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Brew

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16 minutes ago, PilotsError said:
On 1/25/2019 at 9:29 PM, Brew said:
My wife left today to go down and attempt the reasonable approach with them, we’ll see how this goes. 

Well?

As expected it didn’t change anything. I’ve set it aside for another month until I have time to deal with it. However, after talking to an attorney, we’re probably better off just leaving it be and making the color change.

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On 3/1/2019 at 7:02 PM, 3adays said:

This is still an ongoing issue. The HOA board and property management company have schedule a meeting  next week where I get to sit down with their engineers and counsel. Supposedly I’ll get copies of the engineers reports at this meeting. Should I bring a lawyer (I have one ready, but it’ll cost me a minimum of $2500)  or just go it alone? Maybe just hear them out and then laywer up if necessary?

Why would bringing a lawyer to a meeting cost a minimum of $2,500?

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Why would bringing a lawyer to a meeting cost a minimum of $2,500?

1 hour to agree to go to the meeting, 1 hour to think about the meeting, 1 hour to drive to the meeting, 1 hour to be at the meeting, 1 hour to drive back from the meeting, 1 hour to think about the meeting, 1 hour to call you about the meeting, and 1 hour to send you a $2,500 bill for the meeting.
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  • 1 month later...
On 3/17/2019 at 9:54 AM, HRSchenker said:

I don't know what's worse: an HOA or the neighbors who treat the HOA like their private security team. I had a police officer come over to my house because a neighbor complained about a noisy dog. I don't have a dog and he eventually went away but I thought man who would call the police on a loud dog instead of going to the neighbor and talking to them about it?

Probably nobody complained about anything, but the cop wanted some excuse to peek inside your house.

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  • 8 months later...

Florida HOAs sound like they suck.

Woman’s car booted after parking in her own driveway

Cristina Trabada said she and her family were on vacation when neighbors started bombarding them with calls and messages.

“Sending us pictures that my car has been booted in the driveway," Trabada said.

Wait. What?

One of the photos Trabada shared with the Leave it to Layron team showed her car with not just one, but two booted wheels. There was also a bright orange sticker affixed to the driver’s-side window.

Trabada is a recent college graduate who said she moved back in with her parents after she finished school. She said she and her family have lived in Pembroke Shores’ Sterling Place community for nearly two decades.

Sterling Place recently revised its parking rules for residents.

Weeks before the Trabadas left for vacation, the homeowner’s association emailed residents about its new, stricter parking rules.

“[Parking] in a resident spot with no resident permit” would be subject to booting, according the email.

Trabada said her visitors’ parking registration expired before she and her family went on their trip.

“That’s why I parked in the driveway,” she said, thinking the car would be safe.

Apparently, not.

Trabada said she spent days emailing and calling HOA property management, along with blasting the incident on social media.

“Mind you, we’re on vacation, and this is all happening, so we’re, like, interrupting our vacation to deal with this,” she said.

The boots were eventually removed.

But Trabada said her car was not the only one booted.

"Mind you, we're on vacation, and this is all happening, so we're, like, interrupting our vacation to deal with this," Cristina Tabada said. 
“A lot of residents have had to pay for the boot to be taken off, and have still not gotten refunded,” Trabada said. “And some people have had to take off more than one boot for multiple cars. That’s where our issue is, really. OK, so you implemented a policy that didn’t work and it backfired and your residents got scammed, and so, what are you gonna do about it?”

“[It] just seems so extensive,” said Alessandra Stivelman, a partner with Eisinger Law and an expert in community association law.

Stivelman is also board-certified in condominium and planned development law by the Florida Bar. She considered what happened to Trabada and her neighbors overreach.

“Not only can you not tow or boot, but you’re booting and requiring the owner to pay a fine without their due process and their requirements pursuant to the statutes,” Stivelman said. “So I think it does go above and beyond the authority that the association had to enforce the rules and regulations.”

The LITL team tried reaching the Sterling Place’s property manager multiple times and never received a response.

The community manager did send a letter to residents, apologizing for the “parking mishap that took place.”

“We have addressed this issue with Lot Monitoring Services Inc. as well as All County Towing and we are confident that we have cleared up any misunderstandings and enforcement will now be done as per the Association’s parking rules and regulations,” the letter read.


It went on to say the towing company “has agreed to refund all owners that had to pay to have the boot removed from their vehicle that were parked on their driveways only."

Attached to that letter was a simplified version of the rules and regulations.

One of those rules now reads: “Any vehicle that is parked on the property other than a resident driveway, or guest parking” will be subject to booting.

Edited by RPM
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  • 2 months later...

Attended my first HOA meeting via Zoom earlier this week. Did not disappoint. From the crotchety asshole who doesn’t have kids and thinks we shouldn’t spend money renovating the pool, to the guy who it turns out has been convicted twice on securities fraud charges and even changed his name and wants to be on the board. Good times.

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10 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

Attended my first HOA meeting via Zoom earlier this week. Did not disappoint. From the crotchety asshole who doesn’t have kids and thinks we shouldn’t spend money renovating the pool, to the guy who it turns out has been convicted twice on securities fraud charges and even changed his name and wants to be on the board. Good times.

Was Ed on the call?  Tell me Ed was on the call.

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Ain't NO HOA anywhere like a Souf Flori-duh HOA, doesn't matter WHAT coast.

Draw a straight line E to W across the state through Lake Okeechobee & every HOA South of there uses HOA's as their bloodsport.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

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I’m currently running for the board in my neighborhood. We just took over from the builder last year and half the board is still spending money like drunken sailors. We also have rules on the books that cannot be enforced. If I’m out on, that gives a majority to new folks that want to make changes to start really saving money and fixing the bullshit - as best we can. The management companies are vultures, from what i gather.

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2 hours ago, Goofyboy said:

I’m currently running for the board in my neighborhood. We just took over from the builder last year and half the board is still spending money like drunken sailors. We also have rules on the books that cannot be enforced. If I’m out on, that gives a majority to new folks that want to make changes to start really saving money and fixing the bullshit - as best we can. The management companies are vultures, from what i gather.

Management companies always get the blame.  Some are bad and some are good, but they are rarely the blame.  It's usually the board that fucks things up and management companies doing what they are told.

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Yeah, it's when you have a board that thinks they can save bajillions by sourcing everything themselves & monitoring the minutia that you end up with people that think they have a mini fiefdom on their hands.  I'd rather have a 10 minute conversation with someone in a professional management group that has been down this road 10x than have to spend 30 minutes trying to sway 4 different opinions on why they can't get a "free roof" because that's how it was done back in _____ where they used to live.

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The management company charging our HOA $6.25 a letter for a trash can being left out over night (one night, not multiple), is a bit much. There seems to be zero grace period because it’s in their interest to make money. That said - I understand they have to enforce the rules as written. It’s not an easy thing to balance.

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3 hours ago, Goofyboy said:

The management company charging our HOA $6.25 a letter for a trash can being left out over night (one night, not multiple), is a bit much. There seems to be zero grace period because it’s in their interest to make money. That said - I understand they have to enforce the rules as written. It’s not an easy thing to balance.

The solution to that, if your management company will do it, is for the board to adopt a policy that those costs are passed through to the homeowner who left the trash out.  The management companies do make money on postage and printing, but that's not where the bread and butter is.

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4 hours ago, Goofyboy said:

The management company charging our HOA $6.25 a letter for a trash can being left out over night (one night, not multiple), is a bit much. There seems to be zero grace period because it’s in their interest to make money. That said - I understand they have to enforce the rules as written. It’s not an easy thing to balance.

So are neighbors ratting each other out, or is the management sending patrols around the next morning looking for violations?

Either is shitty.  I have no problem walking a neighbors trash can to their garage or side of their house if they forget to take it in. 

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So are neighbors ratting each other out, or is the management sending patrols around the next morning looking for violations?
Either is shitty.  I have no problem walking a neighbors trash can to their garage or side of their house if they forget to take it in. 

Management company has a patrol. It just comes off as heavy handed.
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How about the board voting to not give a shit if someone leaves their toter on the street for maybe even 3 days.  is it really dropping your property values for that insane eyesore that is OBVIOUSLY larger than a 30' Robalo with 4 outboards or a rusted '91 Chrysler K car?

Ultimately, a hired HOA management co. is only going to enforce rules that the board adopts.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Interesting scenario I thought I'd throw by you guys. My neighbor put up a giant birdhouse in her backyard and it's causing swallow to congregate around my house. They are shitting everywhere! My front and back porch was covered in bird shit. I got a power washer this weekend and cleaned it up as well as put up mirrors to scare them away. So far, so good. 

Well someone else decided to contact the HOA about it and she was sent a letter to remove the birdhouse immediately because it violates the bylaws (our HOA is run by a builder, not neighbors). But she's refusing to take it down because the birdhouse has a nest with eggs and I guess swallows are protected by federal law. So does she have a legitimate claim to keep it up or will they eventually compel her to remove it? 

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I'm aware of a case in DC where they were doing major roof repairs on a building.  The contractor discovered a nest of some endangered bird and they had to wait until the eggs hatched and the birds safely left before they could resume work.  The project was also weather dependent so it caused all sorts of issues for the building. I have a feeling the birdhouse stays until the chicks are gone.  That one could be interesting the board were to ask her to pay a fine for each day of the violation.

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5 hours ago, gyroprotagonist said:

pretty lame ask, but ... pics of birdhouse?  how big a birdhouse are we talkin' about

Hopefully imgur doesn't fuck up again

spacer.png

 

The reporting neighbor took the photo from their backyard, sent it to the HOA, and then sent it to the neighbor so they know it wasn't me who reported them. HOA said it violated 3 standards.

"No lot may be used in a way that may reasonably be considered annoying to neighbors, calculated to reduce the desirability of the neighborhood as a residential area, endanger the health or safety of resident, result in the cancellation of insurance on the property, or violate any law.

Both the lot and dwelling must be maintained in a manner so as not to be unsightly when viewed from the street or neighboring lots

Residents must exercise reasonable care to avoid making or permitting to be made loud, disturbing, or objectionable noises or odors likely to disturb or annoy residents of neighboring lots"

 

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I’m running for our board. I was told yesterday if I’m voted on the current President will quit. I’d be replacing the guy that always votes with her to spend money. She’s having another neighbor post all kinds of inaccurate information on the neighborhood FB pages.

Those that have been on an HOA - is this normal? There are some folks seriously mad that I pointed out the guy I’m running against voted to raise our dues. One of the other board members is having pictures posted of her home (back yard), that someone copied from her private FB page.

People are nuts.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/19/2020 at 8:31 AM, Goofyboy said:

I’m running for our board. I was told yesterday if I’m voted on the current President will quit. I’d be replacing the guy that always votes with her to spend money. She’s having another neighbor post all kinds of inaccurate information on the neighborhood FB pages.

Those that have been on an HOA - is this normal? There are some folks seriously mad that I pointed out the guy I’m running against voted to raise our dues. One of the other board members is having pictures posted of her home (back yard), that someone copied from her private FB page.

People are nuts.

I was President of our board last year.  Yes it is nuts.  You will see and hear about shit that is so fucking petty.  

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I’m running for our board. I was told yesterday if I’m voted on the current President will quit. I’d be replacing the guy that always votes with her to spend money. She’s having another neighbor post all kinds of inaccurate information on the neighborhood FB pages.

Those that have been on an HOA - is this normal? There are some folks seriously mad that I pointed out the guy I’m running against voted to raise our dues. One of the other board members is having pictures posted of her home (back yard), that someone copied from her private FB page.

People are nuts.

Kinda similar to when I joined our board a few years ago. The old board had been the same folks for about 12 years. I was elected along with one other person (there were 2 terms expiring, and both were still seeking to keep their seats). Pretty clear voice from the neighborhood! That left the president, one of her lackeys, a really sweet old guy whose only interest was the neighborhood watch, then us two newbies who wanted to fix shit. Pretty sure the president was getting kickbacks, but the management company definitely was. They awarded every contract to one of their subsidiaries at well above market value. We were able to get the old guy to pay attention to what was going on so he started voting with us. By the time we got the management company fired, the president had gone off the deep end. She would scream in meetings every time we brought up bidding out contracts, funding things that desperately needed it, etc. She led this huge personal campaign against us and tried to gather the entire neighborhood. The exact opposite happened. She may have gotten 2-3 people to show up to meetings to support her, but 50+ were showing up to support me and the other new board member. She quit after the second meeting like that and posted a long-winded rant on Facebook about how we were going to destroy the neighborhood. It was insane. Then we filled her spot with a guy who I’ve mentioned on these threads before. Dude was a badass. Can’t remember the exact number, but he renegotiated all of our contracts, spent like $150-200k on various improvements, and we ended up with MORE money in the reserve accounts.

So yeah, your situation isn’t entirely unique. People are crazy. But good boards can do wonders for your neighborhood. It’s going to suck, but good on you for trying!
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Got my ass kicked. They lied on multiple pages that I was running for the treasurer position and that was not true. The board can move around positions as needed after the vote. Then the president and one of the guys that runs one of the FB pages said I was not qualified to be treasurer. The guy that ran the page had no clue what the treasurer responsibilities were. The old guy that does it just reads a report from the management company. After 5 days of the false info being up, he deletes all posts that have people correcting him.

Oh, well, it was a fun run. I hope everyone enjoYs their new tennis court and higher fees.

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You couldn't pay me to live in a hood with an HOA.
Been doin' a shitload of cutting & I have burned a few hundred cedar logs in this last week, all from the same spot.

I imagine the neighbor 500 yards over probably has Nuclear Winter on his mind.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

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23 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

You couldn't pay me to live in a hood with an HOA.

I can't wait for the eventual day we move out and leave the HOA. A few yards south of me is an area that is not only HOA free but is also out of city limits. They get to shoot guns and light fire crackers while my neighbors complain about it on the Facebook page. I envy those guys so much.

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  • 1 year later...
50 minutes ago, pacman said:

Texas

 

Have you all ever heard of a hoa being exempt from city ordinances because it is gated (considered private, city doesn't maintain roads)?

That's true about the City's ability and responsibility to enforce traffic ordinances on private roads.  There is a statute that allows a percentage of property owners to petition the city to extend enforcement of traffic ordinance in the private community.

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