HOAs overstep - watch yours carefully!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The purpose of HOAs is to keep the “non-conformists” out. If you don’t agree with a community’s HOA, then that community is likely not for you,

If I wanted to live a community where unaccompanied kids and pets run wild, and where pets poop on my lawn and all the sidewalks (no owner pickup), I would not have purchased a home with a HOA that specifically prohibits such things. Please buy elsewhere if you can’t abide by the rules.

+1, people buy in these communities and then are shocked when the very rules that gave these communities the look and feel that drew them to live there, actually apply to them. People want the nice neighborhood with the neatly kept up streets and common spaces and the tidy lawns and yards and driveways not cluttered with crap. Then they move in and want to let their dog roam free in the front yard and put a boat in their driveway. Well guess what, if everyone else did those things, you wouldn't have wanted to live here in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you even know if your lots are severance? That’s a zoning commission question. You need to focus on that first before messing with your HOA. Many developments in Great Falls are zoned for several acres for the purpose of keeping the rural feel

It’s a buildable lot per zoning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I imagine this is primarily because you live in Great Falls, not because you live in an HOA.

Nope HOA.

[Anonymous]

Wow, OP! Why are they so unreasonable? Nothing you propose is crazy…

[Anonymous]

We live in gf. One of the primary reasons to live in gf was no Hoa. What the hell were you thinking Op?

[Anonymous]

While the lot is buildable per Fairfax county, your Hoa must approve the building plans. This is to ensure you don’t construct a plan that does not “fit” into the existing archiotheme of the community. I’m not sure the specific issue you are struggling with op.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While the lot is buildable per Fairfax county, your Hoa must approve the building plans. This is to ensure you don’t construct a plan that does not “fit” into the existing archiotheme of the community. I’m not sure the specific issue you are struggling with op.

Correct. If you read my original post, you’ll see that they believe they own the property and don’t want any building at all. Zoning in FFX disagrees.

I do wonder if people actually read posts on this forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in gf. One of the primary reasons to live in gf was no Hoa. What the hell were you thinking Op?

Small neighborhood, small HOA, one extremely uniformed, nosy, power drunk individual. One of the larger problems in GF is that a lot of it is out-lots in isolated, difficult spaces where they can’t even get gas to, and you need to bury propane.. There’s no HOA, but there are a host of other issues that made building unpalatable.

It’s pretty easy to defeat an HOA because usually they have no actual idea that they are not as powerful as they think they are, especially in the DC area.. Unfortunately, a lot of residents don’t even ask questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, OP! Why are they so unreasonable? Nothing you propose is crazy…

Because some people get so drunk on what they think is power, that they believe the garbage they spew. The reminder that rehabs are clamoring for homes and land, and that zoning law makes exceptions for them, does wonders to bring people back to earth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the lot is buildable per Fairfax county, your Hoa must approve the building plans. This is to ensure you don’t construct a plan that does not “fit” into the existing archiotheme of the community. I’m not sure the specific issue you are struggling with op.

Correct. If you read my original post, you’ll see that they believe they own the property and don’t want any building at all. Zoning in FFX disagrees.

I do wonder if people actually read posts on this forum.

They do not.

[Anonymous]

Do you have a management company?
HOAs are led by volunteers. I’ve been stuck on ours now for about 5 years because no one else steps up. I know nothing about law and don’t even have a degree.
Maybe you and some of these lawyer neighbors should step up at the next election.

[Anonymous]

My Dad lives with us. I need to get a railing in our front porch. I’ve been dragging my feet because I need to deal with the HOA. Is private property covered in ADA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While the lot is buildable per Fairfax county, your Hoa must approve the building plans. This is to ensure you don’t construct a plan that does not “fit” into the existing archiotheme of the community. I’m not sure the specific issue you are struggling with op.

Correct. If you read my original post, you’ll see that they believe they own the property and don’t want any building at all. Zoning in FFX disagrees.

I do wonder if people actually read posts on this forum.

DCUM may be a toxic cesspool, but it's our toxic cesspool!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My Dad lives with us. I need to get a railing in our front porch. I’ve been dragging my feet because I need to deal with the HOA. Is private property covered in ADA?

I think the HOA can review disability required rails and ramps for aesthetic considerations, but not forbid them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HOA has bylaws on the books that prevent children from walking/running/ touching the grass. They date back 40+ years. The neighborhood is now filled with children. We have received - as well as all our neighbors- notices from the HOA’s attorney our children violated the rules.

The HOA President has lived in the neighborhood for 45 years… she sees no reason to change. Unfortunately no one will challenge her as she seeks vengeance on all challenges.

Why would you buy into this HOA if you don't like the rules? That's what I don't get. We bought into a small HOA because of the rules. We had to sign a document at closing that we were aware of the rules.

A few people have recently bought into our HOA because it is a small gated community designed for retirees. It is in a larger non-HOA neighborhood in the most expensive neighborhood in the city. So younger people are buying in here so they can live in the neighborhood even though they can't afford the single family homes. Now they want to turn do away with the rules. Not enough of them yet to manage it, but with most in their 80s and 90s I am sure it won't be long before the quiet refuge this place has always been for older people will become bedlam given that it isn't built for a lot of people.