Homeowners Assn censors "peace sign" holiday wreath

[Andy9o8 0]

Another example of what I hate about homeowners' associations. Petty little dictators.

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/subdivision-bans-wreath-with-peace-sign/20061126205309990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

***Subdivision Bans Wreath With Peace Sign
Homeowner Defies Board, Faces About $1000 in Fines
By ROBERT WELLER, AP

DENVER (Nov. 26) - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

.....

Kearns (the association president) ordered the committee to require Jensen (the homeowner) to remove the wreath, but members refused after concluding that it was merely a seasonal symbol that didn't say anything. Kearns fired all five committee members.

[ExAFO 0]

...Another reason to buy a house in the city, and not in Edward-Scissorhands-looking-suburbia.

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[steveorino 7]

When I lived outside Ft. Bragg, the neighbor thought he could bring his car on the lawn to work on it -- He put it on blocks and there it sat.

Just one of many reason I own a home with a Homeowners' Association.

steveOrino

[Andy9o8 0]

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outside Ft. Bragg
....
on blocks and there it sat.

Well, duh...


OK, BS aside, I hear you, but I've seen so many cases of petty, arbitrary HOA abuse which I think are just downright un-American (most result from self-important "big fish in a small pond" mentality) that I've come to feel rather strongly about it.

[steveorino 7]

I guess here is what I don't understand. When I bought my home I knew it had a HOA and rules. I read it -- I thought it was liveable and purchased the home. If the HOA code was not liveable for me i would have not purchased it. Are there that many of you having HOA forced on you?

steveOrino

[pirana 0]

My neighbor has several cars on blocks. Thank goodness he is 1/2 mile away. I do wonder if they complain about the collection of old appliances behind my barn?

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[Andy9o8 0]

We bought in an area where only about half of the developments had HOAs. One development we looked at had an HOA agreement that I felt offended my tree-hugging, self-righteous sensibilities (my wife thought I was making much ado about nothing - moi??), so I said "no way". So, we bought in another development with no HOA. In my case, I had choices, and I wasn't under time pressure to make a decision. Depending on location and/or situation, not everyone else has that luxury.

Hey, I'm not unreasonable. If HOA regs would stick to reasonable stuff like "no cars on blocks on your front lawn, douchebag", and "mow your lawn, for cryin' out loud", that wouldn't bother me. But when they cross the line like the example in the OP, that's the kind of harrassing horseshit that makes me chafe. I can't have a political sign on my lawn, or let little kids sell lemonade in my driveway on a hot summer day? In America? Screw that.

[NCclimber 0]

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Depending on location and/or situation, not everyone else has that luxury.

Most (practically all) homebuyers have a choice.

[dbattman 0]

The problem I have with HOA is they tend to be open-ended contracts subject to the whims of the few, such as above. Not sure what it's like in the midwest, but down in the Atlanta area we have no shortage of uppity soccer mom/dad types that are all up in their neighbors business. I have several co-workers that got slapped with fines for doing such heinous acts as not edging the lawn every Saturday during July when it's 95 degress out and the grass doesn't really grow anyways. One guy had an HOA president that actually took weekend walks with a ruler and measured the grass.

Yeah, if they just stuck with a few things that would really kill appeal and value (like junk cars on blocks out in the open) and collected ten bucks a month to maintain the entrance, retain an attorney for enforcement of the few property killers, and throw a 'meet the neighbor social' every few months I wouldn't have a problem but that's not what happens.

Oh, and they're usually tied to the property so if you buy the house you buy the HOA.

[Andy9o8 0]

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Depending on location and/or situation, not everyone else has that luxury.

Most (practically all) homebuyers have a choice.

Yeah, I know what you mean, but it's all a question of degree. If you're getting transferred to a new city, and only have a few days to find & buy a new house, and all the available homes in decent school districts have HOAs, then as a practical matter, that's somewhat less of a choice.

Anyhow, can you tell I don't like HOAs?

[Andy9o8 0]

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One guy had an HOA president that actually took weekend walks with a ruler and measured the grass.

See, it's small-penis fuckers like this that should be bitch-slapped.
Not that I feel strongly about it or anything.

[shropshire 0]

She should be fine for just putting Crimbo deccies upo a Whole MONTH too early

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[NCclimber 0]

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One guy had an HOA president that actually took weekend walks with a ruler and measured the grass.

See, it's small-penis fuckers like this that should be bitch-slapped.
Not that I feel strongly about it or anything.

Is bleach harmful to grass?

[Amazon 7]

Perhpas he should put up a big... WAR Wreath.. and see if that is ok with them..

[freethefly 6]

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Not sure what it's like in the midwest

The neighborhood that I grew up as a teenager in, in St. Louis county, had a habit of making up rules as they went. At one point they forbid the hotrods we all drove. No one payed any mind to it. At another point they said no car more than 10 years old. My dad always had 50 era hotrod pickups. No one paid any mind to that one neither. It was always the little old ladies that seemed to run the HOA and they were not liked by anyone it seemed. For the most HOA's cannot be enforced legally as I found out when I moved into a neighborhood that did not allow loud bikes and older cars. My 57 chevy was frowned on by some. Reason I live in the country these days. Although there is an asshat on the road who believes he makes the rules and everyone should abide by him. Fuckhead bitches everytime someone fires a gun. I think he needs to go back to the city.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[Andy9o8 0]

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For the most HOA's cannot be enforced legally

Actually, they can be - general rule: as long as you are deemed to have voluntarily joined the HOA, then you are bound by principles of contract, and the HOA can file a lawsuit to judicially enforce the terms and conditions of the contract. That's not to say you cannot defend against such a lawsuit, but it can be filed, and you'll have to defend against it if you don't want a default judgment entered against you.

[Royd 0]

,

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the neighbor thought he could bring his car on the lawn to work on it -- He put it on blocks and there it sat.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

[Airman1270 0]

...Most (practically all) homebuyers have a choice.

[freethefly 6]

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For the most HOA's cannot be enforced legally

Actually, they can be - general rule: as long as you are deemed to have voluntarily joined the HOA, then you are bound by principles of contract, and the HOA can file a lawsuit to judicially enforce the terms and conditions of the contract. That's not to say you cannot defend against such a lawsuit, but it can be filed, and you'll have to defend against it if you don't want a default judgment entered against you.

Now, I did say for the most. The last neighborhood that I lived in could do nothing about the shorty dragpipes that I ran on my bike nor could they do anything about my 57 or my 80 El Camino. They sure did bitch a lot though and I sure did rap the pipes every time I passed the house of the complainers.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[ExAFO 0]

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Who comes up with this stuff?

Morons more concerned with the resale value of their property than the right of others to not feel like Marine Recruits on Day One in their own homes

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[Richards 0]

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Morons more concerned with the resale value of their property than the right of others to not feel like Marine Recruits on Day One in their own homes

[ExAFO 0]

Meh, it's no big deal. No one has to join a HOA. Just get a house elsewhere. I like city living, no HOAs to deal with.

That, and I hate cookie-cutter housing subdivisions.

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[MuffDiver 0]

Everyone has a choice where they live. Bottom line, if you don't like the HOA rules, then move. You wouldn't complain about a HOA if it prevented or stopped a neighbour from destroying the atmosphere of a community and demanded that they remove their 2 broke down cars, 3 washing machines and piles of garbage in the front yard. HOA help the resale of homes (in most cases) by maintaining a decent looking neighbourhood, and to a lot of people out there this means alot.

__________________________________________________
Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out alive.

[shropshire 0]

Reading this thread has really surprised me.... A lot of the stuff that we read on here says how Free America is and the lack of external intervention that there is, compared to some other countries.... Yet I really can't see any of this HOA crap flying at all over here in the U.K..... Talk about schizo

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[steveorino 7]

A voluntary set of rules (like a HOA) is a lack of freedom?

steveOrino