I took my trash to the dumpster. Later I got a photo of my trash bag in the dumpster because I had tied the bag closed incorrectly and a $200 fine for improper trash bag fastener.
someone in that HOA has shares in a trash bag fastening company, guarantee it
I feel like mines the opposite. I pay $20/mo and we get access to a huge and well taken care of community pool, park, and basketball court. They also host community parties for each holiday that you can go to. They certainly allow you to get your $20 worth. Idk how they do it.
When it comes to architectural control, they’re pretty lax. We’ve got some vibrant and eclectic houses, but they are well put together. I haven’t found anything yet they won’t approve if you stay within a standard palette offering when it comes to shingles, siding etc. But some of these colors are yellows and reds so it’s not all boring either.
They also don’t allow signage in the yard to be displayed. So political signs etc will get you a violation. But it’s just a “remove by x date” and there’s no penalty if you do. I don’t mind this rule.
We do have to keep grass cut to an extent, but my neighbors cut it once a month at most and it’s usually a non issue. Honestly, other than safety things I’ve not seen anything crazy in mine. The two lady’s that operate it are super nice.
Same boat as you. The HOA maintains a pathway in a wetlands reserve right behind the residential area and it costs less than $20/mo.
They don’t really care what you do besides the following: no farm animals/chickens, no structural changes to the homes without a licensed contractor performing the construction, shoot an email to the HOA if you’re going to replace your roof or repaint your house to keep SOME level of uniformity.
Mostly they don’t care. Hell, the CC&R’s and HOA incorporation docs literally say they won’t directly enforce things against you and leave it up to the neighbors to take you to court with the HOA docs/agreements as free ammo. So if you explicitly want to be a menace to your neighbors/piss people off or want to have the only bright ass neon pink home with custom additions in the entire neighborhood - probably not the place for you. Otherwise they’ve had no effect on myself or my neighbors whatsoever and the wetlands/park is really nice.
Yeah our HOA covers the maintenance of everyones lawn so that basically removes 99% of any complaints.
My HOA is… fine. It’s like $25 a month, and it includes trash/recycling and common area maintenance. I’ve gotten a few warnings about leaving my trash cans out too long, or some other small violations, and I’ve cursed them for that because I’m obstinate and ornery… but I take care of it, and I don’t actually get a fine.
My HOA is badass because it’s really just one paranoid nice lady who lets literally anyone know if a trunk is open or if someone suspicious entered, etc. I’d complain about privacy but who the fuck hangs out in hallways?
But they had a nightmare prior to me moving here. Long story short, the former board member ran a slip & fall legal case against herself which paid out to the tune of 4 million. The insurance company refused to fight it (despite the lack of evidence) and instead settled immediately, recouping their costs by raising the building’s costs four fold.
This resulted in high HOA fees while that lady just fucking bought a house and left. Her sister sticks around, though, and on multiple occasions, stolen cars have been in our garage in their spot or in the guest spot as their “guest”.
Now that I said the last part, that’s still happening and I change my answer to that also being my nightmare HOA situation. Lol
About 2014, HOA decided to do some upgrade to our water main coming from the street. The guy came out with a weedeater and damaged my mailbox post. I reported it to the board and they said they would take care of it. Two weeks later I got a violation in the mail for damaged mailbox post. I went to the board website and they told me I had to repair it or face a fine. Right about this time the builder stepped down and handed the HOA to an attorneys office to manage. I reached out to the attorney to forward them the first message and ask them to repair my mailbox post and they said they would send someone out. About a month later I got a notice from the HOA that said this was my third warning (it was my second) and they were going to put a lein on my house if I didn’t pay the fine, fix the mailbox post, and now pay a separate fee to the attorneys office since they were managing it.
I sent the HOA and the attorneys office copies of both of their messages saying they would handle it with a picture of my damaged mailbox post. Three months later, we get the yearly Financials from the board and the attorneys office charged the HOA $1,800 to put a $500 lein on the title of my home that we had paid off after trying to go through my previous mortgage holder’s legal department to try to get the fine out of my escrow that no longer existed.
We sold the house with a damaged mailbox post last year. Our new neighborhood has no HOA.
Wouldn’t let me rent when the housing crash hit and I couldn’t afford the place, wouldn’t let me have friends over late at night because they thought my d&d group were a bunch of drug dealers. All around a miserable experience.
