Home-Owner Associations and Covenants.
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
November 1, 2007 10:16pm CST
I guess I was raised wrong or something... or maybe I'm just a red-neck hick who doesn't understand.
To me, a yard is a place where people play, enjoy hobbies and pets run around. A drive way is a place where you leave your car when you aren't out driving it. A house is a place where people live, watch tv, play games, play music, and just run amok or sit an meditate... and whatever you're into in between.
If a yard happens to surround a house where kids live, the yard should look and act like it is a place where kids would be. If there are folks living there who happen to enjoy playing with one kind of ball or another, the yard shouldn't feel ashamed if the things balls are thrown over, under, through or around laze about while not being used.
In other words... I was raised to think that a house where people live should look lived in.
I drive around some neighborhoods and the whole place looks like a Model Home display. There is no evidence of intelligent life anywhere. Cars have to be in garages with the door closed. Pets can't roam around the yard unteathered. If garbage cans dare venture to the curb 5 minutes early, or linger 5 minutes too long after they are emptied, apparently a child must be sacrificed.
Ok now, I do understand that our yards are seen by others. I lived in a neighborhood where a guy had a leaky roof. Instead of reshingling his whole roof, he merely replaced the defective shingles. I admit, it looked like crap. When some of his neigbors tried to sell their homes, prespective buyers told them they wouldn't live near such an eyesore. I understand that long grass can be a health and fire hazard, especially if it grows, then turns that funny color of brown.
So yes, I do understand that there are limits to the "lived in look", but when a vet is told to take down his flag, or a family can't even put up a basketball standard in the driveway... something is just plain wrong.
6 people like this
12 responses
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
2 Nov 07
You should live where I do. When I step outside my door, I can and do shoot a 30.06 or a .357 if and when I feel like it. I can park my cars when and where I feel like it. No one can even see my house or yard. Sometimes they are a mess. Even if anyone could see my place, they would not complain about it.
Life in the country has its advantages. On the minus side, I could not get on the internet until 1997 and only this year finally got DSL. I had a party line on my phone until 1992.
So there are plusses and minuses both ways, rural or city.
1 person likes this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
2 Nov 07
Not only did I not get a private line until the 90's, in 1981 when I moved here, they told me I was lucky they even got me a phone.
BTW: Across the street is a long distance call but I can call over 40 miles in the other direction!
1 person likes this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
2 Nov 07
I heard they did that, skipped land lines, in remote parts of the former USSR.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
That sounds a lot like our situation in the 70s...
I do know of a town in Central Utah that had 1 pay phone on mainstreet. Yes, that was the only phone in the entire area. It made big news in the 90s when they announced that the businesses in town were getting phone service, and within the next year, the farm and ranch homes would get service to.
At the time I had a job erecting cell phone towers and installing the antennas and equipmente. We wondered why they county didn't just contract with us to put up a few towers and skip the whole landline thing. lol
1 person likes this
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
2 Nov 07
No you weren't raised wrong. You're spot on YET AGAIN!!!
I see those model display nothing neighborhoods plenty of times. It does look like no one really lives there.
No one out in the yards, or just one person for like a few minutes watering the lawn or using a sprinkler.
No kids playing, only very few times I see them though.
No one using (if they are there) sidewalks.
Oh and heavens help you if you look around or drive through. You get the oddest and creepiest stares, even from the kids.
Then there's also the people in general which you described. So bizarre. I'm under the impression they are fake especially after actually interacting with some of them. So many wrong things, looks like bizarroworld, even feels like it at times.
Oh yea, and if anyone says I can't put up a US flag, I'll tell them "whatever" and still do it.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
I don't know his name, but a friend of my dad said it best...
"If the only time you're using your lawn is when you mow it, what good is it?"
1 person likes this
@citygirl (1080)
• Canada
2 Nov 07
I guess I must be a redneck too since I agree with you. I have a sister with a house like that. My saying my place is a home, hers is a house. I think love grows stronger in little placees that lets kids be kids and parents have time for their kids rather than try to impress the neighbors. My yard always had signs of kids and living . Guess what all the kids that live in houses rather than homes came to my home to play and be a kid like they should be. All of these kids including mine are grown up now. Most of their friends from my oldest who is 33 now , to my my son who is in his latter twenty to my youngest who will soon be 20 still call me Mom . They always said I was like their second Mom but I think what they really ment was I was like they woould have liked their Mom's to be. I say it takes a bit of mess to live. I would rather have all these young peoples love than have a perfect house . So lets continue to be rednecks lol. The best to you and your loved ones. By the way I am not old only 53 with about 53 extended kids lol. Take care
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
2 Nov 07
Couldn't agree more. We have the community association from hell. They will actually come around and measure you grass to make sure that it conforms to the length set out in the covenants. To me, they are just pathetic little people with nothing better to do with their lives.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
Oh, I don't mind that they enforce their insipid little rules, in fact, if a person is willing to sign a Home Owners' Covenant, I expect them to live up to it.
I just think the whole concept is rediculous.
1 person likes this
@Destiny007 (5805)
• United States
2 Nov 07
This is simply another situation where individuality and freedom is derided and punished.
It is a form of political correctness at it worst.
In a time when people are complaining of too much government interference in our lives and privacy, these people enter into these things willingly and voluntarily as a way to belong and set themselves apart.
They give up their rights, their privacy and their individuality in order to fit the approved mold.
If the government would try such a mandate they would moan and complain, however they do this willingly in the name of maintaining and raising property values.
They make very good sheeple and are well on the way to fitting in with the socialist utopia that the liberals so dearly yearn for.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
Exactly! "Bowling for Soup" described these neighborhoods well when they sang, "High School Never Ends".
Fitting in is one thing, but when you are expected to be as faceless as a blade of grass in the overly groomed lawn... Sign me OUT!
1 person likes this
@Latrivia (2878)
• United States
2 Nov 07
Thank goodness, I finally found someone who agrees with me. I find it disturbing that, despite being a homeowner, you can be bossed around by some "association" that tells you how your home - your private property - can look, and can even fine you for not keeping it to their standards.
This is part of the reason why I do not look forward to living in the suburbs. I grew up in the country - our yard was full of holes, toys, and God knows what else. Of course, we kept it looking relatively nice - it's not like we had super long grass in which one could find a old rusty car or something, but it didn't look anywhere near as neat as some of these homes in the suburbs.
My grandmother is a real-estate agent, and from her I've come to learn why these places are the way they are. Still, though, I still can't get over that a group of your neighbors can tell you what to do with your own property. That's just...weird.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
The only reason they can be bossed around on their own property is, they AGREED to it. There is nothing imposed on them against their will here.
So I guess you and I will be neighbors someday, in the one spot left in the suburban world that enjoys the freedom of No Home Owners' Covenants.
1 person likes this
@pennycan2 (251)
• United States
2 Nov 07
i agree with putting things up that you want like a flag pole or basket ball goal. we have a leash law and i love that dogs aren't allowed to roam freely. i have enough with my own dog's doodies in the back yard to mess with ones in the front. I take pride in my yard and cut my grass twice a week in summer and once a week in winter. i get upset when my neighbors don't pick up their trash cans until 2 or 3 days after the garbage passes. one of the reasons for that though is that they don't have a culvert and their garbage can gets stuck in the drainage and backs up our yard if it's raining and we flood. they also right now have a box that apparently fell out of their trash can and is just laying in their yard for the past week. Cant' they pick it up?? I am also a real estate appraiser and I know that if one house is not up to par then the other homes suffer for it. if everyone else takes care of their yards and homes, then shouldn't the rest? We have someone that moved in down the street that put all kinds of potted plants in their yard, not pretty ones either. took a storage tank from an 18 wheeler and turned it into a shed and is not putting up a partial fence. the second he drove down our street our houses depreciated by 20gs. it's not fair.
@pennycan2 (251)
• United States
3 Nov 07
we don't have an association but we do have restrictions on what we can have. I wanted to buy my daughter a miniature horse and was told it was livestock and could not be housed in my back yard even though it would be smaller than most large dogs. Before an owner buys, they are aware that there is an 'association' so if the rules are too strict they can always find somewhere else to live. i think some rules are a little too stringent but like in my neighborhood, i'd love it if some of the rules applied a little more strictly involving neighbors with massive amounts of animals and clutter. That said though, my hubby has OCD (i diagnosed him of course lol) so for him as long as the 'association' didn't ban flying of the american flag, i think he'd love it b/c the neighbors would then have to live up to his standards of what should be.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
No I don't like it when my neigbors' places look like they've been abandoned for years, or when they leave their garbage ends up out of the cans and in the gutters or on the lawn. But, if their garbage is all over, they should be cited for littering, if their pets are a nuisance, then they should be cited for that too.
However, NONE of these home owners association covenants seem to stop there. Drive through one sometime. Sure, you might not like your neigbors choice of "decor", but would you really want to live in such an anally retentive atmosphere?
If so, then isn't it great you have somewhere to buy where you can be comfortable? Would it be "fair" to make it so those of us who don't mind a little clutter can't live where we are comfortable?
~~~~~~~~
"It's not fair".
"Fairness isn't fair and Equality is never equal"
"We have someone that moved in down the street that put all kinds of potted plants in their yard, not pretty ones either. took a storage tank from an 18 wheeler and turned it into a shed and is not putting up a partial fence. the second he drove down our street our houses depreciated by 20gs. it's not fair. "
"Frustration: That feeling you get when you are forced to acknowledge the effect other people decisions have on your life"
~Just a couple of ParaTed2k's (Not So) Famous Sayings.
@kareng (62441)
• United States
2 Nov 07
I totally agree with you. Our community was recently incorporated into a city and they came up with all kinds of stupid rules. One was that you can't park a vehicle or leave any equipment in between the front of your house and the street. Lot's of people in my neighborhood park in the yard. It's their yard and if they want to do this --so what?
Another one was you can't park closer than 3 feet to a sidewalk. What if you have company and have cars lined down your driveway? You will get a ticket. Seriously! They went around and issued tickets in one of the neighborhoods.
We laugh at the neighborhood group here because they give out a "Yard of the Month" award. You get a sign in your yard when you win. There are only about 5-6 people who have immaculate yards and the sign rotates from house to house. LOL! They should get a hint that nobody cares!
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
Now this is really where it hits home with me. Voluntarily signing a home owners covenant is one thing, but when the government imposes on private property rights like that, that is another.
The sad thing is, a lot of people use the standards of the home owners covenants to argue for laws that impose the same restrictions.
Pod people! If they can't get you to join them voluntarily, they will bring down the force of law on you.
1 person likes this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
5 Nov 07
It sounds a little like Stepford, from the movie The Stepford Wives?Is it the Yuppies are living in these neighbor hood and they don't have kids or outdoor pets? Is it that the kids in the area are not allowed to play outside? Or they just don't? Or it may just be that everyone Has to have the perfect looking house and yard. It has to have curb appeal.Things and neighbor hoods have changed.I bet that the neighbors don't know each other well.Back in the day, when there were houses that looked lived in and there were either playgrounds and basketball hoops, everyone knew each other.During the 50's and 60's. in some areas , it really took a village to raise a child. I mean if a child did something wrong, a neighbor would chastise the child before the parents did. Then they would tell your parents and you would be really punished.Oh by the way, you are the first "red-neck hick" I know that uses the word unteathered in a sentence.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
5 Nov 07
Well, my neighborhood looks VERY lived in and we don't know each other. In fact, sadly, I couldn't pick most my neighbors out of a line up.
I would like it to be a neighborhood instead of just a block of houses, but even seriously we rarely seem to even see each other around. It is a little wierd.
I guess I'm unteathered in my vocabulary... even for a "red-neck hick" ;~D
1 person likes this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
5 Nov 07
It is sad that we don't know our neighbors. I live in a apartment.I don't really know my neighbors either.
@wiccania (3360)
• United States
2 Nov 07
I will not live in a home with a homeowners association. Ok, so that means that whatever house I buy will be at least 50 years old and have been treated god knows how. But it also means that I'll be able to do whatever I want to my yard. I had a coworker years ago who got a nasty letter from their HOA because they planted flowers in their front yard, so their landscaping didn't match the neighbors landscaping. They told the HOA to go f--- themselves. They didnt' leave a bunch of toys on their lawn or hang an engine block from a tree in teh front yard. They planted pansies, snap dragons and various other little flowers like that along the front of their house. That's it. There will be no HOAs in my future. I think that they try to exert way too much control over the neighborhoods. It's one thing to ask that you keep your property clean and well tended adn that you keep your home in good repair. But to say that you can't plant certain flowers in your yard or do a zeroscape (which can look really good) or to say that you can't put a basketball hoop over your garage door... no, I'm sorry but that's taking it too far.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
Actually, I side with the HOA in that situation. While I detest the fact that they have that kind of authority, it was your co-worker who signed the contract that empowered them.
I'm with you though, I'll take an older home over a brand new one with more restrictions than I have in rentals.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
Ah, then strike the support statesments there. If they never agreed to it, the HOA can suck rocks.
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
2 Nov 07
No one could PAY me enough money to live in a place like that. My brother and his wife live in a town house community and have all that crap with rules and such and for the life of me, I don't know how he can stand it. Park here and not there, do this and can't do that. Oh bullsh*t! No way in hell would someone tell me what I can and can't do unless they pay my mortgage and then some and still none would be enough.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
"unless they pay my mortgage and then some"
Exactly! I have yet to buy a home. I can handle a landlord telling me what I can and can't do (to a point, I do know my rights). After all, it is HIS property, I'm just paying for the temporary use of it.
What gets me is, I have MORE say on what I can and can't do on my landlord's property than most people who have signed homeowner's covenants have on their own! ;~D
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2 Nov 07
I read about one place where they even control what colors and decor are acceptable for the interior of homes!
1 person likes this
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
2 Nov 07
Yup.. You know I can understand a little bit of this rule or that rule but to tell me what color I can paint my house and what kind of plants I can have and that I can't have a clothes line is BS!! There's no way in hell I'd live in a place like that. But if it were to say something like, keeping the yard decent meaning no junk cars and keeping the grass from getting weed tall and the like, I could handle that. I don't understand how my brother and his wife can live with such stupid rules when paying for their place. To each his own weird way I guess. LOL
@IssaHam (73)
• United States
2 Nov 07
Things like this about our country surprise me, but they don't! I am surprised that there are some neighborhoods that are so strict with their little rules and how they want everything to look, and even feel the right to fine someone who doesn't comply! I am NOT surprised that people would still buy a house in a neighborhood like this. These are the people that have no Free Thought and need to be told what to do because they can't think of it for themselves! (in my opinion)
I could NEVER live in a place like this because, I too am from the country. I grew up in a place where my only neighbors were grandparents and they were across the pond. The yard consisted of some patchy spots, a couple acres of farm land, a pond, and some random items from time to time, but it was 'used' all the time and there are even worn-in walking trails on the property.
But, as long as there are people willing to conform, there will still be subdivisions like the one in discussion! That's sad...
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
5 Nov 07
Well, there's more to it than just a lack of free thought, but yeah, I can't see living in one either.
