HOAs Issues in Delaware (Good & Bad) ? (apartment, renters)

[NJBoy3]

I am seriously considering moving to Delaware. I have visited many times so not just a dreamer. The one thing that has me concerned are HOAs. Can I ask those of you who can please post both good as well as bad experiences.

Thanks in advance.

[DelawareLiz]

We have an active HOA in my development, and my husband is a board member. It's a love/hate relationship, but I feel we need one to keep residents in line. Sadly, we had people (out-of-state homeowners were always the case) renting to anything with a heartbeat (felons, partiers, junkies, etc.). They would shove as many people in one home to afford the rent. The board paid thousands from our dues to have the by-laws revised and now we require criminal background checks. The people living in a rental are now also limited by the number of bedrooms and must all be related. No more trash!!! It made for a much better quality of life. This is a big problem at the beach area--out-of-state homeowners who will rent to anything. The rent is high here so the renters shove as many low-lifes as they can in one dwelling. That's not the case in my development anymore though.

That being said--my HOA can be ridiculous about other things. Personally, I don't care if a person parks their boat in their front driveway instead of their backyard. It's impossible for some in here to park their boats in their backyard. However, our HOA will go nuts over it and fine them. I also don't care if somebody has an above-ground pool in their backyard, but they are banned in here. Only in-ground are permitted. This is what I mean--love/hate relationship. However, I'd rather have our HOA than not have it.

[NJBoy3]

Wow. Many thanks for posting. Never would have thought of this happening.

Are these seasonal leases? Short term/Long term?

[seanlax]

Originally Posted by beachliz

We have an active HOA in my development, and my husband is a board member. It's a love/hate relationship, but I feel we need one to keep residents in line. Sadly, we had people (out-of-state homeowners were always the case) renting to anything with a heartbeat (felons, partiers, junkies, etc.). They would shove as many people in one home to afford the rent. The board paid thousands from our dues to have the by-laws revised and now we require criminal background checks. The people living in a rental are now also limited by the number of bedrooms and must all be related. No more trash!!! It made for a much better quality of life. This is a big problem at the beach area--out-of-state homeowners who will rent to anything. The rent is high here so the renters shove as many low-lifes as they can in one dwelling. That's not the case in my development anymore though.

That being said--my HOA can be ridiculous about other things. Personally, I don't care if a person parks their boat in their front driveway instead of their backyard. It's impossible for some in here to park their boats in their backyard. However, our HOA will go nuts over it and fine them. I also don't care if somebody has an above-ground pool in their backyard, but they are banned in here. Only in-ground are permitted. This is what I mean--love/hate relationship. However, I'd rather have our HOA than not have it.

Man renters sometimes get a lot of unwarranted hate. Under your HOA rules, my girlfriend and I, both clean records and employed, but not married, wouldn't be able to rent in your neighborhood. That's silly. Sounds like you should have targeted the landlords, not the tenants.

[DelawareLiz]

Seanlax--The revised by-law was to target the landlords...because they were the ones not caring about who was in here. It costs them $$ to do the cbc which is to deter or make weekly renting nearly impossible. We had one guy who was renting to somebody different every week and it was an issue. Now, he cannot do that unless he runs a cbc and turns it in to the HOA--not very easy if you're renting to somebody different every week. He was trying to play slick and get by renting week to week without the cbc....cost him some big $$ in fines. He's a real jack-ass though--not surprised by his actions.

NJBoy 3--some leases in here are seasonal, but the majority are mostly long term because of the cbc.

[rdflk]

beachliz -- has that ever been challenged legally? Seanlax is right, an unmarried couple...can't rent there?
It sounds like you’re forcing the landlord (owner) to discriminate…especially a rule that renters have to be related?

I'd say it seems to apply:
From the People’s Law Library of Maryland:

The courts have said that Maryland's law is "substantially equivalent" to the federal law. In two important respects, Maryland gives more protection. First, Maryland expands on the protected classes of the federal law. You cannot be discriminated against because of your marital status, gender identification or sexual orientation. Marital status is defined as “the state of being single, married, separated, divorced or widowed." "Sexual orientation" means the identification of an individual as to male or female homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. Gender identity is defined to mean the gender related identity, appearance, expression, or behavior of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth. In addition, there is a limit to the exemption for rooms or units in a dwelling in which the owner occupies a unit as his/her principal residence. In Maryland, these owners may turn down someone based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status. However, they cannot discriminate against someone because of his/her race, color, religion, family status, national origin or handicap.

[DelawareLiz]

No, it has not been challenged. Actually, there IS a boyfriend/girlfriend couple who has rented in here the past year.....passed the cbc and they are not behavioral issues. They claimed they were getting married and therefore were approved. I really don't think they ever got married, but nobody cares because they aren't criminals and act obnoxious.

We also have a legally married lesbian couple renting in here. Everyone saw the two women and kids, and they thought it was two single women. Nope.....married.

So yes--we do have a few renters in here that aren't related. I'm thinking there is another rental which occupies unrelated people because there are two men and a woman living there, but they don't cause issues so nobody cares.

[rdflk]

So, discriminatory on its face...and selectively applied. Okaaaay. Yep. I suppose as long as no one challenges it, you guys are safe. But the policy seems to be illegal, or in violation of state law.

[newmassphd]

Just curious, why didn't the HOA list terms concerning behaviors only?

- social gatherings
- overnight guests
- noise

A number of landlords around UD deal with similar issues and often write behavioral
clauses into their leases. Perhaps examining a few may give a few ideas.

While the intent is understandable, how would criminal background check stop a tenant?

An argument could be would someone who has paid his or her dues to society then be
penalized again because of a past criminal conviction? Another argument could be that
the, so called, clean cut person just might be that criminal who hasn't yet been caught.
So, while you are looking to deter the "criminal element," the wrong type of tenants
would be wholesale slipping through your filters.

I would imagine a landlord would build the cost of criminal background check into an
application processing fee passed on to the tenant. If I were a landlord, I certainly
would pass the cost onto the tenant, so It wouldn't impact me.

How about someone who has foster children and wants to rent a larger nicer home in which
the "family" will live? Would they be disqualified?

As others have said, the HOA could get into a fair amount of trouble the moment the first person
brings forward a legal challenge.

[NJBoy3]

And what about the major high dollar apartment buildings in cities like New York. There are people with the money who can easily pass a background check but are denied the opportunity to purchase a unit for whatever reason. Maybe someone can clue me in here.