HOA and boat parking (Scottsdale: to rent, homes, landscaping)

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Call the property manager who sent the letter. Be very diplomatic, and understand that he/she has a job to do, and you want to help him do his job, and do what you need to do in order to keep your boat there.

Send him the photo, and ask if he will make an appointment to meet with you at the property and discuss the issue to see if you are in compliance now. Photos can be deceiving, especially when taken at a lower than normal height level. So it's best to meet in person and discuss this with him. If he says it has to be lower, then ask for 30 days in order to work out a solution.

If he can't help you come up with a solution, then ask him to put you on the board meeting agenda so you can discuss this with the board.

When you go to the board meeting, do not try to fight the CC&R's or the system; ask the board members to help you with a solution to keep the boat where it is, and still be in compliance. They are your neighbors. They also have a duty to enforce the CC&R's, but they will also work with you to arrive at a solution.

Just remember, these people are your neighbors and are volunteering their time to their (your) community to help make it a nice place to live. They are not Nazi's, as those who hate HOA's are prone to say. If you approach them in a friendly, business like manner, asking for help to solve an issue, they will work with you, and you may make some new good friends.

I replied before I read this. Basically what Captain Bill said! This is how it's done!

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by YAZ

His last name was Harmon......

He bought a retirement home here and put a tiki hut in his backyard. The HOA fined him 35K and put a lien on his home. He counter sued for 160k.....it was scheduled to go to jury trial in 2008.

Apparently, Harman's home went through foreclosure in 2009: 14561 W. Becker Lane, Surprise, Arizona 85379 | Phoenix

I guess he spent too much on legal fees to keep his palapa (scroll down to the last comment on this page to read his 2007 letter).

[smartygurl]

Wow.. you can hardly see it.

[Steve Pickering]

There is nothing wrong with that boat where it is, The HOA does not own your property and recent case law has shown that unreasonable requests, even where you signed on the dotted line, were not allowed by the courts. HOA's are a pox on society.

[caryberry]

Originally Posted by Bungle

I replied before I read this. Basically what Captain Bill said! This is how it's done!

Be very careful and document EVERYTHING. What may now be seen as an inconvenience given the natural state of HOAs can VERY easily end up in court.

[Desertspiritsteve]

I'll never understand why people buy a place with a HOA when they have no intention of complying. My sister bought in N. Scottsdale in the mid 80's. Her HOA didn't permit playground equipment showing over the wall or having metal storage sheds in the yard. They made the stucco wall higher next to the house and put a metal storage shed there. No one could ever see it and they could continue to be closet pack rats. It worked until there was a summer storm with high winds. The winds picked the shed up and slammed it down in the middle of the front yard across the street. Busted. It tore up the neighbor's expensive landscaping. Couldn't you just rent a boat when you need one or rent covered storage for it somewhere else? All those black tire marks on the driveway are a give-away to something going on behind the gate. The tire marks go off of your drive way and through the yard next door. I just looked at the photo again and see a river rock and a red brick on the stucco wall at the corner of the garage. Are those milk crates stacked up and a wide open garage door? Don't blame the next-door neighbor for turning you in...it could be the people across the street or drivers by who don't like the looks of your place. Those are really nice looking gates. You could turn in the next door neighbor for the bad wood in their gate and make them replace the wood with nice wood like your gates have. I wish the photo had been taken a little to the right so we could see what's going on in that wide open garage. If this goes to court you won't want Judge Judy looking at that picture.

[Reedus]

Originally Posted by Desertspiritsteve

I'll never understand why people buy a place with a HOA when they have no intention of complying. My sister bought in N. Scottsdale in the mid 80's. Her HOA didn't permit playground equipment showing over the wall or having metal storage sheds in the yard. They made the stucco wall higher next to the house and put a metal storage shed there. No one could ever see it and they could continue to be closet pack rats. It worked until there was a summer storm with high winds. The winds picked the shed up and slammed it down in the middle of the front yard across the street. Busted. It tore up the neighbor's expensive landscaping. Couldn't you just rent a boat when you need one or rent covered storage for it somewhere else? All those black tire marks on the driveway are a give-away to something going on behind the gate. The tire marks go off of your drive way and through the yard next door. I just looked at the photo again and see a river rock and a red brick on the stucco wall at the corner of the garage. Are those milk crates stacked up and a wide open garage door? Don't blame the next-door neighbor for turning you in...it could be the people across the street or drivers by who don't like the looks of your place. Those are really nice looking gates. You could turn in the next door neighbor for the bad wood in their gate and make them replace the wood with nice wood like your gates have. I wish the photo had been taken a little to the right so we could see what's going on in that wide open garage. If this goes to court you won't want Judge Judy looking at that picture.

It seems to me that 90% of anything newer these days is located in an HOA neighborhood. Your housing choices are severely limited if you want a newer house in the valley. If I had my choice, I would never live in an HOA, but when we were looking back in 2011, everything was in HOA unless you went out to Queen Creek or bought a house from the 80's and earlier. As far as the rent comment, I don't rent ANYTHING EVER. Never have, never will. The boat gets used every weekend as you can see from the tire tracks. A nice wake boat would cost 400.00 for a weekend, do the math. The painful part about renting a place to store it is that I HAVE an RV pad next to the house for free. In my opinion, I am in compliance with the boat. If you walk around the neighborhood, there are numerous things like trampolines, propane heaters, and various other stuff that extend above the fence line. I don't keep a trashy yard or garage. My lawn is mowed every week and the palms kept trimmed. The crates in the garage are for my business. Muriatic acid and chlorine for pools. I highly doubt it is my neighbor as we are on good terms, but you never know. I guess I need to find out from the board if raising the block fence another 8 inches would satisfy them. Keep ya posted...

[Desertspiritsteve]

The "Everyone else is doing it" argument does not put you in compliance. I have never seen a trampoline so large that it showed over a six or seven foot wall. Your neighbor has rights, too. They may have bought a house in a neighborhood with an HOA just so they would never have to worry about some one driving in their yard and jack-knifing trucks and boats on their property in their landscaping a couple of times each weekend. What's next if the neighbor gets approval to have an elevated block and stucco planter box constructed right on their property line for that jumping cactus garden they always wanted? Maybe 15' by 3' and 2 feet tall. Right up next to your driveway? Just sayin'. If you take pictures again for a board meeting, I'd get the driveway power washed to clean up the tire tracks, rust stains and oil spills. Maybe the people who raise the height of your wall can repair that little wall around the utility box where something has run into it and broken it. You can see a tire mark leading up to that. The area where the boat is parked looks like it is hot as blazes with all the concrete, stucco and gravel. Good luck. It does look like your trying. I can't tell if that's a corner lot, but that might be a solution if you could put the boat in from the side street.

[Reedus]

Originally Posted by Desertspiritsteve

The "Everyone else is doing it" argument does not put you in compliance. I have never seen a trampoline so large that it showed over a six or seven foot wall. Your neighbor has rights, too. They may have bought a house in a neighborhood with an HOA just so they would never have to worry about some one driving in their yard and jack-knifing trucks and boats on their property in their landscaping a couple of times each weekend. What's next if the neighbor gets approval to have an elevated block and stucco planter box constructed right on their property line for that jumping cactus garden they always wanted? Maybe 15' by 3' and 2 feet tall. Right up next to your driveway? Just sayin'. If you take pictures again for a board meeting, I'd get the driveway power washed to clean up the tire tracks, rust stains and oil spills. Maybe the people who raise the height of your wall can repair that little wall around the utility box where something has run into it and broken it. You can see a tire mark leading up to that. The area where the boat is parked looks like it is hot as blazes with all the concrete, stucco and gravel. Good luck. It does look like your trying. I can't tell if that's a corner lot, but that might be a solution if you could put the boat in from the side street.

I actually bought a gas powered trailer dolly to back the boat in there. At no point has the boat ever been on their side. The tires are half on the pavement on my neighbors side when backing it in. The easy fix to that would be to shorten my hose bib, as that is what I need to clear on the house side that puts me 2 inches off the cement on the other side. As far as trampolines, it isn't the tramp itself you can see, it is the 12 feet high safety nets around them that stick up well above fence level.

[AZBradley]

Originally Posted by Desertspiritsteve

I'll never understand why people buy a place with a HOA when they have no intention of complying. My sister bought in N. Scottsdale in the mid 80's. Her HOA didn't permit playground equipment showing over the wall or having metal storage sheds in the yard. They made the stucco wall higher next to the house and put a metal storage shed there. No one could ever see it and they could continue to be closet pack rats. It worked until there was a summer storm with high winds. The winds picked the shed up and slammed it down in the middle of the front yard across the street. Busted. It tore up the neighbor's expensive landscaping. Couldn't you just rent a boat when you need one or rent covered storage for it somewhere else? All those black tire marks on the driveway are a give-away to something going on behind the gate. The tire marks go off of your drive way and through the yard next door. I just looked at the photo again and see a river rock and a red brick on the stucco wall at the corner of the garage. Are those milk crates stacked up and a wide open garage door? Don't blame the next-door neighbor for turning you in...it could be the people across the street or drivers by who don't like the looks of your place. Those are really nice looking gates. You could turn in the next door neighbor for the bad wood in their gate and make them replace the wood with nice wood like your gates have. I wish the photo had been taken a little to the right so we could see what's going on in that wide open garage. If this goes to court you won't want Judge Judy looking at that picture.