What's the most outrageous HOA rules you have encountered?

[Anonymous]

?

[Anonymous]

Maybe not "outrageous," but pretty strict:
- cars parked on the street past midnight get towed
- gutters and sidewalks must be power washed yearly

[Anonymous]

Curtains facing the street could not show patterns

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe not "outrageous," but pretty strict:
- cars parked on the street past midnight get towed
- gutters and sidewalks must be power washed yearly

That seems outrageous to me. Late night gatherings? Out of town guests?

[Anonymous]

Before this thread takes off, can someone explain how these "rules" are legal?

[Anonymous]

Not really a rule, but wouldn't assist us in contacting the owners of the townhouse next door when we couldn't get the renters to answer their door. Their Direct TV dish had fallen onto our roof. They couldn't have cared less. But wait, when the Derecho blew one of our numbers off our address out front, you better believe they were all over that within a day...

[Anonymous]

An HOA a friend of mine lived in (rented, didn't own) didn't allow you to have screens on the windows facing the street. Garbage pickup was around 8 AM on a weekday and you had to have the cans back at the house by 9 AM.

[Anonymous]

Another one: didn't care when the neighbors weren't putting their garbage into bins with lids, causing the garbage to blow all over the streets every single week. I mean, a little bit, who cares, but I swear to god this stuff was EVERYWHERE. Then wanted to fine us for putting our garbage out too early by a few hours because we were leaving town.

Kingstowne HOA. They are horrible. Anyone who answers the phone there is just a miserable, nasty person. I was so glad when we moved from there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curtains facing the street could not show patterns

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An HOA a friend of mine lived in (rented, didn't own) didn't allow you to have screens on the windows facing the street. Garbage pickup was around 8 AM on a weekday and you had to have the cans back at the house by 9 AM.

That's insane. So if you left fit work by 7:30?
Hope a neighbor is retired or sahm and would pull it in for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe not "outrageous," but pretty strict:
- cars parked on the street past midnight get towed
- gutters and sidewalks must be power washed yearly

That seems outrageous to me. Late night gatherings? Out of town guests?

You could get a permit for a party. Everyone in the neighborhood has a 3 car garage and a driveway that could accommodate out of town visitors. It wasn't ever an issue.

My current neighborhood has cars blocking the street and it's dangerous for kids to play because you can't see them around the cars. Their driveways are empty though...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before this thread takes off, can someone explain how these "rules" are legal?

You receive all the HOA covenent documents when you make your offer and you have x number of days to back out if the rules are not acceptable to you. When you go to closing you sign saying you have read/agree to the HOA docs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curtains facing the street could not show patterns

This is standard. All 3 HOAs that I've lived in in the DC area required white lining on curtains (or a neutral, no pattern). Otherwise you'd get aluminum foil or sports flags like DH's neighbor's had on their windows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An HOA a friend of mine lived in (rented, didn't own) didn't allow you to have screens on the windows facing the street. Garbage pickup was around 8 AM on a weekday and you had to have the cans back at the house by 9 AM.

That's insane. So if you left fit work by 7:30?
Hope a neighbor is retired or sahm and would pull it in for you!

You'd come home to a note taped to your door, same day service. The owner didn't disclose all the bullshit rules before my friend rented from them and the lease didn't make my friend liable for the fines. So, my friend just went about their life and put the garbage out and took it back in on a normal morning/evening schedule and put the screens in so they could have the windows open without the bugs getting in and the owner had to take whatever fines were levied by the HOA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curtains facing the street could not show patterns

This is standard. All 3 HOAs that I've lived in in the DC area required white lining on curtains (or a neutral, no pattern). Otherwise you'd get aluminum foil or sports flags like DH's neighbor's had on their windows.

The horror!