HOAs
28/10/23 02:48
For 25 years, when we lived in South Dakota, we were members of a Homeowner’s Association. The HOA had been created when the subdivision was formed before it was annexed into the city limits. Its basic job was to enforce the neighborhood covenants. There were covenants about exterior finishes of houses, fencing, storage of junk vehicles and recreational vehicles, and other items designed to keep the neighborhood open and neat. The HOA board met monthly on the same night as the Board of the church I served, so for those 25 years, I never attended a single meeting of the HOA. For the most part, I ignored it. I was aware that the HOA had lost a few battles with neighbors basically because while the covenants did list some prohibitions, they did not specify the punishments for infractions. The original documents of the HOA did not grant the HOA board the authority to levy fines, so they didn’t have a mechanism to exercise authority. In one case, they send a nasty letter to an attorney, threatening to sue if he did not remove a fence. The attorney, however, was not intimidated by the threat of a suit and so he told the board to go ahead. A lawsuit was filed and lost and all the HOA board accomplished was the spending of legal fees which they did not have and a general sense of their lack of authority.
After we had lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade, and had complied with covenants, submitting plans for a shed and a deck extension to architectural review, and generally getting along well with our neighbors, there was a summer when I left our pickup camper in my pickup. We were using it regularly and it made sense to just carry it around rather than unloading and reloading it each week. I was using the pickup as my daily driver, so it was gone from the house during the day. However, I got a nasty letter from the HOA board complaining that I was violating the covenant by parking my recreational vehicle within sight of my neighbors. Because of the location of my parking area alongside my garage, there were only two neighbors who could see the camper from their homes, I checked with both and neither had submitted a complaint to the HOA board. I’m sure that a HOA board member had simply been driving around the neighborhood looking for violations and seen the camper.
Since I had access to a storage area for the camper that was away from our house, I simply complied with the letter and stopped parking it alongside the garage on a regular basis. I still brought it home before trips and it spent an occasional overnight in the spot. No further action was taken and I had no problems. I did do a bit of checking and found that no member of the HOA board had lived in the neighborhood for as long as I had. Essentially, people new to the neighborhood had gone to meetings, run for positions on the board and since very few homeowners ever attended the board meetings were easily elected. Then with there new, albeit limited, authority, had set about writing letters. A few years later the membership of the board changed and the issues that bothered them changed. Meanwhile neighbors replaced the original siding on their homes with types that had not been approved by the architectural review committee. A couple of neighbors put metal roofs on their homes, expressly prohibited by the covenants. A few fenced their yards. Some started to park recreational vehicles in their yards without sheltering fences. It all seemed rather silly from my point of view.
So, when we bought this house, I asked the realtor to check on the status of an HOA. She did and said that there had been one, and there were still dues, but that the board had been inactive. There were a few common areas that were still being maintained, so the modest HOA dues made sense. I didn’t give it another thought. And I didn’t hear anything from the HOA board. Then, sometime last year we received a letter sent to all of the residents of our neighborhood, inviting us to a meeting set to revive the HOA. The meeting was not at a convenient time and I really had no interest in getting involved. I read the letter, but ignored it. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I received a bill for unpaid HOA dues. The itemized statement showed that previous invoices had been issued each year that we had lived in the house and that we were in arrears. It also said that our HOA dues for 2024 would be due to be paid in advance at the end of December. A quick reading of the bill showed that the amount due was correct and I paid the bill, but wrote a brief note on it saying that we had received none of the previous statements. Since I had read the letter about the HOA being reorganized, I knew that there was chaos and confusion on the HOA board had resulted in their being budget problems due, I suspected, from simply not notifying members that it was time to pay dues. The previous owner of our home had not paid dues at all during the time they live in the home, and brought the bill current at the sale of the house.
We’ve got it lucky. Our HOA dues are a fraction of what is typical in the US. Our board has limited authority. Approximately 80% of all home sales in the US today involve HOAs and some have surprising power and authority. Some can foreclose on homes without notice. Some can add interest and fees to unpaid dues increasing the amount owed by huge percentages. One article I read about HOAs said that they are almost universally disliked by home owners. The boards tend not to be representative of the majority of homeowners and there are several notable cases where HOA boats have violated fair housing regulations and even practiced racial discrimination without consequences from regulators.
I have no desire for a fight with my neighbors. Our HOA doesn’t have covenants in place. It is simply a volunteer board with responsibility for care of common areas. I don’t begrudge them a budget for mowing and trimming. Going forward, however, I don’t think that simply ignoring the HOA board is a good practice. I’ll try to keep up with what is going on and make sure that my dues are paid on time. I do not, however, have any intention of going to meetings or running for the board. I have my limits.
After we had lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade, and had complied with covenants, submitting plans for a shed and a deck extension to architectural review, and generally getting along well with our neighbors, there was a summer when I left our pickup camper in my pickup. We were using it regularly and it made sense to just carry it around rather than unloading and reloading it each week. I was using the pickup as my daily driver, so it was gone from the house during the day. However, I got a nasty letter from the HOA board complaining that I was violating the covenant by parking my recreational vehicle within sight of my neighbors. Because of the location of my parking area alongside my garage, there were only two neighbors who could see the camper from their homes, I checked with both and neither had submitted a complaint to the HOA board. I’m sure that a HOA board member had simply been driving around the neighborhood looking for violations and seen the camper.
Since I had access to a storage area for the camper that was away from our house, I simply complied with the letter and stopped parking it alongside the garage on a regular basis. I still brought it home before trips and it spent an occasional overnight in the spot. No further action was taken and I had no problems. I did do a bit of checking and found that no member of the HOA board had lived in the neighborhood for as long as I had. Essentially, people new to the neighborhood had gone to meetings, run for positions on the board and since very few homeowners ever attended the board meetings were easily elected. Then with there new, albeit limited, authority, had set about writing letters. A few years later the membership of the board changed and the issues that bothered them changed. Meanwhile neighbors replaced the original siding on their homes with types that had not been approved by the architectural review committee. A couple of neighbors put metal roofs on their homes, expressly prohibited by the covenants. A few fenced their yards. Some started to park recreational vehicles in their yards without sheltering fences. It all seemed rather silly from my point of view.
So, when we bought this house, I asked the realtor to check on the status of an HOA. She did and said that there had been one, and there were still dues, but that the board had been inactive. There were a few common areas that were still being maintained, so the modest HOA dues made sense. I didn’t give it another thought. And I didn’t hear anything from the HOA board. Then, sometime last year we received a letter sent to all of the residents of our neighborhood, inviting us to a meeting set to revive the HOA. The meeting was not at a convenient time and I really had no interest in getting involved. I read the letter, but ignored it. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I received a bill for unpaid HOA dues. The itemized statement showed that previous invoices had been issued each year that we had lived in the house and that we were in arrears. It also said that our HOA dues for 2024 would be due to be paid in advance at the end of December. A quick reading of the bill showed that the amount due was correct and I paid the bill, but wrote a brief note on it saying that we had received none of the previous statements. Since I had read the letter about the HOA being reorganized, I knew that there was chaos and confusion on the HOA board had resulted in their being budget problems due, I suspected, from simply not notifying members that it was time to pay dues. The previous owner of our home had not paid dues at all during the time they live in the home, and brought the bill current at the sale of the house.
We’ve got it lucky. Our HOA dues are a fraction of what is typical in the US. Our board has limited authority. Approximately 80% of all home sales in the US today involve HOAs and some have surprising power and authority. Some can foreclose on homes without notice. Some can add interest and fees to unpaid dues increasing the amount owed by huge percentages. One article I read about HOAs said that they are almost universally disliked by home owners. The boards tend not to be representative of the majority of homeowners and there are several notable cases where HOA boats have violated fair housing regulations and even practiced racial discrimination without consequences from regulators.
I have no desire for a fight with my neighbors. Our HOA doesn’t have covenants in place. It is simply a volunteer board with responsibility for care of common areas. I don’t begrudge them a budget for mowing and trimming. Going forward, however, I don’t think that simply ignoring the HOA board is a good practice. I’ll try to keep up with what is going on and make sure that my dues are paid on time. I do not, however, have any intention of going to meetings or running for the board. I have my limits.
