Loveland HOA dispute (Fort Collins, Mead: foreclosure, HOA fees, condo)

[Vision67]

Colorado man — and his huge yard sign — takes on his HOA over milk jugs, planters


Colorado man

"Richard Stephens takes great pride in his front yard and says he’d like nothing more than to remove the giant, HOA-bashing sign that has dominated it for days.

But the Colorado retiree says a message needs to be sent.

Particularly this one: “If you are considering purchasing a home in Alford Meadows You may want to RECONSIDER . . . YOU could be the next target of the HOA!”

For emphasis, the professionally printed red-and-white sign is accented with a drawing of a target behind the word “YOU.”"

Over the years I've heard many pros/cons about living in an area with an HOA. Although I wish people would be considerate towards each other, that doesn't always happen. One man's "art" is another man's junk.

What do you think about this dispute?

[Thoreau424]

Loveland is part of the Fort Collins area, so this really belongs there instead of the Colorado state-wide section.

There are better ways to solve problems than stick up childish signs. We already have our share of loud, bombastic, stand-on-a-pedestal, look at me!, screambaby types. The sign probably draws more attention to himself and his mental state, than the HOA. I bet the guy's an unstable nutcase. We're better off ignoring and minimizing these types of folks. Giving them more attention and an audience just condones and increases this type of thing.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

I have served in many HOA boards and never can understand why people buy in an area with covenants and then refuse to comply. I don't know what he specifics of this case, but there's always one who wants to argue rather than comply with the rules that were in place when they purchased their property.

[jwiley]

I don't know anything about the situation, but many HOAs have a history of overstepping their purpose, and there are plenty of victims in this world who will scream at the smallest slight, so who really knows. I have driven by that house many times though, and I dd not think it was cluttered.

[townshend]

This particular dispute -- most all disputes between HOAs and home owners -- has the sign "LOSE, LOSE" all over it. It will cost the home owner, and it will cost the HOA (and other home owners). The only ones who win are the "lawyers" here.

[headingtoDenver]

This is nothing but bullheadedness on both sides. Somebody (possibly a board member or just a busy body) complained to the HOA that there was too much going on in the front yard. The homeowner thinks it is crap and refuses to back down. The HOA is stubborn enough to not back down either. What happens? They end up in court with both sides spending stupid money defending their actions. This ultimately does hurt the neighborhood because there is a change for the HOA fees being increased to offset the lawyer costs. Also, as noted in the article, other people are affected because everyone moving into an HOA controlled neighborhood have heard the horror stories about what HOAs can, and will, do if necessary.

The article did touch on something that is obviously evident here. People buy a house in a HOA controlled area, yet they don't bother to read the rules about living in an HOA area. Most HOAs require approval for changes done to areas which are viewable from the street. It is obvious that this homeowner did not understand this portion of the rules.

I currently live in an HOA and I haven't had any problems with ours, but I do believe that HOAs need to be abolished. If anything, a neighborhood fee could be imposed to cover the costs and repairs of public places such as parks, pools, etc., but at no time should someone be told what they can and cannot do to their house. This is why we have city and county ordinances.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

I have served in many HOA boards and never can understand why people buy in an area with covenants and then refuse to comply. I don't know what he specifics of this case, but there's always one who wants to argue rather than comply with the rules that were in place when they purchased their property.

The bottom line is that people buy in a covenant-controlled neighborhood and don't read the covenant before signing on the dotted line. Then, after getting busted for violating the covenant, scream bloody murder.

My favorites are the people who go to the media with sob stories about "power-hungry" HOAs putting liens or starting foreclosure proceedings on their houses. The media gobbles that crap up, but the truth of the matter is that the process for filing liens and foreclosing is very laborious and time-consuming. It can take several years of blatantly ignoring HOA violations before you get to that point, and it's all spelled out in the damn covenant. If you don't like the HOA's rules - don't buy in an HOA-controlled neighborhood.

[Mike from back east]

IIRC we had an HOA back in NoVA that spent over $400k on legal fees and went bankrupt just to fight one guy over the color of his front door.

Truth is stranger than fiction in HOA fantasyland....

[emm74]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

If you don't like the HOA's rules - don't buy in an HOA-controlled neighborhood.

Yep.

I have no sympathy for him, it was his choice to buy in an HOA, his choice to ignore the rules, his choice to continue to ignore the rules even when told he was in violation.

I get that sometimes HOAs get nuts, and I've owned in a condo where we had to have a special election to kick out a board who thought they got to authorize a $750,000 expenditure on cosmetic upgrades without approval of the owners. And to add insult to injury, it was all going to be spent in one of two buildings in the complex, and the owners in the other building were supposed to have the pleasure of a several thousand dollar special assessment without having any work done to our building!

This was before I lived in Colorado, so I can't even say yes, they were on drugs when they came up with this idea! lol! But we booted their sorry butts off the board and everything got back to normal.

If this guy's board were as nuts as that, then the other neighbors would be supporting him, and he wouldn't be a "target"

[Indigo Cardinal]

Having lived in two HOAs, I can say there's pros and cons, sometimes all wrapped up in the same issue. For example, maybe I can't paint my house my favorite shade of blue....but on the other hand, I'm not responsible for painting my house at all, my HOA is. So in exchange for not having to deal with that hassle, I can put up with a boring colored exterior.

My first HOA was a nightmare--one of those "Quick to fine you for having one weed in your yard, but good luck getting them to do anything *they* were responsible for" types. If you want to be on me for *my* share of the upkeep, fine--then you'd better be on top of yours as well.

My current HOA seems to have a pretty good balance--they're not perfect, but they manage to keep the place nice without being overly-stringent about it.

Now, the thing with HOAs is....you *are* agreeing to abide by their rules.....theoretically. I do know of an HOA that has in their rules that you cannot park certain types of vehicle in the street (oversized something-or-others used for work purposes--the HOA was basically saying to keep your company vehicles of that nature at work, and not bring them into the complex.) However, people were doing it, and when other residents complained to the HOA....the HOA said they couldn't do anything, since the streets were county street and not private ones. As you can imagine, this ticked off a lot of people, who were asking why the HOA had a rule they couldn't enforce.

I personally don't care for Richard Stephens' decor (too kitschy Americana for my taste), but overall, I don't think it's too cluttered. (I think the American flag is a big too big--maybe 3/4th's the current size would have been better.) However, if the HOA is responsible for the exterior of the building, that may be part of the objection in his attaching objects to it.

But in the end....if Mr. Stephens doesn't like the rules.....then he should have found a non-covenant area to move to.