- Location
- Atlanta, GA
seriously... I just looked at my neighborhood on google maps and there are exactly 100 homes. 10 grand a year (assuming they collect 100% of it which they done) doesn't go that far....
the trivial complaints thread
- Thread starter Grouper
- Start date
seriously... I just looked at my neighborhood on google maps and there are exactly 100 homes. 10 grand a year (assuming they collect 100% of it which they done) doesn't go that far....
Ducky
Back in the game!
- Location
- Charlotte, NC
I didnt say they cant, i just said shouldnt. It just seems unfair that a lawsuit that really could be seen as a personal issue because of an HOA board member is being paid for by the citizens of the communicate.
VXSXH20
Sionis Industries
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
we've had 3 management companies in the last 7 years. they've changed names but its all the same contact personnel. The office has moved a few times and only gets bigger and fancier. I'm not anti organization by any means if its a benefit to all. but this is not and all of us neighbor have tried to band together before. 2 neighbors where on the board and they both quit after they said it was a Sh*t show and rather focus on their own lives and careers .
Mark44
Katie's Boss
- Location
- 100% one place
Wow havent raised in 14 years, I had to raise dues every 2-3 years just to keep up. Snow removal cost us a ton and we didn't have much snow just very expensive to have them come through. I now live on a 15 acre estate and have a home HMO but everyone has an estate of 15 acres or more so it make for a real nice HOA.
Mark44
Katie's Boss
- Location
- 100% one place
yea sucks but it is what it is.
Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
Most HOA's are by volunteer basis. That is why nobody wants to deal with it. And no, most do not get paid........ Against Most Bylaws. Have a copy by the front door. When she starts blabbing. Grab it. turn to that section and say "Show me"................ But be nice. My wife was on our board for a few years. We kicked out the old board. 100%. Things are better. But hey, lets kid the board out completely. No more HOA. You neighbor is going to start parking his old POS truck in the driveway with no tires. The neighbor across the street will tie up their dog to the front tree and in a few months there will be no grass. Mrs Guzzenhipher is going to stop cutting her grass since she is too old or blind or both to see it and you will begin to wonder if Jimmy Haffa is hidden in the front yard which is only 20' from the street. The house down the street is going to let their shrubs grow up to the point that one day your going to look and realize that house burned down 2 months prior to you even paying attention.................. HOA's are not bad for neighborhoods, more to the good when ran correctly...... Do we have some issues, sure, But much better than the neighborhood where I grew up or where we lived before we moved here 10 years ago. (Current House)........ Yes, there were cars and trucks up on blocks.............. with Carpet layed over them to protect them.
VXSXH20
Sionis Industries
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Agreed BK. they have their standards that can keep order and sensibilities. But at what cost and it'd be nice have someone to actually coordinate and speak to. We have no one inside the neighborhood or community. It's now a large corporation that over sees commercial and residential properties with no real person to coordinate with. And payments are to be made to a po box or pay lease option online with a surcharge just to use a third party website. I've seen the neighborhood get worse since 08 and the collapse of housing market. Yet these people raise rates, do less and a harder than ever to get a response from
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
I agree, we moved here because we thought the HOA was a good thing. It would protect our property values. The problem is the people running it and no one wanting to step up and replace them or pay for a management company. My wife is not a person to be rude to any one, so the being nice approach just ends up with her being trampled on... My from my view, the good neighbors are the ones getting harassed in my neighborhood because we are the ones who actually respond to them. It's like them justifying their job by making sure we know their there and watching... The crappy homeowners do what they want with no consequences.
We have a purple house 3 doors down and they have not been forced to repaint or have been fined. They have huge parties with all their ricer friends and have the cops called on them all the time. Another neon pink looking house another street over. The wooden fence around the exterior of our neighborhood is missing planks all over the place and is warping. The front entrance looks like trees are about to fall over is not kept up with either. Driving by you'd think they were filming the Walking Dead in my neighborhood.... My neighbor (I call it the Cambodia halfway house) besides the siding missing and rotting away, keeps their yard a mess. The front bushes are never trimmed, they don't own a lawnmower (he literally uses hand scissors to cut the grass), there are flowerpots everywhere they use to grow vegetables in the front yard, and the backyard is basically their trashcan. I complained (numerous times in writing) to the HOA emphasizing the impact these things have on property values, and they did absolutely f*ck all.
The president told us at the last (once a year) meeting that they don't fine anyone because they can't afford the lawyers/collection services to enforce them, which explains why people get away with whatever they want. We have people, like my neighbor, who hasn't paid the $100 fee for 5 years and don't even have a lien placed on their house. As mentioned, I suggested the rate increase and no one is open to it let alone anything else. I know voting is how its done but our covenants state it has to be 51%. Well, we barely get 30 of the 100 homes to show up for the once a year meeting so even if we voted on something, it wouldn't matter.
Our next meeting should be coming up soon. I'm open to more ideas if you got them on how to deal with this...
- Location
- Tri-Cities, WA
Arson
Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
I believe at the meeting where we voted out the board. It was basically done based on the homeowners present. If you were not there, you did not have a vote. So, You vote with those present. Granted, it was one of the larger meetings, but was still only about 30% of the neighborhoods. You need to get up several homeowners that do care and step up and volunteer to be on the board. Then make everybody follow the rules..... Honestly, You cannot bitch about the HOA if your not willing to step up and become a member of the board............... The first years sucked. 2nd year was a little better, only called the Sheriff once. 3rd year was pretty easy. Handed over the board to new members and at this point, they were able to start doing nice things around the pool and such. But they were given a good organization with most of the dues caught up.......
It really pisses me off when you order concrete and they show up with it extra wet and then the driver thinks they need to run it out of the truck as fast as they can so it ends up being twice as thick as it needs to be and yo.u have to rake it around by hand. Concrete is heavy
VXSXH20
Sionis Industries
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
sadly, it is what is.. you cant change other peoples behavior and living standards. But its usually the obedient and contributing homeowner who gets burned for all's actions.. we are bullied to make up for others losses. A lot of the places that are in shambles are tenants whom don't know nor do they care. and the actual homeowner is out of the picture often out of state and doesn't care or pay the fees. sadly there's not much you can do to improve it on a larger scale. I think you are taking the right approach and trying to network yourself into the system and see what can be done. that's a more civil and productive way to work thru it. We've tried. not much luck on my end. I ended up biting my tounge more than once and having the tough pill to swallow.
when we had a board my wife's friend/neighbor 4 doors down was on it. she went to 3 meetings and was indirectly appointed to the neighborhood. she met another woman on the board whom did not live in the neighborhood. she said things went well she actually liked the meeting... it wasn't 2 weeks later she got a citation from the same board she was on to have her hedge bushes trimmed so the photocell sensor would not leave her porch light on all day, a potential $100 fine.. she fixed the minor issue, responded to her board peers. received a lot of crap from them. she then quit the board promptly.. Its really only 2 woman in a car that take photos. I've seen them and the car a few times and they will not get out of the car at all... I remember staying home one afternoon and seeing them outside parked by a house close by. I walked out to the curb and just watched them.. a school bus came thru. (short bus to be exact red lights flashing the pop out stop sign.. the whole process-this made the overall taste of the situation worse) and some children got off with their parents awaiting their return home. I will never forget these enforcer women blowing the car horn at the bus yelling at the bus driver to move and hurry up, the driver of the car called the bus driver a bit*h and to move her fat a$$.. C'mon really? this is who is supposedly calling the shots around here? I took it with a grain of salt and figured they'll get theirs one day.. anymore I just lay low and pay the fees. I found that arguing with them be it civil or slightly uncivil bears no effect and I just become more angered over it.
I do like the Arson idea! but I have a townhouse so.....things could get messy! I have stories for days about these clowns but I'm out and its raising my blood pressure! . Carry on Fellas
when we had a board my wife's friend/neighbor 4 doors down was on it. she went to 3 meetings and was indirectly appointed to the neighborhood. she met another woman on the board whom did not live in the neighborhood. she said things went well she actually liked the meeting... it wasn't 2 weeks later she got a citation from the same board she was on to have her hedge bushes trimmed so the photocell sensor would not leave her porch light on all day, a potential $100 fine.. she fixed the minor issue, responded to her board peers. received a lot of crap from them. she then quit the board promptly.. Its really only 2 woman in a car that take photos. I've seen them and the car a few times and they will not get out of the car at all... I remember staying home one afternoon and seeing them outside parked by a house close by. I walked out to the curb and just watched them.. a school bus came thru. (short bus to be exact red lights flashing the pop out stop sign.. the whole process-this made the overall taste of the situation worse) and some children got off with their parents awaiting their return home. I will never forget these enforcer women blowing the car horn at the bus yelling at the bus driver to move and hurry up, the driver of the car called the bus driver a bit*h and to move her fat a$$.. C'mon really? this is who is supposedly calling the shots around here? I took it with a grain of salt and figured they'll get theirs one day.. anymore I just lay low and pay the fees. I found that arguing with them be it civil or slightly uncivil bears no effect and I just become more angered over it.
I do like the Arson idea! but I have a townhouse so.....things could get messy! I have stories for days about these clowns but I'm out and its raising my blood pressure! . Carry on Fellas
- Location
- upstate new York
I thought my hoa was bad, lol. Although, they are forcing all townhouse owners to replace the roof on the townhouse and garage for 2,500. Which is a damn good deal, but sucks because we're moving.
My neighborhood is probably 50% snow birds, 40% really old people and 10% younger families. The hoa president isn't even in this state for 7 months of the year, and keeps getting chosen because no one wants the job. My wife and I are the youngest owners in the association; I'm commonly referred to as the "young tattooed man" lol.
Trivial complaint:
I worked out pretty hard today and swam for an hour. I'm already sore and definitely going to feel it in the morning.
My neighborhood is probably 50% snow birds, 40% really old people and 10% younger families. The hoa president isn't even in this state for 7 months of the year, and keeps getting chosen because no one wants the job. My wife and I are the youngest owners in the association; I'm commonly referred to as the "young tattooed man" lol.
Trivial complaint:
I worked out pretty hard today and swam for an hour. I'm already sore and definitely going to feel it in the morning.
Mark44
Katie's Boss
- Location
- 100% one place
You are correct BK the vote is 51% of the peolpe that voted.
The HOA does not need to put a lean on the property because if the property owner would ever go to sell the property the HOA dues has to be paid up in full. The realtor will have a paper the HOA has to sign stating dues are owed or paid in full.
There is always the person that bitches the loudest but never steps up to be on the board. I would just tune these people out and they would never get what they asked for. Now the people that actually helped out would have things done for them. Imagine how that works.
Peter123
C-Note
- Location
- Houston, TX
Ours is $25 a year, but we only have a pool, playground and boat ramp.
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
I hate when board members say this kind of stuff... It's what makes residents hate their board... "Don't complain if you aren't going to get involved " ... As much as some people want to be on the board, sometimes they just can't ... kids, working 2 jobs, sick family members, illness, disability, etc. At our last meeting the board asked for help around the neighborhood doing some of the smaller tasks like picking up trash from the park, which I do when walking the dog anyway. I put my name on a list, along with everyone else at the meeting. I have not gotten a single call or email from the HOA asking for help. I would gladly help out on neighborhood projects.
I even inquired about being the Architectural person (in charge of approving fences, paint color, etc) at one point and when I asked for information from the board, I never got it. I have heard this from other neighbors as well. People don't volunteer because the board wont give up info when asked. They just want people to volunteer to take over the President and Treasurer and take their place and acquire the poop-pile they have left behind. Where the money is being spent, how much is in reserve, etc has never been fully disclosed even at our meetings when asked. We just get a general answer like it pays for landscaping and lights. So I ask to see a spread sheet with a breakdown, never get it. How can they expect people to step up without some level of transparency?
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Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
Sounds like you need to get members that care and get the old board out of there............ It sucks but it is true.
VXSXH20
Sionis Industries
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
My neighbor and I clean up the street and sweep all the road sand and gravel. Pick up trash and clean out storm drains etc. we trim trees and bushes where kids cut thru backside of houses to get to school etc. I've never asked a thing from the hoa when they were running the show. Last month I went down the new property management office and made a payment. The woman at the front desk was very rude and told me to make Payment online. She proceeded to pick up phone and page someone. Shortly there after another woman walked me in to an office and asked how I was doing and how I felt things were going and gave me a paper showing the projected plans etc. informed me the rates were going to stay the same etc. she was very pleasant and nice which was nice for a change. Hopefully things are turning around. I never was on the board and after seeing who was representing them and what they did to my wife's friend I had no desire anyhow. I still have very close neighbor who works for the county and he was on the board for many many years and even he threw his hands up. But he still goes to meetings and says it's getting better slowly as a lot of the management has changed since it was taken over 2 years ago, with 2 kids under the age of 4 and working nights and my wife works at hospital we don't have time to be super involved. But we take care of our house and parking spots along w our neighbors. Bad fish hopefully it will eventually get better man. It's easy to fly off the handle but better to document and play by the rules and fight it without making it worse over some ridiculous rules they enforce. The woman who blocked your contractor would have really got me going but I feel your frustration
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Mark44
Katie's Boss
- Location
- 100% one place
I disagree about not having time, when I was president I was a single father raising two children on my own with a job that I traveled for. There is always time. the best part about being in the HOA is I spent the money as I seen fit, and that was on the streets.
This is just my opinion.
makejetskiinggreatagain
Brandon
man, after reading all of this I sure am glad I bought a house in a neighborhood that doesn't have HOA's. My neighbors houses look like crap, but I could care less.