HOA & Solar Panels (Round Rock: live in, homeowner, creek)

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by awoogala

How about walnut crossing? Any solar Panels allowed there?

There is no mandatory HOA there, plus it's in the Austin city limits, so I'd guess that solar panels are allowed.

You can call Austin Energy, or one of the installer companies, to make sure:

Solar Rebate Program

[centexan77]

I just recently checked with the HOA as I live in Shady Hollow. I was told that the hoa does not specifically address solar panels, but that there are homes in Shady Hollow that have them. I also asked about south facing roof slopes to mount them as that would put them on the front of my house. Again, she said it has already been done, but that I should "run it" by the architectural committee. Hope that helps. Wish my power was from COA so I could take advantage of some of those rebates.

[greenguy7]

Generally HOA's in Austin are receptive to a solar water heater. But technically speaking they do have control if it is written in their bylaws.

[greenguy7]

<A HREF="http://www.sunbelt-solar.com/solar.html">Austin solar water heater</A>

[HappyTexan]

Say the climate control bill has words in it that forbid HOA's from not letting you put solar panels on your roof.

Just like the cable satellites, HOA's cannot prevent you from doing this.
Now the bill only passed the House and not the Senate.

If you want to read about it..it's in the 300 page amendment..around page 54 or so.

[LarryThalken]

Everyone who reads this needs to write their state congressman and senator and let them know we here in texas want to do our part to conserve and generate energy. [FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=4]HJR 76 and HB 1976, Representative Solomons' homeowners' association reform bills. Although the bill (HB 1976) passed the House of Representatives 91 - 33 (Record Vote #901 found on page 3,761 of the House Journal for the 81st Legislative Session),and the Senate Committee, the Senate failed to bring the bill up for consideration by the full Senate on the final day to pass bills. Our understanding is that there was opposition from a single, large builder in the Houston area and that caused several senators to question the content of the bill which in the final days, any delay can cause your legislation to die. The Senate requires a two-thirds majority to bring a bill up for debate, and 25 of the 31 senators to pass a bill on third reading. Apparently, we did not have the votes to pass on third reading, so the bill was not brought up for consideration. Let's get this passed in the next session.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

[LarryThalken]

I'm sorry I should have explained that this bill would not allow HOAs to stop an energy project. In this day and age we need this kind of legislation.

[IC_deLight]

Originally Posted by LarryThalken

Everyone who reads this needs to write their state congressman and senator and let them know we here in texas want to do our part to conserve and generate energy. [SIZE=4]HJR 76 and HB 1976, Representative Solomons' homeowners' association reform bills. Although the bill (HB 1976) passed the House of Representatives 91 - 33 (Record Vote #901 found on page 3,761 of the House Journal for the 81st Legislative Session),and the Senate Committee, the Senate failed to bring the bill up for consideration by the full Senate on the final day to pass bills. Our understanding is that there was opposition from a single, large builder in the Houston area and that caused several senators to question the content of the bill which in the final days, any delay can cause your legislation to die. The Senate requires a two-thirds majority to bring a bill up for debate, and 25 of the 31 senators to pass a bill on third reading. Apparently, we did not have the votes to pass on third reading, so the bill was not brought up for consideration. Let's get this passed in the next session.
[/SIZE]

The bill was opposed by developers because it would give homeowners some access to HOA financial information that developers did not want to divulge. As to opposition, there was considerable opposition from Community Associations Institute which hired 9 lobbyists to oppose and/or compromise virtually every aspect of the bill so that it often turned into an enabling act to give HOAs (and their agents) even more power over the homeowner or the homeowners property.

Indeed, Connie Niemann-Heyer worked with CAI management companies to bus board members up from San Antonio and Houston to oppose the bill. After riding the "party bus" to town, they showed up wearing stickers with the equivocal statement that said "preserve property values". Of course they didn't reveal that value was being preserved for the HOA management companies and HOA attorneys and not the homeowners. Connie is a CAI lobbyist and attorney who preys upon homeowners in HOAs and she works with other CAI members such as Senator John Carona to develop legislation that benefits the vendors of the HOA (including attorneys and management companies) to the detriment of the homeowners.

Few of the party bus types testified. For those that did, Rep. Solomons shamed them pretty quickly. It was quite evident that none of them had actually read the bill they showed up to oppose. I don't recall party bus participants being able to actually state anything in particular that they were opposed to. Most of them vanished once exposed as part of the CAI lobbying group sham. Instead of further exposing themselves, the remainder of the party bus groups worked with CAI lobbyists to simply sign protests against the bill without testifying.

Don't forget also, that Senator John Carona is the owner of the largest legion of HOA management companies in the U.S. For years he used his senate position to author anti-homeowner bills that benefitted his management company empire (Associations, Inc. aka "Associa"). You might be familiar with a few of his Texas HOA management companies such as Principal Management Group, Alliance Association Management, ProComm, PrimeSite, or all the Carona owned/controlled companies that his management companies "recommend": Community Archives (resale certificates), Association Policyholders (insurance), Associations Title (lien searches), AssociaCommunity Association Websites, AssociaPower (electricity), First Associations Bank (HOA banking), etc., etc.

He uses his senate position to benefit his HOA management company empire and himself personally to the detriment of homeowners in HOAs. His organizations oppose homeowner access to the records of the HOA which reveal the vendor relationships. You will find that after his companies are engaged, the boards tend to act in secrecy and adopt "resolutions" and vendor relationships that benefit his management companies and the affiliated vendors he owns/controls. He is responsible for a number of the past laws and unscrupulous practices that cause such problems in the first place. One way he is able to more discreetly control things today is by preventing bills from being able to reach the Senate floor for a vote when those bills would interfere with his unscrupulous business practices.

[rodneydg]

Dear IC_deLight & LarryThalken,

Hi there!

Is there a way I could contact either of you via email?

I'm producing and directing a documentary about HOAs (mostly in Texas) as my MFA production thesis at the University of North Texas (UNT)

Your help would be greatly appreciated,
Sincerely,
Rodney
CharacterActor@aol.com

[greenguy7]

solar heaters work, especially for heating pool water austin solar pool heaters