HOA Horror Stories- Are You Willing to Risk it?

      HOA stands for Home Owners Association, which acts as a governing body for neighborhoods by putting restrictions/covenants in place for home owners and occupants. HOA's require fees or dues from home owners. There can be many positive aspects of home owners associations such as up kept neighborhoods, parks, private pools, trash pickup, floral gardening in common areas, exterior maintenance (usually condos, there are some detached single family neighborhoods as well), snow removal, neighborhood gatherings or celebrations/block parties, tennis/basketball courts, lake maintenance, access to club houses, and many more. However there can be a lot of reasons to run from HOA's. Reminder, not all HOA developments are this bad or have these same restrictions. If you find yourself looking in a neighborhood that is governed by HOA's make sure you read and understand their regulations and covenants to make sure this is a place you can live without testing the waters with your neighbors and potentially get fined. Some of the common HOA's limit the exterior paint colors you can choose from, disallow owners from parking any vehicles in the driveway, restrictions on the number and size of pets allowed, requires maintaining a clutter free yard, restrictions on the use of holiday lights, some disallow owners to sublease without the HOA voting to approve, strictly timed garbage can removal, restriction on the number of stories or square footage allowed on new builds (the neighborhood doesn't want under built or overbuilt homes that might affect the value of their already constructed homes), disallow the storage of: boats, trailers, RV's, large equipment/commercial vehicles, requires grass to be under height restrictions, and many more. When you or your neighbors do not comply with the covenants or regulations you have a chance of getting a fine by the board. When fines are not paid, the association can place a lien on your property as you signed the rules prior to moving in to comply with the regulations already in place. Also if you don't pay your monthly dues the association has a right to place a lien on your home as well.

      There are some extreme situations that have fired up home owners I would like to share a few, to show you how out of hand things can get. A veteran in Georgia was selected by the Homes for Our Troops program to receive a new home. The subdivision they selected to build the home in had a strict HOA and would not allow the build of a single level home in their two story neighborhood. The neighbor’s fought saying it would bring down their home values. Per the wife, her husband was wheel chair bound and they would not need or use a second level. Due to the strict regulations they decided to build elsewhere. Another HOA fight took place in Ohio with regards to a flag pole being installed in a home owner’s front lawn. Per the HOA regulations they restricted flag poles outside of common areas. The homeowner fought the HOA and in the end the HOA allowed the owner to keep the flag pole. In Kentucky, a family built a therapy play house for their son in their back yard. The HOA asked them to remove the play house. Per the mother it helped her son walk and helped in his growth. The HOA temporarily allowed the play house, while the state decided in a court battle. The state of Kentucky is now trying to ban HOA's from disallowing things when necessary for therapy. On a lighter note, a California home owner lost his home due to the planting too many roses. Sounds crazy but he ignored the fines issued by the HOA and they placed a lien on his house. They went to court and due to the $70,000 in legal fees he lost his home to the bank. A couple in Texas was selling their home when they found out there was a substantial lien on their home due to the placement of pink flamingos in their front lawn. They paid the fee and are now suing the HOA.