2 questions for anyone... (Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa: foreclosure, renting, HOA)

[Buseck]

First...does the HOA always do this...they send you a letter, you don't act fast enough, 2 weeks later you get another letter AND a $25 fine?

Second...I put in new windows in my home in 2001. I never received a letter telling me that my windows were NOT up to code. My windows are white (vinyl white) and my house is Navajo White. I am told to paint my windows because the color of my windows and the color of my house don't match. Remember, since 2001, nothing was ever mentioned before today. For 6 years they were apparently alright. Can they wait this long to impose a fine on me like that?

The Article they claim I am in violation of is Article 7, Section 1(e), which states, "No property, or any improvements thereon, shall be permitted to fall onto disrepair and shall, at all times, be kept in good condition and repair and adequately painted or otherwise finished. These windows are in perfect shape. They just don't like that shade of white.

[AZ91]

First...does the HOA always do this...they send you a letter, you don't act fast enough, 2 weeks later you get another letter AND a $25 fine?

Yep, they send you a letter with 15 days to correct the situation, then the fines start to come. The worst part is after the fines, their lawyer might send out a letter letting you know about the fines. That will cost you a couple of hundred. This can snowball into a huge amount in jusy 4-6 months time.

Second...I put in new windows in my home in 2001. I never received a letter telling me that my windows were NOT up to code. My windows are white (vinyl white) and my house is Navajo White. I am told to paint my windows because the color of my windows and the color of my house don't match. Remember, since 2001, nothing was ever mentioned before today. For 6 years they were apparently alright. Can they wait this long to impose a fine on me like that?

Did you get the written approval before putting the windows in? If not, this could be a moot point. My advice is to request to met with the board and see if you can work this out. Take care of this before it turns into something big. Paint will be a lot cheaper than taking on a HOA. I speak from personal experience. Good Luck to you!

[ArizonaBear]

There is more and more talk about banning HOA's-------most cities already have laws on the books concerning junk cars, weeds, etc. that could be enforced rendering HOA's moot.

In fact: many years ago in Tucson a woman bought a house in a new subdivision; subsequent to her purchase a HOA was enacted-------they tried to harass her over something and she told them to buzz off-------remember that she moved in prior to the advent of said HOA.

HOA tried to sue her but were soundly defeated since she never signed on to it.

In retaliation; the homeowner painted her house pink with purple circles, admittedly the colors were soft hues but still......

Needless to say: I will never buy a home in a HOA controlled area.

[locoenlacabeza]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

There is more and more talk about banning HOA's-------most cities already have laws on the books concerning junk cars, weeds, etc. that could be enforced rendering HOA's moot.

In fact: many years ago in Tucson a woman bought a house in a new subdivision; subsequent to her purchase a HOA was enacted-------they tried to harass her over something and she told them to buzz off-------remember that she moved in prior to the advent of said HOA.

HOA tried to sue her but were soundly defeated since she never signed on to it.

In retaliation; the homeowner painted her house pink with purple circles, admittedly the colors were soft hues but still......

Needless to say: I will never buy a home in a HOA controlled area.

Bwahahaha! That is effing hilarious!!!
HOAs SUCK!
I think that they should be banned. But I also do not think that the cities do enough themselves to prevent junk cars, disrepair and weeds.

[crystalys]

About 1999 we were renting a condo in a complex with an HOA. We had a little courtyard behind a 5 foot tall brick wall with a black iron gate that you went through to get to the front door. This was the only "yard" we had so this was where our son who was 4 years old at the time would play. Our landlady called us one day to tell us that she got a letter from the HOA stating that we had "EXCESSIVE TOYS" in the courtyard area. She thought it was as crazy as we did. I recall that we had a Fisher Price Basketball set, a little blue baby pool with a little Fisher Price slide in it, a tricycle and a couple of little dump trucks out there. Well, we thought we put enough of the toys away but about 2 months later she called us and said she got another letter for "excessive toys" again. I think this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of that an HOA would send you a letter for. I don't even know if toys were specifically spelled out in the CC&R's but I do know that these were things that you could not see from the walkway and were not higher than the block wall. They would have had to come up and either look through the slats in the gate or over the wall to see the toys.

Suffice to say that we do not have a HOA now!

[azkylady2]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

There is more and more talk about banning HOA's-------most cities already have laws on the books concerning junk cars, weeds, etc. that could be enforced rendering HOA's moot.

In fact: many years ago in Tucson a woman bought a house in a new subdivision; subsequent to her purchase a HOA was enacted-------they tried to harass her over something and she told them to buzz off-------remember that she moved in prior to the advent of said HOA.

HOA tried to sue her but were soundly defeated since she never signed on to it.

In retaliation; the homeowner painted her house pink with purple circles, admittedly the colors were soft hues but still......

Needless to say: I will never buy a home in a HOA controlled area.

They almost sound like HOUSE mafia: lol

[sablebaby]

There are plenty of people who prefer HOA's rather than have a neighborhood go down in value because of crappy people living there. When shopping for a home I left out any homes that did not have an HOA. They almost NEVER looked as good as the ones that had an HOA.

There are a lot of people who live in Phx that don't give a crap about how their homes and yards look and don't care if there's 5 cars in the yard. If I'm going to invest in a $300k home, then I want some kind of guarantee that it's going to at least hold up in appearance.

I went to one area of the valley that had one subdivision with an HOA and one without RIGHT next to each other. Both were only 2 years old (and still building homes). The one with the HOA had beautiful yards, no cars parked all over the place, and CLEAN. The other had cars jacked up in the yards, garbage, used furniture on the side of the house, crap everywhere. Just really gross! That sealed my decision to always have an HOA. It doesn't matter how new the area is, there are some gross people that will crap it up as soon as they move in, if they can.

[Bill-]

Some HOA's are over the top, but many are reasonable and help preserve home values. You're kidding yourself if you think the City of Phoenix or any other municipality in the Valley has the personnel, time or will to deal with weeds, abandoned cars, peeling paint etc. Take a drive through some of the older non-HOA areas of Phoenix or Mesa and see for yourself.

[Bummer]

Rather sad but very valid points, Sablebaby.

HOA's are not perfect and sometimes they get a little "out of control" but on the most part . . . THEY ARE NECESSARY EVILS.

As an example, in my community we had one home that was being rented to a "gaggle" of suspected ILLEGALS (an out-of-town owner that could care less) and with the help of both the Police and the HOA, they were graciously eliminated.

Bottom Line: READ, HEED and RESPECT THE CC&R's, otherwise, BUY ELSEWHERE!

[Axiom]

Having windows a color that apparently does not appeal to the folks on your archituectural committee does not seem to be a violation of the article & section they quoted. You certainly have the right to approach the board and ask for clarification.
The problem in my opinion though is that many HOA's have too much power and not enough oversight.

I used to work for an attorney who took on a HOA case. Our clients won, but it was a long, expensive battle and the HOA was downright nasty. The couple actually ended up moving not long afterwards because the nit-picky retaliation kept coming and they just were not up to more battles.

It's possible that there have been changes to your board and/or committees and the new folks have decided to come in with great gusto and whip the neighborhood into shape.

Whatever you you do; DON'T withold dues out of protest. You risk all kinds of penalty fees, legal fees, and even foreclosure.
Good Luck

.