting.
Wow... my neighbors would start having really strange and annoying problems all of the sudden.
You never know if it’s your close my neighbors or you walk by neighbors. Crazy times.
I be in my birthday suit with my ak-47 sling over my shoulder if anyone looks into my window lol
there's really only one rule to HOAs everyone needs to know - if it has an HOA, just say "NO WAY"
BuT tHeY mAkE tHe ToWn LoOk GrEaT!!!
The way I see it, the fact that an HOA can foreclose on a property you “own” proved you don’t actually own it. I would never consider living in an HOA under any circumstances. I would rather be homeless.
No you wouldn’t, your blowing smoke. You would totally live with an HOA than live under a bridge.
@@scottscotty2178 if you “own” a home in an HOA, you pretty much live under a bridge for all the rights you have.
The government can take your home if you don't pay taxes.
@@corssecurity There is a difference
@@williammeek4078 Still have a roof over my head.
BTW, I do live in an HOA.
Have friends that were in a HOA community that had the window treatment color approval issue and none of the colors would match their furniture or interior paint colors and the HOA (primarily president Karen) would allow a variance. The read the rules and there wasn't a requirement to have window coverings so they didn't put any up. My friends are naturists (nudists), not rules against being naked in your own home. After about 2 months, the color variance was approved.
STOP being a racist!! Nasty!
And that is one of the many reasons I will never buy property with a mandatory HOA associated with it. No way, no how, they suck, period.
If by some chance it doesn't suck today, there is nothing to say it won't suck tomorrow.
@@davidh9638 Yep. As soon as Karen & her sisters (with nothing else in life to do) get on the Board.
@@davidh9638 Nazis suck just like hoa
Nothing good out of a hoa like nothing good out of Nazis both are the same
Back in the day, I was a productive realtor. Whenever I took a buyer to see a potential home in an HOA subdivision, l'd first take them for a cup of coffee, and give them "The HOA Talk". I was good at convincing buyers to switch from a subdivision property, to a home with a 3 to 10 acres in the country. I always told them getting a home with acreage was a bit like a lotto ticket. Historically homes with acreage around cities appreciate more. I probably put around a hundred people into homes with acreage. I've been retired for a while, so I haven't checked up on many of them. We're in Austin Texas, so if they had kept their property, most of them are many millions of dollars better off. If you're young, buy a home with as much land as you can afford. Find a realtor who knows how to put deals together. If you're adventurous, buy a lot of land in a bad neighborhood, in a promising city. The average home my customers would have bought in HOA subdivisions, would have tripled in value. The average home my customers got with acreage would have gone up 2000% or more. No one can predict the future, but having some land under you, is a pretty safe bet. Before you know it 30 years will wiz on by, and you're retirement comfortable. Personally, I prefer a home where I can have a race car in the driveway, a fishing hole, and target range. Yeah I don't always have the best of neighbors, but there's so much distance from everyone else, that isn't really a problem.
My HOA talk with a Realtor is simple. The first home in a HOA you show me is the last home you show me, ever.
Steve, I just want to point out: as much as it should be illegal under contract law, there are plenty of HOAs across the country that use various legal loopholes to prevent residents and potential residents from having any opportunity or avenue to read the actual bylaws and are still allowed to hold residents to those hidden bylaws. Most of those loopholes amount to using a clause that says "you have to obey x" and then the courts agreeing that they don't have to reveal what x says because it's not in the contract.
Again, it should be a violation of contract law, because these things are supporting documents, but time and again weight of precedent has granted HOAs in multiple states this right to violate contract law as regards community bylaws in confidential withheld documents that can only be seen by the administrators of those HOAs.
A class-action of the homeowners themselves would certainly get the board's attention.
This is not good faith so the contract is not enforceable by a court.
ISPs do this as well. Comcast gets away with putting a link to terms and conditions in their contracts. They update the terms and conditions at will with no notice to customers, but because the link in the contract does not change they are somehow permitted to get away with it.
@@kylekelly1167 courts and legislatures are the ones that have granted way too much power to HOA's that have caused these problems
@Doc Holliday They will not finish the closing without it being paid.
Yeah, do not buy a property without confirming either it's not in an HOA or you agree with the HOA rules. Assume the worst; every rule will be enforced, and then some. This includes condos, too.
Condos are usually worse than single family because single family neighborhoods often become more relaxed and the HOA may never meet except for a yearly rubber stamp required by law. Condo boards are there forever.
Ah, condos. When you want to live in an apartment, but not really, while also owning your home, but not really.
Even if you agree with the rukes:
You must be OK with ANY arbitrary rules, that could be created in the future,.
You are only ever ONE election away from a bad HOA board.
It would be awesome if the new owners were like "hoa dues? What are you talking about, the previous owner paid the fee to exit the HOA."
If it cost $2k to exit the HOA, pay it immediately. A bargain.
Its a lot like divorce fees, it sucks to have to pay but worth it in the end
As the president of one of those good HOAs who regularly tell members that we are not the police, think it needs to be said that in many of these cases it is not the actual HOA or the board members who charge these ridiculous fees. It is the management companies that fully take advantage of every legality to rape homeowners. My association has 180 homes and we charge $300 a year. When I took over the board we had a management company that demanded we double the fees so that we could pay them, the management company, their absorbent fees. Obviously not everyone feels comfortable managing their on own HOA, but if at all possible I would highly recommend it. It is not uncommon for a management company to charge $20,000- $30,000 a year to do the bare minimum for a small community. They are the biggest ripoff scam out there.
You guys should have put the fee increase to a vote among the HOA members.
"Sorry. We voted and the majority has decided against the fee increase."
There is no such thing as a good HOA.
Why not change management companies?
@@MistImp1 That’s because you have never had a good one and your mind is already made up.
There is no such thing as a "good" HOA,...
My late wife was on oxygen. We had to keep a 50 gallon oxygen tank right next to our front door. She would fill her smaller portable one with this bigger tank. Because it was so heavy and bulky, we had to keep it by the front door, so when it needed to be refilled, the truck that did it would just pull up front, and not have to drag a big 5.5 foot tall tank around my house every other week.
Oxygen is very flammable, so it was imperative that no one brought any open flames to the front of the house. Mind you this was a townhome, so I had a neighbor to one side (I was an end unit) so not only was it important to have no open flames for my homes safety, but my neighbors as well. Of course, if a 5o gallon tank were to explode, it would destroy our townhome, and the one to my left that was not connected. So, when I got the tank, it was a rule to put up a warning sign to warn others of this potential hazard.
My HOA took a picture of the warning sign in the window (the small window over the front door had a 8x10 warning sign of the oxygen tank) and threatened to fine me for having an unapproved decoration displayed. I explained to them that if they were smart enough to read the sign, that they would know it was not decoration, and if they were smart enough to put an email together, then they were smart enough to reread it and see just how stupid it was. I told them that if they didnt care about my neighbors they would have to go tell them before I would take the sign down. Needless to say, they quickly dropped it, and I was never fined.
I left Snoqualmie Ridge specifically because of their HORRIBLE HOA. I warn every person that thinks about moving out there that $600/month to be harassed for stupid shit is not worth the views.....
just a point: Oxygen DOES NOT EXPLODE. oxygen makes OTHER THINGS explode.
@@kenbrown2808 Oxygen can and does do both. Oxygen is a critical accelerant, but it is also pressurized and can critically rupture.
@@wayneegli8379 a pressure vessel can rupture. That is not the contents exploding. Oxygen is not fuel. It is an oxidizer. Its only role in combustion is allowing the fuel to burn. If there is no fuel, oxygen cannot burn. The danger is that in a high oxygen environment, many fuels can autoignite, and any fuel will burn more violently.
Sorry about your wife, brother. Snoqualmie is a beautiful place however.
@@kenbrown2808 without oxygen no fire
No oxygen no explosion
Someone failed school
Can’t imagine selling myself into this. But then, I own my house for the purpose of having a roof over my head. I leave my neighbors alone and they leave me alone.
I get along with my neighbors they give me eggs from their chickens i give them tomatoes off my garden we both own part of a large forest and we let each other hike on the other’s land
I actually interact frequently with my neighbors (usually just general chatter or gardening matters).
I had to fire my last Real estate agent because he keeped showing me homes with hoa after i told him multiple times that i would not buy a house with a hoa no.matter how small or reasonable it was made out to be
My first Condo with an HOA was my last. Never again!
Sometimes people have to learn the hard way...
Our condo (in Reston VA) was the first piece of real estate the wife and me ever bought. The condo HOA was ok - trying to do the right things to manage the complex. The RESTON HOA was straight out of Dante's Inferno - we didn't have to deal with them, but the condo board did. Reston was so picky that since they could look into the condo lobbies, they could dictate the color of the carpet.
We never bought into one since, and never will again.
Even if you agree with all the bylaws and choose to buy in. The laws can change. Never would I buy into an hoa.
In my area, every house built in the last 50 years is in an HOA, there are literarily no acceptations at all. Choices are to either move to another city or buy something built in the 1950s.
This is my primary reason for never wanting to own and live in an HOA. Maybe is ok for an investment home I plan to rent, but I would never live in one I owned.
@@sphbecker Or build a new home in an older neighborhood. My current neighborhood near downtown Orlando was built up during the 30's to 50's and has no HOAs. Tear downs are a regular thing here with new houses sprouting up weekly.
@@WhiteG60 or simply that no bylaws can be changed unless all following procedures are followed:
1) A notice of the bill of intent is formally served to each member with reciept of delivery logged with a third party.
2) A formal re-election of at least 2/3rds of the board is held, including the presidential position with at least three unrelated candidates per position and at least 66% of the members present and accounted for at the election.
3) The new board then reviews and confirms or rejects the bill of intent to add or alter or remove a bylaw.
@@sphbecker Mine was built in 1900 as a boarding house for the steel mill that used to be on the other side of the tracks. In fact, it is a good bet that most of the homes in this neighborhood are from the 50s or earlier.
Years ago had an article of HOA that fined residents for non approved houseplants inside, HOA board members/managers were caught using camera on a stick to look into upper floor windows, had in HOA contract that they have authority to look into homes at any time.
I remember reading about that. HoA 'enforcers' would go around the neighborhood using selfie sticks to peer into the upper level units to inspect both the balconies and what they could see in windows looking for violations.
That last bit should be deemed unconscionable, as it is a violation of the Supreme Law of the Land (that 4th article of the Bill of Rights, that no contract can override.)
@@AllynHin Would love to see someone lurking just outside of the view of the camera with a baseball bat to just hit a grand slam on the camera.
When i was shopping for a house about 10 years ago, i was ok with moving into an hoa neighborhood. I did, however, read the hoa documents before making an offer on a house. When i tried to get the hoa documents for one of the houses, the hoa management company told me the documents were not available to people that did not own property in the neighborhood. She said i would receive a copy at the closining. I quickly told my realtor that i would not consider a house in that neighborhood.
Little dictators eventually get dealt with.
but do they?
@@peteraleksandrovich5923 listening to some redit stories, yes. There have been some deadly consequences.
Yes I love the stories when people shoot the hoa members. Music to my ears
There are many old mines, wells, and holes in the hills; Plus the police departments are severely understaffed.
Glad I grew up in the country and acquired this knowledge.
Hey Zach!! Great to see you!
Just say NO to HOA. My Aunt bought her house outside Sacramento and 5 years later, she got a letter from the HOA telling her the "new window" next to the door was out of compliance. She had never replaced the window, it was that way when she bought the house 5 years earlier. HOA did not care and told her to change it to the "matching" window. Turns out it already was the matching window. HOA still wasted her time over months with this and had sent her fine notices of over $1000 on this window, which had never been touched and WAS in compliance. HOA, like many "elected" politicians, can be stupid. Just say NO to HOA. LOL My Aunt still lives there...now almost 20 years in. That HOA President was "removed" from office not long later. No issues in the last 15 years.
My biggest (but by far not my only) gripe with HOAs is that rules may change after you join/move in and there is nothing you can do about it.
Unless it's already in the agreement that changes can be made without notice and are binding, and it will be considered as a contract, changes must be approved by those who agreed.
But it takes a special kind of person to agree to that.
@@OneWildTurkey this kind of clause is standard in most HOA's or a clause that says the board/ committee of the HOA can change the rules when ever they want. you can argue that you could get on the board and convince others to undo something but as steve said, often these boards are controlled by people with nothing better to do or in more recent developments the developer.
Welcome to democracy.
@@OneWildTurkey As Capatin Caveman already pointed out, most HOAs hold votes on rules changes. If you are in the minority, tough luck.
You *can* do something about it. Run to be on the HOA board. I can guarantee you'll win, because so few people vote or volunteer to do so there's almost always unfilled positions.
HOAs are like gangs “blood in, blood out”.
I lived in military housing and when I tried to move, they couldn't conduct the inspection until 3 weeks after I wanted to move. That meant I had to keep renting until they got around to inspecting. Can you imagine a rental service where you have to rent until the company performs an action, which they can delay at will? They didn't understand why I was upset.
Couldn't you just stop paying rent? What are they going to do? Kick you out?
@@jdigi78 "MILITARY" they automatically pull the money from your pay if your not paying, it will also get recorded in your file that can get you denied a promotion you can also get hit with "Office Hours" basically a low level military court that can assign punishments, fines etc...
Im a very vindictive pr!ck, I would find a way to screw them over in about 2-3 years. Like sign them up for a Playgirl subscription, Readers Digest, & about 30 different subscriptions, sent to their personal house. Its a huge P.I.T.A. to get resolved. Anyone can do that to anyone who p!sses in your cornflakes..js...
I had housing at Fort Irwin try to do this to me when I was ETS'ed out of the Army. They tried to tell me I had to keep paying for 4 weeks after I left LMFAO they got nothing from me as I was now out, I called them up and told then to go F themselves I refused to pay. Nothing they could do as I already ETS'ed and had my golden ticket (DD-214).
@@ghostshadow9046 Exactly.
If I, as a civilian, overdraw my checking account, I pay a fee to my bank.
If a member of the Army overdraws their checking account, they pay a fine to the bank, AND can face an Article 15 hearing, resulting in potential loss of 1/3 of monthly pay for months, and other penalties. And this can happen to you even if the person who overdrafted your account is your spouse or child.
True story. I had such a bad time with my HOA because I am a gun owner that after almost a year of harrassment I let the house go into foreclosure rather than deal with them one more day. Probably not the best way of handling that situation but very satisfying. BTW I also live in Fort Mill, SC
As a paralegal, I absolutely despise HOAs. I will never voluntarily join one or own a piece of property in an area controlled by one.
OK I have a question for you suppose you live in an HOA you’ve been there for over 20 years. And you have a homeowner next to you
Who rents out the home out too people who are always partying and rude. You complain to the HOA but on the HOA they happen to have a friend who is the homeowners Association President now they turn on you saying that you lied and they wanted to charge you $1400 in attorneys fees when you have proof on your security camera that you are telling the truth but they don’t allow you to tell your side of the story. how does one fight the HOA back Especially when you’re being bullied by them any advice would be greatly appreciate it
As a human being, I absolutely hate HOAs, lol!
@@richard5981 That sounds like a "speak to a lawyer" situation, because something's fucky.
You did a great job listing issues with HoAs and there’s still three more issues I’m seeing with mine. 1) A lot of homes are now owned by REITs and property management companies, who have a legal team on staff. So if you think the rules about everything looking just so are great because it polices your neighbors, nope. Unless you have 20k to spend on lawsuits, you’re bound, but your corporate neighbor can probably get out of anything they want to with enough litigation that you have to pay for from your dues. 2) There’s really no standard of service required from HoA unless you can pay for lawsuit. They apply your check to your neighbor then never send you a late notice so you find out 3 months later when it goes to collections with their special HoA collections law firm that will now charge you daily legal fees? Grats on your extra 1k bill. Cable company you can refuse to pay and leave bad reviews until they forgive, but HoA can just charge you daily late fees and take your house. 3) A bad board can use the strictest interpretation of the rules to “drive out” anyone they don’t want in the neighborhood. $100 fines if your trash can is outside after 5pm on garbage fee or there is a single lone weed mixed in your grass. Great tool for racists, classists, ageists, various types of phobe.
Some of these HOAs need to be seriously reined in. That's an example of nothing more than a money grab because they can. We have a similar issue in our mostly benign HOA. The board decided it was a good idea to pass along fines for a property to new owners. So imagine this situation: you have a truly miserable neighbor that never cuts their grass, has loud parties, parks their cars on everyone else's property, throws trash everywhere, and is nothing less than a nuisance. After months of asking them to shape up the HOA reluctantly decides to impose a fine. The neighbor wracks up $7500 in fines which are essentially punitive in nature. The neighbor finally moves, new neighbors move in and clean the place up, then get a $7500 bill that was left over from the previous owner. The fine was intended as incentive to clean up the property but the HOA instead was fixated on dollar signs. The situation doesn't improve anything and nothing is gained except bad will and a few extra dollars that aren't needed. That's a broken system.
People should just not buy a home there period. Why would you give someone control over your property and life?
If the amount was revealed to the buyer ahead of time, that would be fine, because they could factor it in to negotiating the price. It should probably be done as a lien on the property. If it wasn't disclosed ahead of time, I don't think they could enforce it unless they actually had a lien, in which case I don't know the laws on liens.
Well thats not legal to stick the new tennet of the home with the old tennets bills !! that is racketearing !
hoa's should be outlawed. we started a couple wars a few hundred years back because we didnt like being told what to do on our own land, why should we put up with it now?
OK I have a question for you suppose you live in an HOA you’ve been there for over 20 years. And you have a homeowner next to you
Who rents out the home out too people who are always partying and rude. You complain to the HOA but on the HOA they happen to have a friend who is the homeowners Association President now they turn on you saying that you lied and they wanted to charge you $1400 in attorneys fees when you have proof on your security camera that you are telling the truth but they don’t allow you to tell your side of the story. how does one fight the HOA back Especially when you’re being bullied by them
I've only had an HOA once - when I was much younger and dumber and bought my first house without knowing any better. It didn't take long to make make me want out when they tripled the monthly dues to $375/month - and that was only beginning of my HOA woes. I moved into a non-HOA neighborhood as soon as I was able, and will NEVER live in an HOA again. To me, a cardboard refrigerator box under a bridge would be preferable to an HOA. At least I didn't get a bill for leaving.
As for the rule book, that came in the form of what I can only guess was 6th generation mimeograph copies. Most of the pages were just unreadable splotches of ink on the paper. I asked, repeatedly, for clean, readable copies, but they never arrived.
My baseline question always is: How neurotic do you have to be to feel the need to, and the love of, living in an ultra-conformist neighborhood with no individuality in the houses and yards? Where anyone who doesn't comply is severely punished? Anybody who really *wants* this has problems. Different from I wanted that house and it happened to have an HOA.
On the flipside are those of us who don't want to live next to a yard full of abandoned boat trailers, chickens crowing at all hours, neighbors running yard sales every day, and trash stacked up all over. That's what HOA's prevent. Sure, some of them overstep. But they serve a useful purpose.
@@westbayoutdoors123 well that's what the second amendment is for! Haha
The HOA is there to own the shared parts of the community, and to protect the builder while they sell homes before all the other homes are finished. Read the HOA documents and don't move there if you don't like it, just like you should read your deed and not buy the home if it doesn't include the property you think it does. It isn't that difficult.
supposedly it's safer. plus you don't pay for add-ons, if they allow it.
th-cam.com/video/HlSpc87Jfr0/w-d-xo.html
I brought one home in 2012 in Illinois and it was not disclosed we had an HOA. Now, we never had an issue with them, but I was upset it was not disclosed, and we only found out when the Board President made a welcome visit. My second home I purchased in 2017, we made for damn sure we didn't have an HOA! I don't like HOAs, for those that do good for you. I will not have anyone policing me about my property, what is should look like, so on and so on.
I just can't imagine owning property and paying someone to tell me what I can and can't do on my property.
Ignorant comment. Board members of HOAs aren't paid. Your dues go into a fund that is spent on maintenance of common areas, and HOAs are non-profit.
It happens right now. It's called City or Municipal Government. Then you can add in the busybodies like the Environmental wackos and the Historical nuts. A guy I work with tried to get a permit to have a tree on his property removed. The person who handled the permits was also the head of the local Environmental group and his permit was denied. Three months later the tree came apart in a windstorm and almost destroyed his house. The same clown cited him for having a tarp on his roof while waiting on it to be repaired.
@@beakt Yeah, right! HOA boards commonly use HOA funds for their own benefit and enforce rules selectively.
@@phlodel If an HOA board uses funds for themselves, they should be criminally charged and go to prison.
@@jimcDelta Yes, limited government is best. But that wasn't the purpose of the OP's comment, which is along the lines of all the other self-congratulatory comments you see on any video about HOAs. He meant he would only buy outside an HOA, which is his right, but you can miss out on good investment opportunities if you don't consider owning in an HOA.
I lived in a condo that had 3 HOA (Condo, drainage and landscaping for master planned community) cost me over $1k to get all the documents emailed to the buyer. We moved to a house with not HOA and we will never go back to an HOA.
What the fuck. In Maryland the bylaws must be submitted to the county courthouse as public records or they are not considered legally binding.
I remained the President of my HOA in Colorado for more than 8 years simply to keep the rest of the board from making a bunch of silly rules. I had Veto power. Ironically, about the same time I left the two board members that wanted to make all the rules were selling their homes too, so perhaps the rest of the residents still have sane reasonable rules to follow.
My Wife sold her home in Iowa and the HOA tried to asses her a transfer fee. I told them the buyer could pay that, we would not.
There needs to be an universal and inescapable morality clause when it comes to the aspiring Mussolinis and Pol Pots in charge of HOAs.
Mussolini and Pol Pot I like that you reach across the aisle to the crazy people on both sides
If I had a house in an HOA and a farm in hell, I would sell my house and move to the farm.
The Gen Sherman angle.
I would never be part of an HOA. I do mean NEVER. Entering in to a binding agreement that could change at the whim of someone named Karen without cause or reason is something I'm not up for. Especially when it's about my home. Anyone entering any contract sight unseen is foolish. I'm surprised a house would ever sell under those terms.
I agree. They are just little socialist republics. Pay a huge amount of money to let some stranger micromanage your life... Nope.
Ignorant comment. HOA's can't make up rules on a "whim". The board has to go through a process, and then they get applied. And if you don't like them, take a seat on the board and change the rules.
Yes, if you enter into a contract without reading it, that would be foolish. Here's a tip: If you're considering buying a property in an HOA, read the rules before you decide. Genius idea, right?
^ 100% is a HOA Board President.
@@beakt Bob's the president, jim, secretary and joanna is Bob's sister, the third person on the board, all good friends. They get to not liking you and you have something in your yard they don't like and they got nothing to harass you about... They will make a new rule, on a whim...
Also, Read some other comments, by laws are not always available to prospective buyers.
@@N942UW You're right. You know why? Because I didn't like how the HOA was being managed, and there were stupid rules that needed to be repealed. Instead of going on TH-cam comments and whining about HOAs as if I'm some sort of hero, I got on the board and repealed the stupid rules and put in a lot of work to find and hire a new management company that is much better than our old one.
Neal Boortz used to say on his radio program that each year two HOA's in the USA should be selected at random and if they have more negative complaints than letters of thanks the offending HOA board would be lined up and executed in a televised public display.
Yeah, but then people like me would just write in letters of complaint because _screw them._
Some might argue that's the system working as intended, but...
I NEVER pay a damned thing to any HOA since I flat out refuse to be subjected to any HOA Dictatorship!
There's an HOA that was making people leave their garage doors OPEN.
I love to hear stories where people were there before an HOA took over and they refuse to join, so they end up in court...
The old president of the HOA understood that there are six houses on our street that are not part of the HOA. When the new president took over, she came and knocked on our door (during the pandemic, no less) demanding we make a whole huge list of changes. She had my elderly father so confused, because we deliberately never bought into the HOA. She had him believing that we had been basically grandfathered in against our will (which is not a thing) and we now had to make all these changes. When I got home, I find her at the front door talking to my elderly father like he's a child, and my poor father just about near tears because he's so confused. I initially tried to calmly explain to her that the HOA ended at literally the house next door, and our property and the next five properties were not part of the HOA. She insisted I was wrong, and I told her to maybe contact her lawyer and get a copy of the map, as well as any documents my father supposedly signed which put him in the HOA. She left but got petty after that because she figured out she was VERY wrong and started getting code enforcement to come out every couple of weeks. Every time either she or the code enforcement officer would come out, it would horribly upset my father and it took DAYS to get him calmed back down. I finally told them if they came back one more time, I was pressing charges against the HOA and the city for harassment and trespassing, and I would consider adding pain and suffering since they seemed to take glee from upsetting my father as badly as they kept doing so. The code enforcement officer got the message, but the HOA president didn't until my dad actually called the police on her and she did get trespassing charges slapped against her (she might have friends in code enforcement, but I have friends in the police department). The HOA voted a new president in pretty soon after and we've had no problems for the past few months, but it was an eye opening experience, that's for sure.
The thought that an organizations like HOAs, that can control pretty much any aspect of your property, and can CHANGE THE RULES after you purchase, is at all permitted in the USA boggles my mind.
Land of the free (my ass)
@@gorak9000 well, it is, we just have to kill a few of our brethren every now and again to re-establish the fact...
OK I have a question for you suppose you live in an HOA you’ve been there for over 20 years. And you have a homeowner next to you
Who rents out the home out too people who are always partying and rude. You complain to the HOA but on the HOA they happen to have a friend who is the homeowners Association President now they turn on you saying that you lied and they wanted to charge you $1400 in attorneys fees when you have proof on your security camera that you are telling the truth but they don’t allow you to tell your side of the story. how does one fight the HOA back Especially when you’re being bullied by them
@@richard5981 with your own lawyer, i'd wager.
more ammo for my 'dont join an hoa' arsenal.
seriously, i've never heard about any hoa ever that didn't eventually try to fuck someone over. if it hasn't happened yet, just give it time.
@@richard5981 To be clear (in case it wasn't) I very against the idea of HOAs.
As for your theoretical, I've got no clue. I think you're only recourse, assuming there's no chance of proving illegal actions are happening, would be to leave (and pay some crazy 'leave' fee where applicable)
My fun HOA story (actually my parents'): their HOA stipulated that the HOA would be responsible for regular road maintenance. Given that this HOA was a community that crawled about 2 miles up a pack-n-seal/gravel mountain road, that seems like an important bylaw.
Turns out, though, that the bylaw is satisfied by mowing the strips of grass next to the road. We found that out the fun way when the road was more pothole than road and the HOA refused to repair it. We took the HOA to court over it, and the judge declared that it was enough for them to mow the side of the road -- that counts as road maintenance.
When we were looking at houses I specifically said no HOAs. Passed up a few nice houses because it was in an HOA.
So I’m reality the HOA actually brought down the value of the house! For me anyway.
Not just for you. HOA properties on average appreciates much slower than non HOA properties. In otherwords, they actually hold down your property value than otherwise.
@@taoliu3949 That's only going to accelerate as more people experience the "joy" of living in in HOA. People won't be able to give houses away in HOA's eventually, and the demand for non-HOA houses will go up. It's only a matter of time
I have never lived in a home with a HOA nor will I ever do so. The two things I tell any realtor helping us look for a home is one, NO HOA, and two, No restricted deeds. My sister bought a house only to find out their deed prohibited putting up a fence. I have seen deeds that prohibited adding another building, including a shed. I'm looking at farm land right now and I am requiring that the mineral right be included.
One thing to keep in mind is that while you can change things that aren't pre-approved by submitting a request, you really need to look at what that request process is. It can be extremely daunting to the point it looks like you need a lawyer, landscape architect, and someone with a PhD anti-obfuscation just to submit a request.
As someone from the UK it makes me laugh when Americans call it the land of the free but you cant even change the colour of the blinds without a fine. HOA in the UK are not a thing and frankly im baffled as to why they exist. Other countries get on fine without them.
It seems like the people who love their HOA are the same ones that make the HOA a nightmare for everyone else.
You used the term “dictate”. That’s exactly what HOA’s remind me of, living in a dictatorship.
My sister was in an HOA that passed a rule about the paint people could use to paint their houses, only allowing one specific brand and only a certain range of colors, without informing the residents or allowing for a vote on the matter by the residents. It just so happened that the only source for that paint within 100 miles was owned by the HOA director's husband, and that the paint was marked up to about three times it's price in the rest of the country, at over $150/can. That was an expensive mess. My sister is now thankfully out of that home and HOA, and she, along with the rest of the family, swears against ever buying a house in a HOA area again.
The best advice is fairly simple: Unless you plan to run/control the HOA, don't join an HOA.
Our old neighborhood HOA kind of charged money when you left. They had scholarship money set aside for kids enrolling in college and that was nice to apply for. But when you sold your home, 1% of the selling price went into that fund. It was in the contract when we signed, so there it was. The kicker was that we sold that house and moved 1 year before our oldest went to college. We never got any value out of that fund, but we definitely paid into it.
Years ago we built a custom home in an HOA which had an exterior paint color pallette but the wording about the colors was vague. OK and not OK Examples were displayed such as; brown, grey, sand were considered OK and colors like pink, purple, yellow, etc. were not OK. What they said to me was the exterior of the home colors must be compatible with the colors of nature. We painted the exterior wood trim white and the HOA board had a conniption stating we were violating the color pallette. At great expense they insisted we have the trim repainted. I met with the board and asked them to be more specific on what was meant by 'the colors of nature.' They showed me pictures of sand, several earth tones and the like. I showed them several pictures of snow and stated, 'those pictures of snow are considered colors of nature.' I never heard another word about us having to change our color except they did add white as a not OK to the color sample . Our exterior white home color was grandfathered in. lol
Clouds and some trees are white as are the cliffs of dover, also sheep, goats, chickens, cockatoos and a wide variety of other animals
This is what I'll never understand about HOA's. I've had to rent apartments for years and the very thought of grey and beige paint makes me hemorrhage internally. It's the colour you choose specifically to be bland and uninteresting.
"Welcome to our town! You'll see it's devoid of any character or joy and is depressing af! And that's how we like it... Also, that'll be $600 a month for the privilege of us forcing you to be just as depressed and boring as the rest of the town, ty very much."
@@archygrey9093 I think this often too. You often hear people who make up pros to living in an HOA say "No ugly Blue or Green houses!" Like... If blue and green offend you, you shouldn't live in a house at all, what you need is a deeeeep bunker or cave, because the sky is gonna blue and the plants are gonna green, and no amount of being a nosey, horrible Karen is going to change that.
I have heard of HOAs trying to dictate to homes not in the community and thus not in the HOAs. They are evil.
The nature I'm know and lived in were put off but the color white. Clouds ,sky ,trees ,flowers. Nature isn't anti white
In a story authored by Judy Dutton dated Jan 9, 2018 an Auburn, CA HOA at Auburn Greens issued residents a letter demanding that they leave their garage doors up from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily Monday through Friday to prove that no one is living in the garage or else they face a $200 fine.
Finding the "perfect" home is like finding the "perfect" life partner. Do lots of critical thinking research and put the human reaction of "love" on the back burner until you know all the facts. It'll not only save you money, but emotional distress as well.
Politicians are trying to rid schools of teaching Critical Thinking. Seriously, I have heard politicians making speeches about it. And I am not talking about Critical Race Theory, but the ability to think through problems.
In a world where some foreign corporation is not on the way to buy the house out from under people needing a place to live just so the corporation can 'pump-n-dump' for profit, careful consideration of a home is a prudent plan.
But today's market is all about artificial scarcity, leading to people jumping the gun, offering tens of thousands of dollars over asking price, and buying broken structures just to be sure to actually HAVE a home.
As someone whose 10 year marraige just ended a few weeks ago, amen to that
My aunt was in an hoa neighborhood for almost two decades then it fell apart because everybody stopped paying the fee. The street lights got turned off and the hoa died.
When we lived in La Palma, California, there was a city ordinance prohibiting HOAs. La Palma is small and the city decided it could make rules so that HOAs are irrelevant. Where we now live, there is an HOA. It maintains some of the boat docks, the parks, and has architectural approval. One annoyance is when they want color samples when we repaint our trim the same color it has been for 30+ years and the stucco the original La Habra Stucco Co. color. (when we moved in I got a La Habra Stucco color sheet and found the color. That makes patches and painting match.)
Steve, ya, read EVERYTHING! Was a senior buyer, read lots of contracts. Anything not clear or “fishy”, went to legal. Last house I bought, present one, I chopped up the offer to purchase, lawyer made one minor change. The realtor said, they’ll never accept this. Nothing unreasonable. Boy, was she surprised when accepted. In Canada by the way. If you don’t understand, ASK. Everything should be as clear as optical glass!
Ben behind Steve's head.
Reminds me oh a guy who, after they made tear out his sunflowers, realized corn wasn’t banned.
I will never live in a HOA again. Sold a home in 1 many years ago and purposely picked a home without one. I remember when neighbors talked about forming one I said I will refuse to join it and not a damn thing they can about it. Ultimately about 6 of us said no way and they never formed one even though 20 others wanted one.
I fired two realtors because they kept trying to show me HOA homes despite my insistence against them. One of the realtors even showed me one and said it was not an HOA home to get me to go see it, but there was a flyer on the counter top upon getting there that introduced the perspective buyer to the mandatory HOA. HOAs are not for me because I like freedom - as much as I can scrape up!
I have a question; I once bought a house that I was told was not in an HOA, and no there was HOA paperwork at closing. But shortly after moving in I was hit with the HOA welcome group giving me the by-laws. And appears they were there and that the neighborhood was registered as such and if i refused to comply they could put a lien on my property. Lawyer told me this was legit. I have since sold the house and the HOA was not problem, they were a laid back, they just wanted the dues to upkeep a neighborhood playground.
So the question is if you are not told you are buying a house that is in an HOA, and you see no paperwork stating that, are you still bound by the HOA?
Good question I'm curious about this
Check the deed, covenants could be in it.
That would be a matter of state law. And didn't you say a lawyer already answered that? Why would you take a poll on youtube to get the answer to a legal question a lawyer already answered for you?
Lying about the existence of an HOA is fraud. Sue the seller and/or realtor for damages.
@@darrennew8211 I did not press the issue, this case the HOA was not a bother, so I was more annoyed than anything. I mean the dues were only $100 a year. In my area apparently the HOA incorporation are on file in the county records, and follow the property whether you are informed our not. I was more curious as to what shuld be the case in informing you there is an HOA, shuld you be told, or just be ambushed by it?
I had a friend move into an HOA. He wanted to paint his house, picked out the color from the list they approved BUT it turns out they get to pick the color from the list so they don't have too many houses with the same colors.
Ben bobbing up and down to get a good view of the screen, Behind Steve's Noggin.
Tricky this time
@@BenLeitch 👍
Exactly the same issue I had in North Texas. Twice annual fee to get out. And of course they get the new buyer to prepay upon entry. Its a money grab with no added value.
HOAs - the bane of owning a property. When I bought my house I was forced to sign a document saying I would hold the realtor harmless for insisting that I did not want to see any HOAs properties. Turns out this state thinks its discrimination to not want an HOA encumbered home.
Because HOAs are about CONTROL, much like states.
The discrimination angle is more about realtors engaging in real estate steering. "Oh this minority family wouldn't be interested in this gated community because it has an HOA." It's not a problem of discriminating based on HOA/no HOA, it's that it can be seen as being indirectly influenced by one of the protected classes of the fair housing act. (race, color, national origin, religion, sex, family status, disability)
Not that it really matters in the end as so many realtors engage in it and no one ever seems to receive any kind of repercussions from it. Time and time again there will be news stories about sending two different people with similar income and preferences to the same realtor and getting noticeably different suggestions and properties with the only objective difference being race.
@@paigeb1318 Maryland
I lived in a brand-new condo building in Calgary, Alberta. They were literally finishing the top (4th) floor for occupancy when we moved into the main* (1st) floor.
Shorty there after, the 2 buildings in the complex were sold to a new "management company" (Boardwalk Developments). Remember that name, and run if you encounter them.
They promptly posted their company signage all over the building, with new (not negotiated in our original contract) rules and policies. We made immediate steps to move.
I was moving car-loads of small stuff to the new place after I finished work, I was told I had to pay $150 move-out fee for elevator lock-out (1st floor ?) and "open door" fee.
If it's in the Declaration and/or the By-Laws of the HOA, there's little to nothing you can do. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING.
Don't feel bad lady- Johnny Depp didn't understand what he was signing up for either.
When I sold my house, my HOA charged me $250 for a copy of the bylaws for the new owner. No more HOA for me period.
From the price, that had to be a handwritten copy.
@@davidh9638 Nah, it's because a lawyer has to get involved.
They always use the argument protecting property values. In my mind, an HOA would actually reduce property values for exactly the reasons you are describing.
Hi Steve I think they should add "contract law" in High school many subjects that are mandatory that they will never use
I got a letter from our HOA's new management company to let me know the yard needed to be mowed. I checked the date of their "inspection". It was a couple days after my lawn service mowed. I get all my mail at a PO Box, so I know what happened, the management company saw that and figured absentee owner, he doesn't know if the lawn is mowed or not. I kept all the documentation knowing if I ever have some problem with the management company I have a get out of jail card.
The idea that "They Can" charge fees without having reason should be criminal.
@@paigeb1318 There are 55+ HOA's too and you don't want to be in the pool or spa too long, lots of those dumb residents are going in with their diapers on (or not).
MY HOA charges fees because WE own and maintain the streets in our community, TWO pool complexes (with spas), full time security (it's a gated guarded senior community in Palm Springs), saunas, gymnasium, library, sports complex (including tennis courts), rec center, and a passel of other things. The HOA can KINDA be pricks about some things, but they mostly let people just live their own lives. Garth, don't be a little prick! Your kids probably crap in the pool more than any seniors.
@@maxsdad538 That shows how much sense it makes to be in an HOA. You fund for the streets and maintain them, need security because the city police will not patrol in an HOA. You pay the same property taxes even though the HOA fees charge for the same so its duplicate cost. I see no reason to consider someone a prick because their neighbors are going into the pool with their depends on, or not. My kids know better, they got trained Mr. expert.
@@maxsdad538 Why is it that everyone defending HOAs comes across as exactly the sort of person I'd hate to have as a neighbor?
I recall back in ‘08-‘09 after the mortgage collapse we were looking at properties in FL as the bottom just fell out of the pricing. There were just hundreds of houses that were previously appraised at over $300k that were selling for $60k-$100k, with some as low as being in the $30k range and some homes even previously valued into the $500ks. We looked at quite a few and even made an offer or two and we quickly determined HOAs weren’t for us as there wasn’t one that would give us a copy of the bylaws and rules/requirements before you signed a purchase contract; we said look we aren’t even making an offer or signing anything without the rules first, because you don’t know what you’re getting.
We even looked at a house that I think was originally assessed at like $360k and was beautiful outside and then when we went in it was completely torn up with broken walls and pipes and wiring being removed, there were no lights left and just couldn’t believe how bad it was, but it was beautiful on the outside.
It’s amazing that things seem to be right back to what it was like before the crash and yet, again, people are talking about how things are only ever going to get more expensive so you better buy now. I think we’re a few years away from another market reset as values are just so overly inflated right now, or maybe this is just are future.
My condo hoa takes out a fee that usually happens when moving. The fee is to cover the expenses the hoa has for updating the record of what and how much any apartment are mortaged and to what bank. They have some costs related to that and since many have a mortage when you move you need to pay the fee to have that removed from the record, and the new owner has the s as that one usually have a mortage when moving in. But can also happen if you do some big changes in the mortage like taking out a other one.
That is reasonable and points to a direct cause and reason and only happens to the ones using that service. If you have no mortage then no fee.
A general "move out fee" is horrible!
When buying a new home ask the realtor if it’s in a HOA, if they say yes , walk away from it !
8:52 "Racoons, lovable little scamps that they are." Until you meet one in person.
Yes indeed. There's nothing lovable about those destructive pests.
HOA's are a menace. Gets harder and harder to find homes not in an HOA. Also, have those big companies buying up houses and renting them, etc.
I am in a hoa and I am mostly happy. Some hoa’s are better than other. My worst experience is in historic neighborhoods that are not hoa’s, but can be more restrictive doe to historic covenants. Our hoa pretty much let’s everyone do what they want and just maintains the yards and common areas
For now - just wait until Karen gets on the board. Why would you risk the uncertainty? The only rule with HOAs is - if it has an HOA, just say "NO WAY"! Simple (and it rhymes)
Depends on the hoa. Our hoa bylaws require 75% of the homeowners to agree to any bylaw change and 66% to increase any dues. The board of five need a majority to spend money, but they can only spend what they have collected. They can’t collect anymore unless most homeowners agree
@@gorak9000 you said what I came here to say. For now, indeed. These things can change at any time without any warning, but you can never be rid of the HOA.
My inlaws in Florida had their HOA actually say "You can not have your garage door open for more than 5 minutes."
My hometown. The HOA is owned by Clear Springs Development. One of the Springs developers (Will Close) has been arrested a few times for cocaine trafficking. The mom however, is near saint status in Fort Mill.
The son Elliott Close, one of the HOA owners, ran for Senate . That family owns most of Fort Mill. The own Spring's Mills . Once one of the largest textile mills in the world.
@@brunoryker3563 I owe my soul to the company store...
HOA is for people who need moar govt, moar taxes and moar BS in their lives
Govt? You're a simple-minded person, aren't you?
@@50jakecs Govt is shorthand for government.
An HOA governs the land inside of it... In other words, it's essentially a form of government (governing body of a nation/state/community), which sits below a local government in terms of hierarchy. Federal>State>Local>HOA.
This means it *is more government.
They charge you money, which is more taxes (compulsory contribution to revenue for a government) to pay.
So more taxes.
There are plenty of examples out there of HOAs pulling stupid BS.
That's more BS.
What, exactly, is your issue with this guy's comment?
@@50jakecs simple-minded person?
You're projecting, aren't you?
or you sit on a hoa board, either way LMFAO @u
read ty's explanation. he nailed it
I always learn something listening to Steve, very good. Don't buy real estate with a HOA in place unless you have a lot of money to throw away.
Two things:
1. I'm a Realtor. I always offer to read the CC&Rs for my buyer clients during their transaction. Some accept and some don't. Not being an attorney, I only slept them to items that look out of the ordinary and suggest they speak with an attorney if they have a concern.
2. I'm also on my HOA Board. I fight to ensure we don't have garbage restrictions or garbage fees. Serving 9 out of the last 10 years, we've been able to not increase our annual fees at all. That will likely change in the next year or two but so far so good. So, we're one of the good HOAs. There are awful ones though. We budget based on fee and fine revenue. Revenue from fines (for the few areas we do stongly enforce) has actually been our hedge on inflation.
That an HOA would have an "exit fee" like this is money grabbing and selfish. There is a "resale certificate" fee that is charged to the buyer's side in a transaction but it's minimal to cover the processing expenses of our community management company and add $100 to the general fund. In 10 years there have only been two complaints about the fee and we simply tell people to research what other HOAs charge at sale. They shut up when they learn we're charging about 1/2 of what the next lowest community charges.
I'm not a fan of overregulation but in this area, some people get greedy for some reason. READ ALL GOVERNING DOCUMENTS BEFORE BUYING INTO AN HOA! You'll avoid the bad ones and look forward to living in a good one.
No such thing as a “good” HOA. But if people are dumb enough to live in one, then they need to learn the hard way. Any group of nobodies that feel the need to tell people what they can or can’t do with their own property deserve to catch a bus when they walk across the street.
I live in a good HOA. My realtor provided all of the CCR info and other disclosures before the closing. Learned that we have an airspace easement due to light aircraft flight paths, lol. Previous neighborhood was turning into an eyesore so I welcome the hoa rules to preserve our values.
You may be one of the good ones but most real estate agents, closing officers and HOAs are really good at controlling the narrative, the goal is to get the deal done and collect their cut for the least possible effort. Offers to read the documents or allow time to review them are often insincere and there is huge pressure on the client to comply and not ask questions. It isn't by accident that all of this is saved until the last minute when the clients financial and emotional stake is the highest. As I said, you may be better than this but this is what the real estate industry has created and it is intentional.
This reminds me of the “Exit Tax” levied by the great state of NJ. Simply, if you sell a residence and don’t buy a replacement within state, then you owe NJ a percentage of the sale.
Which is why sewage pit that is new jersey should be flushed into the ocean.
All the tolls on the bridges are on the side leaving, too.
I missed that money grab by 5 weeks when I made my escape from the armpit.
HOA=Gestapo. Where I live The city requires all subdivisions built since 2000 have HOA's, we have no choice.
Is that even constitutional?
Yeah you do. Move.
That’s okay, some developer should create an ironclad, you can’t change this without unanimous consent, minimalist HOA for new developments.
I think the HOA need to be put under the 14 amendment and Constitution. Because basically they are a form of a local government.
You pay taxes (HOA Fees)
They can take your house for not paying fines or HOA fees
You get fined. (They can enforce punishment on you.)
You can (for the most part) elect your board members, or maybe vote on bi-laws
I wonder what the legal arrangements would be to treat all HOA as a local government, and enforce the Constitution on them.
I am glad I am not in a hoa. I have heard where a person who owned the house through family for decades, ended up almost out of their property because the hoa didn’t like the homeowner not paying dues plus the land was worth a bundle so the hoa while the family was away had changed locks, forged the signature of the homeowner so they could put a lien on the home and sell it. The reason they didn’t get away with it was because when they went to court, they had to show the name on the paperwork and the name was misspelled and signature did not match so the hoa got hammered so bad they had to disband because they couldn’t pay the judgement. Also just so u know the family didn’t pay the dues because they never were a part of the hoa.
I have bought a few homes over the years and I will never have an HOA, they are nothing but trouble. That $1,700 is ridiculous.
If you buy into an HOA you should be charged,
You wanted a home with a master, Why complain?