Who Makes The HOA Rules and When Did We Let Them?

Six years ago we gave away many of our freedoms quite by accident. We thought we were doing the right thing, trading a rural life that had become unmanageable due to health issues -- for an easier life in the suburbs of a big city.

More than anyone in the family, I was aware that this would be a big trade-off in terms of personal freedoms. However, even I couldn't have imagined how much we'd be giving up.

My husband is an old farm boy, very much set in his ways and beliefs. Moving him from a seven hundred acre farm, in rural West Virginia, to subdivision living in Central Florida was major. No longer could he step outside in his boots and underwear, to survey his kingdom and water the lawn without the water pump coming on. He'd be giving up being able to buy heavy equipment at farm auctions and have someplace to put his newest man toy. He'd be foregoing the sounds and familiar sights of deer in the pasture, coyotes calling each other, geese squawking, and the 3:00 a.m. crowing of a certain rooster hell bent on being the first of our many free-ranged roosters, to hail each new day.

On the other hand, we'd be getting the health care that would save his life, as he had both colon cancer and was transfusion dependent. Our rural lifestyle meant we were living in a community where the nearest doctor-- traveling forty-five mountain miles to the nearest town with more than one stop light. Health care in that town was substandard at best. Relocating was our only answer and in the end, the answer that saved his life. He is now cancer free and no longer transfusion dependent.

For me, it was a little easier, as after fifteen years of living on the last farm on a dirt road, two miles from the nearest neighbor, and six miles from the nearest paved road -- I was way over the little inconveniences. These were minor daily life details, like:

• Squirrels in the transformer knocking out the electricity frequently;
• Being snowed in for three weeks at a time;
• Shoveling snow;
• Burning the trash in burn barrels;
• No cell phone coverage;
• Only dial up for the Internet.

Don't get me wrong, it was the best place I've ever lived (and I've lived all over the world), but the older we got, the harder rural life became.

Moving to the "big city" as he puts it, gave us a lot of new challenges in learning how to live in a new environment. Our new home was beautiful, brand new, complete with swimming pool, and all sorts of new-fangled experiences for my husband. Not all of them appreciated, especially at first.

I gave him a cell phone and for the first six months he'd refuse to use it, saying -- "I don't want the @#$ thing, my fingers are bigger than the numbers."(He's a big man, 6"5 weighing over 240 pounds, and wearing a size 17 boot). Then, one day when he was lost on an unfamiliar road, we started getting phone calls from him. They all started out the same, not even so much as a hello, but "this is the biggest miracle since the calculator!"

Now, we no longer hear him complaining about owning a cell phone, although we do still get the lecture that the world needs to go back to rotary dial phones. Still, we can't get him to turn it on except when he wants to call someone. Gotta save that battery!

With cathedral ceilings in a three thousand square foot house to air condition, and pool pump -- the subject of lower electric bills soon became a hot topic in hot Florida. All of our appliances were of the energy savings type, yet given rising electricity prices -- we could not get our electric bill down to less than $300.00 per month. This sent the boy who should have never left the farm on a mission.

His mission assignment started with a simple family discussion, about how much do you save by line drying clothes instead of using the dryer. My husband made me a bet, he'd put up an umbrella style clothes line and for the thirty days, and we would not use the dryer. He predicted that the savings on the electric bill, would be well over one hundred dollars. I thought there would be some savings, but it wouldn't be that significant.

The first month of this bet, we had no inkling that this would be anything more than our usual marital bets -- considering both of us are the oldest children in our respective families. Both of us are given to being bossy, stubborn, and always wanting our way. One of us would win, the other would lose, both certain it was the other.

What we didn't count on was trouble was lurking in paradise, right in our own back yard. Typical of his farm upbringing, my husband doesn't do anything half way, and he doesn't do anything in a hurry. For the whole first month of the bet, he:

• Comparison shopped for clothes line systems;
• Measured different areas of the backyard for proper placement;
• Measured for the best sunlight for optimum drying; and
• Spent at least several days pouring Quickcrete into a five gallon plastic bucket, digging a hole for it, and installing the umbrella style clothes system in the ground.

Therefore, I don't have to paint a picture about how much emotional and sweat equity went into this venture. Proud of his accomplishment, on the first day of the next month, Phase II of the bet was in place when I hung the first load of wash on the line. In Florida (if it's not the rainy season), the sun would dry the clothes within a couple of hours, maybe less.

That first load wasn't dry before the phone call came.

"You'll have to remove that clothes line immediately, it's against the homeowners association rules." Huh?

Well, we may have left some roosters back in West Virginia, but the rooster I live with was livid by the time he got off the phone. "Who are these people that make up these rules? I paid cash for this house and pay the taxes. Nobody is going to tell me what I can and can't do in my own backyard."

Homeowners associations are a reality in Florida and many other states. Florida state and counties always require that the builder form an Homeowners Associations (HOAs) in order to get the subdivision permit, the building permits, etc. Additionally, HOAs also maintain the common areas and provide liability insurance for those areas. If you're subdivision has a sign at the entrance with the community name, chances are you will have an HOA.

Now, it wasn't like we didn't know we lived in an HOA ruled community. However, in this state, as in others, the sellers are responsible for getting the Homeowners Associations bylaws and rules to the buyer. In this state, very often the sellers may be international investors, who don't even show up for the closing, leaving the matter of getting the HOA documents up to a realtor they've never even met.

The realtors, eager to collect their commissions and run -- were very vague as to what those rules were about (aside from how much a month our monthly association dues were -- on that they were clear). They never did get around to getting us a copy. Having bought our house from some disenchanted UK investors, who had become tired of their vacation rental business -- the HOA documents were destined to never arrive once our money was in their hands.

The realtor's excuse was, that they couldn't obtain a copy of it either. Supposedly, the HOA was in limbo, as they needed to find a new manager and Board of Directors.

In the interim, some self-appointed neighbors had taken over and became the "taste police" who walked the community daily looking for offenders small and large. The most obnoxious of these, was a realtor, who didn't even live in our development, but in another development, This was key to our situation, as his house's property backed up to our backyard!

They had hired a property management company to be their enforcer. The company was located nearly forty miles away and wasn't going to strain themselves in verifying the facts. However, they were very good a sending enforcement letters and promptly assessing fines for violations.

A homeowners association is legal entity. Most of them operate by managing the neighborhood and enforcing the home owners bylaws or covenants, conditions, and restrictions of the area.

After the developer/builder sells a certain number of homes in its neighborhood, it can transfer legal ownership of the neighborhood to the HOA. Builders do this quickly because it essentially absolves them of any and responsibilities and liabilities for the management of the neighborhood.

Home owner associations have a lot of power, even though they are technically a non-profit organization. Some have more rules and power than others. They can:

• Set neighborhood rules;
• Collect assessments from its members;
• Impose fines for violations;
• Change the rules to suit them behind closed doors;
• They can legally foreclose on your home.

Legally, there are few checks and balances that the residents of such a community can depend upon, should your HOA be ruled by self-appointed tyrants. Unfortunately, historically courts and judges will rule against the homeowner, as you agreed to abide by the HOA rules, when you purchased the home. You need to be certain you can live with the home owner association bylaws when you purchase a home with an HOA.

The laws governing homeowners associations of course, vary by state, and by municipality. In theory, home owner associations are supposed to be a good thing. A well functioning HOA can prevent the guy next door from opening his own auto repair business out of his garage. They can protect your property values by ensuring the artist free spirit neighbor across the street, doesn't decorate his yard by plants flowers in a discarded toilet fixture and get rid of junk cars. They can keep the neighborhood safe, clean, increase property values, and provide your neighborhood with extra amenities, like community pools, club houses, etc.

The problem is, once established, the board members can restrict access to HOA meetings and can virtually vote themselves into the jobs, controlling the money you pay and changing the rules of the HOA as they go. Home owners association dues can be raised as often and as much as they alone decide. Furthermore, you can find yourself paying higher homeowners fees on the whim of a board director, who decided it would be nice to put a lighted water fountain in the middle of the common retaining pond (most like installed by his company or his buddy's).

It may surprise you to learn that homeowner association fees can range from $95 a year to $800 a year or more on the conservative side. Currently, we pay $230 a month in home owners association dues and an additional $73 a month in mandatory amenity dues (for the community pool and exercise room). That's over $3,600 a year on top of taxes!

True to our stubborn natures, we continued our clothes line bet until the 30th day. True to the HOA citizen police, we were harassed until the day we took it down. It didn't take but a year for us to decide to sell that house, and move to another subdivision that was less restrictive, still it had an HOA too.

It's almost impossible to find a home without an home owners association, unless you want an older home and want to pay substantially more for it.

Today, we live in a resort style HOA gated and restricted community. Thus far, the covenants and rules aren't particularly restrictive.

Maybe that because of the economy because of the over 600 homes planned for this community, only twenty-five homes were built before all construction stopped. Only twelve of the homes have residents, at least half of them are rentals. Should be interesting to see what develops on the home owners association home front.

For the record, my husband has high hopes for this community. He's already talking about where he's going to put the clothes line he's been storing in the garage. LOL

• Line drying clothes saves energy;
• Clothes last longer;
• Elimination of lint;
• Line drying kills germs! The ultraviolet sun rays kill bacteria;
• Line drying is perfect for things that should not go in the dryer (like rubber backed rugs);
• Line drying is good exercise
• Line drying protects the environment;
• Line drying is a natural bleach for your whites.