This is why I am trying my darndest to avoid buying a house with a HOA… any HOA. Marko does a far better job expressing outrage over this lunacy than I would, and with far fewer four-letter words, at that, so head on over his way, and see if you cannot keep your blood pressure in check…
Around here we don’t have such things. We do have Condo Associations which sound VERY similar, and are one of the MANY reasons why I’d never buy a condo or recommend anybody do such a stupid idea (It’s all the down sides of a rental, and next to none of the upsides of home ownership)
So would you mind bridging the cultural gap and explain what exactly HOAs are, any why anybody would ever allow one to have any authority over their land?
So never yet owning a house, my understanding of HOAs is through my parents, but here is what I have gathered:
The majority of HOAs were originally conceived in order to preserve and maintain “common areas”, get discounts on bulk services, and sometimes to enforce basic architecural guidelines. The first item covers entrances, street lighting, playgrounds, pools, tennis courts, and whatever else it is that neighborhoods have that need to be mowed/watered/cleaned/replaced/etc. The second includes trash pickup, sometimes utilities, etc. And the third was generally in place to keep out trailers/manufactured homes and keep people from turning their front yards into galleries of rust (i.e. cars on blocks, etc.).
However, over the years, they have evolved into the things you encounter now, with some neighborhoods we have looked at requiring 100% approval of any change to the exterior of your house, including coloration, landscaping, siding, shingling, etc.; disallowing any houses that are not comprised of bricks, at least partially; disallowing gardens (that one seems really intelligent these days); etc. etc. etc. You sign a contract agreeing to abide by the covenants when you buy the house, and then you are pretty much stuck unless you somehow get on the board and change those covenants.
As to why people would give other people this measure of control, in our area, I do not think you could find a named, established, existing “neighborhood” within 50 miles of where I am sitting that does not have some degree of a HOA – now, those range from the V0.1 types I mentioned in the first paragraph, all the way up to the monstrosities in the second, but it seems unavoidable. The only other alternative is boondock living, which I am in favor of, but presents its own set of problems (commute, conveniences, etc.).
Jesus that’s scary.
It must have somthing to do with land being developed in recent years. I know my In-Laws are forbidden to own a pickup truck in their housing complex and I’m sure a bunch of other goofy shit.
Around here the parks, playgrounds, tennis courts, ect ect, were all established AGES ago.
You do have recourse against somebody parking a camero on blocks in their front yard, or decide they want their lawn to resemble the African Savanna, as such an eyesore lowers property values and therefore harms me and I can take legal action.
Otherwise nobody bothers you, and I like it like that.
Well, I guess there are good aspects to living in Massafrakkingchusetts after all… Not sure how new some of the HOAs are – some seem to date back a ways – but I do know that the new, totalitarian nonsense we are seeing is a relatively recent development. The HOAs my parents have dealt with were never particularly pleasant organizations, but they got steadily worse over my childshood.
Here is to hoping that you never have the misfortune of having to deal with those controlling whackjobs…