We (Mrs. S and I) moved in to our house about a month ago, and everything’s been fine, although we noticed that not a single person has welcomed us to the neighborhood. No biggie there though, we’ve got friends, and I developed a keen skill of not taking anything personally.
Anyway, yesterday was yardwork day. I parked my car out front so I could get to the lawn stuff in the garage easily. This morning when it’s time to go to work, I see a note in my car door:
“Dear Neighbor, PLEASE PARK IN REAR. Thank you”
Of course it’s not signed, and no reason is given why I need to park in back. On my way out of the subdivision heading to work, I see no less than a dozen other cars parked in front of houses. What’s the deal here?
As I’m typing this one thing occurs to me, on the front of my car (which is a 97 Sebring) is a dent where I hit a curb a few years ago. It’s not huge, but is definitely noticable from the front. Is that what’s offending this moron? I’ve always thought of my car as just a way to get from point A to point B, I don’t really give a rat’s ass about how it looks.
It’s hard to tell without more research. I’d suggest parking your car out front constantly from now on, until whoever has a problem gives you an answer. If you want to speed up the process, you might want to spend $100 on a real wreck of a car and leave that out front.
Not knowing much about Yuppietown USA, I would suspect that your area of housing is under some form of city ordinance or property owner association. A quick check by calling your City Hall might reveal if there is something illegal about parking your vehicle in front of your house rather than on your property.
Many property owner associations and land contracts restrict the parking of the vehicle in front of the house as well. If you know of such an association in Yuppietown, best get in touch with them so that you understand any rules of the community.
I suspect the message on your car was a warning and that if you continue they might push the law or the property owners association into doing something about it.
Hopefully you were smart and hired an attorney when you purchased your property, and that attorney explained any land contracts or property owner’s association rights before you purchased the property.
RainbowDragon I could dig that if not for the fact that there are a lot of other cars parked on the street in the neighborhood. I’ll check the homeowner’s association stuff when I get home though.
Actually, closer inspection of your posting has revealed your problem
You see, it’s your actual philosophy here that’s the problem. Speaking as a self confessed yuppie, that “car as just a way to get from point A to point B” could challenge our whole point scoring system for establishing social prestige. Get with the program and buy yourself a BMW - a fucking 97 Sebring? I’d have left a note telling you to park it in a lake.
[sub]note for the humour impaired - this is not meant seriously. I have no problems with 97 Sebrings, mainly because as a shallow Yuppie I can look down on them and their owners from the leather seats of my teutonic ego extension[/sub]
Even if there is a homeowners association…if you want to leave your car out front then do it. Let them sue and there’s a decent chance you’ll screw the association.
HOA really piss me off. It’s my land…if my sense of aesthetics leads me to paint my house fuschia and emerald green then I’m going to do it.
And on preview…
Hell, Lady Chance and I clearly count as yuppies. But we’re yuppies willing to not follow the pack.
Mr. S’s brother lives in just such an area. They have a rule against tool sheds – but you can have a gazebo. So he built a gazebo – and he keeps his tools in it.
Six months to a year ago someone posted a thread about the same subject. IIRC the rationale given by the objecting neighbor(s) was the safety of kids; I think that they felt that a small child could be hidden from a driver’s view by a parked car on the street, and said child might dart into oncoming traffic.
(Personally, I think the argument is utter horsesh*t. Overzealous parents want to turn the world into one big ChuckyCheez. But I will reserve my rants for that wonderful childhating thread that someone started in the pit a few days ago…)
my poor mom has a house with a home owner association that would make the taliban proud. i keep telling her to invite these people to engage in auto-eroticism, but she caves to them everytime! oh well, its not where i would live!
We have good friends who live in a neighborhood where cars MUST be parked in the garage and the garage door must be closed unless a vehicle is going in or out. They were aware of these rules before they chose to live there. We were aware of the rules when we opted to live elsewhere. As we plan our next move, HOA is one of the first thigs we question. I have no problems with associations saying that you can’t have a refrigerator on the front stoop, but when they dictate what color petunias I must plant…
Do you live in/near Philadelphia, PA? If so, I have two '60 Studebaker Lark parts cars and/or a reeeeeeeeeealy grotty '72 Impala I’d be willing to let you borrow for awhile.
HOA’s really piss me off. True story:
Last fall I decided to buy a house. For awhile I thought the only place I could afford was a townhouse in one of those planned unit developments. When I went to look at one particular property it was a nice day so I drove my '66 Cadillac Fleetwood. It’s not a museum piece but it looks OK-I’m in the process of fixing it up as time and money permit.
As I pulled into the development, I was met by the property manager, who looked as if someone had just force-fed her a bucket of pus. As I exited the car and introduced myself, the woman’s first words to me were, <withering snooty voice> “You won’t be parking that here every day, will you?” </withering snooty voice>
I replied “No,” turned around, and without a word got back in my car and drove off. A few weeks later I found the place I bought, a nice older ranch house in a decent neighborhood. Plus, the folks on my street think my Cadillac is cool.
Fuckin’ yuppie do-gooders. I had a similiar thing happen with my dog when I moved into my yuppified neighborhood. The yard had not been landscaped, so it was a bare field of dirt. I wa in the process of getting it done, but work had just started. In the first few weeks I lived there, I had a heck of a time keeping my dog in the fenced backyard. First, the landscape people left the gate open, and she escaped. Then, she figured out that the gate was her door to freedom, and commensed digging under the gate and letting herself out. As a result, I paid to have cement poured under the gate. However, this didn’t happen immediately - it took me a few days to figure out just how she was getting out.
I was damn worried - this was my DOG, and I certainly didn’t want her wandering around the neighborhood while I was at work. There were busy streets within walking distance, she could have easily been hurt.
The icing on the cake was coming home to find an anonymous nasty note in my mailbox, threatening me to keep my dog in or else! Fucking bitch. You think I don’t want to keep my dog in my backyard? You think I paid to put that fence up simply because I couldn’t figure out some other way to spend several thousand dollars? You think I want my dog running into your yard? Fuck NO! And if you’re going to leave notes, why not leave your Goddamn NAME on it? Because your a damn coward, that’s why. Bitch.
LOL my thought exactly. My note had no name or house number on it of course. So I can’t ask whoever wrote it what the problem is.
Also - I just skimmed the HOA Bylaws - and I see nothing about parking out front. As I mentioned before - this is supported by the fact that there are a lot of cars parked on the street.
I’m of two minds on this one. On the one hand, if you move into a place with a HOA, by buying the place you’re agreeing to abide by the HOA rules. Typically you have to sign something to that effect.
But OTOH, it often happens that the first you know about the HOA is at closing. (Yeah, you should ask, ahead of time, but in buying a house, there’s so many things you should ask - and you’re never going to remember to ask them all.)
And I don’t know if it’s become any easier, but trying to get the lawyers handling the closing to let you look at anything ahead of time, in my experience, has been like pulling teeth. (I know that some of the closing documents contain numbers that aren’t fixed until time of closing, but most of 'em (e.g. HOA bylaws) aren’t changing from one day to the next.) But that’s a whole 'nother rant.
I’ve been to your house. Nobody who lives out where you guys do is an ‘urban’ anything. You’re a coupla Young Boonies Professionals.
As for the OP, I personally hate HOA’s. I can’t stand the idea that anyone else feels they can tell me what colour I can paint my house, or where I should park my car. When my neighbours start paying my mortgage and taxes, then they can have some say in these things. Until then, it is NOYFB.
Even though there are a lot of cars parked on the street, that doesn’t mean that the prick living nearby isn’t going to press the issue in your case. Still he isn’t saying “Move your hunk of junk or else the Home Owner’s Association will fine you!” Perhaps it is purely motivated by disdain for you or your parked vehicle.
Be prepared, and make sure your HOA bylaws are current and that there isn’t a city ordinance. If this asshole wants to press the issue further, you could see changes in the HOA bylaws (of course THEN he would have to make his/her presence known).
There can often be harsh penalties in violating the HOA, and you need to keep mindful of their restrictions and policies when you purchase a piece of property.
