Neighborhood Ass-ociations

When you join one of these associations though, you are agreeing to play by their rules. What makes this story a joke is when the president fired the board members who saw nothing wrong with the wreath.

This place sounds a lot like DEL BOCA VISTA.

 

See here's the thing...I didn't DECIDE to join the fucking association. I was forced into it because I bought property in the damned neighborhood. And while I understand the group's necessity to a degree, they go way too far. Plain and simple.

What does my association do with my money? They use it to mow the f-ing grass near a retention pond OUTSIDE the line of sight of the entire freaking neighborhood.

I tried to run for president of the association, on the sole platform of disbanding said association, but two tightasses screwed up the vote.

 

Tell the association to fuck off. By and large their rules are unenforceable, unless you're doing something that actually violates the law.

 

It's really a deeply-ingrained belief with me. I don't tell others what they can or can't do because I don't want them doing the same to me. They are free to do what they want.

It's part of the reason I tend to migrate toward managerial/leadership type positions and why I'm a fairly easy-going boss (as long as you get your shit done, I'm not on your back). I'm just not a person who likes being told what to do.

And since I'm a journalist, you already know money isn't the driving force in many of my decisions.

 

That's cool, BP.

I'm really a live-and-let-live type, too, but just trying to point out that there are solid reasons why these associations exist, though they can and do get carried away.

You don't want Barney Fife in charge.

 

I tried to discuss this with someone that bought into an area with an association. I continually asked "why?" His response was "If you don't like the rules, buy somewhere else."

I can understand both sides of the argument. Ace puts forward the reality of property value and the costing of tens of thousands of dollars and Bigpern points out that it is your property.

Personally, I feel that if I purchased a piece of property for $350,000 (average low number around me) that I should be able to do what I please with it.

 

You should be free to do what you want with it, provided that doesn't negatively impact your neighbors property values. Painting the house a funky color, that's OK with me, that just makes you look stupid. Having junked cars up on blocks on a field of waist high weeds, we have a problem.

A house is far and away the largest financial asset most of us will own. When most of your net worth is tied up in something that is effected by those surrounding it, others get a say in what you do. If you want total independence, buy something in a rural area where you have no neighbors.

 

Exactly. It's not black-and-white issue, IMHO. You can't just ignore it if your neighborhood is starting to look like a trailer park. That's where I draw the line.

 

Most municipalities have rules about clutter in the yard and such. That's enforceable. Unless a neighborhood association is a landlord, I really don't think it can enforce jack shit.

 

You called?

 

And if you do not like the association's rules, you are free to take your $350k and purchase elsewhere. I can't imagine buying a house or land where I didn't agree with the rules I'd be subject to.

As an association member, you are usually free to petition the board, run for the board and vote, too.

 

I've owned a house in a non-association area and now own in an association development. My association is fairly low-key; we've gotten two letters from them in the six years we've been there. The first was from the psycho-Nazi woman who worked for the first management company, ordering me to mow my lawn. It had been about 9 days since the last mowing; it was nowhere near too long. That woman was eventually fired and her company terminated. The new management company sent us a note about some flowers they thought were dead. I called and explained that they were dormant bulbs (it was winter) and they'd bloom again if we left them until spring. Never heard from them again.

In my old place, my next-door neighbor parked a POS car in front of my house for two years. Every 14 days, per city ordinance, he'd move it 6 inches. It was the only time it moved. I had no recourse on it.

Where I live, most developments have associations, so you have almost no choice but to join one. Your best hope is that they won't be too intrusive or expensive (some are a couple hundred a month; mine's about $30). They're mostly set up by the developer so that the development doesn't go to pot before it's built out. They do help keep the neighborhood looking good. I'd prefer not to have one, but it's not that hard to deal with.

If you get fined by an association, don't blow off the bills though. They can slap a lien on your house over it (check your CC&Rs, of course).