So you come home one day to find that the slope at the back of your yard has begun to slough off into the pond behind your property. You call your homeowners association, which is supposed to handle such disasters, but they do nothing because the pond in question still technically belongs to the developers, who also do nothing. Meanwhile, that slope become more and more like a precipice while the two possible responsible parties do everything but take responsibility. [More]
homeowner’s associations
HOA Sues Homeowner For Parking Pickup Truck In His Driveway
By 1.19.15
What is a passenger vehicle? Is an extended-cab pickup truck a commercial vehicle, or a passenger vehicle? A man and his homeowners association in upstate New York disagree on this point, with the HOA suing the truck owner in county court, seeking an injunction to force him to stop parking his truck in his own driveway. [More]
Publicity From Kentucky Case Prompts Lots Of People To Pay Their HOA Dues
By 12.4.13
If there’s any good that has come from the case in Lexington, Kentucky where a woman lost her home over unpaid homeowners’ association dues, it’s this: according to a local attorney who represents HOAs, a lot of people heard about the case and hurried to pay their back dues. [More]
Woman Doesn’t Join HOA, So It Seizes And Sells Her House
By 11.15.13
If I’ve learned anything from this site over the years, it’s that homeowners’ associations are evil and to be avoided. Sometimes you don’t have a choice, though: the home of your dreams or basic neighborhood amenities require it. And sometimes, as one Kentucky woman discovered, not joining the HOA means you can lose your house. [More]
HOA Bans Just About Everything Fun A Kid Might Do Outside
By 3.18.13
Apparently going by the notion that the best way to keep a child from getting run over while playing outside is to keep the kids from going outside, a homeowners association in Boca Raton, FL, has decided to ban just about any fun activity a child might enjoy in the complex’s shared areas. [More]
Condo Association Taking Heat For Telling Soldier To Take Down American Flag
By 2.27.13
The property manager of a condo complex in Alabama is learning that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to demand that a resident, a Staff Sergeant, take down the American flag hanging outside of his home. [More]
HOA President Threatens To Sue Newspaper For Using Neighborhood’s Name In Article
By 1.14.13
Some residents of an Indiana neighborhood say the leadership of their homeowners association have gotten a bit power-hungry and lawsuit-happy, and the HOA’s response to a local newspaper doesn’t do much to help out the association’s public image. [More]
HOA Installs Radar, Issues Speeding Tickets
By 11.5.12
With no one but themselves to police the speed limits of their gated a community, a homeowners association in Colorado has set up a radar system and begun issuing tickets to speeders. [More]
Tenant Says Doggie DNA Program Hasn't Helped Curb Poo Problem
By 8.21.12
As we mentioned yesterday, more condo associations are turning to mandatory DNA testing for dogs in an attempt to rein in an apparent rampant poop problem in this country. But one tenant at a complex that is trying such a program says it hasn’t done anything to stop the fecal madness. [More]
Yet Another Condo Complex Requires Tenants To Provide Doggie DNA
By 8.20.12
Requiring DNA test for dogs living in condo complexes is now officially a trend, with yet another condo association demanding that canine-owning residents provide samples of their furry friends’ DNA so they can identify those pooches that poop in public. [More]
NJ Supreme Court: HOA Can’t Tell You To Remove Political Signs From House
By 6.13.12
As you may have heard, it’s a presidential election year, which means homeowners associations all around the country will be removing — and fining people for — political signs placed in residents’ front yards and windows. But the people of New Jersey are now free to announce their favorite candidates without fear of reprisal. [More]
9 Examples Why You May Want To Avoid Homeowners Associations Like The Plague
By 5.15.12
We watch a lot of real estate shows here at Consumerist HQ, especially the many variations on the “show three places and pretend to pick the one that you’re already in escrow on.” And while home buyers always remember to ask, “Are there HOA fees?”, they don’t ask the more important questions, like “Why in the world am I buying a place with an HOA?” [More]
Homeowner's Association: Remove Our Name From Facebook Page Or We'll Sue
By 3.30.12
A Tennessee woman says she’s being bullied by her homeowner’s association, all because she used the name of her subdivision to create a private Facebook page for residents. [More]
Condo Association Puts Lien On Woman's Townhouse Over Tiny Flower Garden
By 3.21.12
After feeling bullied by her condo association about her wee front yard flower garden, a New Hampshire woman says she recently looked into selling her townhouse, only to find out the association has placed a lien on the property. [More]
Homeowners Association Ignores Basic Math, Fines Residents For Posting Colored Christmas Lights
By 12.2.11
Homeowners associations are supposed to represent the interests and desires of, well… homeowners. But the members of one HOA in Pennsylvania apparently have something against people putting up colored Christmas lights outside their home — and are wiling to reinterpret the math of their own survey to keep their neighborhood’s exteriors homogenous. [More]
Recession Turns Homeowner Association Fights Brutal
By 7.13.11
Florida is full of condo complexes run by homeowner’s associations. After you’ve bought and paid for your condo, all you have to do is pay the monthly maintenance fees and you get trim lawns, a snappy billiards room, and a clean shuffleboard area. But as the economy stews in its own juices, the AP reports, some seniors living on a fixed income are having trouble making these monthly payments – and no wonder, with special assessments of $6,000 – and are getting foreclosed on by their own neighbors for as little as being 60 days past due on their fees. Some of them have also stopped making payments in protest over things like the rats, and the sewage raining on their head: [More]
HOAs Feeling The Financial Sting Of Abandoned Houses
By 7.8.11
With a sea of homes left empty by erstwhile homeowners who couldn’t afford the mortgage, a number of homeowner associations around the country have are stuck having to pay for the upkeep on vacant properties lest the value of the remaining homes be harmed any further. [More]
Disabled War Veteran's House Not Good Enough For This Homeowners Association
By 6.24.11
Would you want a severely disabled war veteran for a neighbor? It’s hard to say “no” to that. Homes For Our Troops The group builds mortgage-free, accessible homes to severely disabled war veterans. The group was supposed to begin construction today on a specially designed house in Georgia for an Army veteran who suffered severe brain damage in Afghanistan. After months of planning, earlier this week the homeowners’ association reversed its approval, saying that the house must be multiple stories and 700 square feet larger to be part of the neighborhood, or it will affect property values. [More]
