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HOA Orders TARDIS Removed From In Front of Parrish Home
An anonymous reader writes A Florida couple learned that they are much bigger fans of Doctor Who than their homeowner association, after receiving a notice to remove the TARDIS from their driveway. Leann Moder and her husband David were given 15 days to get rid of the big blue box. From the article: "It was built by Moder's father as a wedding set piece, and she and her husband, David, were married in front of it. 'My husband mentioned, "Do you want to do a Doctor Who themed wedding?"' Moder said. 'That could be fun.' Since then, their TARDIS has been used at sci-fi conventions and parties, and was even the focus of a Halloween haunt the Moders set up on their driveway in October." The HOA had no comment on their stance on sonic screwdrivers, or the Eye of Harmony.
As a corporation, an H.O.A. is a defective product.
The purpose of a corporation is to protect an investor's personal assets from the debts and liabilities of the corporation.
For example, if you owned 1,000 shares of Enron, the only thing you had at risk were those shares. The creditors of Enron could not go after your house, your car, your bank account, etc.
But an H.O.A. corporation works exactly the opposite. The assets of an H.O.A. corporation are the obligations of the home owners to pay the uninsured debts and liablities of the H.O.A. corporation, secured by lien and foreclosure rights against an owner's property. If you own property under the jurisdiction of an H.O.A. corporation, everything you own is forever collateral to whatever debts and liabilities the H.O.A. corporation creates, even if your mortgage is paid and you own the house free-and-clear. Thus, any creditors of an H.O.A. corporation can go after your house, your car, your bank account, etc., to collect what your H.O.A. corporation owes.
See Why There’s No Protection for Members When Community Associations “Go Broke” (January 27 2010), and Bankruptcy Won't Work (July 17 2011).
FYI: The industry refers to H.O.A. corporations as "community associations", which is why the the 501(c)(6) trade and lobbying organization for the industry’s attorneys, property managers, and other vendors is called the Community Associations Institute ( C.A.I. ).
That's all fine and good when there are infinite houses to choose from. In the real world, resources are limited, and most nice places already have overlords controlling them.
Don't buy a new home then. Resale homes are an excellent buy and often are in better shape than brand new homes which haven't had the proverbial bugs worked out yet.
Oh, he can buy a new home, he just shouldn't buy one from a Developer who is building in that fashion. Honestly, if you really must have a new home, it's usually better to take the time to actually have one built for you.
I've heard some people try to claim that HOA regulations are no different than zoning codes in a City. That's simply not true- there are far more legal protections for property owners under zoning ordinances than for "members" of a HOA. And a dirty little secret is a HOA is actually a type of Corporation, which can be sued, go bankrupt, and have other bad things happen... and when they do? Guess what, "your" property is part of the Assets and YOU are partially responsible as a 'member'.
Don't fall for the HOA bullshit. Many people get sucked in because the prices seem better (they're not, dues always go up and never go away). Some like it because it promises a legal method to a segregated community, as long as the other bigots are on board with you and don't put it in writing. Many just like the idea of being able to get a position of power and become a Mini-Dictator over the neighborhood. For most sane people, HOA's are something to be avoided at all costs.
Actually very few areas in the US have HOAs. It's just that they are the more rich, white areas, which are more desirable. I've never lived in a place with an HOA, and only a handful of people I know live in such areas. They are often more expensive, as you are paying for the "privileged" of having someone boss you around. There must be lots of people into that. Though my current house is in an HOA area, but the HOA wasn't strong enough, so I bought the house from people who didn't sign the HOA paperwork (no idea how many owners before them didn't), so I own a non HOA house in an HOA neighborhood. Or maybe only the homes that have a plot at the local airstrip have to join the HOA.
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Woefully wrong interpretation of the law in the jursidictions that I'm familiar with.
The whole reason that rather tony old neighborhoods do not have HOAs while rather tony new neighborhoos tend to have HOAs is that HOAs are created through a deed restriction. When you create the subdivision you create the HOA. Where the subdivision already exists, there's no single body that owns the properties and can tie their deeds together.
You're on constructive notice concerning deed restrictions. If you fail to research the bylaws and regulations springing out those restrictions, it's on you -- the HOA will likely win the suit that they bring against you.
Actually very few areas in the US have HOAs. It's just that they are the more rich, white areas, which are more desirable. I've never lived in a place with an HOA, and only a handful of people I know live in such areas. They are often more expensive, as you are paying for the "privileged" of having someone boss you around. There must be lots of people into that. Though my current house is in an HOA area, but the HOA wasn't strong enough, so I bought the house from people who didn't sign the HOA paperwork (no idea how many owners before them didn't), so I own a non HOA house in an HOA neighborhood. Or maybe only the homes that have a plot at the local airstrip have to join the HOA.
Inaccurate. My sister's condo in a not fantastic area of Salt Lake City, Utah, has an HOA, and typical unit price is ~$80-$100K, which will buy you ... nothing ... in most richer areas.
Typically, an HOA is a corporation the developer creates to market and sell lots and houses in a subdivision (or units in a condo complex). After that, membership becomes part of the restrictive covenants on the deeds of the properties sold within the development boundaries, and after a certain number of units have been sold, the ownership and responsibility is passed off to the owners within the development.
HOAs cover about 25 million houses in the U.S., and close to 60 million people, which i to say, 20% of the U.S. population.
Last time I checked, not even 20% of the U.S. population count as "wealthy" (i.e. not having to work unless they choose to do so).
Actually very few areas in the US have HOAs. It's just that they are the more rich, white areas, which are more desirable.
Not in my experience (for whatever that's worth). I was part of a HOA with the first home I ever bought, which was part of a very middle-class neighborhood of townhouses. The development was a mix of older middle class families and younger first-time home buyers or - increasingly - immigrants who were taking advantage of the mid-2000s real estate situation to buy homes. I received a number of asinine warnings from the HOA about stuff like "you need to repaint your gutters within 30 days or zOMG CONTRACTUAL HELL WILL RAIN DOWN," which was enough to make me hate HOAs forever. But the real ire of the HOA was reserved for the immigrant families.
And, at the risk of being very politically incorrect, what the HOAs were doing there was fighting behavior that had a potential impact on property values for the whole development. Townhouses with 5-8 cars parked outside around the clock, indicating huge over-occupancy; men hanging out all over the steps and front yard all day; loud parties late into the night, etc. Why? Potential racism aside, it was because the people in the neighborhood were not so well off that a decline in property values due to their neighbors' actions wouldn't have a big impact on them. Years later, when I moved into a much nicer/richer neighborhood, there was no HOA to be found - nor would the proudly wealthy and independent residents have stood for anyone telling them what to do with their property.
I am not condoning targeting any group for HOA persecution, and again I was very put off by my experience with a HOA. But I am saying that HOAs are not generally needed in neighborhoods that are so rich that anyone who would degrade the property value couldn't move in there anyway. HOAs will tend to be most prevalent in those areas which are "kinda white" and/or "kinda rich" where there is some worry that people who could move in there might disrupt the community or lower property values. In truly rich/white places, there is simply no need for that.
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If you don't get the bylaws before you buy, and sign them before you buy, then you aren't bound by them.
That is completely false.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
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