I get sooooo weary of "the damned HOA" stories. And FWIW, most states have limited the power of HOAs. In Va. (like many other states) HOAs can't issue direct fines (or it takes a very long legal process todo so--they can put a lien on you property, which can come due when you sell the house, but there aren't any immediate fine fees). The extent of the power of our HOA is to withhold parking passes.
Like everything there are two or three sides to every story. I used to serve on an HOA. You would not believe some of the idiocy we dealt with-- from the dipshit who literally wanted to make her townhouse backyard into a mud wallow for her pot bellied pig (which wasn't a pot belly, since it was 300 lbs of pork) to the nitwits who insisted on lighting fireworks on the community tennis courts, setting fire to the epoxy surface and causing $10,000 in damage (which the community had to pay for), to the people who refuse to clean junkpiles out of their backyards when asked to because of a growing rat problem. And little things can matter as well, Know how much dog shit can accumulate on sidewalks in a community on 45 acres with 300 dogs in it? Let's just say A LOT, until the HOA installed "dog stations" with free bags, a container to drop them in and service to haul it away
I've also seen fistfights arise when someone is asked to simply pay their dues (which covers trash collection, landscape maintenance, etc) They'd rather OTHER community members carry them and get by free. We have one resident who is $10,000 deep in non-payment for basic services. He refuses because of the idiot conspiracy theory that the HOA is somehow a government tool to get him and he doesn't like being told what to do--even though he knew exactly what was up when he bought his house 25 years ago. He's also cost his neighbors through the HOA, $20,000 in legal fees for all the silly nuisance suits he's filed against the community.
Any fuck you if you think these limit freedom. The vast majority of them simply try to make others less likely to infringe on their neighbors' rights. Would YOU want to live butt up against someone's backyard that drains pig shit onto your patio, or wade through knee deep dog shit to get to your front door, or live with rats because one single neighbor is a drunken lay about who refuses to clean things up?
Yeah, some HOAs are full of control freaks (and assholes), most are not. Most are made up of your neighbors who are trying to help, for no pay and a lot of BS from others. FWIW, screaming and yelling at HOA members because of some perceived slight hardly makes them more willing to go that extra mile for you (but they will anyway, if it's the right thing to do). Next time you have a problem, instead of cursing and blaming the HOA for something you can't do, why not attend an actual community meeting or sign up to serve? I know meetings are always sparsely attended, but I also know if you go, you can greatly influence what the HOA does and how it does it. So, stop the bitching if you don't want to participate in making things better.
This one does. Ebay. $40 Have to watch for thunderstorms and wind though. A good gust and the tops of the trees are doomed.
