Any way to fight HOAs?

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by Scooter

robert h:

Why not do some good and pay your attorney (what, 15 minutes @ $200/hr) to send you some case law references?

I'll bet someone on this board will send you reimbursement because they will be so happy to get some ammunition.

(We have CC&R's here but there is no formal or even informal, association or board or anything, to enforce infractions. We have a metal RV shed (gasp!) and the CC&R's specify wood stick built sheds. When we moved here, I asked as many neighbors as I could find if they had objections. None did. The one guy I missed, gave me grief and threatened to call a lawyer. He did not and this was 3 years ago. There are other neighbors that have boats, cargo containers and canvas/pole RV covers which are in violation of CC&R's.)

I'll just pass this right back to you; as you seem to be the one interested in it.
You find an attorney that handles these kinds of cases and let him(her) do the search for you.
Me; I'm satisfied as to what my attorney told me; I have no reason to question him.

[sunoh100]

Do you mind sharing with me your letters to HOA? I need to battle with my HOA in Washington. I have parents with Disabled handicap placards that they use Winnebago Rialta, slightly larger than a van, being parked in our driveway and they use it as their daily vehicle to get to the doctor and dialysis procedure.

[dons2346]

PM sent

[CWSWine]

When we had a house built in HOA we first read the rules and it stated that you could bring an RV in for loading and unloading up to 72 hours. It also said that we couldn't store the RV within the HOA. We were fine with that since we have inside storage outside the HOA. The HOA president decided he didn't like the rule and tried to change it to NO RVs Allowed. We paid extra to have our driveway built to support a 50,000-pound Class A at an additional charge.

I contacted a lawyer and he wrote a letter stating that we moved in with the understanding that we could park an RV for loading and unloading and changing the rules would cause harm. He also stated that the expense of upgrading the driveway was because of being able to park an RV and the expense of updating the driveway would have to be reimbursed by the HOA. What they could have done is change the rule for future residents and grandfather in the current residents. They put to a vote and failed.

The HOA president and I had a nice talk about writing nasty letters and I told him I will post all of them to HOA mailing list and just fine me and we will see you in court. We get along great now.

PS We do like the HOA because all the grass, snow removal, water and etc is taken care and allows us to come an go as we please.

[Vermont_Darren]

Shorter OP post:
"I agreed to a rule in writing, and now I don't want to follow it. Do I have to?"

If people read what they signed before they signed it, the world would be a simpler place.

I agree that you getting away with it for a year doesn't give you a free pass. You're going to have to find it a new home.

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by Vermont_Darren

Shorter OP post:
"I agreed to a rule in writing, and now I don't want to follow it. Do I have to?"

If people read what they signed before they signed it, the world would be a simpler place.

I agree that you getting away with it for a year doesn't give you a free pass. You're going to have to find it a new home.

"Before purchase I read the rules and for my life and anticipated use of the property at that time, many of them did not apply to me and I did not give them much thought; now my needs have changed."

The outcome is the same, though.

The only solution is changing the HOA rules, which likely will require a change of board members, which is usually a slow process and goes not guarantee the desired change.

[NXR]

Here is a perfect example of when a court overruled the HOA rules: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2022/06/...rooftop-solar/

Another one is the FCC PRB-1 ruling. The FCC last century created a federal preemption against HOA rules that banned small satellite dishes. That's why they have to be allowed nowadays if it's your property and not common property.

Yes, there are ways but they are rarely cheap or easy. Consult an attorney experienced in the area because a person that does not know their rights has no rights.

Ray

[dons2346]

"The only solution is changing the HOA rules, which likely will require a change of board members, which is usually a slow process and goes not guarantee the desired change"

Changing board members should not affect the rules. It normally takes a vote of the entire membership and usually a 67% in favor to change. If you let the board change the declaration and the bylaws without a vote of the membership is against the law. If you have rules and regulations, those can be changed by the board

[Crasher]

The preceding 8 pages confirm why I am grateful to have always lived in a small community that has flexible common sense rules that accommodate individual requests and needs. We have an RV port and Boat port to protect our investments. They can be seen from the street if one looks down the driveway. All of the neighbors gave approval and our village of 13,000 granted the permits. Just another advantage of living in a small friendly town. You can keep the large cities and restrictive HOA's.

[JohnLoves2Sk]

Anyone else in your HOA violate this? Survey every house, both by driving around, and by studying Google Earth Satellite View. Visit every homeowner potentially in violation, and ask them to sign a petition to update the HOA Bylaws to allow RVs on your property, as long as they are street legal and currently registered. (prevents derelicts).
If you can't get support to update the bylaws, get a storage yard, move, or buy a lot somewhere, erect a barn, and put your RV in it. Rent the other side of the barn to your neighbor.

[ArtJoyce]

Good luck changing the bylaws. Most of the time to change a bylaw would require 100% or a high majority of owners in good standing to vote for the change.

[baraff]

FYI: This thread is almost 14 years old.

[propchef]

Originally Posted by baraff

FYI: This thread is almost 14 years old.

…and the problems with HOAs are the same.

We had a rule against “trucks” which the board interpreted to mean “pickup trucks.” Any attempt to apply the same rule to a body on frame SUV (that is classified as a truck) was met with a fight. So we banned brand new $80k pickups but allowed 20 year old SUVs that had peeling paint and were never washed.

Yea, changing the rules usually requires 2/3 of owners to agree, but where we lived in Florida about half of the owners lived elsewhere and rented their units. We never heard from them and they never participated in meetings. And yes, we had rules regarding how many units could be rented. We were always above that line but enforcement was impossible.

We will never again live anywhere with an HOA.

[Sherpa Vern]

Originally Posted by baraff

FYI: This thread is almost 14 years old.

See how long it takes to deal with an HOA? [emoji4]