Quote:
Originally Posted by markg91359
If one resides in a single family home outside a condominium complex for most of one's life, one should think carefully before moving into a condominium complex. I recommend several things first:
1. Get a copy of the HOA rules and carefully go through them.
2. Talk to people in the complex and find out rigorously the rules are enforced and its probably a good idea to track someone down on the HOA board and talk to them too, to get a sense of how seriously they take rules like "All bushes must be cut 3" below window sills" or "No rose bushes are allowed".
3. Ask yourself how you will feel constantly having to abide by rules set by others.
My father moved to a condominium in his late fifties. Within two years, he sold out and moved back to a home outside a condo complex. He couldn't stand the rules and couldn't stand the people running the HOA.
My second home is part of a complex and the rules are starting to irritate me. I love the home, but not some of the narrow-mindedness of the people running it. Its been my observation in life that some of those who have the least power tend to get their jollies misusing it the most.
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Please that that condo associations and HOAs are different animals. And - at least in Florida - covered by 2 different sets of statutes and regulations promulgated under those statutes. In general - single family houses will be in HOAs - and multi-unit multi-level residential buildings will be condos. Townhomes and patio homes might be either. But there are always exceptions to general rules. And Florida is just one of 50 states. Each state will have its own laws and regulations. Some places can be co-ops. They exist in Florida - but are very rare (and usually pretty old). Again - a different animal governed by another set of statutes and regulations.
In terms of people who complain about the "people who run these places" - remember that it is homeowners who run these places. And they are not anointed. Officers and representatives are elected (and committees are almost always appointed by the people who are elected). Anyone is free to run for office. But few people do. Because it's a generally thankless unpaid job. My husband and I have lived in condo associations/HOAs since 1975. And - even when we were working - took the time to do various things for our associations over the years. Except for our current HOA - a lot of residents in our places were second (or third or fourth) homeowners like you. Who tended to complain about us - and - in many cases - treated us worse than one would treat hired help. But never volunteered to spend even 10 minutes to do anything. Note that these people were pretty much wealthy south Americans (a group I would never care to live with again). They thought we weren't doing enough for them. But they - as a group - weren't unlike most homeowners. They sat back - didn't do anything - and complained.
If you don't like your association - regardless of its form - I have a suggestion. Either run for office - or volunteer to do something. Since my husband was a lawyer - he served as the chairperson of our covenants violation committee here for a few years (he didn't volunteer - our HOA president asked him to do it - and he agreed to take the job). That is generally an excellent thing for a lawyer to do. Get a look at things from the other side of the fence. For every rule that you think is silly - there will be a case that proves you wrong.
FWIW - my recent contact with our HOA rules (I don't have many) was entirely positive. We have rules prohibiting anything other than emergency outdoor work by contractors during the week after 7 pm (a reasonable rule IMO). And the guys doing the roof on the house next door to us (contract dropped off labor) didn't have a clue. We happened to be having dinner guests on Monday - and the idea of the noise of roof work ruining my dinner party wasn't acceptable. So we called our roving security - and it got rid of the guys before 7 pm.
BTW - I'm sure some HOAs and condos have silly rules. But the 2 you mentioned don't seem silly on their face to me. Overgrown shrubs that block windows are not only unsightly - they're potential security hazards. A 3" rule means that's the highest your shrubs should be. In most cases - a reasonable shrub height would be lower. We don't have a specific rule like that - but most people here have enough sense not to allow their shrubs to get so overgrown that they block their windows. If they don't - we have a general landscaping clause - about keeping your property in a certain condition - to deal with the situation.
As for a rule against roses - we don't have one like that either. Although a rule like that would save homeowners in Florida a lot of grief
. Roses do not like Florida (they usually come with adoption papers that say "plant us in a place that has a climate like most of the UK"
). Even with the best of TLC (which is a TON of work) - they get bugs and crummy looking black leaves and look like garbage. There was a woman here in our HOA who decided she wanted to grow roses - and prize-winning ones at that. She worked on the project like crazy and spent a fortune on it. We used to drive to see her roses (her rose garden was visible from the street). Which sometimes were very nice - but often only good or mediocre. One year we went to see her roses- and they were gone. The Florida climate had defeated her.
Even so-called knockout roses (a made for the south not so swell looking type of hybrid) aren't a piece of cake. I don't know if you watched The Players last weekend. That's where I live. And a lot of the red flowers people saw on TV were knockout roses. And there was a team of I don't know how many gardeners out for a couple of months before the tournament pruning those roses - fertilizing those roses - spraying those roses - and mulching those roses. Just so - if the weather gods were agreeable - those roses would look great on TV. I'm a member of that golf club. When the tournament was in March - nature did its job with a lot less human help when it came to azaleas. But our azaleas are gone by May - and the tour had to do something to take the place of the azaleas.
I have probably told you more about this than you wanted to know. But my only points are that sometimes rules that seem silly on their face really aren't. And that rules that may inconvenience someone (like my neighbor trying to get a cheaper roof job by having Mexicans work for 12+ hours a day) may also inconvenience others (whether it's me - trying to have guests for dinner - or just a regular family sitting down for dinner with kids/then doing homework with kids after and being bothered by a lot of construction noise).
So what rules in particular are starting to irritate you in your place? Surely not the rules you mentioned. Robyn
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neighbor - read it. It is either funny or pathetic depending on who your neighbors are. I read it - and came out of it feeling pretty happy. One of my next door neighbors is someone I think is a slob. But johngolf's article made him look like Martha Stewart 
