Open Garage Doors? (car, bike, dental)

[hikernut]

Here's the issue. Black and white rules are less risky to enforce. Garage door open... get a notice. Very simple. Deciding what's messy is subjective, and it opens up things like discrimination lawsuits.

[NorthofHere]

Originally Posted by MNSvenska

Guess that I'm happy that I live in a neighborhood with some carports attached to homes. When the garage doors up, you really can't tell them from the carports. Btw, seeing an open garage door does not really constitute an "eyesore", imho.

Well it does if it is used as an unkempt storage unit instead of parking your cars. Have encountered quite a few of these garages that it makes me wonder what their houses look like. Type in messy garage in google images and you will get my point. Try looking at that from across the street every day.

[Heidi60]

I don't like HOAs or their rules so we live in a single family home. We chose to keep our garage door closed for privacy, security, and to keep out any uninvited critters. There are many reasons to do it but HOAs do need to codify what they expect for your benefit and that of your neighbors. Before I made that a habit, I opened the back door to the garage one day to find a stranger in my garage!

[NorthofHere]

Originally Posted by hikernut

Here's the issue. Black and white rules are less risky to enforce. Garage door open... get a notice. Very simple. Deciding what's messy is subjective, and it opens up things like discrimination lawsuits.

Correct. The reasons for the rules are messy garages not for those that just have cars but they can't say one person can't have their garage door open while another can though sometimes they can if they say front facing garages can't and side facing can.

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

the HOA writes a general rule and will write the messy ones and overlook the well kept garages.

And open themselves up to lawsuits under AZ law.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Burning Madolf

And open themselves up to lawsuits under AZ law.

Subjective targeting is done ALL the time. The key is you don't want to make it obvious (putting it in writing, talk about it at meetings or in public etc). Maybe the person looking at violations for open doors didn't get to the other blocks or simply forgot to tag the person with the beautiful garage. For that matter, if you talk with the person who sent out the notice, you can find out if it was a random observation or a neighbor that complained. That's in the law as well. A lot of people don't know that.

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Subjective targeting is done ALL the time. The key is you don't want to make it obvious (putting it in writing, talk about it at meetings or in public etc). Maybe the person looking at violations for open doors didn't get to the other blocks or simply forgot to tag the person with the beautiful garage. For that matter, if you talk with the person who sent out the notice, you can find out if it was a random observation or a neighbor that complained. That's in the law as well. A lot of people don't know that.

The community managers I deal with now and have dealt with in the past, aren't smart enough to hide targeting activity. I've called out my current manager a couple of times just for the appearance of targeting because the courts are not friendly to HOAs and a harassment suit would be a huge PITA.

I do agree with you though that if more people who got written up understood their rights and demanded specifics of how the violation came to be (as required under law), there would be few shenanigans and mostly equal treatment. But hey, I also believe in unicorns.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by NorthofHere

Well it does if it is used as an unkempt storage unit instead of parking your cars. Have encountered quite a few of these garages that it makes me wonder what their houses look like. Type in messy garage in google images and you will get my point. Try looking at that from across the street every day.

I can't imagine a neighbor's messy garage bothering me. That seems pretty petty, but that is just me apparently. My subd does not have a closed garage rule as of yet. Most people close their garages regardless as garage item theft is rampant in Phoenix - it accounts for most property crime in nicer areas - and as protection against home invasion.

[Bummer]

Is it really theft, Ponderosa . . .

. . . when you "dangle a carrot" in temptation?

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Bummer

Is it really theft, Ponderosa . . .

. . . when you "dangle a carrot" in temptation?