Home Owners Association and my flat tire
72Little communists
Home Owners Associations (HOA) started out to be a good thing, it created an environment where home owners would live by standards that would benefit the entire neighborhood. I purchased my home in a neighborhood that had an HOA it seemed like a reasonable entity when I moved in but has devolved into a little fascist state.
My wife woke me up a few weeks ago to tell me her vehicle had a flat tire and she was running late for work, I gave her the keys to my truck and told her I would fix her tire in a couple of hours. About 9 AM that morning I went out to repair the tire and discovered that it had a screw stuck in the tread so I pulled out my plug kit and removed the tire and fixed it. It took all of about 30 minutes.
About a week later I received a letter from the HOA informing me I would be charged a fine for "working on a vehicle" it is expressly forbidden to work on your vehicle on your property. I was a little stunned because I live next door to the HOA President and he offered to help me the day I was doing this. I walked next door and asked him what the deal was, he said he didn't know but that the HOA contracted with a company that drove around the neighborhood to find violations and received a portion of the fines assessed!
Well me being me I informed him I wasn't going to pay a fine for something like fixing a tire when it needed to be done, he said "If you don't the fine will get larger!" I just smiled and told him good luck with getting any money from me!
A little more than a week later I had a visit from the Constables office serving me with civil process, for those unfamiliar with this I was being sued in small claims court. I was stunned and immediately filed a counter suit and prepared for my day in court, on the day of the pretrial I showed up in my best suit (which happens to be my only suit) and discovered I was a long way down on the docket. I started talking to other people there and found out more than half lived within a quarter mile of my house and were all there for the same reason.
The docket went fast that day because the Judge was throwing these cases out one after the other. When it was my turn he asked if I had done what was alleged in the suit? I answered yes I had, he said I am dismissing your counter suit and will put you on another docket, I figured I was screwed. I came back before the Judge 2 weeks later for this case and he just went nuts on the HOA attorney, he told him if he had another one of these cases before his court that did not have any merit he would find the HOA in contempt and dissolve its current board and institute another!
I was happy this idiocy was over but wanted a different kind of justice, I saw my neighbor (HOA Prez) outside the other day and asked what had been happening with the Association he told me that they had fired the people responsible for determining violations and actually filed suit against them, he asked me if I wanted to be a witness for them because I had so much trouble from them. I responded No, I had trouble with the HOA, it was you who had hired this company to screw your own neighbors and I would not be a party to their little Gestapo tactics!
A new election was held in our neighborhood and all board members were replaced, the new President of the HOA is my neighbor on the other side of me and he is a rabid Libertarian I think a new era is dawning on my little piece of the world, if not I will start a revolution in my neighborhood!
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I am a former cop and was given a psychological test I'm still not sure how I passed but I did! These little tyrants are control freaks who live for attention, Our new President is actually looking into how the association can dismantle some of the regulations, gotta love libertarians! Thanks for reading!
I've always been suspicious of such organizations, although I have never belonged to one. In Moline, IL, where I used to live, I once got a ticket for illegal parking in front of my own house. Granted that I was parked on the wrong side of the road, but that was common practice there. I believe the ticket was issued at 2:am on Sunday morning. I think the cop might have been bored.
I've always been suspicious of such organizations, although I have never belonged to one. In Moline, IL, where I used to live, I once got a ticket for illegal parking in front of my own house. Granted that I was parked on the wrong side of the road, but that was common practice there. I believe the ticket was issued at 2:am on Sunday morning. I think the cop might have been bored.
There are a lot of horror stories concerning HOA's I heard an elderly woman was evicted from her home for not paying her dues I am not sure how that kind of stuff happens but it did, of course that was n Houston, it would result in a shootout here! Thanks for reading!
Gee guys this is some great stuff. I never had anything like this to happen to me so far. But, this is really some kind of news. In front of your own house? what is this world coming too?
I don't belong to an HOA, but I live in a neighborhood where somebody was calling in all the neighbors for random things. We'd been turned in for the first time after living there only a week. We had boxes stacked against the house that we put there whenever we unpacked them so that we could reuse them to pack some more things from the house we were moving out of. We got a notice in the mail for leaving boxes stacked in front of the house. They weren't even stacked there continuously, as we kept moving them as we needed them. A year later, we got turned in for our grass not being cut. It had only been 3 weeks since it had been cut and the reason was because our lawn mower broke. Well, because of the economy, my husband also had lost his job so we couldn't afford to buy a new one or hire someone to mow our grass for us. I was also 8 months pregnant. However, I was the one served the notice that I had to appear in court, not my husband. That's right, no prior notice. They said because we had been turned in before, they didn't have to give us any prior notice, and if we get turned in again, we will just be fined without even going to court. I had to take my 17 month old son to court while I was 8 months pregnant, only to be told that because it was a first violation, they were dismissing the case. Total waste of time. I'm only happy that my son was very cranky that day and was screaming in the courtroom almost the whole time. I can't find a sitter in the middle of the day in the middle of the work week. My attitude was that they just had to deal. Luckily, because so many people had been turned in, it was discovered who was making the calls, and the City has banned her from turning anybody else in, at least for the time being. I lived in the same house for 8 years and never got turned in once. I have lived in my current neighborhood for almost 2 years and have been turned in twice. Just goes to show that there are neighborhood nazis everywhere, even if you don't live in an HOA.
Weird people everywhere I guess. I can understand why a neighborhood Association exists but to use it as a police force is crazy!
Thank goodness I don't live in your neighborhood. My husband is always working on cars at home. We have restrictions but no organized HOA. I have been accused of having a house that is not in compliance with the restrictions. The restrictions state that every residence must have a two car garage. Well we have a huge garage that holds atleast ten cars. The deal is that it is not attached. The restrictions do not state an attached garage. Every time this comes up I just pull out the restrictions and point that out. People just don't have better things to do than run around the neighborhood and stir up trouble. I never said anything when my neighbor built a shack and stuck two port a pottys in front of it one blue and one pink. Nor have I said anything about the illegal septic he now has. It's not my business. Sure it bugs me a little but I am waiting to see if the guy builds his house like he said he was. I would assume when he does that all will be good.
Dear Texan,
Hats off to you for following through and sticking to your guns. The problem with these organizations is that a bunch of people who have nothing better to do love cracking down on their neighbors for non issues. Usually an outside firm is hired to do the dirty work, but they do so at the whim of the board who are residents. My motto..throw the bums out..
10 cars??? I want that garage! I usually work on my own cars but can't do it here. I'm thinking of selling and moving out to Hondo where I have a ranch, but the ol lady would have a cow if she had to live in a double wide, and I would never be inside, too many things to shoot out there!
I usually stick to my guns, I hate being told what to do. I moved into this house to keep my wife happy I could live in a tent and be happy.
I live on a golf course and there are just 100 homes and it is a Corp. and I own a share and they have a board and all sorts of lame ass rules!!!
I will not live in one again.
To many busy body boneheads who think they are the police!!!
I even get told when I have to set out my stupid trash cans and when to bring them in by.
I have trees on my lot and maintain them too. The Corp. has trees on the common ground and they demand that I rake up all the leaves that fall in my driveway from their trees....what a joke!!! They have a landscape crew who should do it.
They say if you have a visitor who speeds in the track, you get a fine because it's your friend....hahahahahahahha
They even tell me when I have to wash my car.
Thats a bit much! I would call for a war with that bunch of psychos!
Great work sticking it out and going to court. Thankfully, I don't have to be a member of an HOA in the neighborhood where I live. My brother and his wife sold a house and moved once because of the fascistic ways of their HOA!! Thanks for a good story
Thanks for reading
Tex I love your story of triumph over dimwittedness. I had a similar adventure with Moundsville local law enforcement. My ex son-in law had his car parked in back of my house, and the registration wasn't current. The cops red ticketed it which means move it or lose it. So we moved it into my fenced back yard on which I put a padlock.
The next week the cops showed up with the operator of a tow truck. I went out to my back yard as the cop was telling the tow truck owner to cut off my lock. I asked "Do you have a warrant?" They both looked dumbfounded. I said " If you enter my property without a warrent to remove my lawn ornament I will sue you asses off and they left quietly, and never returned.
we have a similar ordinance in our town, I found a cop on my previous property looking at my vehicles registration and inspection which are placed on the windshield. I asked him what he was doing and he told me "just making the rounds" I said get off my property at which time he threatened to arrest me. I told him to go ahead but he just left!
Yeah, these guys get a teeny bit of power and they act like they created the universe. I heard of one lady who had a suit filed against her by her HOA because she hung an American flag on her house, on a flag pole, on the 4th of July. She counter-sued and won. Sheesh!!
Where i live....in the entire town.... if you get caught working on your car (changing a tire, checking oil, etc) you'll be fined 90 bucks. I understand that people shouldn't be doing major work on their cars on the street but....changing a tire?
You did good Tex....it seems like these days we are constantly fighting off idiots.
Yup, its like they watch the Feds and think they want to control as they do! Thanks for reading X and Tom!
Actually this neighborhood fascism surprised me beyond any imagination when I moved to USA. It is your property and it is nobody's business what you do on your property as long as you do not violate your neighbor right to do the same.
I got quite disillusioned with USA since those times. I never rent a home if there is HOA, i just can't stand it. :)
And Tom, WHY exactly people shouldn't work on their cars if they don't interfere with anything else? Because dealerships need income, too? ;)
Hold on folks this is only going to get crazyer with this Administration if they get all of the hotlins up and running you will be able to call on people like us for talking the way we are. Can anyone say Gastopo? I might have spelt that wrong but you get the point. Hey Texan yet another great read. Thanks Underwater Man
Thanks for reading Misha and Underwaterman, Its a bit nuts to prevent people from doing what they want with their own property but it is what I signed up for! Stupid me!
We have an organization in my neighborhood; Everybody minds their own business, and if a neighbor needs help we all come running.
Understood!
Tex, for the record the reason HOA's exist is because jurisdictions forced developers to create them. How about that, a public policy gone bad!! Who would have thunk!! No wonder I am a conservative!!
HOA's are little Hitlers running private subdivisions without care for anything but collecting dues. Their paychecks should be directly related to their performance. I don't know how many times I have come up against this private sector big brother with little or no impact. Keep up the fight!
Thank God I live far enough in the sticks that I don't have to worry about some association jumping my butt. What I do have to worry about is the endless JUNK my husband continues to collect and decorate our place with! Ugh! It's in one of my hubs Illustrated Guide to Decoarating Your Place with Junk.
I have a ranch in South Texas I could live on but my ol lady likes to see people occasionally, I don't really care.
Thats why I don't live in the burbs anymore its prison camps with picket fences! Of course I'm off leash at the moment. Glad it worked out for ya.
Thats why I don't live in the burbs anymore its prison camps with picket fences! Of course I'm off leash at the moment. Glad it worked out for ya.
It is kinda nuts but I signed on to it, but if you ever hear of a revolt in a neighborhood in Texas its probably me!
Great story when my husband and I were looking for a home to buy we were dead set against living in a neighborhood because of HOA. If I'm buying my home why are my neighbors going to have a say in what I do on my property, in that case they can pay some of my mortgage!
I have never been a homeowner in a closed community but I have known a lot of them since I did work in communities in Arizona and in Florida. I have formed an opinion about some of them.
Most are from up north and have had little or no authority over anything even their own abode. When they retire to the gated community and get elected to a association position it is the first hint to them that they might have anything worth while to contribute.
If power corrupts, then absolute power absolutely corrupts. The sense of power has warped many much above a person in a gated community.
Kinda scary when the power they have derives from what they can tell what someone else can do with their own property. Thanks for reading
Hey, Texan. Sounds like you handled it well. I'm amazed that stuff like that happens, but not surprised, unfortunately. At least the judge wasn't a communist also. Nice hub!
BretC says:
3 months ago
Good stuff Texan.I got fined once for painting my house,and i dont mean a different color,but the same color as it already was.There should be some sort of psycological examination that should be given before appointing an individual with such power,haha.Including some of our law inforcement officers.