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HOA threatens to fine me for violation of 1 rule, when many are broken by others.

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Phog67

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas

I have owned my home in this HOA since 2002. There are a total of 14 homes in this HOA.

The HOA historically has not followed the covenants and if complaints were made about an issue, the board and association would ask the owners to get along and try to stop doing whatever infraction that was taking place. The issue that come up over the years was parking on the street overnight. However, the issue was with the south area of the cul-de-sac as there's an island there and too many high school drivers were parking around it and other cars couldn't get through. I stress, no fines were ever assessed to these owners.

No one in the history of the HOA has been fined for any infraction. There has never been a late fee assesed for dues not paid as well, and if an owner was late, someone took the time to find out if there was an issue at home preventing payment, and then an informal arrangement was made. Also, there are many current rules not being followed and some are serious. I have requested help from the board on two occasions and both times I was told it was a neighbor to neighbor issue, even though the issues I was concerned with were direct violations of the covenants and one violation was regarding water drainage into my foundation after my neighbor had an elevated walking path put in. Also, the neighbor didn't request approval from the architectual committee, which according to the covenants, is required for landscaping between neighboring homes. The board simply refused to help me.

The association has never consistantly met. There has been meetings, but they are rare and minutes are not typically shared.

I had moved out of this home for 8 years. I rented the home during that time. According to the covenants, I was legally allowed to rent, however, the board president sent me countless emails telling me I could not rent and threats of what would happen if I did. I had to hire a lawyer to handle it and it was a simple fix. I rented the home. The board president was not happy. My last renter was extremely difficult and not well liked. I was able to evict him quickly, however, the neighbors have expressed their anger towards me about that renter.

The HOA then decided renting was not allowed and hired a lawyer to change the covenants.

We then moved back in and sold our other home in another city. This requires our high school senior to drive back and forth each day.

Since being back for 4 months, we have watched the covenant rules being violated every day, but we honestly do not care. We let others live in peace and want the same. Here are some examples of violations: there are two commercial businesses being operated from the home. 7 out of the 14 homes do not park their cars in the garage. 3 of the 14 have vinyl siding that was just put on. One home was painted lime green, which is not an approved color. 3 of the 14 started exterior remodeling, with no approval from the Arch. Comm. 1 of the 14 is parking in the street overnight, which is me. There are many more, but too many to list.

The HOA, after not fining one single owner ever for anthing, is deciding to fine me for parking in the street overnight. Mind you, we may park in the street all day long, whereever we choose. There is no definition of overnight in the covenants. There is no allowance for family or friends staying overnight. We were sent emails saying the board changed the parking rule and we cannot park in the street from 10pm -7am. There was no fee schedule for fines and there isn't one in the covenants. The owners did not ever take a vote about this change.

Our home is at the north end of the cul-de-sac and her car is black and sits under our tree. It is not blocking or even close to other driveways. We have a small 2 car garage, the home was built in 1987. Our driveway is very short and part is shared with the neighbor. The driveway goes from two spaces wide to one space wide by the street. If her car is parked in that single space, we cannot get around her and must move her car.

Now we have a board member coming over at night and he takes pictures of our daughters car and then sends us an email warning with photos of her car.

Today, he emailed the entire association and asked the other neighbors do the same since he is not home all the time. He specifically asked that they take photos of cars parked overnight and that they email him the date, time and license plate number and make and model of the car. Again, we are the only ones parking overnight on the street. The past offenders children have moved out and we are the only home owners with a teen driver in the cul-de-sac.

This is the same board member that was part of the decision to not take action regarding my requests regarding water drainage etc...

Also, to stress, no other violations are being addressed.

We just want to be able to let our daughter park in the street overnight. This has been allowed since 1987, even though the rules said it's not allowed. It is simply not convienient to put her car in the driveway since it's so small and so narrow. If it was, we would.

Any thoughts?
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas

I have owned my home in this HOA since 2002. There are a total of 14 homes in this HOA.

The HOA historically has not followed the covenants and if complaints were made about an issue, the board and association would ask the owners to get along and try to stop doing whatever infraction that was taking place. The issue that come up over the years was parking on the street overnight. However, the issue was with the south area of the cul-de-sac as there's an island there and too many high school drivers were parking around it and other cars couldn't get through. I stress, no fines were ever assessed to these owners.

No one in the history of the HOA has been fined for any infraction. There has never been a late fee assesed for dues not paid as well, and if an owner was late, someone took the time to find out if there was an issue at home preventing payment, and then an informal arrangement was made. Also, there are many current rules not being followed and some are serious. I have requested help from the board on two occasions and both times I was told it was a neighbor to neighbor issue, even though the issues I was concerned with were direct violations of the covenants and one violation was regarding water drainage into my foundation after my neighbor had an elevated walking path put in. Also, the neighbor didn't request approval from the architectual committee, which according to the covenants, is required for landscaping between neighboring homes. The board simply refused to help me.

The association has never consistantly met. There has been meetings, but they are rare and minutes are not typically shared.

I had moved out of this home for 8 years. I rented the home during that time. According to the covenants, I was legally allowed to rent, however, the board president sent me countless emails telling me I could not rent and threats of what would happen if I did. I had to hire a lawyer to handle it and it was a simple fix. I rented the home. The board president was not happy. My last renter was extremely difficult and not well liked. I was able to evict him quickly, however, the neighbors have expressed their anger towards me about that renter.

The HOA then decided renting was not allowed and hired a lawyer to change the covenants.

We then moved back in and sold our other home in another city. This requires our high school senior to drive back and forth each day.

Since being back for 4 months, we have watched the covenant rules being violated every day, but we honestly do not care. We let others live in peace and want the same. Here are some examples of violations: there are two commercial businesses being operated from the home. 7 out of the 14 homes do not park their cars in the garage. 3 of the 14 have vinyl siding that was just put on. One home was painted lime green, which is not an approved color. 3 of the 14 started exterior remodeling, with no approval from the Arch. Comm. 1 of the 14 is parking in the street overnight, which is me. There are many more, but too many to list.

The HOA, after not fining one single owner ever for anthing, is deciding to fine me for parking in the street overnight. Mind you, we may park in the street all day long, whereever we choose. There is no definition of overnight in the covenants. There is no allowance for family or friends staying overnight. We were sent emails saying the board changed the parking rule and we cannot park in the street from 10pm -7am. There was no fee schedule for fines and there isn't one in the covenants. The owners did not ever take a vote about this change.

Our home is at the north end of the cul-de-sac and her car is black and sits under our tree. It is not blocking or even close to other driveways. We have a small 2 car garage, the home was built in 1987. Our driveway is very short and part is shared with the neighbor. The driveway goes from two spaces wide to one space wide by the street. If her car is parked in that single space, we cannot get around her and must move her car.

Now we have a board member coming over at night and he takes pictures of our daughters car and then sends us an email warning with photos of her car.

Today, he emailed the entire association and asked the other neighbors do the same since he is not home all the time. He specifically asked that they take photos of cars parked overnight and that they email him the date, time and license plate number and make and model of the car. Again, we are the only ones parking overnight on the street. The past offenders children have moved out and we are the only home owners with a teen driver in the cul-de-sac.

This is the same board member that was part of the decision to not take action regarding my requests regarding water drainage etc...

Also, to stress, no other violations are being addressed.

We just want to be able to let our daughter park in the street overnight. This has been allowed since 1987, even though the rules said it's not allowed. It is simply not convienient to put her car in the driveway since it's so small and so narrow. If it was, we would.

Any thoughts?
Follow the rules is a thought that comes to mind. You are free to file complaints for other violations that you observe. You are also free to run for a position on the board for the HOA.
 

tranquility

Senior Member
HOA's are troublesome and difficult. They have great power and few restrictions. The key is almost always to read the documents and work your way to a solution from there. There is no HOA due process (equal treatment) clause in your documents.

While some things can be sued upon; no one wins there. The HOA's advantages are too great for many reasons. Zigner's advice is the key. If the treatments pisses (My word not his.) people off, win elections with the board and make it right.
 

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