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I say "live and let live".
If you feel the need to put your car on the lawn, go for it with my blessing.
This sounds like something someone says when they've never owned or invested in a home. I've invested my life savings in my property and I certainly don't need 28 broken down Chevy's in the neighbors yard to bring my property value down.
I think HOAs are good, when executed correctly and REASONABLY. Sounds like this one is not - I hope the neighbors can rally together and take back control.
Well
i definitely want to get on the HOA board when our developer turns it over. I would prefer to prevent some Nazi regime form selectively enforcing the rules. I am laid back person who wont squawk if the neighbor doesnt get the lawn mowed for 9 days instead of 7 and could care less if they put up Xmas lights.
Being one of the first people in the subdicision will also help as I can see how things evolve.
I live in a community being built by PULTE in cary. well when we bought the house we were told HOA will be handed over when 75% of community has been built, but Pulte just now transferred HOA to Home Owner (after 95%). Apparently, Pulte had 3 votes per house which they couldn't sell and used all those votes to to get people who they wanted in board, apparently one of the member had been dealing with PULTE. PULTE had been using our HOA money towards construction and landscaping of new homes
PPM which pulte hired for last 3 years for property management had been harassing people here for color of mulch (it has to brown not red) and other silly stuff. Lately, they are harassing my friend who put the wooden fence..they say fence should have 6 by 6 post and not 4 by 4 post. I think HOA covenants are written by these big builders to satisfy their interest.
If anyone reading this and planning on buying home where there is HOA, make sure you read all HOA covenants . Most of these covenants are written to protect builder's interest while common people get screwed. After living in such community I would prefer living in a community where there is minimal HOA presence. It feels like you are paying to live in someone else's house.
I would never recommend buy homes from PULTE or go to any community where your property management company is PPM
In USA, no one is for common people any more, Politicians are in pockets of big company who write the law in favor of big companies, be it banks or builders. It's no longer by the people , of the people , for the people BUT it's by the corporation, of the corporation, for the corporation..
The situation you describe is not too uncommon - during the period in which a developer still has lots/homes to sell, it will retain control of the HOA and will strictly enforce the covenants to maintain a high standard of appearance so as to enhance sales.
Typically, the covenants will describe different classes of membership (e.g., Class A and Class B) - the developer will control one class which will give it effective voting control over the HOA. The covenants will define when the developer's class of membership ceases. All of this can be discerned by simply reading the covenants.
Well, having lived in another neighborhood that Pulte built that had its own transition issues, I guess they have still not fine tuned that process. I know that properly educating and working with homeowners to understand the process well before it actually happens costs money, but I think the national builders lose sight odf what a bad transition can cost them in future sales. Even one or two could easily pay for some time to actually work with the homeowners rather than dumping it on them.
I have worked with them before and will have to say in PPM's defense that they are not bad guys but mostly they (or any management company) will enforce what they are told to enforce. If the board asks them to lay off, they usually will. On the other hand, if people bought into the community expecting that certain colors of mulch were all that were allowed, having someone install a bright color might be objectionalble. I know I personally do not like red mulch as it reminds me of a fast food restaurant, though I know lots of people do like it. Also, WRT to the fence. I know Pultes fence detail quite well and fencing in general and a 4x4 is not adequate to remain stable and not drastically warp.
IF they really are using HOA funds improperly, that is a violation of law, so I would requrest the full slate of budget documents right away and look them over. Attend the board and committee meetings. Be involved. That is the way around most of these issues.
The fence should have been approved BEFORE it was installed. At closing, buyers sign a document saying they will abide by the covenants of the neighborhood. It is in your best interest to obtain those covenants BEFORE closing to determine if you can abide by those covenants. If not, you can always find a n'hood without an HOA. However, when it is time to sell, most homeowners are happy to say that their community values are not going down because one of the homeowners decided to park his RV on his front lawn!
HOA's/covenants are two big reasons I have rented for 21 years.
That's too bad. HOA's weren't as common here two decades ago. You could have gotten in on the ground floor and avoided having an HOA.
I enjoyed my time as an apartment renter, but lets be honest - An apartment complex management co. is pretty much a defacto HOA. There are certain things you can and can't do in your apartment, rules on where guest can park, and most places don't allow BBQ grills on balconies. Bashing HOAs while living in an apartment complext is kind of like saying you are on diet but eating cookies for breakfast every day.
I live in a community being built by PULTE in cary. well when we bought the house we were told HOA will be handed over when 75% of community has been built, but Pulte just now transferred HOA to Home Owner (after 95%). Apparently, Pulte had 3 votes per house which they couldn't sell and used all those votes to to get people who they wanted in board, apparently one of the member had been dealing with PULTE. PULTE had been using our HOA money towards construction and landscaping of new homes
PPM which pulte hired for last 3 years for property management had been harassing people here for color of mulch (it has to brown not red) and other silly stuff. Lately, they are harassing my friend who put the wooden fence..they say fence should have 6 by 6 post and not 4 by 4 post. I think HOA covenants are written by these big builders to satisfy their interest.
If anyone reading this and planning on buying home where there is HOA, make sure you read all HOA covenants . Most of these covenants are written to protect builder's interest while common people get screwed. After living in such community I would prefer living in a community where there is minimal HOA presence. It feels like you are paying to live in someone else's house.
I would never recommend buy homes from PULTE or go to any community where your property management company is PPM
In USA, no one is for common people any more, Politicians are in pockets of big company who write the law in favor of big companies, be it banks or builders. It's no longer by the people , of the people , for the people BUT it's by the corporation, of the corporation, for the corporation..
This post was written from the perspective of a victim. If you cared to know the truth, you'd learn what you were talking about. Any community's legal documents are going to have some protections built in for the developer until transition.
And management companies don't harass anyone. The Board is responsible for enforcing violations and decides what will be enforced and what will be overlooked. Boards hire and direct management companies. As someone who works for one, BELIEVE ME, we absolutely love it when we have a more lenient board rather than a strict one. Strict board = more work for us: inspections, sending letters, having clueless homeowners scream and cuss at us for doing the board's bidding, etc. Lenient board = less work for us, fewer homeowners screaming at us or showing up an annual meetings determined to "fire" us. What they should be doing is electing a different board who will give us different instructions.
Why didn't you run for the board if you're so concerned? Or perhaps you did and failed to win the trust of your neighbors?
My advice to you is to really learn how your HOA works. Whining online (in a factually inaccurate way) does nothing to improve your neighborhood or make it more like the way you want it.
/soapbox
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More Woes....
