When we bought our house here in Arizona, there was a stipulation in our contract that we would buy into the community Homeowner's Association. It was $54 a quarter, and since I had no idea what an HOA did, I assumed that its purpose was to look out for the tenants that lived there.Boy, did I miss the mark on this one...
I'm going to assume that HOA's across the country are better than mine, since the $216 a year that I pay goes to, well, absolutely nothing besides paying the salaries of the employees that work in the HOA. We got a newsletter a while back that spelled out that it was just nicer to park in your driveway rather than the street, how to remove ugly oil stains from driveways, and that it was just neighborly to pick up your dog's poo when taking him for a walk. All as if they were addressing Princess's 1st-grade class rather than talking to grown adults.
I had to jump through hoops to get "permission" to build the monster playset in the backyard. If I wanted to put a new door on the front of my house (key word there--MY house) I need to get permission.
Mind you, if an HOA did what I thought it was doing (looking out for ME) I wouldn't mind doing that. But I honestly don't see it. That newsletter spelled out what our money was going towards (clearly someone else has asked this question) and one of the pieces of the pie chart was "electricity." Funny, I thought that I already paid an electric bill.
The latest wonder that I have had in regards to HOA's is this one from Florida. I think it's time that some legal groups stepped in because I think this is getting slightly out of hand.
HT to Kath at In Training for this one.
rant military
Well the idea behind the HOA is to maintain some assemblance of dignity in the neighborhood... they also try to keep your neighbors from putting their broken down cars on cinder blocks, or park their rusty RV's in the front yard. Those are the "GOOD" things about HOAs... Otherwise, it's all crap. sorry.
ReplyDeleteHOA's are the spawn of satan. We own a condo which is rental property alhtough we are getting ready to sell. Anyway, the dues are $150 a month. The HOA does nothing but whine and complain, issuing citations with the alacrity of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. I hate them. In the state of California, they have almost unlimited power. The boards attract people who are trying to compensate for their own weaknesses. They are bullies. Was I sublte enough?
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