posted 09-24-2010 03:28 PM ET (US)        

ARRRRGH!!

posted 09-24-2010 03:40 PM ET (US)            

Frustrating for sure.

I have the opposite of that. The folks across the street and over one built a hottub room off the front of their garage in the front of the house (and painted it poorly), left their broken 60" TV on the front porch for many months and have since replaced it with their broken washing machine, plus they park infront of the driveway directly across the street. Plus their continuously barking chihauhuas are a real irritant (animal control has been called several times). And more. They are clueless to little "hints".

Aren't neighbors fun? At least we can enjoy Whalers.

posted 09-24-2010 04:02 PM ET (US)            

I had been storing my Revenge 22 in the rear yard until this summer when I put new sod in the rear yard and decided not to keep the boat there any longer. I opted for some realtively inexpensive indoor storage for the boat which is working out well for me and the Revenge.

I have a great relationship with my neighbors and they are more interested in looking at my boat & coming out to inquire how my boating trips have been than they are about complaining.

The local female Ordinance officer sent me a threatening letter regarding the boat in my front yard, I really took exception to the way she worded her threatening letter, and let her know that the boat was not in my front yard, it was parked on my driveway. She said no one had complained, that she had been driving through the neighborhood and saw the boat personally. I ended up showing her a copy of my storage contract and paid receipts for my indoor storage and told her that as a working, tax paying citizen it was unreasonable to assume that 24 hours was enough time for me bring my boat home, go to work, attend to my other family duties, pack/unpack the boat and get it out of the driveway. She replied that if I needed more than 24 hours to meet my needs I could call her and she would give me special dispensation to keep the boat there for a few days. So far it's working out, but I still don't think I should have to worry about this kind of thing.

I also let her know about a family renting a house a few doors down and the inordinant amount of trash on the property and also about another home in the area where there are at least 5 familes of middle eastern decent living in one home, both in violation of City ordinances that I think are more important than my boat in my driveway.

I also don't like that it was mandatory for me to have to be a member of the neighborhood association in order to purchase the house to begin with. Next time I move, it will be somewhere where I don't have to deal with that kind of B.S.

posted 09-24-2010 05:34 PM ET (US)            

<<also about another home in the area where there are at least 5 familes of middle eastern decent living in one home, both in violation of City ordinances that I think are more important than my boat in my driveway.>>

posted 09-24-2010 06:29 PM ET (US)            

I agree with fishgutz. There is no way that you cannot store your boat behind a closed garage door. I understand that these Home Owners Associations have their place, and generally are looking out for you. In my last home, the neighbots kids built a gigantic skate board ramp that was about 25 feet long and 10 feet high. What an eyesore. My current association allows a boat to be out for up to 4 days at a time. A very reasonable time. Good luck.

posted 09-24-2010 07:01 PM ET (US)            

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1201018/ My-cars-jet--Or-turn-garage-door-work-art.html

posted 09-24-2010 07:25 PM ET (US)            

Get Tony to help research if the HOA has the ability to restrict use under state law. While regulating the number of non-related persons is typical, this restriction affects actual use of the structure. What will they do next, restrict tv screens to an exterior wall of a room so they are not viewable from the street when in use?

I lived in an HOA community in N. Va, for 5 years and served on the Board of Directors. I resigned and sold the house due to the zealots and the absurd need to control others. I found those who pushed the hardest for restrictionst were the least friendly, unwilling to compromise and showed poor taste.

posted 09-24-2010 09:01 PM ET (US)            

They have also managed to effectively ban barbecues and blue
curtains. I've feeling it won't pass and will get fixed.
We'll find out this weekend when we talk to our neighbors.

posted 09-24-2010 11:53 PM ET (US)            

Good luck, Chuck.

posted 09-25-2010 12:04 PM ET (US)            

In the case of your boat being a fire hazard. After 30 years of firefighting I've never been to a garage fire that was caused by a boat. Cars, lawnmowers, gas cans, charcoal grills, refrigerators, clothes dryers, yes. Boats, no.

posted 09-25-2010 01:27 PM ET (US)            

Hoosier: you definitely have the best solution, I wish I had 10 acres of my own property, to do with as I please...

WT: This may be law but it is insane, Homeowners associations were set up to keep property nice and well kept, but when some nobody gets a little power it goes to their head. And they think that everyone should follow Their rules, and Live Their lifes. I would never consider a boat and eye sore (has to be well kept) one being it is not a permanent item, second we have something in common...

posted 09-25-2010 11:35 PM ET (US)            

No real driveway. Six two-car garages face onto three sides
of a courtyard. Folks don't park in the courtyard long-term,
just to load and unload (and wash the boat). The units on
the other side of the street have one-car garages, and some
have a driveway. They are parking two cars in the driveway
over there.

New CC&Rs don't say anything about parking in a driveway.

posted 09-26-2010 10:42 AM ET (US)            

Do they just not like boaters?

posted 09-26-2010 03:16 PM ET (US)            

No disrespect to you guys who live in condos or are under the thumb of associations I agree, it's entirely unAmerican and against Yankee Ingenuity and drinkin beer. Paying all that money for a nice place to live then a bunch of rules. Remember back in the day living in apt complexes where you could hear the people upstairs walking around and more and you couldn't have a dog and planning out education and careers that included "someday I'll have my own place where I can have a dog..."

The deal about laws and rules is whether or not they can be enforced - no good unless enforceable. Seems like the test of reasonability and common sense should be paramount.

People who live active/action lifestyles have boats, kayaks, bikes, hang gliders, parasails and all the rest.

posted 09-27-2010 11:56 AM ET (US)            

Sorry for this situation you're in. It seems to have struck a chord among members.

posted 09-27-2010 12:43 PM ET (US)            

When I was buying my beach house, my attorney was required by law to find out if my sub-division had a POA.(in which I would have to join)

At that time, the "POA" was non-existent. After several start-ups, long after I closed, there was another iteration of this "POA" that got started, but I never joined it, and no document exists within county records or otherwise, with my signature saying that I would join or that I belonged to a POA.

Nevertheless, I began getting threatening letters from this bunch for dues not paid, etc., but they stopped after a while. There is also no lean on my property as they had threatened for not paying either.

My attorney says the reason for that is, another POA in the area did just that to a homeowner like me and LOST.

I keep my place tidy and neat, and give them no reason to mess with me, so I guess their happy. My neighbor was one of the "founding" members of this "new" consortium, and they have told me numerous other folks have not "joined" either and intent not to.

posted 09-27-2010 01:02 PM ET (US)            

Actually, it's not a condo, it's a "planned unit development"
which is similar but not quite the same.

2. The HOA does do a great job of keeping the property up. It's
arguably the nicest looking street in town.

3. Prior to these proposed new CC&Rs, their CC&Rs were pretty
reasonable. It's looking like Linda and I are not alone in
not liking them.

Chuck

posted 09-27-2010 02:38 PM ET (US)            

But I'm suprised the HOA under discussion here can have its covenants amended so easily. For ours, not only do you need a 2/3 (or maybe 3/4?) vote, but the proposed change has to be out for review for a considerable period.

posted 09-28-2010 10:42 AM ET (US)            

Maybe Florida has something similar.

California Civil Code § 1353.5 - Right to Display The American Flag.

(a) Except as required for the protection of the public
health or safety, no declaration or other governing
document shall limit or prohibit, or be construed to limit or prohibit, the display of the flag of the United States
by an owner on or in the owner's separate interest or
within the owner's exclusive use common area, as defined in
Section 1351.

(b) For purposes of this section, "display of the flag of
the United States" means a flag of the United States made
of fabric, cloth, or paper displayed from a staff or pole
or in a window, and does not mean a depiction or emblem of
the flag of the United States made of lights, paint, roofing,
siding, paving materials, flora, or balloons, or any other
similar building, landscaping, or decorative component.

(c) In any action to enforce this section, the prevailing
party shall be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.

posted 09-28-2010 11:30 AM ET (US)         

There are four homes that share the access to the ridge we are on. The earliest of the homes were built 40 years ago. At that time the path that became the access was a tractor road for the farmer to get to the fields. This “road” crossed a railroad track. Since then the rail line has been discontinued and it is now a recreation path maintained by the state.

A couple years ago the state decided that everyone who had access across the rec trail needed to have liability insurance for that crossing. Since there were four of us sharing the crossing we needed to form some type of HOA to deal with the state and the insurance co as a single entity.

We had a meeting and someone brought a cookie cutter HOA contract they got from their lawyer. I got to reading that then got to laughing and we all had a chuckle and ripped it up. Came up with our own.

It’s basically the opposite of a typical HOA contract. It focuses on clearly stating that we can each do whatever the heck we want and it will take a unanimous vote by the membership to make any changes.

The only requirements written in are that we are responsible for paying our share of the yearly insurance and that we share the cost of road maintenance. The only thing that can be done without unanimous agreement is minor road work which can be voted in with a majority vote. I say “minor” because we included a monetary cap on the majority vote and anything over that requires a unanimous vote. Between the four of us we have the equipment to maintain the road anyway and haven’t spent a dime on it in the 11 years I’ve been there. We are due to bring in some gravel though.

Even have a clause that states that snow removal is not the HOA’s responsibility so that some rich flatlander doesn’t move out here and demand the road to be cleared after every dusting of snow.

posted 10-02-2010 03:51 PM ET (US)            

I would keep the boat in my garage anyway. The HOA has no right to enter your garage without a warrant, so they will have no idea if your boat is in there or not. If they ask, tell them to f-off. If they claim they saw you put your boat in there, tell them you put it there to wax it, and it's not there anymore, and deny them the right to check. That's just ridiculous. And isn't Monterey a place that is and prides itself on it's maritime culture?

The fabulous, Laguna Seca Raceway there has been NIMBY'd into near uselessness by people who moved near the track AFTER it was already built. Outrageous.

posted 10-06-2010 06:28 PM ET (US)            

The garage is a standard attached two-car garage with it's
own door. The map of the lot follows the outline of the
living quarters and garage. So I'd guess it's "unit".

posted 10-11-2010 12:03 AM ET (US)            

And if you fired up your drag car in a residential neighborhood,
you got what you deserved.

The weekend place is the third HOA property I've owned. The
other two were perfectly reasonable. This one's old CC&Rs
were perfectly reasonable.

posted 10-13-2010 10:43 PM ET (US)            

separate interest
exclusive common area
common area

but the concept is the same, and code says the area within the
"lot" is separate interest, and the lot very clearly includes
the garage (I've got the assessor's maps).

It turns out they found several other things to get other
folks upset to. We aren't alone.

posted 12-06-2010 11:32 PM ET (US)            

Whew

posted 12-07-2010 10:35 PM ET (US)            

Congratulations. Tonight, I'll lift a glass in honor of your victory.

Abalones for everyone.