Damn HOA's

eastof111

eastof111

BinThere
Staff member
Well, received a letter yesterday from your friendly neighborhood HOA telling me that I am violating ccrs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions) due to a complaint. Namely, my collections of ku dishes and especially the bud, plus my not trimming two palm trees on side of the house and my roof top antenna.

I bought the house in 1999 and installed the bud in Feb., 2000 along with the ku dishes a few months later. Seems no one has ever had a problem with my house until now. Heck, until now I didn't know there was a neighborhood HOA. Had I known this, I would never have bought a house here. Plus, I explicitly told the real estate agent at the time that I didn't want to deal with any HOA's or I would not buy any house here.

Anyway, have an appointment with a real estate attorney tomorrow which I am bringing pictures of other violators in town, plus the FCC rules and regulations. So, we'll see what I can do.

Seems the typical house owner has to apply permission for items such as landscaping, painting or any other items pertaining to one's house and land. Even the flat roof white elestomeric paint is illegal unless approved the gestapo first.

Heck, I've had my house and roof painted three times since 1999. Plus repairs (no exterior remodel) to other parts of the exterior. What a bunch of idiots...... That's what happens when the Cali crowd starts to move east. Our last local elections created an almost all demo govt and the first thing they did was raise the sales tax. Way to go idiots.

Rant off.
 
That does not seem right. Good to hear you have a lawyer!
Seems that measuring how tall the grass is and issuing fines if it is not kept cut is becoming common around here.
 
IF you were never told there was an HOA, and IF you installed all the dishes since you bought your house AND they never complained until now, then I think your lawyer has a very good case in getting this thrown out.

That being said however, if things do look a little "untidy" around your place shall we say, perhaps you can agree to clean the yard and such up a bit, in trade for the HOA backing down their request to remove all your dishes?
 
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How can you be a member of an HOA if your not paying dues to it, if you have never received a bill from them for dues, or signed any type of HOA membership form, then your not a member, they cant touch you, tell them to go kick rocks.

No activation of membership for 18+ years equals a prescriptive right to use the dishes as you see fit.

Check you paperwork for your house when you bought it, if no automatic membership in an HOA is in the title then tell them to go fly a kite.

All HOA's should be disbanded, they are a communistic idea.
 
The twilight zone......

Seems this small town, ten miles east of Scottsdale was started by a company that purchased hundreds of acres which was originally a private ranch (roughly in the 1980's) and developed it. Once the town was developed and population grew to about 15k (with a promise not to exceed 25k, bulls****, the town has already purchased state land surrounding the town), the company decided to call it quits and offered the locals to take over the developed town. The locals created a governing entity and started to further develop the town by advertising the highest fountain in the west and more people came and built homes. Before the COMPANY gave up ownership, they asked the new entity to maintain the same building standards. So, the new entity had a council vote and asked people that owned property to attend and vote for an HOA by plat location. Certain plat owners said yes and others said no. I was one of the unlucky plat owners that is controlled by the HOA due to that vote.

So, even though the real estate agent screwed up when she negotiated the sale, at this point it would be worthless to sue the real estate company or agent. Don't even know if the agent is still alive. Back then she was in her early sixties.

Met today with executive director of the HOA and presented my case with docs and pictures and she was quite amiable and suggested to meet next week with the committee to hear my case. Hopefully, things just might work out in our favor.

While there, I asked her why in the world white flat roof paint could not be used. Duh, because the higher elevation home owners complained that the lower elevation home roofs reflected too much light and was not appropriate with the desert ambiance.

Well, f**k the elitist "do as I say and not as I do" bull****. My roof is due for white paint.
 
Something does not sound right about this. It seems shady at best, and probably illegal if you had the funds to fight it in court.
Whether a building reflects too much or too little light is sort of a moot point because there should be no buildings or man-made structures if the desert view is to be correct. Sounds like your neighbors have too much time on their hands, and probably have the personality that they are right all the time. They live up above and want the view to be to their liking when they look down on what they think is the lower class dwellings. Best of luck resolving this issue! Hope it works out OK!
 
Yeah, seemed like a scam to me too. Especially after I consulted with the attorney Friday. He immediately knew about them and said he has represented many others that had to pay out thousands for infractions.

Well, we'll see what happens next week with the committee.
 
If you are really in a HOA, then you should have signed something that says this when the house was purchased. It is impossible to read everything when the transaction takes place, but if you look through everything that you signed when you purchased the place, then it may become clear if you are in a HOA.

Also ask for the document that you signed (or did not sign) that legally puts you in a HOA. I am sure your legal rep has covered all of this, but none of this sounds right. Buy a house, 20 years later, get into trouble for things you did about 20 years ago sounds very suspicious.
 
Exactly what the attorney is requesting. My wife is slowly reviewing all docs to see what we signed.

When we meet with the committee this week, I will ask how they organized and became an HOA in this town representing select plats and not others. Should be interesting.
 
What a drag east. I feel for you. I lived in Condominiums growing up and am familiar with how HOAs complain/fine people. I have a small stake in some land in Northern Nevada that is in an HOA. I email the people in the office occasionally asking questions about rules(its vacant land). About a year ago or so I asked them about restrictions on C-band dishes. They didn't even know what it was so they didn't really have a proper answer. They wanted pictures and whatnot. I don't plan on building anything there anytime soon so I dropped it. Best of luck with this. The FCC rules cover 1m or less dishes. I hope you don't have to take anything out.
 
I found the email from 2 1/2 years ago:

I do not know what a c band dish is? If it is very large you may be required to place it where it cannot be viewed from the road. There is no specific provision for satellite dishes however they have a Nuisance provision. If the ARC (Architectural Review Committee) believes the dish is an eyesore, they may require that it be screed by fencing etc.

Rooftop antennas can most definitely be used provide total height from the ground to the top of the antenna does not exceed 25 feet in height.

3.7 Height. No improvements may be constructed on any Lot which exceeds two stories in height or twenty-five (25) feet above the ground line, whichever is less.

2.13 Nuisance. A Lot Owner shall not permit or suffer anything to be done or kept upon his/her Lot which will obstruct or interfere with the rights of other Lot Owners, or annoy them by unreasonable noise or otherwise, nor will any Lot Owner commit or permit any nuisance on his/her Lot or commit or suffer any offensive or illegal act to be committed thereon. The Lot Owner shall comply with all ordinances and requirements of Pershing County, the State Health Department or any governmental agency, where applicable, as now exist or as may be amended from time to time.

Please note that before you begin any project, you must submit your plans to the ARC for review and approval. If you need assistance in preparing a submittal please do not hesitate to ask. You do not have to be fancy when drafting a submittal. I am attaching the informational packet of the ARC that may be of help to you when planning an improvement.
 
The director which I met with last Friday claimed that they told three owners within the last year to remove their large dishes because they were useless due to no programming available. I informed her that she was incorrect and was given false information. She then invited me to meet with the committee to explain.

I offered to give her my copies of the FCC DA-18-393A1 to read, but she claimed copies were in her file cabinet. I asked what was wrong with my smaller dishes... she said I had too many, even though they're considered legal by the FCC and were in my back yard with a five foot wall enclosing the yard.

I then asked what was the problem with the roof top antenna? She said that it was too high up. I informed her that it was FCC legal and per their CCRS, roof top antennas were allowed as long as they did not go higher than 12 feet above the apex. I then informed her that the only reason for the roof antenna was to receive the local sub-channels. She did not know what they were, had to explain they're not offered by the town's cable system or our DTV subscription. She again invited me to meet with the committee, to which I agreed.

Hope it is a positive meeting for me.
 
What is a "Large Dish"? Did she provide the names of the 3 owners that removed their large dishes so you can verify what she said?

Sounds like rules are being created as needed for your specific situation, which is not correct. She should have a set of rules to give you that they go by, which she probably does not have because they do not exist!
 
We met with the committee yesterday and presented the seven members with our case. Itemized what is currently available and explained also about sub-channels.

Today the director called and spoke with my wife and informed her that we could keep the roof top tv antenna, keep the small dishes and the "big" dish. But, we would have to paint the big dish the same color as the house. We would not be allowed to paint the flat roof white. Plus we would have to pay for a permit to paint the house and roof, after the color is approved by the committee.

I may be wrong, but I thought I read some where that HOA's could not over ride federal energy saving rulings (white elestomeric paint). So, I will continue to search for the appropriate federal agency to see if I can find further info before I request the paint permit.

Either way, I am happy I won't have to spend the thousands the attorney said it would cost for representing us.
I still think it's a scam, but at this point I am glad things worked out, though not to our complete satisfaction. In the interim will check with city hall to see if there is any way to exit the association with out hiring an attorney.
 
Where does this HOA get money to operate? Seems you would be paying HOA membership fee every month or yearly.

Anyway, glad it worked out where you keep the antennas! I know some think antennas are ugly, but when you take away the ability to install an antenna, you take away a right to receive programming - some of which is paid with tax dollars.

The worst one I have seen around here is Cobb County. Seems like they have an ordinance for everything from how high your grass can be to how many cars can be parked in the yard. Do It Yourself auto repair is pretty much illegal in this county. Someone in Cobb did not like the way cellular towers look so they tried to make a big pine tree out of it to hide the antennas and steel structure. I will try to take a picture of this next time I pass it.
 
And did you state that your NOT a member of their little club? So you can tell them to go kick rocks...........


You can't be a member of something if you never signed a membership agreement, nor paid any dues or fees to this communistic club, there is no automatic default to membership if you were there before something like this was created.

I live in an area with an HOA, I am NOT a member, how I did it was, 1, my sister bought the land, then 2, transferred it to a trust via a quit claim deed, then 3, the trust transferred it to me again under a quit claim deed, all this by never going through a realtor, that's where they get you.

I have never signed any membership papers, nor acknowledged any membership in any HOA, we argued for about 5 years, they went away, their lawyers tried to step in, I told them that this was private business between the HOA and me, if they want to intrude into my private business it will cost them $750,000, they ran for the hills and dropped the HOA as a client.

I now have full prescriptive rights to this property as it has been over ten years without a single letter from them.
 
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Terryl said:
And did you state that your NOT a member of their little club? So you can tell them to go kick rocks...........


You can't be a member of something if you never signed a membership agreement, nor paid any dues or fees to this communistic club, there is no automatic default to membership if you were there before something like this was created.

I live in an area with an HOA, I am NOT a member, how I did it was, 1, my sister bought the land, then 2, transferred it to a trust via a quit claim deed, then 3, the trust transferred it to me again under a quit claim deed, all this by never going through a realtor, that's where they get you.

I have never signed any membership papers, nor acknowledged any membership in any HOA, we argued for about 5 years, they went away, their lawyers tried to step in, I told them that this was private business between the HOA and me, if they want to intrude into my private business it will cost them $750,000, they ran for the hills and dropped the HOA as a client.

I now have full prescriptive rights to this property as it has been over ten years without a single letter from them.
Click to expand...

Glad you were able to accomplish this. But, as I mentioned earlier, I had no clue or indication that there would be an association involved when I purchased the home. The attorney we recently consulted said "that's why you should consult an attorney before signing on the dotted line". More bull****....; I guess I should consult an attorney when I have to take a dump too.

Anyway, I will wait for the approval letter and let things calm down a bit. Next is a visit to city hall where I can hopefully get good info on how the association was formed and if there is any way to exit with out involving an attorney.

LOL, in the interim, I am trying to convince my wife to study law and get a degree.
 
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