# Home Owners Assoc. bankrupts itself over size limit of election poster in a yard **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 10, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887 "2013-02-10T17:03:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/61 "2013-02-12T17:39:27Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I despise HOAs, but the house I’m buying next month has one. I couldn’t find a decent house at a decent price in this area which didn’t have an HOA. > > Luckily, the fees are only fifty bucks a year- and they’re _voluntary_. I have no idea how that works- does anyone voluntarily pay more money? Supposedly we have to run any modifications to the house past the board, but with no required annual fees, how much of a board can there be? Looking over their rules, there’s not much on there that I object to, but still… I would really, seriously consider talking to a few people in the neighborhood, especially if you hate HOAs that much. You’re probably right that it won’t be an issue, but I’d double (and triple) check. miss elizabeth a fellow HOA hater ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/62 "2013-02-12T17:43:14Z")
Our HOA fees are the princely sum of $40 per year. It’s mandatory, but the HOA has no money with which to retain a lawyer to sue non-payers, so it’s basically voluntary. The fees mainly cover the taxes, maintenance and decoration of the two entry lots. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/63 "2013-02-12T17:52:25Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Is it anywhere near Belle Haven Marina? I used to rent sailboats there and lounge out on the Potomac. Yes, within easy walking distance. Belle Haven Blvd. is right across the GW Parkway from the Belle Haven Marina. As you head away from the parkway on Belle Haven, the townhouse community in the article is on your left between the GW Parkway and Fort Hunt Rd. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/64 "2013-02-12T18:54:21Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Our HOA fees are the princely sum of $40 per year. It’s mandatory, but the HOA has no money with which to retain a lawyer to sue non-payers, so it’s basically voluntary. > > The fees mainly cover the taxes, maintenance and decoration of the two entry lots. Our HOA is pretty laid back too. Our fees are getting close to $100, but still in double digits. We have a ballfield where kids can play softball, soccer, and whatnot, plus a basketball court, and the HOA fees maintain these things plus the sidewalk that runs most of the length of the main street through the neighborhood, and a small patch of land and a sign at the entrance to the neighborhood. There aren’t many retirees in our neighborhood, and the folks on the HOA board aren’t interested in being busybodies. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/65 "2013-02-12T19:11:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another anti-HOA person here. It always seems to me that any potential bad neighbour problems that a HOA might prevent are far outweighed by the potential bad neighbour problems a HOA can create. The risk of an idiot parking a rusty car on his front lawn or painting his house purple is more acceptable to me than the risk of an idiot taking over the local HOA and telling me what I can do with my lawn and what color I have to paint my house. Maybe until you get in the situation and end up next door to that purple house when you’re trying to sell yours. Or that rusty car just inches from your property line. I have also heard of horror stories of HOA but I’ve lived in neighborhoods without them that quickly decline the year the builders move on. This mornings I was notsopatiently waiting for my daughter to drive her to school and was taking a walk around my property. I noticed the house across the street and over one has paint peeling off the side of their house with big unpainted patches. I am sure the HOA is on top of this. I would hate to live in a neighborhood that your home value could be brought down because someone is too lazy to get up on a ladder with a brush and a bucket of paint. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/66 "2013-02-12T19:30:32Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > The more I hear about HOAs, the more I think that X-Files episode about one wasn’t much of an exaggeration. Only the monster part. Famous (locally) quaint townhouse tract in Vegas had a psycho HOA pres who would vandalize the homes, then fine the homeowners. A friend of mine who lived there set up CC cameras and filmed him wrecking the neighborhood. He was replaced by a different mob guy. First new rule: no CC cameras allowed in the tract. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/67 "2013-02-12T20:19:15Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > Maybe until you get in the situation and end up next door to that purple house when you’re trying to sell yours. Or that rusty car just inches from your property line. I have also heard of horror stories of HOA but I’ve lived in neighborhoods without them that quickly decline the year the builders move on. > > This mornings I was notsopatiently waiting for my daughter to drive her to school and was taking a walk around my property. I noticed the house across the street and over one has paint peeling off the side of their house with big unpainted patches. I am sure the HOA is on top of this. I would hate to live in a neighborhood that your home value could be brought down because someone is too lazy to get up on a ladder with a brush and a bucket of paint. And I’d hate to live in a neighborhood where the nosy busybody across the street with nothing better to do actually had some authority to force me to accede to her outrageous demands about my own property. Different strokes. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/68 "2013-02-12T22:32:15Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > Maybe until you get in the situation and end up next door to that purple house when you’re trying to sell yours. Or that rusty car just inches from your property line. I think if you are willing to live next door to other people, you have to be willing to live with whatever decisions they might choose to make. I don’t consider “it’ll drive down my property values” as a valid basis for running your neighbors’ lives. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/69 "2013-02-12T22:45:12Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Yes, within easy walking distance. Belle Haven Blvd. is right across the GW Parkway from the Belle Haven Marina. As you head away from the parkway on Belle Haven, the townhouse community in the article is on your left between the GW Parkway and Fort Hunt Rd. Thanks, when I lived there, I didn’t know the local VA roads as I didn’t have a car. I lived in the District and frequently biked along the path that went from the bridge next to the Lincoln Memorial down along the west bank of the Potomac all the way to Mount Vernon. I used to stop at the marina’s shop for drinks and snacks, and eventually learned something about sailing and started renting their boats. I don’t think I ever crossed over the GW Parkway in all that time, so I was skirting past the eastern edge of this HOA without really being aware of it. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/70 "2013-02-12T23:49:39Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > Maybe until you get in the situation and end up next door to that purple house when you’re trying to sell yours. Or that rusty car just inches from your property line. I have also heard of horror stories of HOA but I’ve lived in neighborhoods without them that quickly decline the year the builders move on. I can see your point. At the same time, you probably haven’t gotten into a feud with a neighbor and you probably aren’t the wrong color/religion/sexual orientation for the people on your HOA board. Some HOAs have used the rules to persecute the NOKD, and that shouldn’t be acceptable, because eventually you will be NOKD to someone. I’m not pro or anti-HOA. They can certainly provide benefit by creating and maintaining public areas, but IMO, enforcement should be left to enforcement agencies. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/71 "2013-02-14T20:42:19Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > According to the OP story in Virginia, this is not quite the case, though of course this will vary from state to state. Apparently, the original covenant that these people agreed to did not include the power for the HOA to levy fines to enforce its rulings; the HOA voted itself the power to do so as part of the process that led to the lawsuit. And the lawsuit actually established the legal precedent (for Virginia) that an HOA doesn’t have the power to do so unless those are the terms of the covenant as originally established. Yep, that’s it. You may be able to amend the covenants but that procedure is a lot trickier than simply getting the board to pass something. I think that most newer HOAs in Northern Virginia do have the authority to fine people since HOAs have gotten a bit more rigid since that point in time. I have to seriously wonder what any of these people were thinking. The statute in this case authorizes attorney’s fees. So at the end of the day, the HOA was responsible for the Plaintiff’s as well as their own. At some point, there must have been an election and a chance to get a new board. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887/72 "2013-02-15T01:31:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > That article confirmed my resolve to never purchase a home controlled by a HOA. I see no need for a HOA at all. > There’s just no need to give a HOA so much power over an entire neighborhood. There’s already city ordinances to take care of people that don’t mow their yard, or have trash or junk cars in the yard. You don’t need a HOA for that type of stuff. This. I had a professor in a protracted battle with an HOA, in short, because they made a rule, or misapplied one, that screwed his retired mother out of something like 2-300K. The court ruled in his favor, but, still, he had the legal expense, etc… of dealing with a bunch of jr. Fuehrer’s. Kinda related: When a neighborhood watch held an election in my neighborhood, the new ‘President’ or WTF they are called, sent out a circular to the neighborhood. (We always get these, even though we are not in the watch group, etc…) In it, he promised not to be too strict a ruler! (Or, something of the same substance.) If he was the head of a bunch of volunteer watchmen, with such an exalted opinion of himself and his power, you can just imagine how power would go to the heads of somebody who can actually control your house/property. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-assoc-bankrupts-itself-over-size-limit-of-election-poster-in-a-yard/649887.md?page=3)