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Pretty much everyone I know in HOAs in Allen and Frisco has to put up with rules like those.
I'm not doubting you but what I've noted many, many times are examples like this....the rule really reads, "No work trucks may be parked in one spot for more than 24 hours" and that via urban legend turns into, "my HOA has banned all pick-ups". Or my HOA foreclosed on someone for missing a few payments". When in reality Texas state law requires all sorts of certified letters and waiting periods the net of which is foreclosures by HOAs tend to take years not weeks. And only happen when the homeowner is being 100% unreasonable or unresponsive.
The HOA we left last year foreclosed on two people over the course of the 11 years we lived there. The first was abandoned by the owner who jumped bail and fled the country. The second was after the owner got busted for cooking meth - thanks to the HOA and the Plano PD that guy was only there for about ten days. Not one time over that span did they attempt to foreclose due to non-payment of dues. They always found a work-around.
I love this logic, as long as it doesn't mean someone who is "too busy" no longer has the right to complain or offer ideas without participation. I would easily qualify as a person who is "too busy" since I have three kids under the age of 4, but can offer alot in terms of ideas and complaints.
The way I look at it, if they cash my check for HOA dues, my voice is as strong as anyone elses. But I agree, it can make someone (who has the time) feel like they are effecting proper change.
Being on the board is a full-time job. Not everyone who is capable of serving can, especially when a 60-hour a week job with travel is what allows someone to afford a nice home in the HOA's subdivision!!
"Go do it yourself if you think you can do better" sounds nice, but in reality isn't always realistic. Which means that the busybodies who have less time consuming jobs or stay at home get to run the show......
HOA fees are more like a PROPERTY TAX than a LOAN. Property taxes can never be paid off. Property taxes are ever-increasing and never ending. Property taxes are never "done". The same applies to HOA fees.
If you fail to pay property taxes, you lose your house. If you fail to pay your HOA fees, you lose your house. If you can't afford one or both of those fees, you are to poor to own your style house and you need to get rid of it and move into something cheaper.
And if you don't want to pay HOA fees, the solution is simple - don't buy a home in a neighborhood that has an HOA.
It's not complicated.
And the fundamental point you seemed to miss is that HOA corporations are not governments. They have not been authorized to impose taxes under the Texas Constitution.
Assessments are declared by a corporation board or unaccountable agents, not a local government. HOA corporations have not constitutionally been granted any power to impose "property taxes". Accordingly they should not have any authority to lien or foreclose property with respect to assessments - particularly homesteads.
I see that you try the tired myth of "choice" and "snobbery" as support for your position when you can't logically disagree. Your solution is rather shallow given that local governments have mandated virtually all new development be burdened by an HOA corporation. Developers also want them for control. In any area with a growing population, there is not feasible choice. A large percentage of the population has no choice at all.
As to the "you can't afford it" argument - that likewise misses the point. If you want to pay "rent" to someone in perpetuity, the solution is for you to live in rental property.
I'm not doubting you but what I've noted many, many times are examples like this....the rule really reads, "No work trucks may be parked in one spot for more than 24 hours" and that via urban legend turns into, "my HOA has banned all pick-ups". Or my HOA foreclosed on someone for missing a few payments". When in reality Texas state law requires all sorts of certified letters and waiting periods the net of which is foreclosures by HOAs tend to take years not weeks. And only happen when the homeowner is being 100% unreasonable or unresponsive.
The HOA we left last year foreclosed on two people over the course of the 11 years we lived there. The first was abandoned by the owner who jumped bail and fled the country. The second was after the owner got busted for cooking meth - thanks to the HOA and the Plano PD that guy was only there for about ten days. Not one time over that span did they attempt to foreclose due to non-payment of dues. They always found a work-around.
Yeah...they're not misinterpreting the rules in their HOAs.
I have heard stories about crappy HOA's...like the one on TV a while back that tried to fine an old woman for putting out an american flag on the 4th of July!. There was a story a while back about one HOA in Frisco foreclosing on a militay family while the husband was in Iraq. But I don't know much about that one.
I looked at homes in Savannah and Providence too and saw all the very inexpensive foreclosure homes. Something is very wrong there for sure... and they do have foundation problems in that area like a lot of others. I have lived in one HOA area in McKinney and I moved in there in 2008, they actually sent me a nasty letter because I had my motorcycle trailer in the driveway 2 days after closing??????? I was still moving in????
I think most of them are just stupid with some of the crap they make up. Just read their rules thru and if the books more than 10 pages RUN!
Also, I lived in a non HOA community in Corinth for over 7 years and had no trouble. I even sold the house in McKinney and moved back to that neighborhood in Corinth to get away from the HOA
Last edited by Twincam666; 06-25-2011 at 08:19 AM..
I have heard stories about crappy HOA's...like the one on TV a while back that tried to fine an old woman for putting out an american flag on the 4th of July!. There was a story a while back about one HOA in Frisco foreclosing on a militay family while the husband was in Iraq. But I don't know much about that one.
I looked at homes in Savannah and Providence too and saw all the very inexpensive foreclosure homes. Something is very wrong there for sure... and they do have foundation problems in that area like a lot of others. I have lived in one HOA area in McKinney and I moved in there in 2008, they actually sent me a nasty letter because I had my motorcycle trailer in the driveway 2 days after closing??????? I was still moving in????
I think most of them are just stupid with some of the crap they make up. Just read their rules thru and if the books more than 10 pages RUN!
Also, I lived in a non HOA community in Corinth for over 7 years and had no trouble. I even sold the house in McKinney and moved back to that neighborhood in Corinth to get away from the HOA
That military family in Frisco was kind of wishy-washy if you ask me. Yes, he was overseas on duty in the military. However, the wife was just flat out WEIRD! She supposedly just let mail pile up for over 6 months to a year and didn't open one single evelope. RIGHT! Then why was their electricity still on and still had running water. She HAD to open some and pay those bills. That guy needs to find a new wife cause the one he has is not fit to run a doghouse. Or she needs a conservatorship over her the next time he gets called to duty. Yes, the HOA could have gone and knocked on the door first and tried to contact them. I would have if I'd been on the board and I've been on a board before as President.
I've lived in 3 HOA's. The first one I actually was the first President of it after the homeowners took over control from the developer. We got the architectural board in place as well as others like a social committee, etc. Did improvements and such to the neighborhood and really tried to make it a great family community. It was too. But there were some real fruitcakes to deal with. Like the guy that got a key to the sprinkler control box and would water the common area on his culdesac every single day ! You better believe he got served a letter and the locks changed. He also called in every single one of his neighbors. One for not getting a permit for a patio cover, one for high grass which was only 6" tall and after I investigated they were on vacation that week. So I turned the tables on him and found out he had not gotten any permits for the improvements he had done and sent him notice to comply That put a stop to him in a hurry. Then the arch committee got a request for someone to put in a retaining wall and they denied the requested height of it. I went and investigated myself and saw exactly why they wanted it 3' over 2'. Doing it 2' would still give them a slope and 3' would level it more completely. They did a bang up great job w/ it too after it was approved . What was lacking in some of these goof balls was COMMON SENSE! They were denying simple requests that were actually good improvements to the neighborhood. But we had a checks and balances in place.
I also had to deal w/ 3 homeowners that had not paid dues from the 1st day. UGH!!! Management company was way too lax with the developer in charge to collect , this is very common. I and the rest of the board agreed that foreclosing was the absolute last thing we wanted to do (why would we want to own a property and deal with it). So we actually got 2 of them to agree to payments and we actually removed all of the fees that were assessed and those 2 paid up in 6 months The 3rd one was a whole nother story. They refused to do anything and we were trying to work w/ them. I could tell by the upkeep of the house and yard they were not going to be there long and they were not. I had the management company check on the mortgage before we spent too much more time dealing with them and found out they were behind so we just dropped it and stopped wasting even postage on demand letters and within no time the mortgage company had foreclosed on them. BYE-BYE!
Even w/ the few homeowners that were really bad about yard upkeep and let weeds grow to 12" in the yard and flowerbed we would first call the city to have them give them notice. That way they can get mad at the city and not the HOA and besides the city has more teeth than the HOA. At least in this city they do as they assess the fine on their water/electric bill and if you don't pay it they will cut off your services. The city giving notice usually got more done and quicker than the HOA. I seriously think in my 2 years as President that we only sent out 2-3 notices if that about the lack of yard and house upkeep, if that.
As for the notice about the trailer upon moving in......... that is pretty pathetic on the HOA's part. I can see if a boat or something sits in the street or front drive for a week but over the weekend when people are using it then most can easily overlook it. Thankfully, in my HOA we can keep boats and PWC's in the rear drives over the summer and no one complains. They usually want invitations to come out
As for the bad HOA's. That was the 2nd one we lived in. UGH! The board that first got elected really turned on the apathy in the neighborhood. They tried to strongarm so much that most people just got apathetic and refused to do anything. The 2 worst on the board, one lived right next door to me and she was NOT a pleasant neighbor, moved after they literally got run off for mishandling funds. That neighborhood has since gone to h... in a handbasket.
Our HOA now at least has a lot of common sense and is a very nice neighborhood. Yards all kept nice and neat, etc. One neighbor was leaving his HUGE boat in the street and he lives right at the entrance and it was a hinderance to get around and he would leave it there for over a week. Instead of sending a letter from the HOA (and using up our funds) they did what I did, called the city to send a notice. As I said, I'm cool w/ boats and trailers/rv's over the weekend or the day before or after one uses them and I think most in our neighborhood are. It's the left there all the stinking time and never used.......
OH! As for not living in an HOA or even no HOA and in the county and not the city. You could deal w/ this scenario:
There is a house that burned completely about 2-3 years ago outside of Royse City and it still sits there all burnt and it's a nice new neighborhood. House across the street is for sale and good luck on that. No one can do anything about it. It was a nasty divorce and the people had paid cash so there is no mortgage. Husband torched the place. Since it's in the county and no HAO there is nothing anyone can do but see this eyesore on a daily bases.
Location: DFW Metroplex. Not TX-born but never leaving.
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If worried about an HOA, get a copy of the documents before putting in an offer. Some are online. Ours was not but we got a copy from the seller. We decided on our new house for several reasons but amongst them was that it has an HOA which is not crazy expensive (100/yr). No pool for the neighborhood but we have our own pool. They also have common sense rules and don't try to tell you what kind of flowers to plant, etc. I would have been okay with some of the other HOAs but think my husband would have gotten a bit irritated.
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! You better believe he got served a letter and the locks changed. He also called in every single one of his neighbors. One for not getting a permit for a patio cover, one for high grass which was only 6" tall and after I investigated they were on vacation that week. So I turned the tables on him and found out he had not gotten any permits for the improvements he had done and sent him notice to comply 
That put a stop to him in a hurry. Then the arch committee got a request for someone to put in a retaining wall and they denied the requested height of it. I went and investigated myself and saw exactly why they wanted it 3' over 2'. Doing it 2' would still give them a slope and 3' would level it more completely. They did a bang up great job w/ it too after it was approved 
. What was lacking in some of these goof balls was COMMON SENSE! They were denying simple requests that were actually good improvements to the neighborhood. But we had a checks and balances in place.
, this is very common. I and the rest of the board agreed that foreclosing was the absolute last thing we wanted to do (why would we want to own a property and deal with it). So we actually got 2 of them to agree to payments and we actually removed all of the fees that were assessed and those 2 paid up in 6 months 
