cute fuzzy bunny
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Not to hijack the thread, but why stop now?
HOA history is in fact quite interesting. The concept was originally crafted by builders who wanted the condition of sold properties to maintain a level of quality while they finished and sold the remainder of their new construction. Wouldnt do to try to sell brand spanking new homes with the customers driving by yards full of dead cars, 20 year old screen rooms in the driveway, and other sundry ugliness.
Only problem is they were intended to dissolve with the departure of the contractor. However they were taken up and persisted for the "greater good of the community".
Having lived in many and observed others, the people who take up running these boards seem to fall into a narrow set of categories. Busybodies, politician wannabees, an occasional do-gooder, and in the case of retirement communities like my dads, people who used to be in senior corporate management positions or politicians who miss "swinging the hammer".
Homeowners associations are one of the largest lobbies in D.C.; you may notice a portion of your HOA dues going to insurance, master associations, property management, etc...some portion of some or all of those buckets flows upwards to fund lobbying and law creation that protects and supports HOA's. At the federal and state level, quite a bit of legislation has been enacted to make it very hard and very expensive to combat a hostile HOA. The only two times I've seen someone get the upper hand is when the family had a lot of money and garnered embarrassing national press attention, and the couple who were both lawyers who took on the fight as a nearly full time job.
You can throw out the board and replace them, but you have to find someone willing to do the job that isnt as big a potential problem. As with politics, anyone who would do a good job with the community in mind wouldnt ever run for the job. In my dads case, most of the less well to do people are in their 80's, and arent really interested or able to put the time and energy into it. My dad has thought about doing it, but he's golfed with some of the current board members and says he wants to stuff them into the hole by the 5th flag. Working with (or more likely against) them full time might be more than he could stand...
I guess the message here is be verry careful when choosing your ER destination home. HOA's and condo associations can throw a big wrench into your plans with unexpected fees and rules and regs.
HOA history is in fact quite interesting. The concept was originally crafted by builders who wanted the condition of sold properties to maintain a level of quality while they finished and sold the remainder of their new construction. Wouldnt do to try to sell brand spanking new homes with the customers driving by yards full of dead cars, 20 year old screen rooms in the driveway, and other sundry ugliness.
Only problem is they were intended to dissolve with the departure of the contractor. However they were taken up and persisted for the "greater good of the community".
Having lived in many and observed others, the people who take up running these boards seem to fall into a narrow set of categories. Busybodies, politician wannabees, an occasional do-gooder, and in the case of retirement communities like my dads, people who used to be in senior corporate management positions or politicians who miss "swinging the hammer".
Homeowners associations are one of the largest lobbies in D.C.; you may notice a portion of your HOA dues going to insurance, master associations, property management, etc...some portion of some or all of those buckets flows upwards to fund lobbying and law creation that protects and supports HOA's. At the federal and state level, quite a bit of legislation has been enacted to make it very hard and very expensive to combat a hostile HOA. The only two times I've seen someone get the upper hand is when the family had a lot of money and garnered embarrassing national press attention, and the couple who were both lawyers who took on the fight as a nearly full time job.
You can throw out the board and replace them, but you have to find someone willing to do the job that isnt as big a potential problem. As with politics, anyone who would do a good job with the community in mind wouldnt ever run for the job. In my dads case, most of the less well to do people are in their 80's, and arent really interested or able to put the time and energy into it. My dad has thought about doing it, but he's golfed with some of the current board members and says he wants to stuff them into the hole by the 5th flag. Working with (or more likely against) them full time might be more than he could stand...
I guess the message here is be verry careful when choosing your ER destination home. HOA's and condo associations can throw a big wrench into your plans with unexpected fees and rules and regs.