They overcharge a lot and pass the profits to their friends.
I got a $100 fine because the curtains I decorated my bedroom with were visible to the outside and not an approved color.
Never again.
I live on a crappy golf course, our fees are $89 a month they don’t provide anything, we can’t have fences over 4ft the fence has to be see through, we can only choose certain colors to paint our houses we can’t store trash cans outside we got a notice for a single weed there is constantly people driving around taking pictures it freaking blows we are selling and the next place will have no HOA
mine went after a guy for adding insulation to the attic.
Only the poors care about energy efficiency. Can’t appear poor, or it might bring down the property values.
it was completely insane. they claimed he was storing the insulation in the attic (he had it professionally put in) and used association money on an attorney demanding he remove it. He refused and ultimately they had the maintenance guys remove it. bonkers. spent money so that our energy costs can be higher.
Mostly the neighbors who don’t pay their dues or needlessly hold up needed improvements.
Our HOA board does a great job, they are volunteers who live in the neighborhood. Our dues used to be $100 a year, plus $150 if you wanted to use the pool. Then the pool needed to be replaced (it was 45 years old) and we didn’t have the money for it, so we changed the dues to $250 and everyone gets access to the pool. That still didn’t raise enough money, so they tried to get everyone to agree to a one-time assessment of $1000 but too many people complained. So they’ve now raised the dues to $350, likely going up to $450 soon.
The good thing about the higher dues is we will now be able to afford a lawyer to go after the 10% of the homes that aren’t paying their dues. And maybe even force the people who are hoarding cars in their yards to have to move them.
You sound like a fun person to live around
Maybe they don’t care about the pool. Fuck an hoa
Then don’t move into a neighborhood that has an HOA and a pool?
Wait so for the folks that didn’t care about the pool, their dues went up 3.5x so far, soon to be 4.5x, for something they didn’t want or use, and you’re surprised they’re not paying? That’s some entitlement right there…
If you don’t want to pay for a pool then don’t move into a neighbor that has a pool. If you don’t want to have an HOA, don’t move somewhere that has one. If you don’t like how the HOA is run, volunteer to help run it.
What you don’t do is hold up the rest of the neighborhood that actually wants to take care of things properly.
The change to the dues required a change to the bylaws, which required 100% participation in voting, and required 60% approval. The change passed with over 85% approval. Most HOA dues in our area are $600 - $1000 per year, and many of those don’t have a pool. There are also many places around that don’t have an HOA.
It sounds like they moved into a neighborhood with an HOA that had an opt in pool and a two tier fee based on usage, and y’all changed that after the fact and are holding the smaller percent who don’t care about the pool hostage. This is part of why no one likes HOAs.
Prior to the pool retrofit could folks still move in and choose whether or not to pay for/use the pool?
Whats an HOA?
I believe it is what Americans call what might be called an Owners Corporation / Body Corporate / Apartment Owners Association / Management Company in other parts of the English-speaking world.
In Canada we have strata for condos and town homes. Is it like that?
Home owner’s association; when you buy a house and it is part of a HOA, you have to sign a contract to join the HOA as a requirement of buying, which means you have to pay dues and abide by the rules of the organization, and you have to require the next buyer to also join in order to sell your house.
*In the US.
No, this exists in other countries just as well. Here in Germany it’s called „Hausverwaltung“.
Could you elaborate? Does HOA mean something different in other countries?
in the UK, you buy a house and you pay a council (county?) tax. If you collect junk outside of your house no one says anything, you just get assigned as a cooky neighbour.
If the rats come or its genuinely bringing down the safety of the area, neighbours might complain tothe council who may/may not do anything about it depending on how much they care. Council positions are safe/steady jobs but the pay isn’t great, so you can expect swift inaction at any time.
It’s not a thing in other countries
Norway has something similar, you own the inside usually and the HOA own the outside, including the houses themselves. Live in one, largely a good thing but some things come slow since they need to be voted for of course. Generally worth it, since you get good deals on things like internet. It’s cheaper but it’s also something you usually have to use and the only option. Eg only that provider of internet.
I’m my case, they are also responsible for my balanced ventilation, my exterior doors and my water heater. So when the time comes, they handle it. Shared costs cover snow plowing, the shared community building, upkeep of garage, outdoors and the buildings, and things like water bills and taxes paid. In particular, HOAs purchases do not need to pay a 2.5% of the purchase price fee when you purchase a home. This itself saves you quite a bit, and makes up for some of the extra you pay in monthly costs. (but pretty much all of those are at least going somewhere that benefit you anyways)
The downsides are, there are special rules so some people that have membership may have a right to take over the winning bid in a sale. I myself used this to purchase my place, having gotten 10 years of seniority in “HOA company”. You spend the seniority with your purchase, but also are not allowed to own more than one part. Also, no long term renting so there aren’t any companies buying and renting out and things like that. You have to live in the HOA.
Had an tenant whose son was reportedly causing havoc around the complex. It was a case of my tenant (and me, as her landlord) vs the HOA and some statements that others had provided. My tenant denied the claims when I spoke to her about them. No evidence was given. I got pulled into a sham of a disciplinary meeting (which my tenant was not allowed to attend) and fined for not doing enough to control my tenant.
This wonderful service for $370/ month (and increasing each year).
They casually inform first time buyers that the roof needs to be replaced, all the piping leaks, the elevator is past its service life, and the previous management ripped them off so we’re critically underfunded, but the board didn’t get voted out.
Finally convinced one do-nothing to not run for reelection but it’s been a problem. I think we’re paying $450/mo, no amenities. There’s been a hole in the hallway ceiling for 3 months after the last plumbing repair.
We have a 4x15ft patch of grass that one day turned into dirt. I think we’re paying landscapers to maintain two bushes at this point because they haven’t touched that dirt pad.
They don’t allow privacy fences. Only shitty metal picket fences you can see through. Can’t go outside without everyone on the street all up in your business and everyone’s fucking dogs are constantly barking at each other and getting loose because their fence isn’t tall enough to keep them from jumping it.
Sound’s like we live in the same neighborhood
I’ve lived in 3 and had the luxury of them being fantastic and doing more than I expected, above and beyond and never being more than like…$50/mo. Included gym and pool access and stuff.
BUT, I have a family member who lives in one where basically everybody got hit with a roof repair bill of $30k partly due to previous management embezzlement, and it ended up being taken to the courts and crap and eventually got reduced but not eliminated. I think like half the residents sold and left in the year following.
So…it can be a crapshoot but I hear more stories that are bad than good.
I get pissy about mine sometimes but reading these stories… Holy shit.
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.
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.
Yeah our HOA covers the maintenance of everyones lawn so that basically removes 99% of any complaints.
How much do you pay a month? We pay $50 and they don’t even mow the common areas regularly.
This is how they SHOULD be but not how a lot of them are unfortunately.
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.
Lived in a 1Br condo with one for 5 years. Didn’t have any major beef with mine.
Only issue was they didn’t allow anyone to install air conditioners in their units when I first moved in. Then they said they’d be allowing mini-splits soon, after which it took them 2 years to get that approved. Unfortunately they had designated locations where the condenser had to go, which for the unit I was in, was right next to the front door and kitchen window. I was all ready to purchase one until that detail came out…
Ended up toughing it out for the next year until I could afford to move out into a bigger house without an HOA. Now I’m happy to have full control over anything that goes on or through my roof, attic, and exterior walls.
Getting out of it is the hardest part for us right now.
We’re in a small 28 unit condominium, so our dues go towards insurance for all buildings (only exterior, have to have our own for studs in), water, lawn service, management company, etc. Our dues are almost $400/month.
Yes, per month. It absolutely blows, especially when we’re trying to sell our unit and it’s been on the market for almost half a year.
I’m the HOA president so I know what all our expenses are (and have fought to keep increases to a minimum, including negotiating the community water bill with the water company), and unless we kick out the management company (Not going to happen) the dues are just going to stay high. We’re preparing to refuse an increase for the next year.
Honestly, it sucks, but nowadays, $400 isn’t overly high for condo HOAs. At least not in my region of the state. For stand alone, detached homes, it’s insane. But fees are crazy high nowadays for everyone. That price for a condo HOA is not outrageous unfortunately.
Why can’t you kick them out? Wouldn’t it be cheaper if the hoa managed all that jazz?
It’d be cheaper, sure. But that assumes anyone actually wants to run things locally. My VP is an elderly woman who would love to get off the Board as well. We just don’t have volunteers to run things. I joined up so our HOA didn’t get handed to a lawyer to run, which would cost even more.
Prior to having a management company, the HOA treasurer embezzled about $40,000. It’s the reason they got the management company in the first place.
Yeah people don’t really understand that HOAs are a two way street in most states. Bad HOAs exist because of bad neighbors, neglectful neighbors, or both. All it takes to right a ship is to show up and vote (or fill out the paper absentee ballot…) when the yearly elections happen. And then show up to some meetings so quorum can be met.
My HOA has to reschedule important meetings several times a year because nobody can be bothered to show up for a 30 minute meeting every quarter so quorum is met. Bad HOAs are like bad local unions. They only have power because you let them have power. Lobby your neighbors to do something about it. Unfortunately my experience is such that the typical homeowner who chooses to live in an HOA does so because they want to be rorLly hands off as much as possible. Kind of the opposite of the default pictures people have of obsessive neighbors in HOAs.
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.
Sounds like someone needs garbage in their front yard
Did you end up paying it?
I had to. It was included with my monthly fees.
That’s so fucked. I hate how even your neighbors can act like dictators.
someone in that HOA has shares in a trash bag fastening company, guarantee it
Perhaps! I’ve always found that people who participate in the HOA Governance are the kind of people who can’t mind their own business.
