HOA clause open to interpretation? (painting, fences, between, oven)

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

Originally Posted by WellShoneMoon

Taken at face value, it means an owner may have two dogs and two cats, or two dogs, or two cats.

But it doesn't say "up to," so if the owner wants one dog and one cat, or just one dog, or just one cat, he or she is out of luck.

I can see the violation notices flying now.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

I suppose chickens are out, correct?

[JohnnyMack]

One of the 6 million reasons I would NEVER own property controlled by a HOA.

Wrong color drapes ? Citation
Wrong color flowers? Citation
Garage door open? CITATION
Childen's toys in the BACK yard? CITATION
Doing yard work on the wrong day/time? CITATION

Paint your house? NO WAY
Change the style of windows? Are you nuts?

The HOA boards are nothing but a bunch of controlling Sociopaths.

[Redraven]

Originally Posted by JohnnyMack

One of the 6 million reasons I would NEVER own property controlled by a HOA.

Wrong color drapes ? Citation
Wrong color flowers? Citation
Garage door open? CITATION
Childen's toys in the BACK yard? CITATION
Doing yard work on the wrong day/time? CITATION

Paint your house? NO WAY
Change the style of windows? Are you nuts?

The HOA boards are nothing but a bunch of controlling Sociopaths.

My sentiments EXACTLY!
I have three cats and one dog.
I keep my motorhome parked beside the house.
I have a car, a pickup, 2 ATV's, a 14 foot box trailer, a flatbed trailer, a boat, and a 1985 Suburban television news truck project.
I am a licensed Ham radio operator. Next summer I will be putting up a 40+ foot antenna tower.
My neighbor has 7 horses on his property, a tractor under restoration in his driveway, several vehicles and boats, ATV's, motorcycles, horse trailers, a fifth wheel RV, and he shoots at geese from his rear deck.
There is no HOA to give us grief over any of the above.
We like it that way.

[Girl]

Originally Posted by JohnnyMack

One of the 6 million reasons I would NEVER own property controlled by a HOA.

Wrong color drapes ? Citation
Wrong color flowers? Citation
Garage door open? CITATION
Childen's toys in the BACK yard? CITATION
Doing yard work on the wrong day/time? CITATION

Paint your house? NO WAY
Change the style of windows? Are you nuts?

The HOA boards are nothing but a bunch of controlling Sociopaths.

Not quite.

HOAs don't typically bother with what's in your house or not visible from the street.
They don't care what color flowers you plant.
You can any kind of drapes you want - no matter the color
And you can have all the toys you want in the backyard.
You can do yard work almost any time you want (just don't use loud equipment at 6 a.m. - which is usually a COUNTY or CITY ordinance anyway).
If you want to have your garage door open all the time, go for it.

Painting your house - yes, there are rules for that so that your house doesn't get painted in polka dots.
To my knowledge, in my neighborhood you can change your style of windows if you want to pay for that.


Listen, I'm not generally a fan of HOAs either (and have gotten a few letters from them over the years), but for the most part they do a reasonable job. When we did an addition on our house, we had no problems getting approval (nor did my neighbors who did one a year later). When we asked permission to do a special kind of outdoor Christmas décor that was technically against CCRs, they gave us a variance since it was to be a temporary display. When we requested permission to include a sign in our Christmas display (which is against a CCR about signage), they gave us a variance. When we had to replace our mailbox after someone mowed it down with their car, they didn't require that it be a certain kind of mailbox - it would be whatever we wanted.

Not all HOAs are evil, controlling sociopaths.

As to the OPs note, I take it to read a 4 pet maximum.

[LS35a]

Thanks for all the replies. Cully's was particularly spot on, I think.

It's really, really hard to buy a new house without an HOA these days so I guess you just have to accept the plus's and minus's of that going in.

[johnd393]

No one can have 3 dogs and a cat or 3 cats and a dog?

[cully]

Originally Posted by LS35a

Thanks for all the replies. Cully's was particularly spot on, I think.

It's really, really hard to buy a new house without an HOA these days so I guess you just have to accept the plus's and minus's of that going in.

Thank, and, as Johnd suggests, you might even add in your letter what about 3 dogs or 3 cats and one of the other species or how about 4 cats or 4 dogs.

[RestArea]

I think it is perfectly clear. You can have 0 to 2 cats and you can have 0 to 2 dogs.

[JohnnyMack]

Originally Posted by Girl

Not quite.

HOAs don't typically bother with what's in your house or not visible from the street.
They don't care what color flowers you plant.
You can any kind of drapes you want - no matter the color
And you can have all the toys you want in the backyard.
You can do yard work almost any time you want (just don't use loud equipment at 6 a.m. - which is usually a COUNTY or CITY ordinance anyway).
If you want to have your garage door open all the time, go for it.

Painting your house - yes, there are rules for that so that your house doesn't get painted in polka dots.
To my knowledge, in my neighborhood you can change your style of windows if you want to pay for that.

YES they can and they DO, do some searching for HOA nightmares and you will see.