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At one time or another, I have been the president of a home owners association (HOA) and an antagonist. When i was a president, i thought most conflicts were the result of "difficult people" trying to game the system for their own benefit. When i was an antagonist, it thought it was due to the inflexibility and lack of reason by the HOA Board.
HOA boards are made up of people. there are all kinds of people. So there are all kinds of boards.
One thing that seems to be consistent in life is that like can attract like. So you can have a board of likeminded people, or largely likeminded people. They can be those mindful of the honorable, ethical, moral issues....or not.
Typically its not a "lack of reason" by an HOA board. Many times, they cannot legally bend the rules, and therefore must enforce the same rules equally. People don't like to be treated equally, they like preferential treatment.
Having been both President and member of HOA's multiple times, it seems to me that the issue of antagonism is relatively simple. The role of the HOA is to represent and protect the interests of the majority. Whenever individuals have a different opinion than the HOA board, they tend to feel like their way is best ... and that they should not be 'imposed upon in their own home' by others.
It's the primary area where community-living differs from solo-living ... and something everyone who considers Condo/HOA-type living, should think about BEFORE moving. From an HOA standpoint, one of the great difficulties is dealing with people who do not understand the difference between a 'hotel' and a 'condo.'
The HOA boards I've served on have no interest in intruding into the business of its members/ residents, but, also has the responsibility for ensuring that a few individuals do not intrude on the 'rights' of other members.
Think about it this way: Suppose a resident in a neighborhood without an HOA chooses to park a variety of boats and cars on their own front lawn. Everyone in the neighborhood will be agitated about the mess, but, nobody can do anything about it. In an HOA that has restrictions against that, the HOA board will step-in and take action to prevent the eyesore. Of course, the individual with the cars and boats will be aggravated, because the interests of the majority have taken precedence over the interest of the individual.
It all goes back to what the covenants say. Board's can't bend the covenants without exposing themselves to personal risk and liability. They must be applied across the board.
I've seen a little of each, but most big conflicts were caused by residents who had wildly inappropriate ideas about imposing themselves on others.
We had one angry lady who demanded that we ban her elderly neighbor from flushing his toilet between the hours of 10pm and 8am so she couldn't hear water moving through pipes. Uh, no.
She also wanted us to allow her to enclose her porch into a walled room (not even glass, actual unwindowed walls) in a small garden-style brick 1960's building. Uh, no.
She fought with us about allowing her to call in plumbers and airconditioning mechanics and charge the HOA for the bills (for no apparent reason). Uh, no.
She demanded that we pay have all walls, ceilings and floors of her unit torn out and sound proofed because "I shouldn't have the hear ANYTHING!" Uh, no.
She wanted all the outside doors replaced on all the buildings because she "suspected" they were more flammable than some other type of door she liked better. I said, "if flames are licking the inside of that door, right next to your unit, you've got bigger problems than an ugly door."
Finally she threaten to "expose" us for having a commercial door repair company headquartered 20 miles away instead of a local door repair company who's owner she knew. She thought we were lying about the bid being cheaper from the our contracted company, but she refused to look at the bids when we offered them to her.
I asked her if she REALLY though the local news investigative team would really find our door repair company to a titillating, TV-worthy scandal?! She just changed the subject back to her neighbor's toilet flushing.
Finally she had to sell because her husband divorced her. Gee, I wonder why?
it's a wonder how some people end up crazy with 50 cats wandering throughout their house.
I always wonder... did it start in childhood that this person got entitlement syndrome, or was it a series of circumstances that led them into acting like this?
I can see the pros of a homeowner's association... you sacrifice some freedoms to keep the riff-raff at bay. Nobody wants a bunch of cars parked around a property or junk laying everywhere, or worse yet, someone who works on loud cars and goes and revs them up in the driveway all the time just because they can... or burns rubber and leaves tiremarks all over the street outside their house. (I've seen people who do this basically daily/weekly)
I've seen a little of each, but most big conflicts were caused by residents who had wildly inappropriate ideas about imposing themselves on others.
We had one angry lady who demanded that we ban her elderly neighbor from flushing his toilet between the hours of 10pm and 8am so she couldn't hear water moving through pipes. Uh, no.
She also wanted us to allow her to enclose her porch into a walled room (not even glass, actual unwindowed walls) in a small garden-style brick 1960's building. Uh, no.
She fought with us about allowing her to call in plumbers and airconditioning mechanics and charge the HOA for the bills (for no apparent reason). Uh, no.
She demanded that we pay have all walls, ceilings and floors of her unit torn out and sound proofed because "I shouldn't have the hear ANYTHING!" Uh, no.
She wanted all the outside doors replaced on all the buildings because she "suspected" they were more flammable than some other type of door she liked better. I said, "if flames are licking the inside of that door, right next to your unit, you've got bigger problems than an ugly door."
Finally she threaten to "expose" us for having a commercial door repair company headquartered 20 miles away instead of a local door repair company who's owner she knew. She thought we were lying about the bid being cheaper from the our contracted company, but she refused to look at the bids when we offered them to her.
I asked her if she REALLY though the local news investigative team would really find our door repair company to a titillating, TV-worthy scandal?! She just changed the subject back to her neighbor's toilet flushing.
Finally she had to sell because her husband divorced her. Gee, I wonder why?
Thanks for the stories and warning. I will NEVER sit on one of these boards. You must have far more patience than I.
I've seen a little of each, but most big conflicts were caused by residents who had wildly inappropriate ideas about imposing themselves on others.
We had one angry lady who demanded that we ban her elderly neighbor from flushing his toilet between the hours of 10pm and 8am so she couldn't hear water moving through pipes. Uh, no.
She also wanted us to allow her to enclose her porch into a walled room (not even glass, actual unwindowed walls) in a small garden-style brick 1960's building. Uh, no.
She fought with us about allowing her to call in plumbers and airconditioning mechanics and charge the HOA for the bills (for no apparent reason). Uh, no.
She demanded that we pay have all walls, ceilings and floors of her unit torn out and sound proofed because "I shouldn't have the hear ANYTHING!" Uh, no.
She wanted all the outside doors replaced on all the buildings because she "suspected" they were more flammable than some other type of door she liked better. I said, "if flames are licking the inside of that door, right next to your unit, you've got bigger problems than an ugly door."
Finally she threaten to "expose" us for having a commercial door repair company headquartered 20 miles away instead of a local door repair company who's owner she knew. She thought we were lying about the bid being cheaper from the our contracted company, but she refused to look at the bids when we offered them to her.
I asked her if she REALLY though the local news investigative team would really find our door repair company to a titillating, TV-worthy scandal?! She just changed the subject back to her neighbor's toilet flushing.
Finally she had to sell because her husband divorced her. Gee, I wonder why?
Was her name.......never mind.
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She just changed the subject back to her neighbor's toilet flushing. 
