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Bottom line we are all a part of society. Society has rules . When you don't live with rules it is then called anarchy and you don't want that believe you me . I think all of this hoa business is because people don't read the rules or bi laws when they move into the hoa community and therefore lies the problem . Know what you are moving into before you move into it . we had some friends who were thinking about buying a house in a certain neighborhood that when meeting with prospective buyers you had to present your w2 s to make sure you could afford the house . The husband did not like the idea but the wife did and guess what ? 6 months in they were selling and they finally sold and bought another place without an hoa and they were much happier . Like I said bottom line know what you are moving into before signing on the dotted line .
An HOA corporation board is not "society" nor a government. There is a reason the founders of this country (and your state) developed a constitution to protect individuals and their property from overreaching governments. An HOA is NOT a government but because it is not a government it also proclaims to be immune from the restrictions and constraints placed on government.
There is an entire industry of HOA attorneys and management companies constantly lobbying to make these "private governments" with all the powers and none of the restraints a government has. Among their objectives - unlimited financial assessments, economically unregulated monopolies on utilities and services, and justifying any action on the pretext of aesthetics.
Society does have "rules" which are represented in the social compact identified as a Constitution. The "rules" and "bylaws" you refer to are all about denying you the protections you have under a constitution. The HOA corporation and property burdening scheme is designed and intended to disenfranchise you. Look at your own bylaws - they probably provide that your ability to vote is dependent upon whether you are deemed in good standing by the "board". What a crock. If the HOA was such a good thing then why is the membership involuntary?
It's not satire and those of you living in HOA-burdened property simply haven't yet experienced it yet. Also the idea that people choose to be abused or choose to live like this is absurd. Some of you may live in areas where choice of housing is available. However in much of the U.S. - particularly the Sunbelt states - nothing but HOA-burdened housing has been built for years. This is often a result of local government mandate or developer preference. HOAs aren't numerous because of popularity or market demand any more than cockroaches are numerous in Houston by popularity or market demand.
For me the choice to live in an HOA was from the fact that I wanted swimming pool access and tennis courts.
Society does have "rules" which are represented in the social compact identified as a Constitution. The "rules" and "bylaws" you refer to are all about denying you the protections you have under a constitution. The HOA corporation and property burdening scheme is designed and intended to disenfranchise you. Look at your own bylaws - they probably provide that your ability to vote is dependent upon whether you are deemed in good standing by the "board". What a crock. If the HOA was such a good thing then why is the membership involuntary?
The Constitution did not specify brick buildings in Boston or Philly - but Ben Franklin did....after many fires.
You'll have to come up with something better.
"unlimited assessments" - you do know that even regular zoning laws (non-HOA) often specify minimum house sizes (that would seem restrictive, right?) and building codes could require you to do 100's of thousands of dollars of work on even a SFH.
I have owned single family dwellings my entire life -but now one of our houses (we are chasing the sun) is part of a 12 unit Condo. I am on the board (against my will, but the Prez wants me there and he works very hard so I cannot refuse)....
We don't spend a penny more than we need to. There is a certain standard that the property was built to (plus codes, etc.) and we attempt (but fail) to keep it to that standard
Residents once asked us to give them a plan for the next 10+ years. We told them they wouldn't want to know how much needs to be spent, but they insisted and any decent plan would entail at least a doubling of the condo fees. People prefer special assessments and some figure they will move before the BIG bills come due.
The same can be true of SFH...people can know all kinds of things about their houses and never tell you. It's up to you and the home inspector, neither of which are likely to find many systems which might be failing.
Pay me now or pay me later....
I do agree that HOA's bring out the worst in some people. Even with just 12 part-time units, there is one couple who is COMPLETELY off their rockers (hate everyone and everything from day one) and two others who are PITA.
I do prefer a single family house....and my hopes are to live out my later years only in that fashion. As Braveheart Chanted "FREEDOM".....
The biggest ruse in American history is that a house is a good investment. Shiller calculated that the total rise in the last 150 years is something close to 1% per year.
The Constitution did not specify brick buildings in Boston or Philly - but Ben Franklin did....after many fires.
You'll have to come up with something better.
"unlimited assessments" - you do know that even regular zoning laws (non-HOA) often specify minimum house sizes (that would seem restrictive, right?) and building codes could require you to do 100's of thousands of dollars of work on even a SFH.
I have owned single family dwellings my entire life -but now one of our houses (we are chasing the sun) is part of a 12 unit Condo. I am on the board (against my will, but the Prez wants me there and he works very hard so I cannot refuse)....
We don't spend a penny more than we need to. There is a certain standard that the property was built to (plus codes, etc.) and we attempt (but fail) to keep it to that standard
In reading this topic, this part I put in bold hit me. Is this for real or sort of an off-hand joking expression?
I think HOAs attract a certain type of people, and repel another type of person.
They attract - people who thrive on order.
people who tend to be conformists
people who are extremely olderly
people who like be surrounded by others who are like themselves
people who thrive on security
They repel - individualists
people who don't like to be told what to do.
people who have little desire to tell others what to do.
people who have a "live and let live" attitude.
people who enjoy knowing people who are different from themselves
I do NOT think that politics or political persuasion has anything to do with this.
My sister loves HOAs and from the time she owned her first Co-op, she thrived in that atmosphere. She and her husband were "Block Captains", went to meetings, wrote people up for breaking rules etc.
I personally have no interest in this sort of thing.
There is a difference between "HOAs", condo corporations, and co-ops as to what is owned, how it is owned among other things.
Condos are a statutory creature in every state. They only exist as a result of statute. This is not the case with HOAs although there may be statutes "regulating" them as with condominiums. In reality the statutes have been promulgated and heavily lobbied for by the HOA vendors and developers including HOA attorneys and management companies. Accordingly the statutes are written to give extreme powers to the HOA and to limit the remedies a homeowner has. There is zero empirical evidence that an HOA "preserves value" for any homeowner - unless you are talking about the HOA attorneys and management companies which don't live in the subdivision they feed off of.
There is a difference between "HOAs", condo corporations, and co-ops as to what is owned, how it is owned among other things.
Condos are a statutory creature in every state. They only exist as a result of statute. This is not the case with HOAs although there may be statutes "regulating" them as with condominiums. In reality the statutes have been promulgated and heavily lobbied for by the HOA vendors and developers including HOA attorneys and management companies. Accordingly the statutes are written to give extreme powers to the HOA and to limit the remedies a homeowner has. There is zero empirical evidence that an HOA "preserves value" for any homeowner - unless you are talking about the HOA attorneys and management companies which don't live in the subdivision they feed off of.
If you want to live in a development with amenities, you are going to be dealing with an HOA.
More silliness. In NV and similar it is required to landscape the outer edge properties where they abut roads. This effectively guarantees that any subdivided property will have an HOA. The HOA will exist even if only for the purpose of maintaining the edge landscaping. This was, by the way, a vast civic improvement. There is really nothing more ugly than blocks of the customary 6 foot block walls facing the street.
These HOAs however can be for the landscaping only and cost $10 or $15 a month. They do nothing other than collect for and maintain the landscaping.
From there you can go up to HOAs with responsibilities for other facilities and then to those that actually control usage and condition of the properties.
Most HOAs here are reasonably well run and not a problem to anyone. The big ones work pretty well. The local Sun City for instance charges $115 per month and maintains a substantial set of facilities with that money.
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