My dealings with the local HOA ...

[280z1975]

So after less than a week of working on my Z I get a nice letter from the HOA (Home Owners Assosiation) that I can not have my Z parked in my driveway.

Now my Z is pretty much dismantled to the shell and on jackstands. But the thing is I always cover it with a car cover and the driveway is cleaned up everytime I am done. It's also parked at the front of my driveway with three cars behind it.

So why does this bother me so much ... cause my neighbor has 9 (yes that reads right) cars in a house that is supposed to be a single family home. Normally there are three cars in the street with another 5-6 in the drive and partialy on the grass. One of the thier cars has been sitting right behind our driveway for the past two weeks and hasn't moved (see photo) and is a huge POS ... and they complain about mine having a car cover ...

The real kicker of it all is our HOA has lots of rules, but little ways to enforce them. I not so kindly told the lady who sent me the letter if they get the POS moved from behing my driveway I will move my Z ... the other car hasn't moved yet

[ncz]

Hey Gregg, ask Will(HLS30) what to do about this one, he knows the drill to get them off your back

[EScanlon]

Before you go shooting your mouth off and finding out that you literally shot yourself in the butt, get the facts! Don't ~assume~ anything, have them S-P-E-L-L out Why, What, When, Where and How you are in non-compliance (note the wording). Do NOT admit to anything, nor agree to anything, get the facts. Once you have the facts then you can range them and sink them in the water.

Your post doesn't explain why YOU can't park a Z in your driveway. Is it because YOU did something? or because of something else? Is it because you're working on the car and THAT is what isn't allowed, or is it because you're up until 2 am banging at it with an impact wrench? Is someone citing the CC&R's of the complex or someone complaining that they don't like your mess? What "violation" are you guilty of making?

That your neighbors are also breaking the CC&R's is NOT a reason why YOU don't have to abide by them. Is the HOA a true membership association or simply some Nazi-Tonya that insists you kow-tow to his/her/it's whims? Are they citing specific items in the CC&R's or simply someone's opinion?

What YOU think of the condition of someone else's vehicle is irrelevant....if their vehicle is operable and yours is not and the CC&R specifies NO NON-operating vehicles on your property. The number of cars need not necessarily come into play either. If the CC&R's address your situation SPECIFICALLY (i.e. no mechanical work to be performed outside of the garage for more than 2 days without moving the vehicle), find the "exception". If the exception is like the example, without moving, then simply move the car back and forth one or two feet and take pictures.

Better yet, once you find out the facts, it might be easier to get the majority of the Home Owners in the area to agree to rescind that part of the CC&R and you can then tell that Nazi-Tonya to go pound sand. But remember this, you MUST be an owner and a member of the HOA before you can approach it this way.

All of this is food for thought, see if you can scan and post the letter.

Enrique

Get the facts.

[280z1975]

Before you go shooting your mouth off and finding out that you literally shot yourself in the butt, get the facts! Don't ~assume~ anything, have them S-P-E-L-L out Why, What, When, Where and How you are in non-compliance (note the wording). Do NOT admit to anything, nor agree to anything, get the facts. Once you have the facts then you can range them and sink them in the water.

Your post doesn't explain why YOU can't park a Z in your driveway. Is it because YOU did something? or because of something else? Is it because you're working on the car and THAT is what isn't allowed, or is it because you're up until 2 am banging at it with an impact wrench? Is someone citing the CC&R's of the complex or someone complaining that they don't like your mess? What "violation" are you guilty of making?

That your neighbors are also breaking the CC&R's is NOT a reason why YOU don't have to abide by them. Is the HOA a true membership association or simply some Nazi-Tonya that insists you kow-tow to his/her/it's whims? Are they citing specific items in the CC&R's or simply someone's opinion?

What YOU think of the condition of someone else's vehicle is irrelevant....if their vehicle is operable and yours is not and the CC&R specifies NO NON-operating vehicles on your property. The number of cars need not necessarily come into play either. If the CC&R's address your situation SPECIFICALLY (i.e. no mechanical work to be performed outside of the garage for more than 2 days without moving the vehicle), find the "exception". If the exception is like the example, without moving, then simply move the car back and forth one or two feet and take pictures.

Better yet, once you find out the facts, it might be easier to get the majority of the Home Owners in the area to agree to rescind that part of the CC&R and you can then tell that Nazi-Tonya to go pound sand. But remember this, you MUST be an owner and a member of the HOA before you can approach it this way.

All of this is food for thought, see if you can scan and post the letter.

Enrique

Get the facts.

The reason for the letter was about not parking a non-daily driven/ non-working car in the driveway. The car works, but isn't being driven as I have it torn apart at the moment. I only work on the car from about noon to 6pm on any given day.

The post was not so much a plea for advice about dealing with my HOA (It's my parents home, I just had my offer on my first home in Hamilton, Ontario accepted two days ago, so this HOA is not a concern for me). The whole reason for posting about our HOA is cause it's so pointless, they send letters, but never do anything.

They like to send me or my parents letters about how we park on the grass. Well the driveway that was installed in our home buy the builders they chose won't let a regular size car pull up on the right hand side even with the front bumper to the garage door (my Nissan Sentra just fits with all four wheels).

Anyways, I moved the Z into the garage this evening not so much to appease the HOA as to be able to work on it when the rain happened this afternoon.

I looked for a copy of our HOA online, but there is none ... I like a lot of the things they have in there, but then again, there are some stupid rules in there.

Back to my original point (I have to much free time this evening). If the HOA wants me to comply to their rules they better have my neighbors also comply to the same rules.

[george71z]

HOA's are nothing but a bunch of Nazi propagandists that are usually filled with retired A-holes that have nothing better to do all day. Having said that, I can relate to your problem. I was restoring my friends 72 at my house, and had the Z in my garage. We had it down to a roller in anticipation of moving it to the body shop. I had to put it on my driveway so the body guy could come by to estimate it. It was registered and titled, but I had removed the plate to do some work on the tail-light finishers. Next thing was a notice from the Fire Dept.(they handle building code violations in my town) that an unregistered vehicle was on my property. My so-called neighbors didn't even have the decency to ask me what was up with the car. They just called the city and sicced the F.D. on me. The car was gone to the shop by the time the inspector actually came around to look. Of course, they wouldn't tell me who complained.

[texasz]

Just a point of fact as to what an HOA can do if they so choose...if it is a true HOA and not just a neighborhood association (there is a HUGE difference even though it does not soud like it by the names).

An HOA can in fact levy fines aganist the offender and if not resolved and the fines paid they can then place a lien against the home!!! Don't believe me, let it happen then try and sell your home.

How do I know...I'm a real estate investor and bought a home in 8/05 which had over $6k in fines built up against it and we could not close on it until those were cleared because they had filed a lien against the property. I do not wish to go in to all the details of how this was and why...just take away from this that it can and DOES happen.

[montoya_fan01]

Here's a good thread to read about this sort of subject

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18603

[280z1975]

Just a point of fact as to what an HOA can do if they so choose...if it is a true HOA and not just a neighborhood association (there is a HUGE difference even though it does not soud like it by the names).

An HOA can in fact levy fines aganist the offender and if not resolved and the fines paid they can then place a lien against the home!!! Don't believe me, let it happen then try and sell your home.

How do I know...I'm a real estate investor and bought a home in 8/05 which had over $6k in fines built up against it and we could not close on it until those were cleared because they had filed a lien against the property. I do not wish to go in to all the details of how this was and why...just take away from this that it can and DOES happen.

I to have heard about this happening from friends, also saw a 20/20 special on a flight back from Europe about it. The do have some serious power, but in the case of my HOA I am dealing with, I don't think they have anything to back up thier letters. They have sent up multiple "you are parking on the grass" letters and no fines. And from talking with my neighbor they don't do fines ...

In fact, the 'violation' is so vauge and broad that I would assume about half of the people in my neighborhood are guily of it ...

"Vehicles must be driven daily or stored out of street view - Blue car"

The letter is attached for those interested ...

[280z1975]

Here's a good thread to read about this sort of subject

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18603

After reading through most of this tread I guess it would be of note that I wasn't complaining about my breaking of the rules of my HOA, but more that my car was away from public site and covered with a nice new car cover and yet my neighbors car has stood in the same place for two weeks directly behind my driveway.

It's not just my neighbor either, there is a VERY rusted truck that hasn't moved for TWO months on the street across from mine ... if they are going to complain against me, they need to get these other guys (or gals) to complie to ...

[montoya_fan01]

maybe the neighbors got letters too, but they are simply ignoring them, and you could get away doing the same. (?)

no one ever promised that life was fair. Of course you could complain to the HOA about the other people getting away with something if that'll make you feel better.

Better to concentrate on moving into your new place than dwelling on this issue, IMO.

just my 2 cents

[Mr Camouflage]

Can you just move it into the back yard? They they can compalin at all.

[MikeW]

My advice in this situation is to not get confrontational. It may be too late after the first exchange. This is all just speculation but it may be that there are other reasons behind this, not just that they're being jerks. Perhaps you were working on your car at 11 o'clock one night and making a bit of noise while a close neighbor was trying to get to sleep. Maybe at one point you did have parts scattered and things looked a bit messy. My guess is that it's an immediate neighbor who then raised a stink and tried to turn it into some sort of code violation. While you can certainly go on the offensive and try to force them to play by the rules I think in the long run you'd be better off trying to get them on your side. It may be a simple misunderstanding. Maybe if you explain that it will only be a couple of weeks or that you'll keep the noise down or that you'll keep things orderly this problem will go away. Squabbles with neighbors can quickly escalate and become extremely frustrating.