Another Idiotic HOA

[Aethian]

There is one community I HATE delivering to because of it's HOA. We need a code to get in and if we don't leave during a specified amount of time they WILL call security on us. Doesn't matter if almost every house has a package or we need things to be signed for...

[telecom_goddess]

There is one community I HATE delivering to because of it's HOA. We need a code to get in and if we don't leave during a specified amount of time they WILL call security on us. Doesn't matter if almost every house has a package or we need things to be signed for...

wait....if I remember right you are with the POST OFFICE correct? How can they waste the cops time when you are doing what you are legally required to do?

I've said this before. I hate HOAs they serve no useful purpose that I've seen yet. Thy just pick on stupid crap that doesn't make a difference in anything anyway.

[draco664]

There is one community I HATE delivering to because of it's HOA. We need a code to get in and if we don't leave during a specified amount of time they WILL call security on us. Doesn't matter if almost every house has a package or we need things to be signed for...

If you work for the post office, the next time security tries to evict you tell them that it's a federal felony to interfer or tamper with US Post Office mail or delivery - punishable by up to two years in federal prison.

They can point to their HOA contract all they want. It does not trump federal law. Rent-a-cops tend to back down quite quickly when you flash a bigger legal dick in their faces.

[Aethian]

Ummm I thought it was well known where I work? They dont try to evict us they just are nosey and slow us down ever more. Thankfully I'm usually not in that area as its rare they pull regulars to other cities.

[fireheart17]

They probably do a lot of good, but I can see where some people could use them to be bullies. It seems like HOAs tend to be set up so that everyone can know as much of everyone else's business as possible. Also, they seem to encourage so-called "Stepford Wife" communities--i.e., most houses look the same, most yards look the same, heck even the people tend to look the same.

For some reason, I had a mental image of the street from Edward Scissorhands, where everyone's all garish and tacky as hell to contrast with Edward

[bainsidhe]

They can point to their HOA contract all they want. It does not trump federal law. Rent-a-cops tend to back down quite quickly when you flash a bigger legal dick in their faces.

Aren't gated communities private property? So no, doesn't apply.

[draco664]

Aren't gated communities private property? So no, doesn't apply.

1 - Gated communities are not the same as HOA. There may be overlap, but you can be one without the other.

2 - Private property or no, residential premises are required to accessable to mail delivery. It's a two-pronged duty, the mail service must deliver everywhere, and everywhere must be able to accept mail.

[Aethian]

wait....if I remember right you are with the POST OFFICE correct? How can they waste the cops time when you are doing what you are legally required to do?

Security, not cops. The second time I had them come upon my truck I just sat there and in the middle of someone's driveway with the door closed and on the phone to my supervisor. We had a postal inspector in the office for a "training meeting" and so he was in the area. He wasn't happy to have to "save" me from the inept security guard who was soooooooo stupid as to threaten police action on me if I didn't prove what I was doing there. Is the big white truck and all the mail in it not proof enough?

I don't think he liked that I blatenly ignored him...

[bainsidhe]

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/m...l-s-playhouse/
http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2012/sep/1...rt-ar-4533014/

Sounds like the HOA is pursuing this because three neighbors complained about the color. And while I find this whole situation silly, I thought one particular blurb was interesting:

The association's rules say you have to get permission before adding an outbuilding, but Rogers-Peck doesn't consider the playhouse to be an outbuilding.

"I chose to say its play equipment," explained Rogers-Peck. "No different than if I put a trampoline or swing set out here."

The "playhouse" shown in the photos is big. It has a full-size door and is basically a big, pink shed. Calling it a playhouse instead of a shed so you can skirt the rules doesn't change what it is. My coworker calls her basement the Bat Cave, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't go running around at night in tights. And the "I'll move first!!!!!" Uh huh. If you insist.

[crashhelmet]

The "playhouse" shown in the photos is big. It has a full-size door and is basically a big, pink shed. Calling it a playhouse instead of a shed so you can skirt the rules doesn't change what it is. My coworker calls her basement the Bat Cave, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't go running around at night in tights. And the "I'll move first!!!!!" Uh huh. If you insist.

If she plays in it, it's a playhouse. Some kids get big tree houses, others get play houses. If they're storing equipment, tools, and or boxes, then it's a shed. This isn't a matter of calling it something that it's not to skirt the rules.

The only matter being fought here is the color of it, not the size or what it's used for.

I think the HoA is being completely ridiculous about it.

[TheHuckster]

The thing I hate most about these kinds of HOA things is cases like these, by their very existence, shows:

a.) How intrusive your neighbors are and how little privacy you get on your property.

b.) How shallow your neighbors are to look at a pink shed in your backyard and make a big stink about it.

c.) How political these places are. I'll bet a lot of HOA neighborhoods have vindictive and vitriol between the residents. If you piss of one of your neighbors in one way or another, they can always get back to you by paging through the pages of regulations and finding the one petty thing you're in violation of.

Want to keep people from leaving garbage cans lying in the street after pickup day, or never mowing their lawn or leaving Christmas decorations out in April? Fine, I can understand having an HOA that tries to enforce some rules against leaving the curbside appeal of your house go into disarray. But enforcing petty stuff like going onto each yard with a ruler to measure if you've mowed your lawn last week (which you didn't because you were on vacation) or tagging you with a fine because you had to leave your garage door open overnight because the door stopped working the other day doesn't at all make sense to me, and only makes the neighborhood seem more like a prison than a nice place to live.

[protege]

Want to keep people from leaving garbage cans lying in the street after pickup day, or never mowing their lawn or leaving Christmas decorations out in April? Fine, I can understand having an HOA that tries to enforce some rules against leaving the curbside appeal of your house go into disarray. But enforcing petty stuff like going onto each yard with a ruler to measure if you've mowed your lawn last week (which you didn't because you were on vacation) or tagging you with a fine because you had to leave your garage door open overnight because the door stopped working the other day doesn't at all make sense to me, and only makes the neighborhood seem more like a prison than a nice place to live.

There are some people who simply enjoy using laws and regulations to push people around. Either they simply 'get off' on it, or they enjoy making people miserable. They like being able to wield some sort of power, because they're too much of a pussy to confront others directly.

How do I know this? There are losers like that who live next door to my parents. We've had the cops called on us for various things over the years. For example, did you know that you're not allowed to park on a public street in front of their house? Doing so, will get either a nasty note on your vehicle...or the cops called. Relatively minor, since the cops just come and laugh, but it's still annoying.

More serious, is that you're not supposed to have certain vehicles in your driveway. That is, no trailers, no boats, RVs, etc. But, as long as nobody complains, the borough doesn't care. So imagine the surprise, when the guy on the other side of my parents...suddenly gets a certified letter about the trailer he parked in his driveway. A trailer, filled with his landscaping materials, lawn mowers, etc. All the things he needed to run his business. It was in the driveway, because the storage places simply charge too much.

For years, that thing had been parked in the guy's driveway. Nobody cared. Until, the goofballs suddenly decided it was a "problem." So they called up the borough's code enforcement office, and got the guy into trouble. He got fined, and was forced to either give up his business...or put the trailer in the garage.

Then there was the "unsightly" object in the yard next to them. Anyone want to guess what that was? They actually complained...about a plastic wading pool that was leaned up against a shed. Goofballs actually called the code office to bitch, and when told that it wasn't "illegal," they proceeded to have another certified letter sent.

Not long after that, the kids across the street would sometimes sit out on the sidewalk and chat. The sidewalk was part of their driveway, and private property. Didn't stop the goofballs from calling the cops about the kids "loitering" one night. Cops came and left...goofballs got their house egged and cars vandalized. Cops came, the goofballs cleaned up the mess...and as soon as the cops left, they got hit *again.*

That was about the time that the security cameras, spotlights, motion detectors and other "security" items were installed. Actually, they were to prevent people from retaliating. Like I said, the goofballs are a bunch of pussies--they can dish it out, but they can't handle it. They enjoy pushing people around, but flip out when the consequences bite them in the ass.

At least they leave *me* around. Not sure if it's because I take cars apart as a hobby...or because I make it known that if they call the cops on *me* I'll file harassment charges.

What gets me about all their antics, is that most of us have done *nothing* to them. We've done nothing to deserve it.

[draco664]

What gets me about all their antics, is that most of us have done *nothing* to them. We've done nothing to deserve it.

What's that got to do with it?

You can label people however you like. By their political party, by their religion, by their social status, but there are two different kinds of people (and they appear all over the political spectrum)

Those who want to control others, and those who do not.

It sounds like your neighbours just want to control others using whatever piddly little power they have - which consists of calling other people with power and trying to get them to use it. They are small-minded people who hate that they have no personal power, so do everything they can to "show" the world how powerful they are (read: aren't).

[Dakhur]

This thread makes me glad I'm in Oz. I'm sure we have these things here, but I've never met them.

OTOH, I'm now giggling madly at the idea of a bogan HOA......