Do you have to be a member? I mean, is it a condition of buying the house that you must become a member ? And do you have to pay?
I'm watching an association meeting on YouTube and the drama over hiding a trash can is just insane.
If the lady doesn't do anything to address this, what powers does the association actually have? It's not like they can evict her.
I would rather shoot myself in the head then own a house in an HOA. There is an episode of Penn & Teller BS! where a man gets put in jail because he could not afford to maintain his lawn.
shareI'm so glad I don't live near people like this! There's one thing wanting to keep the area looking nice but putting someone in jail instead of offering help with a lawn mower is just spiteful.
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Amen!
This GEIGO commercial nails those assholes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryqv9REMpsg&ab_channel=GEICOInsurance
😎
No, but they can fine you.
shareThey can foreclose on your property if you don't pay your dues or any assessments.
sharewow. yep. i just looked it up. they can force sale of the home! jeez!
thats a nightmare!
just saw this on youtube also. an HOA charged a family $927 for leaving trash on curb too long. he left a bunch of trash bags out for days and the HOA hired someone for 400$, a 200$ hoa fee, and 327$ for attorneys and you get the bill. yikes!
Yes they can and they can also take legal action if you violate any of the rules. Most people who buy into these communities realize what the rules are and actually are happy with them.
shareThey can sell your house?! Wow, that's extreme.
sharei was looking to buy a home and found a place that had an HOA agreement for the housing development (or it could be a condo/townhouse)
yes it was required and you sign an agreement to pay a dues and accept that you pay fines for breaking HOA rules.
i talked to one of the neighbors and he told me some horror stories. for example the HOA deemed his truck "unsightly". it was a new vehicle, spotless, and in his driveway but it was a pickup truck that was "lifted" and had large tires like a monster truck. unsightly for the community!
yeah they can fine her for the trash can being out. it would probably be something like 20$ per citation. that was enough for me to hear.
though they did have a large community pool and park for kids that was maintained with the dues.
That's crazy! So it's not just normal houses then? It's a specific community and you know what you are getting into before moving there.
sharei dont think its normal homes. but i'm not 100% sure either. the house i was looking at was pretty nice and all the houses around it seemed unique. it didnt look like a development until they told me about the community pool. then i started asking questions and the HOA came up.
i talked to friends that have townhouses and condos and they like the HOA. no yard work/landscaping... to me thats missing fun.
ColumboKate I'll tell you a crazy story. I live in an HOA. Our neighborhood is nice 3/4 bedroom 2-story houses, all built since 2000. Nice yards, upper middle-class Virginia USA.
We pay $60 a month for a community pool, gym, playground, clubhouse, and wooded walking path. During COVID the gym, pool and clubhouse were closed for over a year, and remain closed. Yet we still paid $720 for the year. No refunds available. (235 homes x $720) = $169,200. They said the money was going towards the next clubhouse renovation. You can imagine there was some discontent at the annual meeting!
Yes we have rules that garbage totes cannot be visible outside. Fences and additions must be approved by the board. Sheds and pools are not allowed. We have 35 pages of By-Laws. I'd be happy to send it to you!
That's the whole point of a Homeowners Association, to collect unreasonable profit for doing absolutely nothing. Don't forget they probably sent people around to give people unreasonable fees for breaking unreasonable rules too, so that $169,200 is just the cherry on top.
share35 pages?! I'd be scared to breathe incase I broke a rule 😄
shareMy guess is that it would be specified in the title papers of the house.
share...it was a pickup truck that was "lifted" and had large tires like a monster truck.
There goes the neighbourhood !
Not everyone wants to live next to NASCARdos.
shareI wasn't entirely joking. " Petrol heads are a pain in the arse " - Old jungle saying
If I lived in a nice subdivision, I wouldn't want to - the houses are generally too close together and people should be considerate of their neighbors,. If I lived outside of a subdivision with larger lots,(which I do), it probably wouldn't bother me, but I really don't want to look at someones boat, camper, or RV either., (in a subdivision.)
shareSecret video of condo association meeting. Not quite as intrusive as an H.O.A., but some similarities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SXBZfzc1Dc
not a big thing in canada from what i know. i would never join one.
shareWe have a newer neighbourhood here that isn't quite an HOA, but a resident association that is mandatory if you buy in there. They aren't as strict as an HOA but the resident fees include access to a 32 acre lake and 10 acre park. I think they have a beach, mini golf, tennis courts, playgrounds and such that can't be accessed by anyone else in the city.
sharesounds like a townhouse complex.
shareIt's not. I can't think of any townhouse complex with a 32 acre lake. Haha. The houses in there are pretty pricey for the city.
sharesounds like a gated community.
shareYeah it does. I guess that is the closest to compare it to.
sharethis HOA just would not work in most neighborhoods in toronto.
shareNo, probably not. I also really don't like even new developments where all the houses look the same. I don't want to be told what colour my roof has to be or my fence. If I want a pink fence, I should be able to have a pink fence. (I don't have one, nor do I want one).
shareSame here. I like older neighborhoods where almost every house is different. I would never buy anywhere there's an HOA. No way.
I can understand having a few rules, like not leaving garbage cans out front, or not allowing motorhomes to be parked in driveways for extended periods (someone comes to visit for a week? Fine and dandy, but nothing permanent). Boats should be tucked away, too. But telling a homeowner what color their front door has to be or whether they can have potted plants on their front step? That's ridiculous.
I understand a lot of HOA board members (or whatever you call them) get on a power trip and love telling others what to do. 🙄
Oh it's a power trip for some alright!
We have a 20-car parking lot for the pool, clubhouse, park and walking trail. Someone had just bought a new Tesla as an investment and was parking it there. Well someone had to complain and sure enough an email came around, "blah blah blah blah blah, no overnight parking in the lot", and they had to move it.
The board themselves is on a power-trip too. I mentioned that they have to approve all fences. The "Fence regulation" section of the by-laws is multiple pages, down to the picky detail that all hardware must be BLACK!
I would never buy a house if it was a requirement. I don't do well with being ordered around.
And come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I don't know a single person who lives in a neighborhood with a HOA.
Ever seen this movie? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112703/
It starred John Ritter and Hal Linden. A horror story (not supernatural) about such a community. Linden played a billionaire who had constructed his own little town, where he could be safe from crime, conflict, and other such things, then he invited those who shared his vision to move in. The community had an enormous number of rules prohibiting various things, and it turned out the residents were being monitored very closely.
It was a made for TV movie. Pretty good, from what I recall. It's on YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhtsM3AkxgY
Thanks for the recommendation, BullSchmidt. Reminds me a bit of the Fox show Wayward Pines (2015-2016).
I don't know what a HOA is but if it means getting rid of the riff-raff then I'm all for it !
It means that people living in a particular area agree to abide by certain rules/regulations and restrictions. They can include how your property is maintained, what you can and can't add to your property such as fences, garden sheds, what exterior colors can be used on your house, etc. Many areas do not allow campers, motor homes, boats parked outside. Generally the more expensive the neighborhood, the more restrictions and rules apply.
Riff-raff is probably a strong term, but the HOA does keep a neighborhood looking neat and tidy. If you want to do your own thing, then avoiding an area with a HOA is probably a really good idea.
Me too ... these people who want to do stuff just to piss off the neighbors go pound sand.
shareIt stands for homeowners association. See 102000's post above for the description.
shareIn a way it brings the riff-raff into the neighborhood. I’ve had dealings in the past with people with criminal records related to drugs and thefts. They can’t rent apartments since they cannot pass a credit check so they live in run down motels. They cannot get regular jobs for the same reason. But they can get landscaping jobs and if they wanted to case a neighborhood it would provide them the perfect opportunity.
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