No-flag rule:
"After receiving support from members of Congress, and even the Obama administration, Medal of Honor recipient Van T. Barfoot, who once singlehandedly took on three Nazi tanks, triumphed in his quest to fly Old Glory."
But here's a list of seven homeowners who did not prevail over the fungating pustules that are HOAs.
I do not feel sorry for anyone in the HOAs. They should know what they are getting into when they move in. While I fly an American Flag at my house, the old man should not have one up or should move out if he wants to fly one.
Maybe congress should pass a law that lets one fly the flag, over rulling the HOA. I think they did something like that for the small satellite dishes.
I would never buy a house with a HOA or in a place that has very many restrictions. That has been one of my first questions when I buy a house. Was about 30 years ago for the first house and again about 5 years ago for the house I now live in.
From the original Washington Post article: "But the homeowners association said it never had a problem with the flag
-- residents may fly flags that are mounted to the sides of their homes, and many do. The problem was with the pole. .. Barfoot's fight was not the first time a homeowner has clashed with an association over flags. In 2005, Congress passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-Md.) guaranteeing the right to fly a flag in communities governed by homeowners associations, as long as residents do so in accordance with association rules".
------------------------------------- /\_/\ ((@v@)) NIGHT ():::() OWL VV-VV
-snip-
If the HOA was formed after they bought their house & they are still subject to its rules, then I've got sympathy. Otherwise, I don't care if they've got a dozen MOH's- rules is rules, even when they're stupid.
Jim
The size of the flag pole might be determined by the size of the flag.
At some point ones needs a light on the pole, lighting the flag at night.
There is a protocol when displaying or retiring the flag for the day.
Sample: Stars are pointed a certain direction - different if displayed north or south, east or west -- stationary on you home.
There is nothing wrong with a HOA having rules and enforcing them. People who are purchasing in a deed restricted community should read the rules and accept them BEFORE they buy or buy elsewhere if they are unwilling to abide by the rules.
Now I will agree that a couple of those 7 in the initial post, link, would have been "deal killers" for me.
"Ralph Mowery" wrote in news:tJWdnWpL-Jc1tuHRnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:
I don't believe you CAN know just what you're getting into when moving into a HOA neighborhood. The HOA committees can be unpredictable and capricious,and also political. Get one board member ticked off at you,and you'll be getting notices for all sorts of "violations" that others aren't getting.
One HOA president decided he would bang on my garage door. He lives across the street.
I change plans, grabbed my gun, not knowing who it was. Told the man he nearly got shot or possibly could have been.
I taught him about "violations".
We live on a well armed street and hold or weapons in dear regard.
protocol, not law.
No way would I ever buy in an HOA neighborhood, even if I could afford a house as fancy as they usually are. (If I had that much cash, I'd rather have a small plain place on ten acres somewhere.) All the petty politics aside, I don't care for homogenized blah beige subdivisions. But mainly, if I gonna be paying assesments and such, I may as well rent. The power to file liens is the power to destroy.
So what you are saying is they probably would not like the tomato plants I have in my front yard and the clothes line in the back?
The little experince I've had with NAs (not HOA) has been very positive. Just people trying to keep the neighborhood from going to crap. I didn't read the NA contract at signing but I would the next time. I mean, who actually reads all the stuff?
Jim
Jim
We go and count the asphalt, sidewalk, curb, landscape, and everything that a homeowner's dues pays for so that they collect enough money to pay for the items as they wear out, and so that the homeowner (supposedly) has accountability for the money they give in dues.
We have nothing to do with the rules, the boards, the board members, the hoa members, advising either side on issues, we just count beans. There have been countless times, though, when we did have to inform management or members of what EXACTLY their CC&R's DID or DID NOT state, as they were doing something in error. But we just do that, and then they keep on doing whatever it is they want to do anyway until someone calls them on it.
Still, when we are out there working and taking pictures, we get some doozy stories of just such things. One fellow took out grass as a money saving thing with the water department (allowed) but when he replaced it with rock, the board did not like the shade of rock. He showed me the one he had to have replaced, and it looked to me very close to the new shade. One old lady went around with a measuring tape and measured lawns and weeds.
We live at the end of a dirt road way out in rural Utah. I would never ever buy in a HOA even if I wanted to just live in a place where I didn't have to do any of the maintenance. A place like that would be okay, but they will fuss with you about damn near everything you do, right down to the color and number of flowers.
We have a HOA at our cabin. There are fifteen homeowners, and the dues are $25 a year. There has never been a meeting since 1984, and there has never been a dime collected. When something needs done, we just pass the hat, and get it done. We did have one time when we bought road base to make the mud a little better. There were two who didn't want to chip in, so guess who's lots didn't get road base.
It is a requirement now that any housing development with 10 or more houses must have a HOA. Ah, just what we need. More laws.
Steve
read about heart surgery and how to prepare for it at:
"Jim Yanik" wrote
Some friends of mine bought a condo, and were not given a copy of the CC&R's until AFTER closing, even though they requested one before.
Steve
read about heart surgery and how to prepare for it at:
LOL, or if they find they don't enjoy some of the rules they run for one of the positions on the HOA board and they CHANGE the RULES they DISLIKE...
The problem is that most people in such "communities" fall into the trapping that "someone else" will take care of the common areas -- well "someone else" does, the HOA board officers who can create the rules... Sadly most people paying into such communities are only concerned with the bottom line (how much their fees will be) and fail to pay attention to much of the minutiae of how the little hamster on the wheel hidden in the back room secretly keeps things running...
By the time they are a subject to a rule they don't like (or its recent strict enforcement by a newly elected HOA board) it is too late to fight it, you have to do what you are told until the next time the HOA board is elected...
It is the SAME EXACT process that happens on the local city/town municipal government in most of the US... No one pays much attention to what goes on except for a few "issue zealots" once the issue of the next year's tax rates have been determined, everyone goes back into their 11.5 month coma until the following year leaving "someone else" (in this case the people who got elected into local offices or appointed to local boards/committees) to mind the store totally in control of what goes on with input mostly from those crazy "issue zealots" who come to every meeting complaining of some malady that happened to them six months ago that they "keep reliving in their mind" and bother enough of those in charge that they pass a new ordinance to get rid of the person...
Like the little old lady who stepped in dog mess once and keeps coming in until there is an ordinance with some teeth to it, like a $200 fine or jail time for violations because she had to throw away her favorite pair of old people shoes...
Or the cat lady who had a stray dog come up on her porch that wants all dogs to in kennels/pens or on a leash because that one stray mean old doggie scared her and the unholy pack of cats she keeps cooped up in her house...
Such is life in America -- whether its your HOA or your local government, your disinterest in the minutiae of daily life gives the people that step forward to shoulder the burdens of dealing with such things extraordinary power they would not otherwise have if everyone they had authority over paid some attention to what was going on more than they do now...
~~ Evan
I think that's called buying a pig in a poke. If I just *had* to have that property-- but they wouldn't let me see it before I bought it, I wouldn't close. [and *it* can be the property or the bylaws- no difference] No sympathy from this quarter- no matter how draconian their HOA is.
Jim
The issue is NOT flying the American flag, it is erecting his own flagpole. Years ago, it was a constant issue in Florida until they got around to changing the statutes so that condo owners may display one flag (US, state or military service, IIRC)....heck, Florida even got around to passing a statute that says a condo board member can't serve if they are delinquent in their maint. assessments.
My hat is off to people who serve in the military, but they aren't more special than anyone else. If the old geezer wants his own rules, he should start his own country. It bugs the heck out of me when people think their fairly-unique circumstances give them a pass on obeying laws (condo and HOA rules have the standing of law).
While we're on the subject, is it proper to wash the American flag? Our fire trucks carry large flags and some get quite dirty. Hubby and I donated a couple of new ones for a 9/11 anniversary, but they are rather expensive. I'd offer to take the flags home and wash them if it was okay. Hate to see it displayed the wrong way.
In my area in Florida, the choice likely will come down to either an HOA or a cluster of dirt (sand) roads, shacks, five vehicles and four pit bulls per residence....there isn't a lot of in-between in unincorporated areas :o)
On Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:26:19 -0700, "Steve B" wrote Re Re: Seven most outrageous HOA rules:
The proper protocol in a case like this is to refuse to close.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.