HOA revenge : Revenge

[–] TrackenDaKracken@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Fortunately, my HOA isn't bad at all. My money mostly goes to the landscapers, who do a pretty good job with everyone's front yard. Water is included. The main complaint happens in the spring when some people's grass turns green before other's and they complain that the HOA isn't watering the grass enough. A couple of weeks, every spring.

Also, people complain about things that the HOA has no control over, like cars on the street, or issues at the parks, or sidewalks and roads, or fence and wall height allowances/limits.

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 3 points 35 minutes ago

It really isn't bad unless you have a militant one which I will never understand.

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 54 points 3 hours ago (5 children)

I'll never understand why some people choose to live in minimum security prison.

[–] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 1 points 24 minutes ago

New developments are more likely to be HOAs, as city governments realized that they can't afford the money bomb that is car-based infrastructure to support single-family housing. So they foist those duties onto the HOAs, essentially making small municipal governments for every new housing development.

So.... you can avoid them for now, but only if you live in developed cities.

[–] Manalith@midwest.social 8 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I can understand it for condos where you functionally own an apartment, that way it can pay for building/grounds maintenance, but if you've got a street where none of the houses are connected, then I dont see a point, there's no benefit beyond everyone's grass looking pretty uniform and no one having outlandish holiday decorations (which, where's the fun in that). Actually now that I think about, I'm setting up an HOA who's only rule is you can't put up Christmas decor before Thanksgiving.

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 1 points 16 minutes ago

There are all kinds of things people can do that you might not necessarily want from your neighbors even if your houses aren't connected especially outside city limits.

Mundane things like as neighbor with german rottweilers walks his small horses off leash but doesn't pick up their poop. Maybe they only sort of listen to him and like to chase your kids or small pets.

Maybe one of the people decides they will park a trailer on the street for their mother in law for the summer that makes it hard for you to see backing out of your driveway. Or put 4 "antique" cars on cinder blocks in their front yard to work on but can't find the time and now there are rabbits that live under them and eat your garden.

Or your neighbor get chickens or small livestock next door that come alive every morning at 5a and their son decides to take up the bagpipes to play every night at 11p.

And we of course have to remember all these neighbors move in 3 years after you, and now you can't even move because nobody else wants to live next to Rottweiler guy, bagpipes guy, or the guy from hoarders storing cars on his lawn.

This is why it makes a lot of sense to have a small HOA with a handful of rules, but it still doesn't make sense to have someone with a ruler come measure your grass.

My neighborhood of over 150 lots has been terrorized by ONE SINGLE DUDE. Almost everyone is at least reasonably considerate, but it only takes one who isn't technically breaking the law to make everything kind of suck. As our local sheriff's department likes to say, there's no law against being a bad neighbor.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 hour ago

“Small government” people want “freedom” so they eschew normal things like bylaws, but then the problems with that appear - whether it’s legitimate or Karen - and the control freaks in the neighborhood form up a HOA to deal with it, instead of offloading it to a (theoretically) uninvolved third party.

And now it’s the default way to enforce community standards.

[–] horsesaysweird@feddit.org 4 points 2 hours ago

For the same reason people choose to pay 50 % of their income to their landlord.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 8 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

For the greater good.

[–] cynar@lemmy.world 7 points 2 hours ago

[–] davetortoise@reddthat.com 22 points 3 hours ago (4 children)

European here - what powers does a HOA actually have? Surely they can't make you leave or anything? Are their fines actually legally enforcable? What if you just dont pay them?

[–] OfCourseNot@fedia.io 3 points 1 hour ago

We have hoa-equivalents in Europe, tho. In my country they're called something like 'owners community', and they can even take your home if your debt with them gets too big. But I don't think they can fine you directly, the have to sue you, and the rules aren't usually as insane as in the States, but they can ban you from installing the windows you want, putting up a flag, hang your clothes to dry on the front...

[–] gloog@fedia.io 4 points 1 hour ago

Yes, the fines are legally enforceable because (generally) you have to agree to them in order to purchase the house - joining the HOA and being bound by its rules either literally or functionally becomes a permanent part of the deed to the property. There isn't a legally viable argument that you only signed that part under duress because you could have chosen to live somewhere else instead. You could technically get a like-minded group of neighbors to run for the HOA leadership roles and eliminate the petty rules, but the rider contract to the deed still exists.

[–] talentedkiwi@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

They can, and likely will, put a lien on your house which makes it harder to sell. Probably other avenues to fuck up your life too. Around me it's really hard to find a house without an HOA. It's probably like 90% of the market, or I triple my commute.

It's legally binding with the purchase of the house so there's no going around it.

[–] davetortoise@reddthat.com 8 points 2 hours ago (3 children)

But how can they have a legal right to put a lien on it? Do they have some kind of legal claim to the land or property? What's stopping any other organisation from doing this?

[–] cantstopthesignal@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

They are part of the covenants, restrictions, and conditions that "run with the land." They are a more organized way of controlling the aesthetic of the neighborhood than traditional covenants. In practice they are used to harass people and were originally used to discriminate.

[–] talentedkiwi@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

It's part of the paperwork you sign when you buy the house. It's essentially saying the can do that if you don't pay fines. Luckily my HOA is pretty lenient about things, but still sucks. I'd rather dissolve it and remove the restrictions.

[–] davetortoise@reddthat.com 5 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Hm. How nasty. And I'm assuming there's some sort of provision that you have to sell on the house under the same terms?

[–] talentedkiwi@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 hours ago

Yep

[–] nimble@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 hours ago

When house was built they were set up as HOA irrevocably. Or at some point the neighborhood wanted an HOA and current owners irrevocably joined HOA. So when you buy the house then the HOA sticks to it. That gives them legal right to issue you fines if you break their rules, and if those fines go unpaid they could place the lien

[–] Akasazh@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago

They can be very powerful, certainly when hijacked by lawyers, John Oliver did a bit on it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrizmAo17Os

It's incredible, and horrendous.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 11 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Any time I've sought to purchase a home, I've told my realtor that "no HOA" was a mandate.

[–] Peck@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

HOA is required in my town and all neighboring towns for so new construction which encompasses 80% of all housing

[–] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 31 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

HOAs are idiotic. I was president (forced, it was a rotation basis) in one. First thing I did was convene the assembly outside, at 13:00 in the summer, no chairs. The meeting went from the previous 2 1/2 h. to 15 minutes. I'm going to install 3 heat pump compressors on the side wall of the building, which 2 or 3 Sandra Karens make furious noise about. I'm preparing a legal nuke, created with A"I", detailing every single thing that protrudes from their wall, down to the milimiter. Probably wouldn't hold up in court, but if you ask a text generator to act as a vicious lawyer to draft a text for this with enough detail, they can whip up very scary texts. If they try to making me take them down, I'm going to hit them with notices to take down EVERYTHING that protrudes from the exterior, including planters, flags, and even fucking door knockers.

Fuck HOAs

[–] bertlewirth@lemmy.world 23 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

HOAs are bulllshit. It’s my fuckin house. If I want to ignore the fuckin lawn, that’s my perogative.

[–] shartgargle@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Most HOAs have a contract with a lawn care/snow removal service.

[–] 4am@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

lol no they fuckin don’t

Most HOAs are to keep black people from living there. Unless they’re one of “ the good ones”

[–] shartgargle@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 hour ago

Every one I've seen has this because they're too busy doing "gods work" to be bothered with basic maintenance of the property.

[–] Peck@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Just make sure majority of your neighbors agree and change the rule in a meeting. Easy peasy.

[–] Jiral@lemmy.world 17 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Land of the free.

[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 2 points 12 minutes ago

Ikr. I live in Australia and I can't imagine having to deal with some other jerk micromanaging your front yard.

[–] saltnotsugar@lemmy.world 28 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

SIX ENTIRE MINUTES OF FORCED TRASHCAN VIEWING!? You monster.

[–] Ghoelian@piefed.social 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

But also where else is it supposed to go? If you cant see it, neither can bin people.

[–] tmyakal@infosec.pub 2 points 39 minutes ago

Typically, you're allowed to bring it out to the curb after a certain hour the night before collection day and you need to get it back out of view by a certain hour after the garbagemen come through.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 11 points 4 hours ago

Won't somebody think of the children?!

[–] Wizard_Pope@lemmy.world 81 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Land of the free or something

[–] TheEntity@lemmy.world 28 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Free to be assholes.

[–] FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world 12 points 5 hours ago

That's why they vote the way they do

They want to hurt people, and to be allowed to hate openly with impunity

[–] minorkeys@sh.itjust.works 17 points 5 hours ago

HOAs are filled with people with mental illness that force an anti-social relationship with all of their neighbours. It's kinda of like a social prison with Karen wardens.

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 41 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

You should also anonymously report whichever house is farthest away from wherever she's walking from.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 27 points 5 hours ago

We call this "Pam Pong."

[–] blackshirt@lemmy.world 7 points 5 hours ago

chaotic ~~evil~~ good

[–] Madrigal@lemmy.world 18 points 6 hours ago

Trespass the bitch and keep reporting.

[–] exaybachae@startrek.website 8 points 6 hours ago

Golly gee, the least they could do is post a link to the anonymous reporting form and Sandra's address.

[–] newton@piefed.social 3 points 6 hours ago

Hi , iam Sandra !, let the hell fall on you !!!