Having a problem with a my HOA around parking on the street. (Tucker: rental, attorney)

[Bmr4life]

I live in Tucker, GA in a subdivision with public owned streets. Our covenants say that owners must part their personally owned cars off the street at all times. It continues on to say that guest can temporarily park on the street only if the garage has no available space with driveway not being mentioned.

The HOA recently sent out a fine schedule that states guest have to park in the driveway if the driveway is open. This is more than what our covenants currently say.

In front of my home I have enough room to park one car without blocking anyone's driveway, mail box, etc.


Here's my problem. I have a nanny that's here from 9am to 5pm. Without having to play musical chairs with our cars, the nanny has to park on the street and not in our driveway. Our neighbor who lives next door has an issue with that an has confronted our nanny. So to help, I now have the nanny park in the drive way which then means I park my personal car in the street from 3pm to 5pm until my wife gets home. Now I've received a letter from the HOA about having my personal car on the street. What's worse is the complaining neighbor has joined our newly elected board and is responsible for handling parking issues.



So I have a few questions.

1. Since the streets are public owned, can the HOA actually enforce any of these standards around street parking? In other words, if the car is parked legally as far as the law is concerned, do they have the right to fine us and place a lien on our house if these fines are ignored?

2. Can they enforce the fine schedule about guest parking without updating the covenant to match?

3. Who should I contact to get information to protect ourselves?

Thank you

[hautemomma]

My question would be why don't you clean out your garage so you can actually park your vehicles there?

As for the public streets/HOA covenants issue, I'd suggest you just inquire directly to the HOA or ask an attorney. I've heard both sides of the coin previously; general consensus seems to be that perhaps legally, there is nothing the HOA can do about parking in terms of issuing a citation or ticket, but they can levy community fines based on acting in violation of known covenant provisions.

[Bmr4life]

Originally Posted by hautemomma

My question would be why don't you clean out your garage so you can actually park your vehicles there?

As for the public streets/HOA covenants issue, I'd suggest you just inquire directly to the HOA or ask an attorney. I've heard both sides of the coin previously; general consensus seems to be that perhaps legally, there is nothing the HOA can do about parking in terms of issuing a citation or ticket, but they can levy community fines based on acting in violation of known covenant provisions.

What made you make that assumption? Did you even read my post? Anyhow, we have two cars in the garage which is why the nanny parking in the driveway is a problem.

Thanks for the suggestions though. I probably have to go the attorney route due to the HOA member I mentioned earlier.

[LovelySummer]

The HOA can do it. Yes, it is allowed and yes they can fine you. I lived in a subdivision that had this same rule. Lots of times, streets are too narrow to have ppl really parking on the streets and oftentimes, ppl will park on both sides making the problem worse. It is also hard to see kids trying to cross. Finally, some subdivisions do it to prevent criminals from hanging out to see who is home. They won't hang out as readily if they are the only car on the street. So I'm sure your HOA is not doing it to be malicious. Why don't you park behind the person in the garage and give your nanny the other side of the driveway.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by Bmr4life

So I have a few questions.

1. Since the streets are public owned, can the HOA actually enforce any of these standards around street parking? In other words, if the car is parked legally as far as the law is concerned, do they have the right to fine us and place a lien on our house if these fines are ignored?

2. Can they enforce the fine schedule about guest parking without updating the covenant to match?

3. Who should I contact to get information to protect ourselves?

Thank you

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. HOA President and Management company. Try to get an exception in writing.

These are douchebag neighbor parking issues. It happens.

You could make your property perfect and start clandestinely reporting your neighbor for every infraction to the management company (a couple weeds here, there, etc) but gotta be ready for war in that case. I've done it and they got the message, but I'd try going the nice route first. Going the nasty route could backfire.

[hautemomma]

I'm sorry. I guess I misread and thought you and your wife both parked in the driveway, so the nanny had to park in the street. I wasn't trying to be snarky, really, but I've seen families whose garages are SO full of crap (even with a basement) and they park multiple cars in the driveway and on the street.

HOA covenants are interesting things. In fact, in my community some residents just had a similar conversation about parking. They landed on this: the streets are owned and maintained by the city, and city ordinances ultimately override any HOA authority. I'm not sure how true this is, but those who had questions felt comfortable with it. There are many HOA covenants that fall outside the bounds of city rules; for example, the restrictions and standards for physical upkeep and maintenance of one's yard and home are usually higher than what's required under city or county codes. And the HOA can and will fine those whose properties are not kept up to standard, so ...

Call an attorney. Also chat discreetly with some neighbors who you see parking on the street to see what their experiences have been.

[Bmr4life]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

The HOA can do it. Yes, it is allowed and yes they can fine you. I lived in a subdivision that had this same rule. Lots of times, streets are too narrow to have ppl really parking on the streets and oftentimes, ppl will park on both sides making the problem worse. It is also hard to see kids trying to cross. Finally, some subdivisions do it to prevent criminals from hanging out to see who is home. They won't hang out as readily if they are the only car on the street. So I'm sure your HOA is not doing it to be malicious. Why don't you park behind the person in the garage and give your nanny the other side of the driveway.

I did not buy this house with a two car garage to not be able to park our cars in said garage.

But here's the full run down.

I leave first. Nanny arrives and parks on my side of the garage. Wife then leaves. I get home first and can only park on my wife's side due to the nanny being on my side. The nanny then leaves. Before my wife gets home I need to leave our 10 month alone in the house or pack her into a car seat while I move my car to the other side of the garage so its open for my wife to park in once she gets home. We can't just swap sides of the garage due to it not being a huge garage and the lawn care equipment we have stored in there.

[LovelySummer]

Please don't go the route of leaving your 10 month old. You could walk out and inadvertently lock your keys in the house or your 10 month old could have a spider crawl on him/her, anything.

So, your nanny is in the house then when you get home, right?

When you get home, the nanny goes out and moves her car to the other side. You're paying her, let her move her car. Takes all of five minutes. Problem solved. Invoice in the mail.

Originally Posted by Bmr4life

I did not buy this house with a two car garage to not be able to park our cars in said garage.

But here's the full run down.

I leave first. Nanny arrives and parks on my side of the garage. Wife then leaves. I get home first and can only park on my wife's side due to the nanny being on my side. The nanny then leaves. Before my wife gets home I need to leave our 10 month alone in the house or pack her into a car seat while I move my car to the other side of the garage so its open for my wife to park in once she gets home. We can't just swap sides of the garage due to it not being a huge garage and the lawn care equipment we have stored in there.

[Bmr4life]

Originally Posted by LovelySummer

Please don't go the route of leaving your 10 month old. You could walk out and inadvertently lock your keys in the house or your 10 month old could have a spider crawl on him/her, anything.

So, your nanny is in the house then when you get home, right?

When you get home, the nanny goes out and moves her car to the other side. You're paying her, let her move her car. Takes all of five minutes. Problem solved. Invoice in the mail.

I appreciate that you are trying to help solve my problem, but you haven't thought your solution all the way through. Where do I park when I get home? Obviously can't be my side because the nanny is there, can't be in the garage on my wife's side because she'll need to park there when she gets home. Can't be wife side in the drive way because that's where you suggest the nanny move to. Can't be the street because that's what they told me to stop doing.

Sorry, invoice rejected.

[Mishap]

Originally Posted by Bmr4life

I appreciate that you are trying to help solve my problem, but you haven't thought your solution all the way through. Where do I park when I get home? Obviously can't be my side because the nanny is there, can't be in the garage on my wife's side because she'll need to park there when she gets home. Can't be wife side in the drive way because that's where you suggest the nanny move to. Can't be the street because that's what they told me to stop doing.

Sorry, invoice rejected.

You park on your wife's side in the driveway and then while the nanny moves her car to the street(you can hold your baby) and then pull it into the garage on your side and she can take another moment to put her car behind you. 2 steps for the Nanny, 1 for you after getting home. Or leave a car in the driveway overnight...it's not going to kill it despite your objections to it. My personal choice would be to find a way to make enough room in the garage (get an HOA approved shed for the lawn equipment) to make it swappable and just pull into the garage. Bit of work but it's safer than try to escalate against an HOA over some minor inconvenience.

Your kid will be past the nanny phase soon enough that it's not exactly ruining your life. Angering your neighbors and risking annoying HOA fines is not worth the heartache. The reason the rules are in place isn't b/c they care about making the mailman hop out. Go to a neighborhood w/o such covenants and you'll see cars all over the curb especially when rental properties have 3-4X as many people as they should. It's a pretty bad eyesore and kills property values...not in your best interest. How would you feel if that same neighbor left a car on the street in "your spot" for weeks? Obviously there are extremes to it but end of the day, you have a shared interest in the neighborhood and you're making a mountain of a molehill. Next house, meet the HOA board before you buy or go where there isn't one.