The $1 Million HOA Blowup: It Started With the Misplaced Flower Pots
Wall Street Journal,
by
Jim Carlton
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
3/20/2019 8:58:59 AM
OLATHE, Kan.—Soon after Jim Hildenbrand arrived in Avignon Villa Homes, a community for older adults in a Kansas City suburb, the homeowner association disputed the placement of his satellite dish. It cited him for parking cars in his driveway overnight and placing a St. Francis statue in a flower bed. He was later written up for a dead cat in a window well—which Mr. Hildenbrand suspects was planted by a neighborhood enemy. Things went downhill from there. After he installed a decorative, shin-high wall around a plant bed on the side of his house,
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Lazyman 3/20/2019 9:16:19 AM (No. 6925)
They drove down the street the first time and loved the neighborhood enough to buy a house, then spent their time and money to change the look.
Kind of like the high tax people fleeing to low tax states and wanting more government when they arrive.
62 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
TexaTucky 3/20/2019 9:16:27 AM (No. 6944)
. . . . unless you don´t want to live next door to a Smurf blue house. Which we did. And moved to a neighborhood with an HOA and have loved it ever since.
To each his own.
56 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 3/20/2019 9:19:37 AM (No. 6951)
I live in an HOA-controlled neighborhood. Dealing with the board is a nightmare - my neighbors fought with them for months over paint colors for their house despite every request being in the palette pre-approved for the subdivision. When I want to make changes or repairs to my landscaping, I prepare a PowerPoint presentation, with pictures and scale drawings, plus a determination from the city that I don´t need a building permit (yes, the even told me once that I needed a building permit for some minor repairs).
22 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
hoosierblue 3/20/2019 9:20:17 AM (No. 6937)
He was totally lax in not obtaining the HOA rules when considering moving there. They can be a nightmare. You should read every rule in the covenants to determine if you can live that way. They are a major reason I stayed away from those developments. I would rather put up with some sloppy neighbors than a HOA dictator who is unreasonable.
47 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
udanja99 3/20/2019 9:52:02 AM (No. 6938)
I live in a HOA neighborhood and our board is very relaxed. We added a dog gate to our front porch and ripped out a flower bed in the front yard and replaced it with an herb garden. We never asked permission and no one on the board or in the neighborhood uttered a peep.
28 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
skedaddle 3/20/2019 9:52:26 AM (No. 6921)
14 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
skedaddle 3/20/2019 9:57:14 AM (No. 6920)
Sorry about the empty post above. I´ve looked at this subdivision on Parade of Homes tours so I´m familiar with the area. His problem is the retaining wall, no matter how low. I just did a Google Maps drive through and all the landscaping meets the grass at ground level. That´s so the mowers can go through quickly and not have to do a bunch of hand edging which is what they´d have to do with his wall.
If he had enough money to buy in Avignon, he´s smart enough to have read the rules and look around at what the approved landscaping looks like. He´s trying to be special. What a massive waste of money for both parties. His wall needs to come down.
The other problems I can´t comment on not being that familiar with the rules.
32 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
felixcat 3/20/2019 9:57:58 AM (No. 6923)
My home is not in an HOA controlled neighborhood and we have had to deal with the neighbor stripping down to the metal his crappy old pick up truck, draining out all the fluids into the storm, etc. Oh I forgot, the day he spread liquid pig manure all over his yard: front and back. We complained to the town and country but it´s a small town in a rural country and rather blasé about such things. It´s at those times that I wish we had an HOA, but then I read these stories and think maybe not.
15 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
ByteGuru 3/20/2019 9:58:05 AM (No. 6932)
Most of the comments up to now relate situations where the HOA members probably are petty people who are very full of themselves. A properly run HOA limits their intrusions into your life to housing issues that truly impact the value of the neighboring homes. Things like minimum square footage of new construction, materials used in remodeling, and yes even *some* paint colors if the paint is to be permanent. And unless you park your car on the lawn, that should be a non-issue.
I have lived under both types of HOA. The first type truly are a PITA.
21 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Muguy 3/20/2019 9:58:32 AM (No. 6948)
HOA covenants are "agreements" to protect home values of those who have homes in the HOA, but can become ridiculous nightmares when one person´s views and opinions can be brought to bear over the others in the HOA.
Some things can be voted upon to make things more practical and workable, and those kinds of folks who have enmity towards their neighbors can be out voted, but when people want something bad enough, they co into the legal system when things could have been worked out.
Proving that someone´s property lost value is also another area where difference of opinion of an appraiser might or might not show economic harm. Personal experience with an HOA member who was like this ended with threatened lawsuits when simple talking would have avoided the problem entirely, and they ended up moving away with the highest valued home in the HOA causing everyone else;s tax rates to go up.
We will be paying for it from now on due to raised property values, so he got his "pound of flesh" and more.
15 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Clinger 3/20/2019 10:06:50 AM (No. 6919)
I can´t get past this point in the article:
"Communications Commission that the HOA had no jurisdiction over satellite dishes."
Please find where in the constitution that the Federal government has the authority to prohibit a covenant between neighbors wherein they agree to where satellite dishes may or may not go?
What was that silly 10th amendment anyway.
Other than that, this sounds like a confrontation between a staunch individualist with more than a full complement of ego, who failed to notice that he signed a contract in conflict with how he wishes to live and a petty bureaucrat/s drunk on power, absorbed in self importance feeding his/her/their ego/s. Come on, cut the guy a break while he´s moving in ok? But Jimmy, you signed a contract you didn´t read?
And we wonder why lawyers do what lawyers do. Easy money who wouldn´t.
33 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
mc squared 3/20/2019 10:16:43 AM (No. 6945)
#11; There are more regulations that are not in the Constitution than there are stars in the sky.
With passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, your local HOA is prohibited from enforcing local laws banning, or even delaying mounting of, a satellite dish that is less than 39 inches (1 meter) in diameter.
http://www.ccfj.net/FCClaw.htm
Having said that, I know several people who bought in HOAs. Some are content and some are not. It seems that there are many people who wish to be on the boards who have otherwise empty lives. Their only happiness is derived from complaining about other peoples´ property.
30 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
red1066 3/20/2019 10:18:47 AM (No. 6940)
Parking his car in the driveway over night? Where the f--k was he supposed to park it?
26 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
flybynight 3/20/2019 10:32:40 AM (No. 6950)
SO very glad to live in a pleasant neighborhood without a HOA. We lived under the scornful gaze of a petty tyrant for a long decade. We chose not to join the association, which angered him. We signed no CCRs. We kept out front yard neat and tidy, made no changes to the house itself, and the neighbor was constantly carping. Didn’t like our Bermuda grass. Hey, we didn’t plant it. Neighbor’s dog barked. Yep. Talk to that neighbor. Not my circus. Finally, I got tired of hearing him kvetch. I plowed up a remote patch of back yard, hidden from him by a tall hedge of evergreens, and planted it with daisies and coreopsis. Whooeee! Fireworks! The City inspector arrived to investigate this terrible breach on the hottest day of the year. I gave him a glass of icy lemonade, a copy of my treatise on wildflower gardening, and led him to the back half-acre, in full bloom. He admitted it was spectacular, the city had no issues with my garden, and where could he get these seeds? Der GartenFuehrer was livid. I just smiled and waved.
40 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
lakerman1 3/20/2019 10:52:18 AM (No. 6952)
There was a multiple episodes story line on Seinfeld, which was really funny.
Jerry´s father was president of the HOA or something similar, for seniors, in Florida. Jerry bought his dad a new Cadillac, opponents of Jerry´s dad believed that the cadillac was purchased with embezzled funds.
Jerry´s father was impeached and removed from office because an elderly lady board member remembered that Jerry had stolen a loaf of marble rye bread from her.
The show captured a lot of the pettiness and infighting in such an organization.
32 people like this.
“It’s standing up for my constitutional rights.”
No, Mr. Hildenbrand, you signed those away when you bought the HOA-member property. You didn´t read the rules, and decided you´d be the Maverick to free yourself and others from contractual tyranny. You´ve cost your neighbors lots of money in the process, too.
I have been on three sides of this coin - Board Member, HOA member, and HOA rebel. I´ve dealt guys like Mr. Hildenbrand. One put his huge mesh satellite dish in front of his neighbor´s bedroom window. No notice or request, just did it. Asked by the Board to move the dish to the far end of the property, he refused. Hilarity then ensued. The HOA slapped a lien on his property, and he paid his penalty later when he tried to sell. Funny how that can work.
Another literally had an in-ground pool dug out without any notice or clearance. Another lien...
My current HOA tried to get the cops to ticket me for parking on the street. They don´t like my RV, parked on the side street. Cops have explained the streets are not HOA property and I have every right to legally park. Doesn´t stop the neighborhood Nazi´s scowling.
No sympathy for Mr. Hillenbrand. Don´t like the rules, don´t buy into the community. Read them because you won´t change them. Looking to downsize and leave Maryland, we´ve passed up several due to their restrictions on motorcycles and RVs.
26 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
kidsmom 3/20/2019 11:08:13 AM (No. 6941)
Absolutely hate HOA´s. My son was dying of cancer; lots of folks visiting in and out. They fined us for parking on the street. We told them in advance what the situation was and that caregivers and relatives would be cycling in and out. Hate them, hate them, hate them. Will NEVER live anywhere with covenants.
32 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Chuzzles 3/20/2019 11:17:30 AM (No. 6928)
Some HOA neighborhoods are good, while some are bad. Like contractors you want to hire to fix your roof or redo your driveway, try and talk to people who live in the neighborhood you want to move into. You might be very surprised at the hornet´s nest you whack open.
Earlier poster is correct. If you love a neighborhood and you know its HOA, why on earth do you arrogantly try to change things? HOA means rules, and if you can´t follow rules, you have no business moving into the neighborhood in the first place.
Having said that, there are some people who have way too much time on their hands, and they make it their goal in life to make other people miserable. So joining the HOA board is the perfect vehicle for them.
25 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
qwerty 3/20/2019 11:23:20 AM (No. 6947)
HOA and the infamous historical/hysterical district. I used to be self employed in construction field and well know the incredible pettiness of the governing board (usually) comprised of sour, dried up, geezers with nothing better to do than meddle in other people affairs.
I know all about orderliness and keeping a neighborhood "proper".
I do know this, I would NEVER live in either of those areas. I also wouldn´t live next door to a place with a pickup on blocks doubling as a flower pot or bed for their dog.
11 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
DVC 3/20/2019 11:31:46 AM (No. 6930)
HOAs can be vicious, vindictive totalitarians. I would never even consider purchasing a home that has a HOA as part of the deal.
Never give mini-nazis this sort of power over you.
This is a few miles from where I live, of course, without the little nazis.
14 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
StormCnter 3/20/2019 11:38:02 AM (No. 6927)
My son-in-law reluctantly agreed to join and then chair his HOA´s board, thinking he might be able to smooth the feathers that were being too often ruffled. He learned very quickly that some feathers are perpetually and continually ruffled and nothing calms them. It was a nightmare for him and he resigned as soon as he could gracefully do so.
16 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
Frenesi1 3/20/2019 11:51:29 AM (No. 6939)
I lived in a community in Florida with a HOA. Rules were for some people, not others. All a bunch of hypocrites.
17 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
bldrrepub 3/20/2019 12:01:40 PM (No. 6946)
I would rather live in a doublewide in the middle of the Utah desert than deal with some of these petty, plonking scolds.
16 people like this.
Reply 24 - Posted by:
lazlototh 3/20/2019 12:05:54 PM (No. 6933)
He was owner of an architectural firm and said he didn´t appreciate what the rules were when he signed them? That defies belief.
I lived in a coop in NY for 15 years and was on the board a lot of them. Our board wasn´t insane but some were in neighboring buildings. Even then, I had to be more protective of moderate transgressions that didn´t impair the value of anybody´s apartment.
I don´t care for HOA or coop rules generally. But if the rest of the HOA hasn´t thrown out the current HOA board for pursuing the litigation over this many years I kind of wonder if the rest of them agree with the board. Otherwise they could have stopped all the litigation since it would be a waste of their dues.
Of course, with these articles you never know nearly enough facts to do anything but guess.
20 people like this.
Reply 25 - Posted by:
HotRod 3/20/2019 12:52:43 PM (No. 6934)
HOA´s can be a good thing, depending upon who runs them. When personalities begin to rule they can become a nightmare. Personalities can cause problems on both sides of an issue, but the power of a HOA can result in the creation of bullies, who over react and stretch the limits of the meaning of words. They can become like the democrat party.
16 people like this.
Reply 26 - Posted by:
earlybird 3/20/2019 1:01:09 PM (No. 6942)
There are advantages to living in a condominium or other planned unit development. But there are also rules. It should amaze that people don’t read the rules that are part of their purchase contract, to be signed on to when they buy a home in one of these developments. Many don’t even seem to understand the concept of what is their private territory and what is common area in this kind of a development, belonging to all. If they cannot live with the rules, they should never buy.
This guy admits he was given rules and initialed them when he purchased his home, but he didn’t think they were important. (Translated: He didn’t read them or didn’t think they applied to him.)
A 70’ long faux stone wall all along the side of one’s unit is a fairly big change. I’m surprised no one stopped him when they began to put it in. As for his Saint Francis figure, what about the guy next door who might want a figure of a snoozing Mexican in a sombrero?
13 people like this.
Reply 27 - Posted by:
earlybird 3/20/2019 1:01:44 PM (No. 6949)
(cont’d)
People move into these developments because they like the (uniform!) way they look and that they are maintained (by paid crews. They like what amounts to the controlled look of the developments. They do not have to deal with someone showing up next door with a Pepto-Bismol pink house or two RVs in the driveway or anything else that is unsightly on another’s private property.
As for automobile parking, it must be provided. Garages or carports. And vehicles have to be in those garages or carports. Depending upon the configuration of the property this can be for aesthetic reasons or can be required for local fire department regulations.
This man sounds as though he’d be a terrible neighbor in any neighborhood. A real “my way or the highway” type with little interest in familiarizing himself with the rules, let alone observing them. And he is retired from an architecture-related consulting company? Oy.
17 people like this.
Reply 28 - Posted by:
Highvoltage 3/20/2019 1:10:13 PM (No. 6926)
This HOA mirrors exactly what the Democrt’s ideal of control would look like.
57 people like this.
Reply 29 - Posted by:
jeffkinnh 3/20/2019 1:24:01 PM (No. 6929)
If the HOA doesn´t like the wall because it interferes with their mowing, let them charge him the extra money it costs to hand trim his area.
People with rules often have no idea why a rule is in place. It´s just the rule. The broad brush answer is to maintain property values and satisfaction with the community. Fine. But does a well constructed and attractive landscape wall really detract? Or is it, You can´t have it because we say so!
27 people like this.
Reply 30 - Posted by:
anniebc 3/20/2019 1:24:40 PM (No. 6943)
I just hate it when HOAs spend money that causes my fee to go up. Keep the fee the same, and don´t be so darn creative with purchasing new stuff. I don´t mind paying for it to satisfy other people and the covenant, but they do too much. That´s been my experience.
18 people like this.
Reply 31 - Posted by:
earlybird 3/20/2019 2:45:33 PM (No. 6924)
Like other organizations, HOAs are “majority rules” organizations. The boards of directors are elected by the majority. Some have a serious problem with that when they are on the other side from the majority.
Sorry. There is no defense for his guy. He bought there, it was his choice. He didn’t pay attention or didn’t want to pay attention to the rules that went with his unit.
He had choices. Life is about our choices. Not guarantees of what we want, no matter what.
15 people like this.
Reply 32 - Posted by:
earlybird 3/20/2019 2:49:30 PM (No. 6916)
(hit submit too soon)
Have to disagree with OP on her comment. Or just add something to it:
Never buy a home in an HOA controlled neighborhood unless you have fully investigated all of the rules and regulations and feel comfortable agreeing to them. The opportunity is presented before the purchase even begins and the rules are signed off on along with all the other purchase documents. Buyer must be given a copy. Full disclosure.
If you make a bad decision, don’t read the rules or believe they can be bent or broken at will, you will not be happy. Move carefully. You may find you must look somewhere else for a home.
18 people like this.
Reply 33 - Posted by:
YorkieMom 3/20/2019 4:19:42 PM (No. 6935)
Maybe we’re just lucky. We live in a gated HOA neighborhood and follow the rules. Have had no problems. When we have had a complaint, it has been taken care of. We’ve lived here 25 years.
23 people like this.
Reply 34 - Posted by:
earlybird 3/20/2019 4:57:26 PM (No. 6922)
Monthly fees are kept as low as possible by most HOA Boards, but they must make some maintenance decisions that require an occasional increase. They must also assure that reserves are in place and funded for major repairs. Otherwise owners will be hit with big assessments when the Board has not done a good job and something big has to be dealt with and paid for.
Some years ago we looked at a beautiful condo on South Orange Grove in Pasadena. Even had an elevator. Everything going for it and a not bad price when I noticed water lying in the garage underneath some units. Turned out to be landscaping water that was a symptom of a major leak in that system. They were having to estimate the cost-per-owner of the upcoming assessment. Full disclosure. $10,000 to 30,000 per unit. We walked and stayed put in our home.
Many do not understand how the HOA finances work. They should.
15 people like this.
Really glad this came up today. You would be hard pressed to find a home in a subdivision in Central FL without an HOA. People who have never experienced this nightmare have no clue what they are getting into. It´s not the rules, it´s the Nazi´s on a power trip who spend their every waking moment for a Gotcha.
We have one miserable instigator who has manipulated the board for 20 years.
Now comes along management companies to keep HOAs in compliance and "take the burden off" small subdivisions like ours.
In FL an HOA can put a lien on your home and foreclose in a matter of days unlike your lender. An HOA took the home of a older man for a few hundred dollars. He had a stroke and is probably deceased now.
The management company is also a realtor who gave out phone numbers and the address to her investor friends for a bargain. This harassment of the elderly and disabled has to stop. There is a petition on the WH site.
28 people like this.
Reply 36 - Posted by:
watashiyo 3/20/2019 9:46:23 PM (No. 6936)
My parents lived in a fading community. Neighborhood population grew with children and grandchildren moving in to a single family homes. Street got crowded with double parked cars, weekend parties/BBQ, foreclosed houses and undesirable renter´s weed infested yards. There was no peace and ORDER in the community! So now they live in a HOA community where there is safety, peace and HARMONY amongst the neighborhood. Rules and regulations are meant for maintaining a certain level of PEACE and QUALITY OF LIFE.
This guy, Jim Hildenbrand, should live in a lakeside VILLA. He´s got the money. Btw, I live in a non-HOA community because I did my homework and my neighborhoods are awesome, well assimilated bunch of diversified group of people.
34 people like this.
Reply 37 - Posted by:
rsgonner 3/24/2019 6:20:35 PM (No. 6918)
HOA´s are the vehicle by which small-minded insignificant pencil-necks can play at being Tarzan.
7 people like this.
Comments:
Never under any circumstance buy a home in an HOA controlled neighborhood.