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Did he receive documents from the HOA office, rules and regulations, and sign anything along those lines? That might have made it more real to him. If he did sign something, perhaps you mom can show him the paperwork as a real reminder.
Was he always adversarial?
If not, I might give a thought to dementia starting.
Did he receive documents from the HOA office, rules and regulations, and sign anything along those lines? That might have made it more real to him. If he did sign something, perhaps you mom can show him the paperwork as a real reminder.
Was he always adversarial?
If not, I might give a thought to dementia starting.
I'm sure he received all the required documents but I don't know the details.
Yes, he's always been this way. I almost wish it was dementia instead of him just being himself. At least dementia is an excuse...
HOAs suck. More importantly I have had a serious issue with Seller Agents not listing HOAs. So I see a property I like, tell my buyer, he calls them, they usually confess, and I wasted my time. Early on I go to the site, go wow, then look across the street and get depressed.
After trying to get bylaws, I found 2 that had an issue with a fence (Builder HOAs suck worse). 3 have limits to "Small" or dogs under 50 LBS. Oddly enough any dog lover can tell you most larger breeds tend to be more family oriented, safer (esp. around small children), and quieter. We call the little ones yappers for a reason.
HOAs only benefit the builders unless they have amenities people actually care about enough to pay fees for, often making it harder to sell and more importantly makes it so you have to lower your prices (Even in a sellers market).
Case in point:
If you want to sell, you have to wait until the builder is done. Here locally where houses go in about a week, a house I was interested in has been on the market for about 2 months. If you build (I checked) with the same options, it costs 10K more than the house is listed for.
The garbage about protecting your investment has enough truth to keep them out of court, but it really doesn't I looked at older HOA neighborhoods vs. those that are not HOA (Guess which one has the largest increase in value over 20 years).
People need to stop supporting HOAs without amenities, they serve no except buyers, perhaps the buyers and agents will eventually catch on. Don't believe me about the property values being slower to grow, check it yourself, you will find an HOA is a disservice to reselling. Not to mention most people are not interested in them, otherwise they would be building.
As for your problem with the HOA, from the bylaws, the only solution is to plead for assistance.
Most HOAs have less than 5% of the people show up for a meeting. Demand a special meeting, make friends with neighbors and convince them to join, odds are you can get more "Local Friends" then those who show up on their own, and get the laws changed, or special temporary conditions added for your situation. This is your best hope. If you can find enough "Friends" you can abolish HOA rights completely, by putting in Bylaws that limit the HOA to caring for amenities and common areas only. (In other words remove those BS restrictions provided by the builders or ignorant owners that are likely no longer around).
Other interesting facts: HOAs have higher move out rates then non-HOA homes. Most polls about HOAs do not get detailed enough, often slanted due to HOAs that provide liked amenities, such as pools or rec centers.
Builder controlled HOAs are usually setup so that the builders have 100% control over the HOA until all lots are sold, even when they say "Board Appointed after 75% are sold, or similar tactics." Check out the "Classes of Members" and rules indicating all groups need to approve changes.
I just wonder, is this kind of thing common in HOA neighborhoods or is my dad just an idiot?
Sometimes HOA's nitpick and can be unfair, but in this case it sounds like your father is a bit of a jerk, and I know a lot of out fathers can be, but he made a big mistake buying a home with an HOA. In our first time homeowners class they warned us that to foreclose on a property can take years, but an HOA can take your home away in 6 months or less, so warn him.
Bought my townhouse in 1991 (first home, still own it (rent it).
I have been on and off the HA BOD since then. For the most part it is pretty uneventful. In the beginning, there were several owners not keeping up with dies, a few homes that needed shrubs pruned. Nothing spectacular.
Now I am Pres. and dont even live in the development (about 44 homes).
We have a management company that handles most of the stuff.
When folks want to do something, they submit a plan to the BOD, we (and the management company) review the plan and most times OK it as is.
I think HA are a good idea especially in a small community of townhomes.
If you want to paint your house plaid, don't buy in a HA development... Easy...
I think they need to sell and get out. While I agree with your dad - painting the deck, planting a garden, screening in your porch should all be things you can do without a problem - I would never ever EVER move into a place with a HOA, exactly because I wouldn't want to have to deal with "the geezer patrol" or any other sort of busybody trying to tell me what I can, cannot, or HAVE to do with my property. Other than the normal sort of safety and health issues, of course.
And if those bothered me too - I'd find a place out of town limits.
A little of both, sometimes, but (in this case) more the fault of your dad. I'd also say your mom has some responsibility here as she purchased the house, too. I would think she would have known this would happen.
It's going to be long and unhappy ride for your parents. Mom should expect to be left off the invitation list for parties and bbq's in the 'hood. And expect frequent letters, notices and (eventually) fines from the HOA management company, followed by their lawyer.
I'm sorry - but I've lived in HOA's with people like your dad. It's miserable for everyone involved. He knew about the rules when he bought the house, and should never have bought it.
What is exactly the problem here? The HOA doesn't like Do it your self types? People that like to build things, stuff like that? I didn't know that was a bad thing to do.
What is exactly the problem here? The HOA doesn't like Do it your self types? People that like to build things, stuff like that? I didn't know that was a bad thing to do.
The "problem here" is that they purchased a house that came with community rules. Now they don't want to follow the rules.
My parents moved into a HOA neighborhood in Minnesota, in an area where HOAs neighborhoods are the exception, rather than the rule. Since they moved in about a year ago, all my dad does with his spare time is do stuff that is prohibited by his HOA, and then complains about the HOA. He builds a garden, does repairs, cuts down trees, paints the deck, etc. Now he's planning on building some sort of screen porch and my mom is panicked about it in her calls to me. My dad just growls "I'm not going to let the geezer patrol tell me what to do." I don't see why he moved into a place like he did, when 95% of his hobbies are prohibited.
I just wonder, is this kind of thing common in HOA neighborhoods or is my dad just an idiot?
Can you help them sell the place, and find some where that doesn't get all bent out of shape over people fixing things, gardening, that sort of stuff. But hey, I had no idea doing that kind of stuff was idiotic!
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