Fire the Condo board!

[GH85Carrera]

Condo board spent $100,000 but was denied in its attempts to evict a Yorkshire terrier - NYPOST.com

[krystar]

lolol. she gets to keep the dog. but next year's assessment is going up by $400/mo

[Dantilla]

Exhibit A of why I won't live where there is any type of homeowner's association.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Exhibit A of why I won't live where there is any type of homeowner's association.

HOA's have their good and bad points.

Yes they can be restrictive but I also have no beater cars on blocks, my HOA maintains all public facing property so on ones grass goes uncut, shrubs are tended to, common areas meticulously maintained etc. There are 8-10 community events a year, live music on the green, chili cookoffs, fairs and other family oriented activities.

[audiman08]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

HOA's have their good and bad points.

Yes they can be restrictive but I also have no beater cars on blocks, my HOA maintains all public facing property so on ones grass goes uncut, shrubs are tended to, common areas meticulously maintained etc. There are 8-10 community events a year, live music on the green, chili cookoffs, fairs and other family oriented activities.

sounds a little socialist to me... JK, but I do think private property should be private in this country, and nobody should be able to tell you if you can build a shed in your own yard, or if you can have an ugly car in the drive, IMHO

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by audiman08

sounds a little socialist to me... JK, but I do think private property should be private in this country, and nobody should be able to tell you if you can build a shed in your own yard, or if you can have an ugly car in the drive, IMHO

Maybe it is. and while I don't dispute ones right to keep his refrigerator on his front lawn I should not be forced to look at it every time I walk out my front door or have my property value diminished by someone who fails to maintain their yard.

[audiman08]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Maybe it is. and while I don't dispute ones right to keep his refrigerator on his front lawn I should not be forced to look at it every time I walk out my front door or have my property value diminished by someone who fails to maintain their yard.

Well I can understand that, I guess there's a fine line between keeping the neighborhood tidy and intruding into people's private lives.

[drcoastline]

The biggest problem with all associations I have dealt with over the years is ignorance. The board members running these things are amatures with no prior experience or understanding of what they are to be doing. Add to that the small person with power syndrome.

It never fails as soon as someone is elected to the board they start wielding the sabre with statements like for now on this is how things are going to be done or you get the guy who has been there since day one and says this is how it has always been done.

No one ever tells them theres a set of rules to follow.

[BGCarrera32]

A big part of the issue with HOAs is that people move into an area knowing full well in advance that there are rules and then raise hell when someone complains about their stupid Yorkie barking nonstop all night long. So you've got ignorant residents vs. ignorant HOA board members. Good times all around.

[Joeaksa]

Somehow I just got elected to the board of our HOA. Was tired of the crap that the other board members were pulling so decided to put my name in the hat... so the next 2 years could be fun.

[red-beard]

Our HOA fees are less than $100/mth. The biggest expense is maintaining the shared property. Our newest HOA commitee has changed gardening companies, reducing costs. They called around and negotiated better electricity rates. They then turned around and offered us the reduced rates they negotiated. It may save me 30% off my electric bill! That will more than pay for my HOA fee!

[drcoastline]

You are in for it now Joe. Good luck

[GH85Carrera]

Our neighborhood has a HOA. The rules are very simple and I support them 100%.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

F HOAs. I'll never live anyplace with one and can't understand why people would opt to do so. No amount of perceived "property value protection" is worth the BS that some of them put people through - and even if they're fine at the outset, all it takes is a few new members elected to really make it a nightmare situation. Besides, the potential losses in property value that they supposedly hedge against are trivial these days compared to general market pressures which are way beyond their control or influence, so it's a non-argument as far as I'm concerned.

I'd rather take my chances with idiot neighbors than a nazi HOA (which all either are already or have the potential to morph into without warning). An idiot neighbor with 3' tall crabgrass and 12 rusted-out pickups on blocks in his front yard (or who wants to paint my wall baby-poo yellow) I can deal with easier than a bunch of uptight prick control-freaks with nothing better to do than sit around and figure out how to make everyone else's life miserable.

Not worth the effort or expense. If you like living in a place where everyone else does all the work/upkeep and want to be saddled with arbitrary rules/restrictions and pay for it all, then go get a unit in a management-company-run apartment building somewhere.

[jyl]

My sister's neighborhood has an HOA. It was dominated by two ladies who were real PITAs. They swamped the other HOA board members with meetings, emails, etc until the only board members left were cowed into silence. You couldn't get a fence, addition, patio etc approved without kow-towing to them. They would inspect everyone's property from the back paths and from Google Earth, looking for sheds, play structures, additions, etc that they hadn't approved. The neighborhood finally got sick of them. My brother-in-law ran for the board, got elected, the next year he got some other reasonable people to run, they got elected, and the ladies were off the board. I wouldn't live in a HOA neighborhood either.

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

HOA's have their good and bad points.

Yes they can be restrictive but I also have no beater cars on blocks, my HOA maintains all public facing property so on ones grass goes uncut, shrubs are tended to, common areas meticulously maintained etc. There are 8-10 community events a year, live music on the green, chili cookoffs, fairs and other family oriented activities.

They work in my neighborhood in San Antonio, where city zoning and code compliance is incapable of enforcing their own zoning definitions.

[stomachmonkey]

People who live in restrictive or unreasonable HOA's and don't make an effort to change the board beyond pissing and moaning get what they deserve.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by jyl

My brother-in-law ran for the board, got elected, the next year he got some other reasonable people to run, they got elected, and the ladies were off the board.

But never underestimate the power of group-stupidity as well.

1). The condo owners in our building let the place fall into disrepair, and the Association Prez get away with not paying dues/costs for over two and a half years which was a signifigant portion of the building's income, as well as breaking just about every by-law in the book.
There was also evidence of about $15K in self-payments that were clearly identified in the records...after the other board members finally received them.

2) Then they were all (briefly) really, really, mad, demanded an official audit and voted him out of office(which he declared illegal and void) and me into office. But only one other volunteered to serve on the board.

3). Then there was a disasterous, unfocused lawsuit filed by the Board and a group of owners, which got tossed from lack of presented evidence(attorney went into a rant during arguements).
-The judge had a history of being soft on embezzlers and accepted a 1-page "audit" written by billy in crayon as evidence of the Prez's payments.
-The Prez was reimbursed his attny fees due to board-indemnity.
-A new court-ordered management company was obtained, and the place started getting fixed.

4). Then, the tyrant went after his greatest threat to his power(myself), and assessed me the entirety of the previous court fees- despite board-indemnity and the group involvement. He went on a vindictive rampage, saying he was going to file foreclosure on my unit himself ASAP.

5). Where were other owners who had been howling for the suit(and the two on the board)?
Crickets.

6). I just took the Prez to District Court for this vindictive behaviour, but the Judge said it should have been filed against the whole Board in Circuit Court and told us to drop the suit.

7). The saga continues...

Two years of nonsense which left the Association broke and in termoil, all because other owners went with the "devil that they knew" and none bothered to give their own time and service.
What a waste.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by john70t

[u]......Two years of nonsense which left the Association broke and in termoil, all because other owners went with the "devil that they knew" and none bothered to give their own time and service.
What a waste.

And sometimes no good deed goes unpunished.

Sorry for your hassle and ****e neighbors.

[john70t]

I appreciate the words, stomachmonkey.

Honestly, I'm not sure if some people can understand the similarity between line-items in records and a missing stack of $20 bills to the ceiling...