So have you been following the story from Henrico County, Virginia (the county that Highland Springs is located in, by the way) about a homeowner's association that has been harrassing the living crap out of one of the homeowners about the 20 foot flagpole he put up in his front yard so he could fly his American flag every day? Seems that the erecting of the pole in the front yard was deemed by the Sussex Square Homeowner's Association not to be "asthetically pleasing" to the neighborhood, so the association denied the homeowner's request to erect the pole. They said if he wanted to fly an American flag in his front yard, then he'd have to do it like everyone else in the neighborhood was - from a smaller pole mounted on the railing of his porch or the side of his house.
The homeowner did what I would have done - he erected the freestanding 20 foot pole anyway. And at that point the association started with the harrassment, demanding that the homeowner remove the flag or face legal action to include fines and a lien on his property to ensure he paid the fines.
The homeowner told them to go pound sand. Good for him!
The homeowner, by the way, is a ninety year old veteran of three wars, those being WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He is Retired US Army Colonel Van T. Barfoot, and is a Medal of Honor recipient from WWII. But the Sussex Square Homeowner's Association didn't give a crap about all that - they demanded that Colonel Barfoot remove the flag, period.
After nearly a week of a firestorm after the story hit the national wire, the homeowner's association has given up and told the colonel that he can keep his flagpole right where it is, and they won't bother him anymore. Seems they were literally flooded with e-mail, snail mail, and phone calls supporting the colonel and his flagpole, and they finally saw the error of their ways.
Man, do I hate homeowner's associations! And this is a very good reason why!
Yeah, I know the reason for homeowner's associations - they keep the neighborhood from looking like crap by enforcing rules like no junk cars in the front yard, things like that. And I fully understand the logic behind it and to a very small point support it. But I have yet to hear of ANY homeowner's association that did not fall prey to the part of the Peter Principle which states, "Absolute power corrupts - absolutely."
It's like this: the day YOU start paying taxes on my property and start paying my mortgage for me, THAT is is the day you can tell me what I can and can't do with my house. Simple as that.
The neighborhood I live in now has a homeowner's association, and to be honest if I had known that prior to the day we went to close on the house, I absolutely would NOT have purchased my current house. I found out about the association literaly at closing, when the attorney was ticking off the fees. He mentioned homeowner's association dues, and when I said, "Hey, wait a minute! HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION DUES?" It was at that point that I found out that there was an association in my development. Of course I had no choice but to continue on - I had already transferred in my job and had sold the house in New Jersey, and all of our stuff was on the truck on the way to the new house by then. So we closed on the house and became unwilling members of the association.
I absolutely despise my homeowner's association, because they have some of the stupidest rules that I have ever heard of in my entire life.
As it is right now, the board of the association is made up of the developers of my subdivision; the bylaws state that when the subdivision is "100% complete" - meaning that all of the lots are sold and all of the available houses are up - the control of the association would be turned over to the homeowners. Until then the association is controlled by the developer and their lawyers. Sounds reasonable, right?
Except for this little jewel: All new construction in my development came to a screeching halt when the housing market collapsed two years ago! There has been ZERO new construction since then, and I don't forsee the development being "100% complete" anytime in the near future. I guess the board saw it, too, because last December when they sent us our statement for dues, they said they were taking names of homeowners who were interested in serving on the board because they were going to turn the board and the association over to the homeowners since construction had stopped. Of course I put my name in!
Well, that was December 2008, and I got the exact same letter again this year. I personally know of four people in my neighborhood in addition to me that volunteered for the board, so there's no good reason why it hasn't been turned over to us yet.
So in the mean time, we're all living by rules set by a real estate development company that was trying to get all of the property sold as quickly as possible, meaning that the neighborhood needed to be a "showcase" for all of the prospective buyers driving around looking at things. And some of those rules are absolutely stupid, let me tell you! Here's the most stupid of the bunch:
You can't leave your garage door open, period. You must open it, get what you need out of the garage, and close it immediately. Failure to follow this rule will result in a warning for the first offense and then a fine.
You can't park any vehicles on the street, period. If your driveway is full, then that's just too bad. Failure to follow this rule will result in a warning and then a fine.
You can't park cars in your yard, period. (I agree with this one, but readily admit that if you could park on the street you wouldn't need to park in your yard!) Failure to follow this rule...well, you get the idea.
You can't have chain-link fences, period.
Any fences must be plank wood and must be "scalloped" in design. They must also come up along the side of your house far enough to cover your AC unit. (NO, mine doesn't. Screw 'em.)
You can't erect metal sheds, period. Any sheds erected must be covered in aluminum siding and must match the design of your house; i.e., if your house is light grey with a dark green roof, then your shed must be light grey with a dark green roof.
And I saved my all-time favorite for last, and you ain't gonna believe this one! (I have the bylaws on file to back this up, too!)
Ready? Here it is: The association board members have the right to ENTER MY HOUSE and evaluate the style of INTERIOR LIGHTING installed, and order me to remove it if they don't like it!
All I can say is this: ANYONE who enters MY house without either my permission or a search warrant is leaving in a body bag!
The wife and I have discussed where we'll end up in the future, and we're both agreed that this won't be the last house we ever buy. We're also both in agreement that the next house we buy will NOT be someplace where there's a homeowner's association!
In the mean time, I'm still waiting for the association to turn the board over to us...I'll keep you posted.
IHC
2 comments:
What happens if you tell them to jam it when you get the statement for annual dues? A warning then a fine? And I agree that what goes on inside of my property lines ought to be the decision of he who totes the note.
Yep, exactly. And the assholes have the legal right to tack a lien on your property to get their money.
I can't wait for them to turn the board over to the homeowners...gonna be some changes made, lemme tell ya!
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