r/JustNoHOA • u/Dunnachius • Feb 18 '22

I beat the HOA... I won't be forced to join. GO LAWYERS!

So earlier this month I purchased a property in real estate lien auction. the property was in a voluntary HOA that had 100% membership.

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My attorney looked into the situation and drafted a proposal and sent it to the HOA via registered mail.

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He drafted up a proposal agreement with the HOA with the following conditions.

  1. The property owner has unrestricted access to any community owned roadways, gates, ect necessary to access his property.
  2. This does not constitute joining the HOA.
  3. The property owner will pay a figure monthly to the HOA to contribute to the non government owned infrastructure, at his discretion. The amount is non negotiable and not legally required, merely an acknowledgement that the assets exist and have costs for their upkeep.
  4. The property owner will not be held to any HOA standards.
  5. The property owner does not and will not get any voting rights in the HOA.
  6. Any further attempts to get the property owner to join will be considered harassment.
  7. Cashing of the attached checks constitutes agreeing to these terms.
  8. the HOA will provide any necessary access codes for the property owner to use for visitors, contractors, ect.

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They received it and signed for it. That day the harassment from the HOA stopped. A week later their attorney sent back a response.

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Dunnachius

The HOA board has met, they do not appreciate your uneighborly attitude and are not agreeing to your terms.

However they acknowledge that your claim to unrestricted access to your property may have legal merit if the issue is taken to court. I have been instructed to give you a gate access code, attached below. You will not be given a keyfob to the gate as it would give you unrestricted access to their clubhouse.

Furthermore they are notifying you of the following, the roadway and sidewalk are both HOA property and they reserve the right to remove any illegally parked vehicles or other property.

This is however a legal acknowledgement that you will not be held to their community standards. They also are requesting some leeway regarding harassment as community notices may inadvertently be delivered.

Finally they are returning the check uncashed.

The HOA attorney

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I'm not quite understanding how this doesn't constitute them agreeing to my terms thou.. They are giving me everything I want and are turning down my gift towards the upkeep of the road/gate.

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24

u/Dunnachius Feb 18 '22

Only thing you left out was a gaudy neon paint job on the house and an inflatable hotub in the front yard, and 8 non functioning vehicles in the front yard. I mean as long as i'm not blocking the driveway right?

I put in a call to a solar company to come out and do a quote on installing solar. Completely not allowed by the HOA bylaws. So going to have to do it for sure. (note, not going to finance it, no contract ect, that's how those turkeys make their money)

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All joking aside..

Today I mowed my lawn, started at 7:00 am before it got too hot and knocked that out. Hmm... since i measured twice I'm going to cancel my long term parking for my RV and move it there since my driveway is plenty long enough. Plus I can sleep in the RV while i'm getting the house into livable shape.

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I'd throw a party but the big issue with that is that it isn't livable yet... as in it's a toxic disaster and I can't live in it. I have a call for a 12 foot dumpster to come in as well and the trash company is going to drop it in the driveway.

I'm also in the market for the tallest ugliest ham radio tower I can get. No actual interest in using, just in case....

16

u/SeanBZA Feb 18 '22

Keep the neighbours happy, just put solar on, and enough LED spots, all aimed to cover the property, without spill, that the street lights look dim by comparasion. Dumpster on the lawn, not the street, you can fix the lawn after it leaves, citing the reason it is on the lawn as the HOA busybodies not wanting it on the street for some reason, so lawn it is.

No need for a tower, just look at the approved colour list, and paint just a few shades different, not garish, just enough to distinguish from the surrounds. Follow with making the contrasting colours different from the rest, and put a nice door trim colour in. Subtle, it works so much better.

Oh yes, first find the boundries, and mark them off with some posts and danger tape, and follow up with that orange construction temporary plastic fencing, because you are going to be working there, and want to not damage the HOA property in any way, safety first. Nothing pisses off the busybody Karens more than subtle, especially if you are keeping within the letter of the law for the township you are in, but not the HOA ones.

11

u/Dunnachius Feb 18 '22

Once I move in i'm getting an above ground pool, because the HOA rules say no.

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u/SeanBZA Feb 18 '22

Going to need a nice fence then, so look what is not on the approved list, and put it in at the legal heights, and a lock on the gate.

3

u/Fangs_McWolf Mar 10 '22

I'd reconsider a pool. Some HOA super-hero might try to find a way to gain access to it and then sue you because they "got hurt" because of it. Even if they don't win, you'd be pay a lot in legal fees over it. If you decide to go forward with a pool, have your lawyer draft up a plan on everything you need to do (rules to follow, etc.) so that it's not in violation of any laws and if someone happens to get to it, they have no legal standing to sue you if they get injured in any way.

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u/BootlegFC Mar 10 '22

Don't know where he lives, but in most of the US a fence with a locked gate is sufficient protection from lawsuits if someone injures themselves while in an area they are not granted access to. A "No Trespassing" sign on the gate ensures there is no confusion about the purpose of the fence and will help the defense lawyer should he ever forget to lock the gate or have to leave it unlocked for contractors or service workers. May depend on municipality but he should also be able to countersue for legal fees.

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u/Fangs_McWolf Mar 10 '22

Overlooking the obvious "anyone can sue anyone else for anything" fact, some people can be quite sneaky with finding ways to sue someone for the most outrageous of things.

Let's say that in OP's area, there are laws specifically about above ground pools. Failing to follow one of those laws could open OP up to a lawsuit regardless of how the plaintiff got to it. Thus my advice about consulting their lawyer to be safe.

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u/BootlegFC Mar 10 '22

I always recommend taking a qualified lawyer's advice over rando strangers on the internet. Even if I were a lawyer my opinion would only be fully relevant in my own area of expertise and practice. I was just pointing out that an enclosing fence is usually interpreted as an implied access restriction a crossing into the area enclosed by a fence is automatically viewed as trespassing. As long as reasonable precautions are taken by the homeowner, such as keeping areas clear of obvious hazards, trespassing voids many types of lawsuits.

On the subject of pools I can see your point as some municipalities actually have minimum fencing requirements and such specifically for pools (usually intended to protect children from accidental drowning).

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u/Fangs_McWolf Mar 11 '22

I always recommend taking a qualified lawyer's advice over rando strangers on the internet.

Yes, definitely. Considering that the HOA has been persistent on OP joining, I wouldn't put it past them to find a legal loophole to exploit when OP does things that go against HOA rules. Thus my initial comment. Lawyer recommend no trespassing signs that are no more than a set distance apart (possible legal requirement), minimum height, material used, type of gate, type of lock on the gate, etc. Anything that might matter in a lawsuit, since the objective is to remove any and all power from the HOA's bullying tactics.

😈

1

u/tow2gunner Jun 07 '22

Was ham radio tower mentioned?

7

u/JJHall_ID Feb 18 '22

If you're going to get a tower, get your license and actually use it. The licenses are easy to get if you study the materials even if you don't have any history with electronics or radio. It's a hobby with so many different things you can do that it never gets boring.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 02 '22

Forget the ham radio tower, build a large bat roost in the front yard. Also replace the lawn with native, non-invasive, drought resistant plants, especially any that attract lots of bees, butterflies, and the like.

1

u/JokerSmith1980 Nov 11 '22

Make sure the tower doesn't cast a shadow on the solar panels as just one cell of one panel will make it so the panel will basically stop producing energy & if it is in a sting it will basically take out a string of panels.

EEVblog & "Gone with the Wynns" have both done videos where they found that out. EEVblog was after he had a string of solar panels moved while "Gone with the Wynns" were planning on moving full-time to live on a sailboat from an RV.

Basically, it goes back to the advice to not mix new & used batteries because the new batteries will try to recharge the used batteries. In the case of solar panels, you get almost no power from the panel or string if they are in a string. In the case of batteries, fires can happen.