HOA threatens 'jail time' for family over color of backyard play set

[Superfly]

This is true, but I think that it becomes harder and harder to find non-HOA houses and HOA's are getting entirely out of hand in many cases. Contract can be a bitch though. And fundamentally, I understand the purpose. In theory it's reasonable, but in practice it's not so much.

Depending on where you live, yeah it is harder to find a non-HOA community. That's why, my next house will be out in the country, in the middle of nowhere, with no neighbors and no HOA. Those two will be dealbreakers to me.

 

[radcen]

Actually, depending on the HOA board, the laws are carved in stone until the community votes to change them. You may have some HOAs that are less strict than others, though. That's rare, though. Usually HOA board members are just assholes. Mine certainly are.

If it can be changed, it is NOT carved in stone. Think about it.

"Carved in stone" means that it is forever permanent and cannot ever ever be changed at all. Ever.

 

[sangha]

But they haven't. They are violating the rules now by having a purple swingset. My suggestion to them would be to paint the swingset in a color that would complement the color of their house. THEN take it to court, and if they win, they can paint it purple again. I don't buy this, "OMG we have to take apart the swing set to paint it" crap. No they don't. They just don't want to do it.

Thing is, there is no rule that says they can't have a purple swingset. And they are willing to paint the swingset but the HOA refuses to tell them what color(s) are acceptable.

"We asked for suggestions and were told they couldn't give us those and nothing existed as far as approved or disapproved colors for swing sets. "

So it's not that they're unwilling to take it apart and repaint it. The issue is the HOA's insistence that they remove the playset.

Now the HOA is suing the family, demanding that the play set be removed entirely.

 

[Superfly]

Honestly, shouldn't there be some common sense guidelines as to just how far these HOAs can go? I mean seriously. This **** is out of hand.

Never, ever use the words "common sense" and "HOA" in the same sentence. You will often not find HOAs that use common sense, or are reasonable.

I was talking to a guy the other day and he said his buddy lives in a HOA that doesn't allow open garage doors unless you're pulling in or out, and also does not allow home owners to own pick up trucks. Not ratty old pick up trucks, but any pick up truck.

I've not heard that. I've heard of HOAs who will not let work trucks park in the driveway, but I've never heard of an HOA that will not let you park a $50,000 F250 in your driveway. That makes no sense.

 

[sangha]

Never, ever use the words "common sense" and "HOA" in the same sentence.

:lamo

 

[radcen]

Never, ever use the words "common sense" and "HOA" in the same sentence. You will often not find HOAs that use common sense, or are reasonable.



I've not heard that. I've heard of HOAs who will not let work trucks park in the driveway, but I've never heard of an HOA that will not let you park a $50,000 F250 in your driveway. That makes no sense.

I have heard of the no pick-up rule, but have only heard of it. Never seen or experienced it myself.

 

[Superfly]

That swing set is beautiful. Who does it harm? I am surprised you would be on the side of the HOA.

I am on the side of the HOA because I am a homeowner in a community with an HOA, and I expect them to follow the bylaws of this community.

I understand that HOAs are often nosy, self-important douchebags, but I also understood this when moving in. I can't do anything without their approval. I knew this when I signed on the line.

If I live in a neighborhood with neighbors close by, I prefer an HOA because they take care of the BS that I don't want to have to deal with. It's what we pay them for. But like I said, I'd rather be in the country with no neighbors at all.

 

[Helix]

my feelings in general :

how does a purple swingset hurt property values?

yeah, i'm not really a fan of HOAs. common sense just seems to go out the window entirely. ****, it seems like once a year one of them ****s up and tells an aging veteran that he can't have a flag pole. if i were on the board of an HOA and somebody suggested trying to take a veteran's house over a flag, i'd probably walk over and pull that person's underwear over his head just on general principle. sure, i can see getting a little perturbed if my neighbor opens a garbage dump in his backyard, but this is a damned swingset. have a drink or a joint and chill the **** out. life will go on if there's a purple swingset next door, and if you fight it, you will be a famous big meanie on social media. that might actually hurt your resale value.

i'm a little less militant about HOAs than i used to be. still not thrilled that you are required to join at point of sale, but it is what it is. but use some common sense when deciding which battles to fight. this one seems pretty stupid.

 

[Superfly]

What I do with my own property is none of anyone's business. I understand why they might be interested, but frankly I don't give a damn what they think. To me anyway, HOA's always seemed like a way to meddle in the property rights of others.

When you move into a community with an HOA, it is absolutely their business what you do with it.

If you don't want an HOA involved in what happens with your house, do not move into a neighborhood with an HOA.

If you do, you can't sit around and complain about it. You go into it with your eyes wide open. You get a copy of the bylaws before closing, and you know full well what you are getting into when you close on your house.

 

[Henrin]

When you move into a community with an HOA, it is absolutely their business what you do with it.

If you don't want an HOA involved in what happens with your house, do not move into a neighborhood with an HOA.

If you do, you can't sit around and complain about it. You go into it with your eyes wide open. You get a copy of the bylaws before closing, and you know full well what you are getting into when you close on your house.

It's still not their property and they have no say on the terms of its sale. Just because you barge in on the sale of someone else's property doesn't make it right.

 

[Dragonfly]

It's funny to watch people complain about HOA's - but just wait until your neighbors decide to do things that drastically reduce what you could sell your property for.

Try to sell your house when the next door neighbor has allowed their property to go to hell-in-a-hand basket.

Are you willing to forfeit potentially up to $100,000 of what your property is worth because your neighbors are pigs and idiots?
You're living in a $200,000 home, but your neighbor's crap-hole next door prevents you from selling it for anything over $165,000.
You gonna be happy about that?

All of a sudden a HOA doesn't seem so bad.

I live in a HOA neighborhood. Serves us all quite nicely. Of course some of us are smart enough to know what we're signing up for.

 

[Superfly]

It's still not their property and they have no say on the terms of it's sale. Just because you barge on the sale of someone else's property doesn't make it right.

When you are buying the home, they absolutely have a say. You have to sign paperwork saying you understand that you are buying a home in a neighborhood with an HOA, and you have to follow their bylaws. You can't buy the house without it.

As far as when you sell, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.

 

[radcen]

Most of the items that really affect value are already covered by city ordinances.

Rural & non-incorporated areas, not so much.

 

[Superfly]

It's funny to watch people complain about HOA's - but just wait until your neighbors decide to do things that drastically reduce what you could sell your property for.

Try to sell your house when the next door neighbor has allowed their property to go to hell-in-a-hand basket.

Are you willing to forfeit potentially up to $100,000 of what your property is worth because your neighbors are pigs and idiots?
You're living in a $200,000 home, but your neighbor's crap-hole next door prevents you from selling it for anything over $165,000.
You gonna be happy about that?

All of a sudden a HOA doesn't seem so bad.

I live in a HOA neighborhood. Serves us all quite nicely. Of course some of us are smart enough to know what we're signing up for.

Amen. Couldn't have said it better. I want to keep my property values high. Allowing people to do whatever they want will risk my property values. It's the very reason people pay to belong to a community with an HOA.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

From the article in the OP, it's not even that the swing-set broke the rules, it's that some sub-committee decided that they did not like the color.

 

[americanwoman]

Since purple is my favorite color and that swing set looks awesome I'm on the families side. I was expecting some ghetto spray painted swing set but from the picture I really don't see what the issue is, it's really nice.

 

[radcen]

From the article in the OP, it's not even that the swing-set broke the rules, it's that some sub-committee decided that they did not like the color.

They claim it broke the rules per color, but won't give any direction on what color would be acceptable under the rules.

Rules are fine, but they need to be reasonably followable.

 

[americanwoman]

Amen. Couldn't have said it better. I want to keep my property values high. Allowing people to do whatever they want will risk my property values. It's the very reason people pay to belong to a community with an HOA.

Haha I'd love to have some HOA check out my neighbors homemade outhouse and their collection of plastic horses scattered around the house. To say nothing of the fake flowers planted around the property.

 

[Superfly]

Most of the items that really affect value are already covered by city ordinances.

Rural & non-incorporated areas, not so much.

Not sure about other places, but local government doesn't have much say when it comes to our HOA. I mean, sure we can call the police, or the dog catcher or something, but everything else stops at the gate - keyword gate. If we didn't have a gate, the county has already told us they'd come in and give us more streetlights, maintain our streets, etc. But because we have a gate, they won't come in, and they say that everything is the responsibility of the community. We aren't even bound by speed limit laws. We were told by the county that cops won't patrol our neighborhood. Now we have speed limits in the neighborhood, but they are way too high. But cops don't patrol our neighborhood, so they don't write tickets for anything.

 

[Henrin]

Haha I'd love to have some HOA check out my neighbors homemade outhouse and their collection of plastic horses scattered around the house. To say nothing of the fake flowers planted around the property.

:lamo They planted fake flowers, really? You know you're lazy when you decide to plant fake flowers.

 

[Superfly]

Haha I'd love to have some HOA check out my neighbors homemade outhouse and their collection of plastic horses scattered around the house. To say nothing of the fake flowers planted around the property.

Oh man. Just kill me now. At least it's not plastic pink flamingos!

 

[Henrin]

When you are buying the home, they absolutely have a say. You have to sign paperwork saying you understand that you are buying a home in a neighborhood with an HOA, and you have to follow their bylaws. You can't buy the house without it.

As far as when you sell, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.

They aren't part of the transaction nor do they own the home or property, so really there is no justifiable reason they should have a say.

 

[Superfly]

:lamo They planted fake flowers, really? You know you're lazy when you decide to plant fake flowers.

Not always a matter of lazy. I have thought of window flower boxes with fake flowers. It's too hot here in the late afternoon, and there aren't alot of really colorful flowers that bode well with direct afternoon sun in late south Georgia. I have several azalea bushes, and rose bushes, but there's not alot of selection for color, for smaller flowers. They just die, and quickly.

 

[americanwoman]

:lamo They planted fake flowers, really? You know you're lazy when you decide to plant fake flowers.

Yes they really do and not only flowers but a couple of fake trees too.

 

[countryboy]

Never, ever use the words "common sense" and "HOA" in the same sentence. You will often not find HOAs that use common sense, or are reasonable.

Then they should be forced to.

I've not heard that. I've heard of HOAs who will not let work trucks park in the driveway, but I've never heard of an HOA that will not let you park a $50,000 F250 in your driveway. That makes no sense.

Well, I could see them not wanting a low end F250 in your driveway. Have you priced Ford trucks lately?

BTW, this HOA supposedly doesn't allow you to park any vehicle in your driveway. Verboten.