About time to fix them HOA's (Houston, Premont: foreclosed, insurance, house)

[ethanw]

And I am sure Houston will benefit from this as well since there is soo much HOA abuse going on.....

Texas lawmakers to decide whether HOAs wield too much authority | khou.com | Khou.com - News, Houston news, Texas News, Headlines

[Premont]

I've been dealing with this. They tell me to paint my house, which is fine, but I pick a color and they're like, "Oh no, that's too bright." I said, "You pick the color. I don't care." Then they say, "A house has to be approved inidvidually by the committee."

[honeyinhouston]

Some neighborhoods really need HOAs because you have people who are just ignorant when it comes to housing upkeep. Personally, I would never live in a neighborhood that didn't have a HOA.

[MNCold]

Yeahhh. I really never understand why HOA has so much power. Even banks take a more decent effort and plenty of notice to forclose people's home. While I understand the needs for HOA in some neigborhood, I think some management companies go to the extreme and need to be reigned back in. Forclose people's home in as much as '27 days'????

[crone]

Originally Posted by Premont

I've been dealing with this. They tell me to paint my house, which is fine, but I pick a color and they're like, "Oh no, that's too bright." I said, "You pick the color. I don't care." Then they say, "A house has to be approved inidvidually by the committee."

Insist they provide you with a color chart of acceptable colors. Then you can pick. It is up to the board to decide if they like your choice. That is arbitrary. The way it is set up now, all you need is a color blind member and anything goes.

[Malvie]

They serve a useful purpose.

Like everything else, a few idiots spoil it for everybody else, both sides---No, Mr. Homeowner, even though this is Texas and that is your castle, you can't paint the house lime green with shocking pink trim, sorry. You'll need to move to the Heights or Montrose for that.

By the same token, HOA, you can't foreclose on somebody's property because they didn't keep their grass mowed to your exact specifications, or because they were 2 days late on their payment; you can't jack an assessment for 25% of the property and then demand the keys if you don't get it (especially when the assessment is for something silly, like putting awnings on the clubhouse); you can't discriminate based on whether you LIKE the homeowner or not (and that includes their skin tone or native language).

Meanwhile, Mr. Homeowner, I know that, in your native culture, putting a '64 Chevy up on blocks in your yard while you work on it is perfectly acceptable, but not in our neighborhood.

Everybody should Just. Be. Reasonable.

But, since many won't, the Lege will get involved and mess it up beyond the dreams of imagining for EVERYBODY.

[ethanw]

I agree with everything you said in your post and it is very well articulated.

My only beef with HOA is having the power to foreclose and I believe that option is giving them WAY too much power and room for abuse and stupidity. There are more elegant ways to drive the appropriate behavior and results. If I don’t have insurance on my car police doesn’t just confiscate my care and leave me hanging our dry in the freeway? What HOA is doing is way too radical and it needs to stop. If they had less power trust me HOA will become very creative and quickly find more constructive / positive way to achieve the desired results.

Originally Posted by Malvie

They serve a useful purpose.

Like everything else, a few idiots spoil it for everybody else, both sides---No, Mr. Homeowner, even though this is Texas and that is your castle, you can't paint the house lime green with shocking pink trim, sorry. You'll need to move to the Heights or Montrose for that.

By the same token, HOA, you can't foreclose on somebody's property because they didn't keep their grass mowed to your exact specifications, or because they were 2 days late on their payment; you can't jack an assessment for 25% of the property and then demand the keys if you don't get it (especially when the assessment is for something silly, like putting awnings on the clubhouse); you can't discriminate based on whether you LIKE the homeowner or not (and that includes their skin tone or native language).

Meanwhile, Mr. Homeowner, I know that, in your native culture, putting a '64 Chevy up on blocks in your yard while you work on it is perfectly acceptable, but not in our neighborhood.

Everybody should Just. Be. Reasonable.

But, since many won't, the Lege will get involved and mess it up beyond the dreams of imagining for EVERYBODY.

[chris_ut]

My understanding is a couple guys in the legislature make big bucks flipping foreclosed HOA properties and they block any attempts like these to regulate it.

[jimmyev]

Originally Posted by honeyinhouston

Some neighborhoods really need HOAs because you have people who are just ignorant when it comes to housing upkeep. Personally, I would never live in a neighborhood that didn't have a HOA.

Why does this only seem to be a problem in the Sun Belt? Millions of people in the Midwest and Northeast live in very tidy neighborhoods and have never heard of HOAs. Are we just sloppier down here or what?

[honeyinhouston]

Originally Posted by jimmyev

Why does this only seem to be a problem in the Sun Belt? Millions of people in the Midwest and Northeast live in very tidy neighborhoods and have never heard of HOAs. Are we just sloppier down here or what?

I've driven through many neighborhoods in the Midwest and Northeast that looked atrocious....