HOA letters but no commercial vehicle, NO logo (Fairfax: fit in, real estate)

[No commercial vehicle]

I need advice. We have no commercial van, & no logo but receiving harassing letters from HOA! We live in a single family home in GA with our own driveway and moved in 99 so no commercial vehicle is listed in the bi-laws. Over a year ago I had a commercial van with logo, however, trying to work with the homeowners association, we were able to get the company I work for give us a tiny white van, which is smaller than the family van which belongs to my wife and it has NO logo. It cant park it in the garage because it is just a bit too high to fit. Plus we have already parked my pick-up truck in there as we do not use it everyday, my daughter uses that and we received letters threatening to tow that away from our driveway. Now are receiving harrasing letters from the Association for the tiny van. I checked the registration of the car & its classification from the state registration is a "passenger car / light truck". On top of all this, I have been traveling and have not been home in over a month. But this has not stopped them as we still received a letter today claiming they will be charging us. I work for a company that is out of state, so there is no other place to park it. I really can't get any smaller a vehicle than this and it is used as a my primary vehicle. We have been receiving harrasing letters from the Association with claims of violations that do not even exist since HOA President was elected several yrs ago. E.g. hose in front yard when there was no hose. We have cameras now, therefore we have been able to submit pictures to them and this has really helped with the harassing letters, and they stopped for a bit! They stopped because we can document when work was done in the yard or submit pics of neat flower beds (no weeds), & mowed yard with a time/date stamped on it. But now the letters have restarted! PS. When new postitions for the HOA board comes up, no position for President is listed. Plz help!

[Grsz11]

Maybe better in the Georgia forum, but I would tell the HOA to pound sand. Is this why the streets around here are littered with vans, trucks, and taxis?

[Old Guard]

It sounds like you need to go to some board meetings. The President and Board members probably do not all come up for election at the same time. It is probably staggered.

To me it sounds like you are using a commercial vehicle? But that the board may be oppressive and busy bodies.

I am not sure because when you spend so much time telling us that you should not have a commercial vehicle but there is no way they should know that your commercial vehicle is a commercial vehicle I have a hard time trusting anything else.

Good luck though.

[tgbwc]

Does it have ladders or commercial racks on it? I used to live in an HoA that didn't allow these.

[arctichomesteader]

Your real problem is living somewhere with an HOA.

[airjay75]

Parking commercial vehicles in a residential neighborhood can also get you into trouble with the county. In Fairfax County, it is illegal to park many commercial vehicles in a residential neighborhood and those restrictions are even greater if your neighborhood is designated a community parking district. Most boats and trailers are also prohibited under these rules.

[snowdenscold]

First of all - line breaks please.

Second of all, how is this a "tiny" van if it is too tall to fit in your garage?

Third, if you live in Georgia why are you posting in NoVa forum?

Fourth, how is this vehicle is something your work has provided you with for your work, but is not a commercial vehicle?

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by snowdenscold

Fourth, how is this vehicle is something your work has provided you with for your work, but is not a commercial vehicle?

Exactly. Read the HOA documents. If it just says "commercial", you have a commercial van. If it specifically references logos, you may have a valid argument.

[Spaten_Drinker]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Your real problem is living somewhere with an HOA.

How is that a problem. I prefer to live in a neighborhood that does not always look like it is under construction due to work trucks all over the place. The solution is to leave the truck at work.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Your real problem is living somewhere with an HOA.

Originally Posted by Spaten_Drinker

How is that a problem.

Oh, let's please not let this turn into a HOA vs. non-HOA thread. There are plenty on them over in the Real Estate sub-forum.

Some people love HOAs, some people hate them. There are valid reasons to pick either side. The important thing is that no one ever has to choose an HOA if they don't want one.