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Kathryn, by any chance does your neighborhood have a FB page or something similar? We do, and it really helps people get a vibe of the place, see what has been problems in the past, and such. It can be another tool...... to deal with tools.
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There was a reason your place was for sale. Might want to start looking for another home. I don't see this one working out. Might as well get out asap.
The issue is a specific neighbor, not the HOA. There’s at least one like this in every neighborhood. If you don’t know who, it’s probably you.
I inherited a basketball pole/ hoop when I bought my home. Kids across the street routinely used it. When one of our cars was parked in the driveway, the brat brothers would climb onto the front hood and roof to play.
They were also fond or hoisting their baby sister to the hoop and telling her to grab on at which point, they left her there.
Talking to the kids resulted in them letting loose with profanity. No amount to talking to the parents made a difference.
We tried to take it out and found it was cemented into a base 5’ below the surface, under the driveway. Eventually paid for someone to bring in heavy equipment to take it out and then refil the hole and re-save the driveway.
It kinda sounds like you didn't do your homework on your new neighborhood. But hey, we all learn more once we actually move in.
Regardless, I agree with BirdieBelle that they don't know you yet. But the first things you did were violate the HOA and install security cameras. There's nothing wrong with that at all, but you can see how somebody might have their guard up, right?
It doesn't matter who called HOA; they would have found out anyway. If the dog issue is a regular thing, you can definitely mention it or even report it if needed, because I'm fairly sure y'all have leash laws.
Nothing short of year round, 24/7 surveillance, before purchase is going to reveal potential problems with a neighbor. Even then, kids that never were a problem can become a problem or age out.
The primary purpose of an HOA is to assess owners for funds to cover the costs of maintaining, repairing and eventually replacing common assets. No two associations have the same governing documents or rules.
More than 40 million people, the majority of owner- occupied households, live in hundreds of thousands of HOAs in the US.
We don’t know the house rules in the OP’s HOA. Many do not limit security cameras and don’t require prior approval. Her issue is with next door neighbor kids and their dog.
Most HOAs do not have any legal authority over owners’ behaviors, unless it occurs on whatever is deemed common grounds or inside units with common walls. No rule can exist unless a majority of owners agree with it.
I am a long time on again/ off again Board Member in a single family, self managed HOA. There are no restrictions on personal property. The roads are municipal. One of the greatest challenges has been to not react to a vocal minority who desire the HOA to regulate neighbor behaviors, police the roads, silence barking dogs, compel an owner to rake his leaves, etc, despite no authority to do so.
So don’t assume shes racially profiling her neighbors....
The dog entering the house was a one off.. she said the dog has been out loose and in her garage several times. My dog would have a heyday with a strange dog on his property, by his humans.. it wouldn’t end well.
She’s not shocked about how many kids there are, she’s shocked by the behavior of the kids. Just because they haven’t been back doesn’t mean it’s resolved... it just means they haven’t been back. Why shouldn’t she put cameras up? If one of those kids get hurt on her property and she’s held liable, the footage will come in handy. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have some sort of security system in place. Why shouldn’t she?
The op is a much nicer person than I am.. I would’ve dragged that dog by the collar to its master and addressed the issue right then and there. Same with the kids ( wouldn’t drag them ) Nipping it in the bud and setting boundaries is important.
I find it sad that many people still don't know that dogs (all life forms) are sentient beings - dragging a dog by its collar is abuse. The dog has no malice.
On the "liability issue," I don't think it's resolved and I am not sure how it can be resolved. I would guess a certified letter might be helpful, outlining that you have given notice of this problem - and maybe posting signs or putting up some kind of fence or barrier if any of those things are permitted (which is doubtful). Unless the responsible parties have been put on notice, you are vulnerable to lawsuits and medical bills (if a burglar gets hurt while in your house stealing, I think you are also on the hook - that's how twisted things are).
I totally agree! And I like the suggestions in that post as well. I mean, I can't get my head around a waiver but I've googled local laws and I think I would be OK insurance wise, especially if I just tell them (kids and parents) that I don't want them to trespass.
To be on the safe side, I am thinking about sending the mom a message so it's in writing. I'm going to say something to the kids today though. And I am also going to start confiscating anything they leave on my property! I can't wait to say something to them over the speaker. LOL
I remember when I was a kid, we used to go play in OTHER KIDS' YARDS, but we knew who had kids and who didn't - and it just never occurred to us to play in someone's yard if we weren't guests of their kids. As in - their kids were outside playing with us.
I have never in my life had a strange dog come running into my house and pee on my carpet!!!!!!! That was totally bizarre.
I am flummoxed by the whole thing.
I might even consider confiscating the dog. Don’t know where you are or the weather. Is the garage an option? The basement? A bathroom? Heck, bring the dog to the Police
Sooner or later the family will notice.
Used to have someone is the neighborhood who let their big old dog roam. Roaming dogs poop where they are. One by one neighbors collected the poop and stuffed it into the owner’s mail box. They noticed. They complained to the HOA who has no authority over dogs or people’s behaviors. Asked if they could think of a reason why anyone would stuff bagged poop in their mail box. They could not. Asked if it was possible the bagged poop was their dog’s output, given FIDO was a known roamer. Suggested a simple DNA test could confirm.
If I was OP, I would tell the kids off and if they came back I would try to go through the HOA to get them off my property. Also, second time a lose dog comes running by I would call HOA.
Why assume yards are considered common property in this HOA? Why assume the HOA has any authority over trespassing or pets?
Trespassing is illegal. You have proof of chronic trespassing taking place. If the boys or the parents won't honor your request, that the boys stay on their side of the property line, you can get the police involved.
More than a few kids these days for some reason seem to think they have the right to use their neighbors' yards as their own. I don't know where this mentality came from. And some parents actually back them up, by not observing the law or honoring the neighbors' request to keep their kids off neighboring properties. Sometimes, the parents even get angry with the neighbors, who complain about the trespassing. The world has changed in this regard; go figure. I don't understand it.
But the police do. And you have plenty of proof. Let us know how the issue turns out.
Kids have been doing this, forever.
I grew up in Chicago, in the 60’s. . Most yards were fenced/ gated access to alleys. While we did not play in other years, we certainly used to cut through other people’s yards on the way to parks, pools, schools etc. Owners would yell. We ignored. What worked was a locked gate.
Huge masses of baby boom kids played in the alleys. Bouncing balls off brick apartment buildings was common stuff. Never gave any thought the noise would bother an occupant.
Old Lady Foley could be counted on to yell out her 3rd floor window. We laughed. Old Lade Foley progressed to dumping buckets of water out the window, drenching the kids below. We loved it.
She then resorted to announcing she had boiled the water. We got the message and moved on. Never thought to whine about her to our parents. We knew we were in the wrong and did not care.
Imagine if this happened today, parents would sue Old Lady Foley.
My point here is that kids are obtuse- nothing new.
They need to keep their kids in their own yard, off of your property. Keep telling the HOA and let the fines pile up for the disrespectful neighbors. I bet the previous owners moved because of them.
I have a sister that has a lot of problems with her neighbors. She is selling and getting the heck out, and I really feel sorry for whoever buys her house.
Why assume this HOA has any authority over neighbors respecting neighbors and their private property?
Why assume there is a fine structure in place for something like this?
OP knew about the covenants regarding structures and blatantly ignored it.
Kids and dogs are not an HOA issue. She has to take it up with neighbors and local law.
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) Nipping it in the bud and setting boundaries is important.
