HOA Madness

[Macon ACE]

Y'all may have seen in the news where Home Owners Associations go after folks that own classic cars and trucks that "don't fit" the neighborhood or whatever. Well, that hits close to home for me, because our HOA has come for my Slick (and my other classics). Here's my story that I'll be updating as it goes along.

PART 1 (Background)
About 25 years ago, a new “golf course community” sprouted up just a few miles from us. I’ll call it “The View” (not its real name). My wife and I would often drive through The View as it was being developed; admiring the stately brick homes, the rolling hills, and the manicured lawns. Neither of us played golf, or cared anything about it, but still… it was a nice neighborhood and we wondered what it would be like to live in such a place, knowing that there was no way we could afford to.

Fast forward a few years: I’ve been promoted a couple of times, and the real estate market is booming. Our home of 7 years is worth about 20% more than what we paid for it (“instant” equity!) and things are looking up. We buy the cheapest lot in The View, away from the golf course, just at the entrance (or exit, depending on perspective) of the neighborhood. And there we build my wife’s dream home. We moved in during the spring of 2001.

We knew there was a Homeowners’ Association, but there were no meetings, and no dues: it was essentially inactive. The board consisted of the developer and his family members. We got a copy of the “Covenants, Codes, and Restrictions” (CCR) at closing. It seemed to be pretty standard stuff: minimum setbacks, minimum square footage, quality of materials, required maintenance, etc. Nothing outrageous and nothing that we had a problem with.

About the time that we moved in, the developer went broke and declared bankruptcy. The golf course and pool fell into disrepair. The local government conducted a county-wide property revaluation and our property taxes doubled. Over the next several years, many of our neighbors moved away. The golf course and pool were sold, and the new owner began to make improvements. Things were starting to look up.

Then came “The Crash 0f 2008.” Most of you probably remember it. If not, you can Google it. Foreclosures all around us. More neighbors move away. Hardly anyone was playing golf at The View. I guess the upside was that some folks got pretty good deals on foreclosed properties.

In June 2011, The View’s HOA was dissolved and then reformed with all new members. They started holding elections, sending out newsletters, and asking for donations. We did not participate.

[Macon ACE]

PART 2 (Troubling Signs)
About 2 years ago, an unsigned, hand-written letter showed up in our mailbox. It had no stamp and no return address. It was poorly written and parts of it were difficult to understand, but the gist of it was: our property looked like a junk yard and we should be ashamed, we were trailer trash, and obviously didn’t belong in such a nice neighborhood. At first, I was confused. If you look up my driveway from the street, you’ll see my Slick, my ‘68 convertible, and my ‘94 Mustang convertible parked side-by-side at the top of the driveway more than 60 feet away. The Slick is parked beside the drive, the convertibles are on concrete and protected with quality car covers. Our daily drivers are in the garage. How in the world could anyone be bothered by that? I decided that the letter writer must be someone with a miserable existence that had no understanding of car culture, grammar, or common decency. I threw it away.

A few months later, we got a typed letter that said it was from the “Architectural Control Committee (ACC) of The View Neighborhood Association.” The return address was a P.O. Box and it was unsigned. The letter introduced the ACC as the enforcement arm of the HOA and demanded that I get rid of the “several stored vehicles” that I was keeping on my property. The letter claimed that “a covered vehicle is a stored vehicle” with no supporting evidence. However, I was allegedly in violation of section 3.10 (“Vehicle Storage”) of the CCR. I had to go find our closing documents to reread the CCR. Here’s what section 3.10 says: ““Vehicle Storage. No motorhomes, campers, camper-trailers, boats, boat trailers, or other recreational vehicles, and no trucks exceeding ¾ ton, shall be kept or stored on any part of any of said lots except (i) within an enclosed garage or (ii) at a location on the lot which shall be so placed and screened, and kept, so as not the be visible from any street or lot within the subdivision or adjacent to the subdivision. Any fencing or screening for such vehicles shall require the prior approval of the Architectural Control Committee.” I’m no lawyer, but that language seems pretty specific: it refers to the storage of recreational vehicles such as campers, boats, etc. and 3/4 ton pickup trucks. My vehicles are parked, not stored. And none of them are of the type described in section 3.10. I assumed the letter was from the same disgruntled neighbor(s) as the previous one and I threw it away also.

A few months after that, another typed letter arrived. It was similar to the previous letter but threatened legal action. In closing, it asked that I not force the ACC to hire an attorney and make them spend money that could be used for other things. I threw it away also.

A few months after that, another typed letter arrived. It was similar to the previous letters and again threatened legal action. It also said that the ACC had consulted an attorney and had been told that they had “an excellent case.” In closing, it again asked that I not force the ACC to hire an attorney and make them spend money that could be used for other things. It also implored me to get rid of my “stored vehicles” “for the good of the neighborhood.” I threw that letter away too.

[fire704]

Do you have up to date license plates? I would tell them that your commute to work is so long that your chauffeur no longer has time to drive them every day. I spent my life as a high end home builder. I built a lot of houses in developments like yours. Some of the property owners think there s*** doesn't stink. The least you could offer is say " I have decided to offer you the opportunity to sue me".

[6166 Junkyard Dog]

I have had to pick up trucks in these HOA Places for reason similar to your situation and it SUCKS. last one the HOA Came buy and told him what color the roof had to be and house a certain color I would have 2 words for them that's the problem with HOA, In your case they do not have a leg to stand on since the codes DO NOT APPLY to those vehicles here we have had no problems since we are not a HOA but have to apply for a salvage yard permit and 1 year the young little bxxxx did not want to give it to us until I finished the fence out front, I told here I want 10 complaint forms and went around the county and filled them out handed back to her told her to do her job if not going to Raleigh and file a suit on how certain people in this county does not have to do anything especially the tax money they collect from us alone on license plates,, few days later he she comes by with new updated permit and said take your time but few days ago she did not care if we both dropped dead

maybe try that so complain about the other problems going on around there

[charliemccraney]

It might be wise to consult a lawyer, instead of continuing to ignore it. Whether you or anyone else agrees with it or not, it seems like they may be planning to take action.

As far as the ccr with the closing documents, if that is from the original HOA, which no longer exists, if I understand things correctly, then it probably holds no water.

This is why I simply will not live in a neighborhood with an HOA. No exceptions.

[Macon ACE]

Do you have up to date license plates? I would tell them that your commute to work is so long that your chauffeur no longer has time to drive them every day. I spent my life as a high end home builder. I built a lot of houses in developments like yours. Some of the property owners think there s*** doesn't stink. The least you could offer is say " I have decided to offer you the opportunity to sue me".

The three vehicles visible from the road all have up-to-date registrations. We definitely have some hoity toity types in the neighborhood.

[Macon ACE]

I have had to pick up trucks in these HOA Places for reason similar to your situation and it SUCKS. last one the HOA Came buy and told him what color the roof had to be and house a certain color I would have 2 words for them that's the problem with HOA, In your case they do not have a leg to stand on since the codes DO NOT APPLY to those vehicles here we have had no problems since we are not a HOA but have to apply for a salvage yard permit and 1 year the young little bxxxx did not want to give it to us until I finished the fence out front, I told here I want 10 complaint forms and went around the county and filled them out handed back to her told her to do her job if not going to Raleigh and file a suit on how certain people in this county does not have to do anything especially the tax money they collect from us alone on license plates,, few days later he she comes by with new updated permit and said take your time but few days ago she did not care if we both dropped dead

maybe try that so complain about the other problems going on around there

I've been wondering if selective enforcement would work in my favor. As far as I know, and as far as I can tell, we're the only residents they've taken action against. And some of neighbors have 3/4 ton pickups in their driveway, or a wrecked car parked out front, multiple vehicles hiding in the tree line, etc.

[Macon ACE]

It might be wise to consult a lawyer, instead of continuing to ignore it. Whether you or anyone else agrees with it or not, it seems like they may be planning to take action.

As far as the ccr with the closing documents, if that is from the original HOA, which no longer exists, if I understand things correctly, then it probably holds no water.

This is why I simply will not live in a neighborhood with an HOA. No exceptions.

I left out the part where my lawyer said the anonymous letters didn't constitute legal notice. And I wonder if the new HOA came up with new rules. We'll have to check on that. Hindsight being 20/20, I keep telling the wife we should have built her dream home out in the country...

[Macon ACE]

I haven't updated this in a while because things have been crazy around here. But we found out that the new HOA simply adopted the old HOA CCRs and didn't change anything. Only the people on the boards changed.

The View hired a real estate attorney that we know and filed a civil suit against us in Superior Court. Our attorney (who just happens to be our son!) filed a Motion to Dismiss and for Summary Judgment stating in lawyer talk that none of our vehicles were of the type forbidden by the CCRs. A hearing was scheduled on the motion and we went to Court last September. The View's attorney was twenty minutes late.

After being chastised by the judge, The View's attorney was asked to present his case. He was thoroughly unprepared. He said something like, "Apparently Your Honor, we're here about some vehicles?" The judge was not impressed and asked more questions. When it became clear that opposing counsel was out of his depth, the judge asked our son to help him understand why we were all there.

Our son, the brilliant lawyer (I may be biased), explained that we weren't sure why we were there either, since none of our vehicles violated any of the CCRs. Opposing counsel spoke up and said that our son might be right: our vehicles may technically not be in violation of the written CCRs, but that there was a "theory of implied covenants" that the judge should consider. The judge seemed impressed by this theory. He instructed opposing counsel to send him a draft of a proposed order denying the motion to dismiss, including written arguments. He asked our son for the opposite: an order granting the motion to dismiss. The judge said, "I'll review what y'all send me and sign the one I like better."

The hearing was over. Opposing counsel came over and greeted us like old friends (I sorta knew him from work and he had done the closing on our daughter's home purchase a few months before this). He apologized for being unprepared. He also said he'd been meaning to ride past our house and see what all the fuss was about but was just too busy. We had a nice little visit.

[shipwrecked]

So what will the verdict be and are you still subject to the karens of the HOA who honestly are screwballs.
I will never live in an HOA. Just down the street- there is an HOA and it is in disrepair. There is a lower income apartment complex at the corner of it, and there is no crime in there so it's not a problem.
My neighborhood looks like an old HOA area as it is a named community, but I think in 1991 when it was built- they dissolved the HOA as soon as they were able to assume control from the contractor.

I have one person down my street who is the neighborhood junk man. Trailers and cars in the street because his garage is stuffed to the gills of stuff. No one complains. He is a nice man.

My house- I currently have a 52 M38 army jeep and a 52 M100 army trailer in the back yard. I have a f150 and focus in the driveway and my Shipwrecked in the garage, 3 dogs in the house and I am probably the loudest person on the block with the welder, grinder and music. No one complains. No HOA.

My next house will be in the country.

[Macon ACE]

Well, the judge liked the opposing counsel's order better and signed it so the case continued. No one from The View showed up for the pretrial hearing back in January, so our son made another motion to dismiss. Judge denied that too and put us on the calendar for a trial to start Monday.

Last Thursday, opposing counsel called our son and said, "So, you want to settle?" Our son asked what he had in mind. Dude said, "Y'all want to move the vehicles?" Our son told him: "My Dad's not moving the vehicles." Dude said, "Crap. Let me talk to my clients and call you back."

We didn't hear from them so we showed up for the start of the trial (jury selection) Monday. No one from The View showed up for that either. Judge dismissed the case!

This may not be the end. The Karens of The View are probably not very happy with their attorney. We'll just have to wait and see if they take another shot at us. But it's over for now, at least.

[oldsmiley]

I've been reading this on and off for a while. I'd be glad to have you in my neighborhood. I know a lot of 61-66 F-100 truck owners in N.C. S.C., Ga., and Fla. if you ever want to have a truck show at your house. We can cruise the streets of your Hometown

We'll keep everything nice and clean....and show them some quality trucks.

Let me know........