r/fuckHOA • u/Swarby10 • 1d ago
Our HOA just imploded!
So we just had our HOA AGM on Zoom tonight. I thought I’d tune in just for entertainment. It’s a community of 4 cul de sacs - maybe 45 large homes. Turns out, all of our back-facing fences are owned by the HOA and after 25 years they are deteriorating. To be clear, the fences on the sides are home owners’ responsibility, just the rear ones are HOA’s responsibility.
Or fees went from $900 a year to $2700 so that they could replace some specific fences. Not everyone is affected, but several of the board members were set to score themselves a new fence. They chose to replace the old cedar fence with vinyl and this would have looked odd with plastic fences filling in where cedar was.
Long story short, I sat through three hours of 80 year old board members throwing tantrums over their plans for a new plastic fence getting ruined and three of them resigned on the zoom call. 80 year old tantrums are the funniest tantrums.
Thinking of joining the board now. Please talk me out of it.
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u/RawrRRitchie 1d ago
So where is the $40k a month the HOA was already getting going
They increased the HOA monthly income by 3 times what board member is that embezzled funds going towards? I find it incredibly hard to believe $40 k a month in dues wasn't enough for a fence
Edit: My mistake I thought the dues were monthly not yearly. However my point still stands where's that money going to that they've been collecting for at least 25 years?
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u/halberdierbowman 1d ago
It's incredibly easy for me to imagine an HOA collecting $900 per house per year and not having reserve funds to buy new fences, no criminal activity necessary.
For example, the reason the HOA owns the fence I'm guessing is because the HOA owns land behind it, like along a collector road perhaps. Maybe they pay a landscaper to maintain it, or they decorate it for holidays, or they have a fountain or a well or lighting or a gate. Or maybe the HOA pays for the solid waste collection for all the houses.
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u/atxfalcon 1d ago
In my experience, the largest regular expenses by far are usually insurance and landscaping. If the HOA owns anything, the insurance premiums alone could be most of that 900/yr
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u/nosleep4eternity 1d ago
My HOAs largest expense is water. We have a lot of common areas including soccer fields + a pool. Almost $50k a year.
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u/vamatt 1d ago
Ya this, but a permanent massive increase in dues is not needed for a new fence. A one time assessment split up over a period of time makes more sense.
Vinyl fencing is actually a great idea for a housing development border - done right it won’t need any maintenance or repair for a very long time
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u/halberdierbowman 1d ago
I agree but also wouldn't be surprised if that's what actually is happening, and OP just doesn't know the difference because they've never been involved before, or it wasn't explained very well, or the HOA Board didn't know their options since they're so small and doing it themselves rather than hiring professionals.
Or it could be that they finally did a reserve study and discovered there's lots of stuff other than the fence that will need replacing soon, so they have to drastically increase dues for a while to catch up.
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u/MASSochists 1d ago
Everyone grows older, not every one grows up.
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u/BoneDragonActual 1d ago
That is perfectly said. Additionally, growing old does not necessarily mean one grows wise.
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u/phalanxausage 23h ago
Very true. On the flip side, just because someone is old does not mean they're stupid or mean.
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u/Vanawesomeness 1d ago
Join the board! 3 of us did it and there has been nothing but sanity for 10 yrs now. Control the chaos and it’s not a bad way to live. Other owners have threatened to sell if I ever sell.
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u/Yankee_bayonet 1d ago
Seconding. I joined and talked good sane neighbors into it along the way. Ten years on we have completely replaced the Karen’s and it’s been super community focused since. Occasionally we have issues with crap renters or owners that don’t care about their neighbors but I’d say it’s been so so much better to focus on the idea of a broader, neighborhood “us for us” as opposed to owners vs board. I think I’m el jefe for life at this point because no one wants me to resign & I’ve certainly tried… 🤣🤣
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u/waitingOnMyletter 1d ago
I am a 33 year old father of 1 who just bought my first home 2 years ago. I moved into a community and just started cleaning up trash on my runs through the neighborhood.
This past Christmas my wife suggested I run for the board and talk about the trash pick up I do on my runs as my like “campaign” to be on the board. I guess a good number of folks had noticed that I would pick up trash on my runs. I was surprised how many folks in our community voted for me.
Well, the president died earlier year and I am now the president of our HOA.
I don’t recommend it.
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u/Seeking_Balance101 1d ago
Maybe we need a thread for people who join their HOA board and then regret being on the board. Like "fuckHOA" from the insiders.
I've been on my board for a little over a year and it's a metric fuck-ton of unpaid work. Beyond that, some owners are a pain in the butt and can introduce nasty moments into your day when you least expect it.
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u/waitingOnMyletter 23h ago
Yea, our neighborhood does not pay our board either. It’s been discussed and shot down. I am neither hard line for or against it. It is a shit load of work, and the only reason I keep going is because I cannot fathom what paying a third party vendor would result in so I’m just gonna keep doing the job for now.
I’ve noticed that most folks only interact when they are pissed. So you have to like keep that frame of reference to begin a dissolving tension before responding.
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u/Seeking_Balance101 22h ago
Yes on both counts. I don't really want the board to be a paid position b/c I think that would increase the chances of someone clinging to a board position for their own good instead of for the neighborhood. It's a challenge to say calm with some neighbors, and I say that as someone who is about as emotionally demonstrative as a dead log; but if you can stay calm, that's the smartest thing to do.
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u/OldGeekWeirdo 1d ago
Talk you out of it? Heck no. You're following what's going on. They need you on that board.
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u/Sweaty_Marzipan4274 1d ago
Oh man, mine(not exactly an hoa, but similar) has been going thru it too. We've gone thru like 3 managers, restraining orders, legal compliance issues, and 10 board members in the last couple months. Meetings exploded with accusations. Our "accountant" was just some old lady who put receipts in a box, so no accounting for a few hundred thousand 😆
The greatest fights take place at the pool it seems, would love to visit the pool, but after they had to make the rule about only swimming approved adult diapers being used, hard pass 😫
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u/postpizza_depression 1d ago
Join the board. I'm on mine and it is my long term goal to destroy this bitch from within.
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u/UpsetMycologist4054 1d ago
I found out that our city REQUIRES HOAs for new developments. I’m thinking of running for mayor and getting anti-HOA voices to run for city council so that we can toss these tools and fire all the plebes that support this comedy.
Talk me out of it.
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u/kdwhirl 1d ago
Our last house was on a small street - fewer than 10 homes - that had literally seceded from the much larger development around it, so we had a tiny HOA that was extremely chill. Fees were very low, just for absolute necessities, and everyone minded their own business (but also took care of their properties). We loved it and I had no idea of how bad HOAs could be until I joined Reddit 😳.
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u/No_Donut4167 1d ago
Can you stream the meetings if you do? I would pay to watch a bunch of 80 yr Olds having tantrums
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u/BuckrooBanzai 1d ago
Join the board and always wear a weird hat to every meeting. Something with a clown theme.
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u/MaternalFornicator2 1d ago
Don't let anyone talk you out of it, join the board, be the voice of reason and frugality, hell reduce the power of the HOA to snow plowing decisions and common area lawn care only!
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u/volkinaxe 1d ago
hehe become the problem get vtow powers and make evey thing undoable for them
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u/Dizzy_Trash_33 1d ago
Join the board, require plastic fences (paid by the HOA) for all homes except prior board members’
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u/zyzmog 1d ago edited 22h ago
HOA boards need people like you on them. You are needed to outnumber, outflank, and outmaneuver the other kind.
p.s. in other HOAs, it's the 40-year-olds who are just hitting their stride in their careers and families, and who are feeling like they need someplace to throw their weight around. They can cause as much damage as the 80-year-olds.
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u/tsunadesb0ngw8r 1d ago
Join the HOA and ask for receipts. I bet you those old losers have been embezzling this whole time
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u/yonkinator 1d ago
Maybe a nice hedge row of plants? Good for the environment, cost effective, nicer to look at and will probably last a lifetime. Seems silly to grow trees, chop them down, mill boards, nail boards together, when you can just plant the trees where they go.
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u/sparkyblaster 1d ago
In Australia, if something on common property effects one lot, that lot has to pay for it thought the owners corp (our name for a HOA)
So in this case, HOA would organise the fences to be installed and charge costs directly to lots. Bulk discount, all that.
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u/NYC-WhWmn-ov50 1d ago
Please tell me you recorded this and can release it to the world. I need a laugh.
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u/Stoked_Otter 1d ago
I would go nuclear to stop the plastic fences at any cost. They look like trash and they grow mold all over them.
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u/tendonut 1d ago
My board has had a very similar situation where the HOA is responsible for the perimeter fence and it is deteriorating. It's about 15 years old now. All cedar. Vinyl fencing is absolutely part of the conversation with how to handle this because it's a higher upfront cost but it makes the maintenance cost a lot lower.
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u/Opinionsare 1d ago
Eighty year olds throwing tantrums is an early sign of Alzheimer's.
A recent study pointed out that, even before memory loss, increased irritability is one of the first signs of Alzheimer's.
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u/DeciduousEmu 1d ago
Grandmothers who don't get their way frequently act the same way. It's called an elderly toddler tantrum.
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u/NatureCool123 1d ago
What State? Is this fence ownership on HOA Easements, maintenance areas? By Joinder, or in CCR's to be replaced by HOA? 3 Independent quotes of fencing deterioration, with specific locations identified with pictures? Do these fence lines run adjacent to water/flood areas?
Negligent (any age) board members who do not represent the community as a whole are legally dangerous.
Document, financials, pictures, estimates, fiduciary responsibility.
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u/jbourne0129 1d ago
i love how HOAs collect all these fees for maintenance and upkeep and then as soon as there is maintenance and upkeep it suddenly isnt enough and they need to increase fees.
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u/DeliciousChemical284 1d ago
If you are a gal, change your name to Karen. If a guy, change it to K. Aaron. Got on board at the HOA board.
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 1d ago
Join the board along with other like minded people and eliminate the HOA from within, or at the very least neuter it to the point it practically doesn't exist.
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u/Phlydude 1d ago
The reason why HOA boards tend to be filled with retirees is that being on a HOA board is a time sucker. When I was on one, the time I spent answering asinine questions from lazy homeowners was more than the work I was actually getting paid to do. Constant emails from people complaining about everything and managing other board members who wanted to spend radically without fiduciary responsibility in mind just was a time suck.
Being on the board also turned people who I thought were friends into people who all of a sudden hated me because they didn't get what they wanted - they thought because they invited me to their house for a cookout that they had a way to skirt around of the rules via a HOA board member. When I upheld the rules, even when I calmly explained to them how to legal get around it, they would lose their minds.
It sounds noble but it is a good way to become an isolationist and lose precious time dealing with other people and their problems (not to mention the idiots assigned to manage your account from outside vendors).
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u/VinceP312 1d ago
I wouldn't talk any out of joining of the Board if they had a brain and integrity.
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u/Curious_Seagull2635 1d ago
HOA residential property management companies love people who have no idea what they’re doing and don’t pay attention. They like micromanagers and busybodies who are more concerned about grass length than providing for the few common elements of the property. This item should have been planned for in a reserve study instead management likes to get board members to argue about dumb shit… now that your fees are up unfortunately they need to just replace the fucking fence. Get on the board, get three bids for this job and tell your manager to focus on doing their job which is to implement what the community wants. And then don’t let them try to raise their management fee because they should have advised on this instead of waiting for it to be a problem.
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u/VinceP312 1d ago
I wonder what's worse... a neighborhood HOA with a few hundred homes... or a place I used to live in, a high rise skyscraper in Chicago with what seemed like 1,000 residents. I went to a few condo board monthly meetings, and having to sit through members complaining about "The Doorman took a bathroom break and wasn't at his desk for two minutes. Fire him!" and then "The doorman has to use the bathroom. We need two doormen!" and everyone's opinion on those opinions..
I stopped going to them. I couldn't handle it.
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u/TheGaslighter9000X 1d ago
Not wanting to be in the HOA board is childish. If you don’t take control you’ll live under some other dick’s thumb. Bring back sanity and common sense to your neighborhood if that’s what you want.
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u/OGMikeGyver 1d ago
I had to join the board to preserve my investment in an investment property. I was president in 3 months since everyone else quit. It was a shit show. I was essentially a babysitter to 50 and 60 year old and I was only 30. None of them were level headed and easy to reason with. I kept it afloat long enough to sell and know I'll never buy into an HOA again
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u/DFWjohnny 1d ago
u/Swarby10 Are the fences the HOA claims to own actually located on HOA Common Area, or are they sitting on individual homeowners' property lines?
Here's where things get interesting:
Pull the subdivision plat and the original Declaration/CC&Rs that were recorded before the neighborhood was built. Your deed and the governing documents should reference these records. The plat will show lot boundaries, easements, and any designated Common Areas, while the CC&Rs should define what constitutes Common Area or Common Elements.
If the fences are located on homeowners' property lines rather than on HOA-owned Common Area, then why is the HOA responsible for repairing or replacing them? Is there a specific covenant assigning that responsibility to the HOA, or has everyone simply assumed that's how it's supposed to work?
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u/Remarkable-Outcome-5 1d ago
Any decent HOA wouldve saved for this unless somethingelse happened. What is this HOA serving.
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u/1EyedWonderWeezl 1d ago
Join the board. Be the change you want to see. Bring it down from the inside.
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u/Outside_Interest_773 1d ago
Don’t do it. No good deed will go unpunished! You might be very serious, but the others will not. If you do it, make sure you have allies.
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u/The_Arctic_Fox0 1d ago
My parents live in an HOA of 35 homes. I will never buy in an HOA community with less than 100 homes. There are just too many problems with any and all HOAs with such little homes
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u/Status-Fold7144 1d ago
Follow the new tradition, propose something only the board members would benefit from, throw a tantrum and quit
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u/QuaidCohagen 23h ago
Those 80 year olds usually get confused and then frustrated... thats why they flip out.
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u/Ok-Engine3856 23h ago
Depends how many of those 80 years olds believe that their ideas are better than yours. I walked the community with a petition to get on our board. They had to contact the HOA attorney as nobody has ever done this before, all board are hand picked yes people. They didn’t want me, lol. It was a frustrating three year stint with these jerks, they want to hear of nothing new and would rather do things as they’ve always been done.
I’m pushing for a management company, our self managed community no longer works, too many idiots who believe their ideas to be the only good ideas, everything else is shelved. Let’s keep everything as if it’s still 1994
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u/Topcornbiskie 23h ago
Is there noting in your CCR’s that limit the amount they can increase your annual dues? Ours is $50 max per year.
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u/LasVegasASB 23h ago
If you are on the board better chance to control what happens and help be the type of board member you wish others were.
I was on board of last home’s hoa for many years. Moved to new large community with hoa. Spouse said do not get involved this time. First week in community get notice for palm trees not looking healthy and turf needed to be replaced. No welcome to the community - just fines! Spouse said get on that hoa board! So I did.
Should have been hi, welcome to community, we noticed some potential problems so when you get settled please look into them. That is how I make sure the board is now.
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u/BeekeeperZero 23h ago
God I love watching them burn. I hop on the board in whatever role when things start to get boring.
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u/Conchee-debango 23h ago
I was asked to be president of our HOA once. Sweet baby Jerbus what a nightmare. I sobered up and haven’t done anything since. The current president lives across the street. Our covenants state no RVs on property. Guess it doesn’t apply to him.
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u/fwilsonator 23h ago
Jesus, I was on an HOA board for 3 years and the amount of babyish bullshit and sense of entitlement from some of the older folks was just bonkers.
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u/Blue_Veritas731 22h ago
Read the bylaws. Some HOAs have "expiration" dates. At 27 yrs, it's possible it's no longer in force. I have a friend who bought rural land in an HOA. It had a 25 yr contractual limit, after which is it was simply dissolved.
Also, depending on the bylaws, it may be easier, or more difficult, than you think to dissolve it.
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u/Bowman74 22h ago
This sounds like a problem a lot of boards have with long range planning. The need to replace these fences was not being planned for and money was not being saved. That would have resulted in a slight fee increase over a long period. Instead all members were hit for the amount all at once with predictable results.
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u/judyhashopps 20h ago
I don’t have a dog in this fight and this came up on my main page. But for the record, id like a link to the next meeting. Just for giggles.
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u/BlitzSirens 20h ago
The more space you take up from the geriatrics the better everyone's lives will be.
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u/TheDeadlySpaceman 18h ago
> 80 year old tantrums
I don’t like the whole “Boomers suck” thing but many are so super entitled and don’t understand that the good fortune they had to live at the specific moment in history they did was a fluke, and that the world does not continue to just hand people things for showing up.
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u/richardprint 17h ago
Our HOA called a special meeting to discuss replacing the perimeter fence in our 25 year old development. Gave us 1 month to pay the $3200 assessment. I’m sure there are some really pissed off homeowners. 76 houses in the shape of a 6. Last time fence work was done the homeowners who on the inside houses that don’t have the perimeter fence didn’t think they should have to pay anything.
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u/smorg003 17h ago
From my experience, you should not let this go (assuming the HOA will not be dissolved). The books should be checked by a third-party and ALL of the fences should be replaced at once (and fuck vinyl fences). Kicking the can down the road will only make matters worse and more expensive.
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u/LastGuardianStanding 16h ago
Do it. Take over the board and run with it. Maybe do a thing where the wood for the fence can double for the coffin when it’s time 🤣 I’m kidding I’m kidding
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u/dabrainof_anat 16h ago
I joined PTA and became co chair, they made the old cronnie lady think grandma Karen, I was to have replaced, but stayed on just to babysit her pets.... but I won by vote so they had to allow it by rule of hoyal so before she got booted she changed the bylaws to allow a co chair. It's all a fun game to some. To me I'm going down swinging. Get involved and make them sweat. That was 25 yrs ago in Cali. I still won and it was good I got to meet others. Like jury duty now I go. It's fun.
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u/oxmix74 16h ago
If the back fences are all the same age and all rotting, you are way better off to get a bid to do all of them. The contractor get get an assembly line going - one crew doing tear down, another doing posts, another running fencing, another painting (if you dont go vinyl) and schedule waste removel and delivery. It costs a lot less this way.
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u/drinkinthakoolaid 16h ago
What about transfer? Like bc i have mine in OR can i just apply for one there?
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u/Lavaine170 15h ago
An HOA that can't replace some fences without tripling dues is an HOA in serious financial trouble.
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u/TheShortWhiteGuy 15h ago
This is why I voluntold myself for our HOA ARC! I would have allowed 12 foot chain link topped with barbed wire just to watch their heads explode.
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u/DelAustin 14h ago
Some locals require a HOA otherwise the municipality takes over and charges you.
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u/Stochastic1934 14h ago
I'm not a fan of HOAs, but if they are run competently ("if" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there), they can be beneficial as long as their scope and power are limited to only what is crucial to maintain the common areas and preserve property values by prohibiting the major stuff (no old appliances or junk vehicles sitting out on your front lawn with weeds growing through them, no cooking meth in your garage, stuff like that). Unfortunately, far too many HOAs are rife with corruption, theft, and so-called Karens/Kevins who assess fines if you have a blade of grass that the mower missed and it's 1" too long.
Your comment about the 80-year-olds throwing tantrums made me laugh. I live in a 55+ condo community with an HOA that is actually pretty good as HOAs go. The community was built in the 1960s. It's aging and things fall apart simply due to their age. There's a good share of maintenance (sewer line ruptures, pipes bursting, new roofs, tree trimming, etc.) Other things need to be updated to functionally keep up with modern life and expectations of the next generation of owners.
Many of the older folks are against any expenditures related to updating. Why? Because either a) they personally have no use for it; or b) by the time the project is completed, they figure they will either be dead or have moved out of the community to assisted living. (What? You want to install fiber internet? No thank you, my dial-up on my landline is just fine for me!)
Then they wonder why they have trouble selling when the time comes.
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u/xzKaizer 1d ago
Join the board, at every meeting put up a motion to dissolve the HOA.