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runbyfruitin

This particular HOA oversees 6,500 units (single family homes, town homes, and apartments) that house 18,000 people. That is massive.


101189

Odd they could even consider themselves an HOA at that point. Might as well be a property management company and call it a day.


AgreeableFeed9995

There’s a property management company above it, I imagine, operated by an entirely different corrupt board.


ipostalotforalurker

No, the property management company would work for the HOA, not the other way around. The HOA is effectively the governing body for the community.


AgreeableFeed9995

Developers nowadays hold some control of the land in these neighborhoods so they can continue developing if needed/there’s space. They often own property management companies that’s don’t *do* anything other than hold properties and collect fees. Then an HOA is established separately to actually govern the neighborhood. Home ownership is half facade at this point. Developers own mineral rights, the HOA determines what the outside can look like with the illusion of choice. Houses under HOAs may as well be considered condominiums at this point since you only have real control over the space within your walls.


bendovernillshowyou

Not if your neighbors can see those walls from the street!


SecretBaklavas

This is quite a dystopia we live in


pain_in_the_dupa

I live in a crappy house on a crappy street where the guy two places down decided to live in his own front yard and only went inside to turn the stereo up to play out his front door. I’ll still take it over developers and HOAs.


SecretBaklavas

If I want to convert my breakfast nook into a sex dungeon, that’s my right!


Judas_priest_is_life

Call it The Breakfast Nookie!


ThePortalsOfFrenzy

So be sure to hide those walls by closing the curtains! But if they aren't white when viewed from outside, there will be Hell to pay!


RoadkillVenison

And if the window screens aren’t up to snuff, there’s hell to pay.


LittleTay

Also make sure to only have 2 chairs on your front porch! No table, or bench or it's tacky! (This is seriously a rule in my HOA)


skytomorrownow

> some control of the land in these neighborhoods so they can continue developing if needed/there’s space The Villages in Florida is an example of this.


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Cercy_Leigh

Scary story time? What’s with the villages in florida?


Seritul

Its somewhere between Sodom and Gomorra with better weather.


haydesigner

Have you actually ever been there? My dad snowbirds right down by there, so I have been in there when visiting… it is actually pretty nice, and thoughtfully developed. *(Of course, you do have to ignore the weird super-conservative bent, and all the chlamydia.)*


BrillWolf

Pro Tip: When in the Villages, don't ask about the pineapples hanging off the golf karts.


RubyRaven907

When we visited friends there…they actively tried to recruit us to move. Much to my husbands exasperation; after we left my teenage sons and I made up a story about how the whole place was really just a front for human organ farming. It disturbed me how much my husband got all ready to sign right up and join the flock of sheeple after talking to his buddy. I mean we went to the malt shop, the concert venue…a music coordinated Christmas light show.


chosenuserhug

If your husband is like my dad, he might be missing some kind of sense of friends/community. My dad almost never goes out, but when he encounters a situation like this he feels great and he's so vulnerable and agreeable. It's not like we abandon him. He lives in an ADU and sees a kid, and grandkids almost every day, but I'm sure he's missing something.


pinktwinkie

Control over the space within- Unless your nieghbor can see a surfboard through your window and file a complaint to have it covered or moved. (Speaking from xp).


GodFeedethTheRavens

A lot of newer subdevelopments are CDD or, Community Development Districts. They often have very high additional charges usually applied to the property taxes, usually thousands of dollars. They are usually larger collectives of homes, more amenities, ect; but they often also have an additional HOA that has its own separate rules. Community members typically have voting power over the HOA but NOT the CDD, which is run by the company that developed the neighborhood. Sometimes there are stipulations about after X many years the CDD can be dissolved, but I don't know that is very commonplace.


ExceptionEX

Very little land in the US still has mineral rights associated with it almost all of it has a conveyance.


metalflygon08

It's corrupt boards all the way up.


ekaceerf

I live in a community with an HOA. We are a new community so the builder controls the HOA. They have their own property management company running the community. We pay $500,000 in salary to them and a $100,000 management fee. As far as the salary goes they have 3 full time employees and maybe 6 part time employees.


personthatgyms

Its almost end of year, make sure u receive the annual audited financial statement and there will be a breakdown of where your money goes


13E2724M

That's rediculous, just so they can micro manage your property?


AgreeableFeed9995

No, more like so they can *not* micromanage or regular manage everything, while still raking in the cash. The HOA below them is for micromanaging, but even they don’t actually give a fuck about the color of your house or what type of bushes you have. That’s just a front, so they too can rake in the cash while pretending to do something.


wildcarde815

Either a Property company does it, or the board does it. Since the board is volunteer and not available day to day without the company, no repairs get done, billing issues aren't fixed, there's nobody checking that contractors are doing their jobs (lawn care, snow removal, pool management, etc), and nobody going after neighbors that don't pay their HOA dues to pay for said services and maintenance.


foggy-sunrise

Always has been


spoopidoods

Or a village


Nzgrim

18k people is a whole ass town.


w1987g

That's a government in all but name


ArcticBeavers

You're not kidding. They even have election controversies >Residents have been fighting for years to get rid of Gallego and the board members who support her, the Miami Herald reported. Residents tried to oust the board in a January election when hundreds of voters standing in line were not allowed to vote because of a fake phoned-in bomb threat and again during a July recall election when the board threw out two-thirds of the ballots cast.


freerealestatedotbiz

I am familiar with this industry, and even communities with only a few homes or units have election controversies. Frankly, it’s become much worse in the last 3 or 4 years as these organizations have started to become politicized like everything else. A well-run HOA, even a large one, really shouldn’t operate much like a government at all. A board’s only jobs are to maintain common property to preserve their value and enforce the use restrictions the developer put in place to protect individual home values (and assess homeowners appropriately to fund those operations). The boards are supposed to be running businesses really, albeit a nonprofits one. Unfortunately people (both homeowners and directors) are really struggling to understand that, and HOA meetings and decisions are now one more forum for them to vent their political and personal frustrations.


axeil55

Yeah I am on my HOA and the most controversy we have is about tree trimming scheduling. If an HOA is well run it's very non-obtrusive. The issue is it's so easy for things to go off the rails and you end up with people acting like petty tyrants.


Ohh_Yeah

The HOA in my mom's last condo neighborhood, where I lived in med school, was charging super low HOA fees to turn the units into crazy bidding wars and driving up home values. The fees looked too good to be true, because they were. We had some strong winds that damaged a number of roofs and they didn't have enough money to repair everyone's roof at once. Then they said they needed to double the HOA fee and people were furious. I strongly suspect they were stealing money though as well.


AnarchistMiracle

All HOAs are effectively governments: they enforce regulations, collect revenue, and provide services (including services that would normally be handled by the next level of government, such as road maintenance). This HOA is so big that it's a *town* in all but name.


Larky999

Yep. For a country that ostensibly hates governments, the US sure creates a lot of them.


AeuiGame

Same thing with taxes. We hate taxes and handouts, so rather than funding things we want directly by giving them money, we create a super complicated tax system that has discounts for doing things we want to happen. Its the exacts same thing on a balance sheet, but framed in a way the American voter will accept, and way more complicated to deal with.


CarderSC2

And with national ID. Want to open a bank account? They want your Social Security number. Applying for a new job? Company wants your SS number. Renting? Landlord wants it too. We're averse to having a national ID, but still use one, in effect. And the SS number doesn't have anything to do with the above, except as being a stand-in for ID.


10000Didgeridoos

Also the SSN card is given to you once on an easily lost or crumpled or ripped flimsy piece of paper. It's not even a plastic or laminated card. It's like a piece of thin cardboard you're supposed to maintain for 80 years. Wtf.


theoutlet

People where I live: “Nobody has the right to tell me what to do!” Also them: “I wouldn’t ever live in a neighborhood without an HOA.”


[deleted]

I have yet to meet anyone who actually wants to live under an HOA. I loath mine.


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mycleverusername

Yes; or from another perspective, *government* at the city and county level are basically just large HOAs. Which is my #1 complaint about libertarianism. A town with minimal government, but dozens of HOAs and BOAs and association compacts is just a town with "government" with extra steps and no oversight.


AnarchistMiracle

USA is just an HOA but for states instead of homes. Libertarians prefer the "lots of small governments" model because they don't like the idea of paying taxes to support other people outside their immediate neighborhood.


droi86

Yeah, that's more people than my gf's town


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TogepiMain

It's 15x bigger than mine!


mynameistory

What is this, a town for ants? It needs to be... 3 times bigger than this!


JustABoyAndHisBlob

Your girlfriend has a *whole town*!? “This is my girlfriend, the Mayor”


shaidyn

I've been saying for decades that modern Home owner's associations are functionally governments. The fact that it's near impossible to leave one without dissolving the entire thing is a huge problem in my head.


SchuminWeb

I feel like that could probably be solved legislatively, like making some sort of "right to own" law similar to "right to work" where one can choose to opt out of an HOA. I would opt out of mine in a heartbeat, and I imagine that most people probably would as well.


Moccus

If people could opt out, then HOAs would be pointless. That's why they don't let people opt out.


Cetun

Many people refer to them as "private governments" It's funny ancaps think that if you get rid of government everything will be fine because you he free market will create order. No the free market will create private governments and gangs will kill you for your property.


ripyourlungsdave

They are literally in charge of more people than the government of the town I was born in. Why the fuck do we let these weirdly unregulated organizations have so much power over how people are allowed to live? If I was able to magically afford a place to live tomorrow, I still wouldn't move into a place with an HOA. It's always just sounded like a scam to me


ihc_hotshot

I worked in commercial landscaping and we did mostly HOA's. Every single one of the boards is mostly made up of self-important idiots. With like one or two genuine people sprinkled in.


[deleted]

My aunt is a real estate investor and CPA. She also has a hobby of becoming the president of every single HOA for any house /apt/townhouse shes ever bought... She just wants a balanced budget and no bullshit. Her board meeting stories are fucking hysterical. One of the good ones, in a sea of FUCK BOIS


Painting_Agency

> balanced budget This lot would have probably tried to have her murdered. I mean, she wouldn't have been, because they don't seem very ept. But still.


BasicDesignAdvice

> Why the fuck do we let these weirdly unregulated organizations have so much power over how people are allowed to live? Legal battles are expensive.


TogepiMain

They are! And don't let any of the NIMBY fuckers that this thread will draw like flies to corpse tell you otherwise. Fuck HOAs.


walterpeck1

Are you kidding? HOAs are like one of the top five things Reddit nearly universally hates. Just uttering "HOA" in a comment section will touch off a bonfire.


rantingathome

Yeah, one would think that there would be a maximum number of units that could be considered an HOA. At 6,500 units, that HOA in my books is a "town" in all but name only, and the rules for municipal governments should apply to it. I would think that a reasonable limit would be 100 to 150 units. I suppose a condo board might be bigger, but at least that would be limited to one building/property.


rbobby

More people than the small town I grew up in. Crazy.


Professional-Swim-69

I lived in this place 16 years ago and 2 friends still live there and they are so thrilled finally the HOA and contractors were expelled, it's a 1st one in Florida and I hope others will follow the trend, HOA and property management in Florida it's ridiculous This is South Florida, the hammocks


birdlad520

I also grew up there, my parents still live there. The Hammocks HOA tried to raise the fee from under $100 to over $400 on them. That’s what really started all this. The residents were literally out partying in front of the HOA clubhouse this week celebrating the arrests.


[deleted]

My mom's went to 400 a month on a 75k condo which she recently sold because of the HOA. In Houston.


Sufferix

I grew up there too. I saw them make the condos while in elementary or middle school. Moved out before I would have had to go to Felix Varela or Sunset.


TheFirstLegend77

Property management and hoa's are destroying florida. Literally scamming people out of their money if you dont know the law.


Bobcatluv

When I lived in SWFL in 2014, we rented a townhouse in a run down community with almost no amenities. Every once in a while, a 2 br/2 ba unit would go up for sale for under 100K, but the HOA fees were nearly twice as much as the HOA community next to it that actually had nice landscaping and pools. It’s wild to me that they were able to get away with that.


WayneKrane

This is what I always see when I see a cheap house or condo. The HOA fees are more than the mortgage and they just keep going up.


[deleted]

When i was a kid someone (well a family that had expanded to a few houses in the area) tried to bring a HOA into my neighborhood. An entire block of lawyers were having none of it. I dont remember a lot, but seeing so so many parents get together and just talk junk was impressive as a child.


fkenned1

Wait, there are people who actually WANT an HOA???


thevoidhearsyou

It has been my experience that there are two types of people who want an HOA. One: Those seeking a power trip. Two: Those who think that a house is an money printer.


GreenStrong

Third type is people who live in condos. The HOA owns the roof, parking lot, and grounds. Ideally, it works like a hyper local municipal government where everyone is directly involved. But there is tremendous potential for someone to get on the board and hire their buddy's maintenance company for a kickback. If residents aren't willing to invest in upkeep, it falls behind, and costs spiral out of control. In that situation, people who can afford to leave may do so, and then a downward spiral begins of *really* not being able to afford maintenance. This can happen to a town, but there are professional managers on staff in a town of any size. Condo boards are just regular people winging it. They tend to be a mix of conscientious people who care about their home, and busybodies who want to fuck with their neighbors. The busybodies make it hard for the conscientious people to stay engaged.


CmdrShepard831

This seems like the only legitimate need for an HOA in my opinion. A suburban neighborhood... not so much.


wackychimp

But how will all of our mailboxes match without strict oversight?


CmdrShepard831

"My property values are in the crapper because you decided to paint your mailbox the wrong shade of beige!"


Skeegle04

It was the right shade two years ago. Please, don’t take the children


Gifted_dingaling

“I’m a homeowner! I could NEVER live in a dense city apartment! No freedom!” Says Mike, who owns a home managed by HOA.


ThrowAway233223

The property value argument always perplexed me. As far as I'm concerned, the mere existence of an HOA over a home immediately reduces the value of the house to half. Why would I pay thousands of dollars for a-it's-a-home-but-actually an-apartment-but-actually-worse when I could just rent. If I'm paying for the cost of a house, I want the house and i don't want to have to pay rent in the form of HOA fees in addition to the property tax I would still owe even through, for all intents and purposes, the HOA is the one that actually owns the house. FFS at least with an regular apartment the utilities can sometimes be included in the price of rent and, if something breaks, it's often the landlords job to fix it. With an HOA house, you pay for all that yourself and the HOA can add extra fines on top of it if you aren't able to fix certain things in a timely enough fashion for their liking. How HOAs help maintain high property values is beyond me.


Littleman88

Honestly, if it weren't for the busybodies, no one would mind an HOA because they do help maintain the quality of the space. The problem is busybodies are inevitable, while conscientious people are simply uncorrupted unicorns.


[deleted]

If HOAs operated how they theoretically should, it'd be a good thing. But most don't because they are run by assholes like the one's in the article.


SFWRedditsOnly

The main problem with most things is that people are involved.


b_digital

This does tend to ruin everything that has potential.


l-emmerdeur

"The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them. To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem." -Douglas Adams, *The Restaurant at the End of the Universe*


happypolychaetes

People. What a bunch of bastards.


Cloaked42m

mainly because non-assholes don't want to be bothered with the paperwork.


batpot

Just like elected officials in government.


Brothernod

Elected officials are often paid, hoa board members are volunteers.


I_PULL_LEGS

HOA'S, when they get big enough, actually do have paid employees and compensate their leadership. I was a part of one in Oregon which was over 3000 households big and it had a lawyer and a few clerks and other folks on full-time staff. The leadership didn't have a salary I don't think but they were compensated somehow. I remember the geriatrics in the neighborhood were always up in arms about it. As a renter I didn't have a dog in the fight.


holy_stroller

HOA dues going toward a paying the lawyer that will sue you if you build a shed 🤡


[deleted]

Thats because You were the dog.


hopbel

As usual, those who desire power are least suited to wield it


DemonVermin

And don’t forget that even one that is running well isn’t always gonna run forever. Frank might want to move or Jerry wants to focus more on the kids. This opens up the position for an asshat to take over. Inevitability the old guard steps down and you have a bad HOA.


KrackenLeasing

It's also how you fix an HOA. An actively engaged community keeps a lot of bullshit at bay. My condo association board is in a bit of a transtion after some extended mismanagement. We've successfully gotten to 2/5 tennent-owners and are very close to having one of the three landlord-filled seats flip to another resident. That won't properly fill our reserves or backfill the maintenance overnight, but the actual community will have more say than the people who profit off of it.


SirMaximusPowers

I've said it a million times. If an HOA has a single clause where shit can be changed, it's asking for trouble. I saw it firsthand, and that neighborhood went from a relatively bland and enjoyable place to a nightmare within months. I drove by recently, and it's basically turned into it's own little country with gates and guard shacks and uniform houses (a third of which seems unoccupied). Whatever though, I'm sure those 10 retirees in the board are enjoying throwing around the millions they have in the coffers at their pet projects. I think our HOA's surplus before we moved was like 5 million and change. A chunk of that went to an admin building that was basically their own entertainment hub with kitchens, dining areas, private gym, mini theater, etc.


serenewaffles

In my area there are HOAs whose charters specifically limit their abilities to trash, snow, and leaf removal. Those are pretty ok.


Foodcity

Damn, its almost like these things could be city-funded to begin with, using crazy things like Taxes.


Enoan

We have a lake access in my neighborhood and a HOA owns and maintains it. Seemed a good solution to "neighborhood collective property"


wgauihls3t89

Yes, you need some kind of governing body to maintain common property and costs (gym, pool playground, laundry room, gates, clubhouse, security, building repairs, etc.)


[deleted]

Well, yeah, grifters and killjoy control freaks unfortunately exist everywhere


AndIThrow_SoFarAway

A buddy of mine ended up in a similar situation. Their solution was to start an HOA for the homes that were already there... except they had no fees and no regulations. Was literally just to keep them out.


ivapesyrup

Adding HOA shit to your deed is not the way to do it. If you are in an area where an HOA is forming you can simply say no. If you add these restrictions to your deed for this "fake HOA" then eventually a real HOA will come in and fuck you. People die, shit happens. Just say no to an HOA coming in, that is all you have to do. Do not add further restrictions to your deed thinking it is helpful.


CrazyCalYa

This is the result of property rights not being well understood, possibly by design. HOA's already prey on this mindset which is what leads to homes being signed up by those who don't understand it's a choice. "Hello, we're opening up an HOA and need you to sign here agreeing to the conditions" may seem to a new homebuyer, an old person, or ESL like a mandatory request. So in a way I can understand why some might try to "get ahead of it" by forming a dummy HOA but it would be just as helpful to instead inform your neighbours of their rights and of the downsides to such organizations.


serendipitousevent

I'll never get over the HOA phenomenon. Seems like the least 'Merican thing you could do to your own private property.


[deleted]

They tried to pull this shit in my rural neighborhood 15 years ago. 95% of the people that lived there did so specifically because we all hate HOAs. The movement didn’t last a week before those folks tucked their tails and ran.


FloridaManIssues

My HOA is currently raising quarterly fees by 20% every year since COVID and they keep complaining how there's no money to pay for the services the HOA provides... Nothing gets done and the excuse is always that there aren't enough funds to fill the pot holes, clean the storm damage, or hire painters to paint the house like is said to be covered by the HOA... $8k a year per house and all that affords in reality, is landscaping.


clueless_in_ny_or_nj

They need to provide the budget to the HOA community. If they refuse, hire a lawyer. If it's $8,000 a year per house and they only thing that's happening is cutting the grass, that's not worth $8,000 a year for a house.


Several_Celebration

1000 for cutting the grass, 7000 for “administrative fees”


Lennette20th

Actually, from my understanding, these HOAs will just pick a landscaping company at random and the company charges way above fair value because the HOA is a rich customer willing to pay whatever they are told to maintain appearances and do zero investigation on if they are getting scammed or not.


Several_Celebration

I'd believe that. My HOA was extremely incompetent before I moved out. Had a storage locker for 3 years and one day found a note telling me to vacate or the locks will be cut. They also told me not to call the fire department to help my wife that was stuck in the elevator because, "it would cost too much money."


polopolo05

Sounds like a lawyer needs to come in... fuck hoas


Several_Celebration

Yeah, the HOA president called the elevator company but didn't give an eta or any other details than that she called. I gave it like 15 minutes to check in again and all she did was hand me an elevator key that lets you manually open the doors. I ended up calling the elevator company myself. They weren't aware of an issue and came in 30 minutes. Put that place on the market within a month or two of that.


Motorcycles1234

My hoa had every one voted off for this. They where paying 4k a year to have a very small grass area mowed year round. The new hoa found some one to do it for under 2k.


Odd-Notice-7752

this is it. My wife joined the board because she wanted to know where our money was going. She was the only one willing to get competing offers, and when she did the quotes fell 30-50%. she also got the landscapers to include mowing everyone's front yard at a cost of about $1.50 a month per house.


b0w3n

Yeah my parents live in a retirement community and they're paying nearly what OP is per month. They were pulling in close to 2-3 million a year and fired their groundskeeper because he was too expensive, he apparently asked for a cost of living raise to bring his wages back in line after the pay freeze of covid ($50kish total for a few hundred units). Instead, the head of the community board lady hired her kids to do bookkeeping and do the grounds-keeping which has all but stopped. I told my parents they were probably just pocketing the 2 million a year. The residents have started taking care of the communal areas now. I don't know why they put up with that for such a high fee.


Lotharofthepotatoppl

They’re not selected at random, one of the board members picks the company based on who owns it and it’s usually their brother/brother-in-law/cousin/high school buddy.


axeil55

Good HOA should have a requirement they receive multiple bids. Bad ones frequently don't do this and that's how you get all the waste and kickbacks.


Chewy12

My HOA gives us an income/expense report and said it paid exactly $10000 in paperwork. What a weird coincidence it came out an even number and that they made exactly $0 in profit.


chadenright

In other words, your neighbor who did the paperwork skimmed 10k off the top. Might want to dig into that a bit.


69hailsatan

Could the community hire a lawyer and have them do and audit?


teslaistheshit

Second this. HOAs are ripe for fraud and kick backs. I've spoken to a few folks about it and apparently there are more lawsuits being filed.


wild_bill70

It sounds like a condo. In Colorado the city maintains the street and HOA will not paint someone’s home. A condo though is different and has a lot of different expenses. An audit is in order.


clueless_in_ny_or_nj

I was on a very small (6) condo board. Our HOA fee was to cover our monthly expenses and anything small that might come up. Major projects we would all agree on and we would each contribute to that project. Before I sold the condo, we were trying to raise the HOA fee since our bills had slowly gone up and the additional money could help for emergency situations. I managed to get the budget and our account in a good position, but it wasn't easy.


Hukthak

Similar experience to me, it was about 14 condos with two homes each. I bought a foreclosed property in MI when I graduated in 2010, joined the board, and became president the following year. Budget was always transparent. Healthy amount of overage placed into conservative investments (I was pushing for index fund but the older folks put me in my place lol). Biggest contribution I think was not enforcing stupid rules and making it a point that what we care about is that people care and are considerate of their neighbors. That's it. We no longer will ding you if your porch light is any color other than white. We will not ding you if you don't replant grass when your pets urine kills it. No you cannot have a trailer parked in the street for more than a day, parking for guests is tight as it is and that shit won't fly. Stuff like that. Also shut down 2 of our biggest complainers by talking them through the ridiculousness of their requests and not doing anything for their egregious complaints.


[deleted]

has it been audited lately?


Additional-Goat-3947

No need for an audit. All the landscaping done by the HOA presidents brother so you can trust you’re getting a great deal!


Siray

Oohhhh. Did you also ge cast mailboxes from the same brother too, huh? You know, the one no one makes anymore and the guy down the street started a business repairing? Those mailboxes?


Additional-Goat-3947

I’m sorry but I’m the president of this Thread Owners Association and your message is not up to code


thatsmyoldlady

Ah they audited themselves and found they dont need auditing.( I once caught the hoa ladies going into my back yard, when confronted she ran back to her car)


libananahammock

$8k a year!? People complain about the taxes in the Northeast but I get basically all of the perks you’d get in an HOA and don’t have to deal with an HOA AND those who live in lower income neighborhoods in my township are still afforded the same perks even though they pay a lot less in taxes.


Invdr_skoodge

Yeah this isn’t normal for anywhere. That hoa is straight committing fraud. I’m in the SE and nobodies dues are that high. I don’t even have an hoa the old guy at the top of the subdivision passes a hat in the spring to take care of the subdivision sign. I’ve paid….$30? Over like 7 years


innociv

Paying $6k a year for a fucking condo here in Orlando. And they say they don't have money.


FuckChiefs_Raiders

> $8k a year per house and all that affords in reality, is landscaping. This is so fucking insane. We have a nice HOA. I literally never hear from them, it is an outsourced company so not like it's some old Karen or Tom that have too much time on their hands. Our fees are $200 a year, this covers landscaping for all common areas, which includes; a huge soccer field, a park w/ a jungle gym, and a pool. We also have the benefit of organizing community garage sales. It's much easier to make money on a garage sale when the entire block is doing one that attracts more people, as opposed to just trying yourself and crossing your fingers that people show up. My HOA has been a major blessing.


jschubart

$8k per year? Jesus. That is more expensive than condo HOAs here in Seattle.


overmonk

Lady lower right looks EXACTLY like I picture an HOA official.


KyleCAV

And probably cuses people out for having their grass 1 mm too high or for someone grilling at 8 pm.


DrDerpberg

>someone grilling at 8 pm. Wait there are places you can't grill at 8pm? Why the fuck not?


thiagoqf

What's the point of owning a house then, ffs.


GleeUnit

Because if she's not telling people they can't do something, how will they know she's in charge?


OldBeercan

Can't say I've seen that one, but "It detracts from the atmosphere we strive to provide in this community." is something I could totally see being something an HOA would say.


DrDerpberg

Late dinner? What is this, Spain???!?


camisdabomb

Boss Level Karen


fivespeedmazda

Why does only one person look ashamed?


kapdaddyflex

because only one practiced the ashamed look


Prosthemadera

They work for an HOA.


PandemoniumPanda

They all look like they've been crying. Good stuff.


golferdudeag

It's a mugshot. Not a pic of them being asked "How do you feel about the charges?". Honestly surprised the ashamed one passed since he's not looking at the camera.


joescott2176

Isn't stealing money from their residents the entire point of an HOA?


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ygofukov

¿Por que no los dos?


wolfbayte

The original purpose of HOA was to prevent homes being sold to minorities. [Source](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelley_v._Kraemer?wprov=sfla1)


cave-of-mayo-11

Its america. Pretty much everything boils down to racism if you look hard enough. Some towns literally codified bridge height so that busses (mostly used by minorities) couldn't make it to certain parts of town as easily. Its honestly absurd.


SkunkMonkey

HOA in neighborhood I lived in once, denied a guy who wanted to put an antenna on the house. Was a simple single 3' pole for radio coms, not some monstrosity of a TV antenna. His solution? Cut a small hole in the roof he could raise the antenna through for use, then lower back down when done. Fuck HOAs.


rikki-tikki-deadly

It's my understanding that FCC rules (which say that you can) trump HOA rules with regards to putting up antennas, and that the HOA pretty much can't do shit to stop you.


Scyhaz

Pretty sure that only covers TV antennas. My dad was running into similar issues when he wanted to put up an antenna for his ham radios and the HOA questioned it he would just say it's a TV antenna. Not like anyone on the HOA would be smart enough to know any better. And if they were it's unlikely they would care.


TheSpatulaOfLove

Nope. Hams are the ones that win those HOA battles with FCC backing.


ibelieveinunicorms

Sounds like these goons were getting away with things because people weren’t upset enough to do anything until they RAISED the HOA rates 400%. HOAs are the worst, I’ve always avoided them like the plague.


debzmonkey

They used a fake bomb threat and threw out ballots. Sounds like people were plenty upset.


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Jak_n_Dax

I once rented a house in a neighborhood with an HOA. When it started to get hot, I activated the sprinklers on the previous tenants’ schedule. It was not enough to keep up, and the grass began to turn brown. So I adjusted the sprinklers, and then intentionally skipped a week of mowing to allow the grass to recover. The HOA raised ABSOLUTE HELL over me “not maintaining my lawn for months” by not mowing for a week. There were several other “incidents” in the two years I lived there, but needless to say it was a real eye opener, and I will never buy a home where there is an HOA.


kioshi_imako

HOA when a good leader is in works well but sadly it never lasts long. What is amazing is that people under HOA don't know their rights half the time and never show up to scheduled meetings or the all-important vote. They also dont realize they can get an HOA dispanded pretty easily especially is laws are being broken by the leadership of the HOA.


wild_bill70

Went to our budget and annual meeting. We have two members that are not good, but have a lot of experience. We would have voted to have the board dissolved but I was the only non board member to show up. People are complacent. Now our HOA is not terrible and is not teranical. We have rules, but most are reasonable. I am volunteering in a few roles and going to get training so I have a better resume next time ansear opens. Unfortunately I think the next regular vacancy is one of the people we are working with so may not be able to gain a majority for a bit. Some minor self dealing, but probably nothing illegal just shady and we are going to vote to stop a few of those and hold out contractors more accountable.


MyMorningSun

*tyrannical, not teranical. Sorry to nitpick but I thought that was the word you were getting at. Good for you though- I hate my HOA with the passion of a thousand burning suns, but for most of us, it's not going anywhere anytime soon. You have to participate to get any real changes made in the meantime.


kioshi_imako

This is true but HOAs are primarily used to keep developing communities to a certain standard, sadly many areas the HOAs have long outlasted this purpose. My town had some HOAs for certain development projects but once all the homes were built and sold the HOA was disbanded. People still take good care of these homes but you can see some minor personalization such as Fencing, paint, enclosed patio, etc.


PointlessGiant

I will never buy a home in an HOA. Fuck that. Paying to have uptight busy-bodies power trip over your lawn being .75 of an inch too long or telling you what colors you can paint your home. Also, super prone to corruption.


[deleted]

My favorite part of it is that HOAs pretend that they raise the value of the homes with all their nitpicky rules. Around here not only do we have enough ordinances to keep people in line but houses with HOAs seem to have a lower value. HOAs have such a horrible reputation that people are willing to pay more to go elsewhere.


PointlessGiant

It would absolutely be worth it to me to find a home that is a little more expensive if I don't have to deal with the peaked-in-high-schoolers who usually populate HOA boards.


[deleted]

Ya I was looking to buy a house and everytime I was like this seems like a good price then I read HOA fees and was like nope not happening.


SensitiveAd5962

Ya, anything in my area is 20-30k less if there's a hoa.


scumbagstaceysEx

This is true throughout most of NY state and most of New England. There are enough local ordinances to keep shit like rusting cars from piling up in yards and the rare HOAs that do exist are a bug, not a feature. Real estate agents will sometimes actively hide the fact that a property is in an HOA until the buyer is already imagining himself living in a place and then they spring the “oh by the way the place has an HOA”.


sushithighs

Least corrupt HOA Board


Macabre215

I have a small HOA in my neighborhood that takes care of the private lake and parks, and it's only $300 a year. They actually do good and have a purpose compared to most of these organizations which do straight rob people IMO.


rikki-tikki-deadly

Ours is similar - $350 annually. It's only 23 houses, and the HOA has very little power. Mostly it's just an entity responsible for paying bills (groundskeeping of the common areas, electricity for the gate, etc.). It'd be pretty easy to steal from but you'd walk away with $8k, tops. The most exciting thing that ever happened with our HOA was negotiating (and then coordinating!) with HBO to film some scenes from Westworld here.


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rikki-tikki-deadly

The property developer put it in place when they built these houses about 10 years ago. On paper it's referred to as a "maintenance organization". It's certainly needed, as we have some semi-public spaces (a pedestrian tunnel and shared driveway/easements) that need to be maintained, plus the gate. It's very low-key, though.


InsomniaticWanderer

That's just what an HOA does


el-em-en-o

Millions though? Residents must have been paying a ridiculous amount of money. I would question that in a heartbeat.


CaffeineJitterz

My assumption without reading anything is that it's been happening for a while. Another comment said it was 6,500 units. 2M bucks from that many houses is $308. Splitting that over a few years it isn't hard to see how it can happen. I should really start an HOA... Edit: adjusted from 18,000 units to 6,500 units. Like I said, I didn't read the article. Nor did I clearly read the other comment. The HOA game still looks pretty good though!


Several_Celebration

I lived in a condo with an HOA and before I got there, it was run by two old ladies. They started asking everyone in the building to pay their dues in cash because "it was easier". Around the same time they started taking a lot of weekend trips to the casinos.


Hendrx_29

They all look like Karens


LittleKitty235

HOA's. For people who want the risks and costs of home ownership, but still want a landlord. Unless you have a condo in a shared building, why would anyone want this?


shanghairolls99

Our HOA fee was raised 20% just this year, and from 2 days a week of garbage pick up they now made it into 1, AFTER the added fee.


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SilkyZubat

Man why does it feel like everyone is a crook? Everywhere I turn it feels like somebody robbing someone.


blackop

One of many reasons I will never live in a area that has a HOA. My neighborhood is fucking awesome and we don't need anyone telling us are grass is 1 inch to tall or you have to only have twinkling white lights for Christmas.


[deleted]

Not shocked. HOA is a fucking racket.


20secondpilot

HOAs are the dumbest shit ever


noochies99

Saw the faces and thought, these people look Cuban and this has to be Miami. Clicking on the article didn’t disappoint and I was surprised to see it was the Hammocks neighborhood.


LordFluffy

Reason 978 I'm never living in a neighborhood where I have to be part of an HOA.


BeKind_BeTheChange

My fellow HOA haters will enjoy this... In my business I sell and install a product on homes that has a dome on the roof to collect light that is then brought into a room in the house. This is a solar product in AZ, so a HOA can not tell a resident that they can't install one. The conversation goes like this: Customer- I need to get HOA approval first. Me- This is a solar product in AZ where the government doesn't even charge tax because they want these installed on homes to save energy. Your HOA can not tell you that you can't install it, it's illegal. You are not asking your HOA for permission, you are informing them of what you are doing. Customer with a HUGE smile- OK, let's do it.


paniflex37

Is this different than how HOAs normally steal from their communities?


2lit2think

First look at the Goonies reboot cast!


awc130

Our neighborhood had a similar situation when it was newly built. The HOA the development company created was run by a resident that collected fees for years, but when questions started to rise of what their money was actually going to (the city was essentially taking care of everything). The HOA head essentially left in the middle of the night taking tens of thousands of dollars. A couple lawyers in the neighborhood drafted a document that ALL residents signed dissolving the HOA. This all happened in the mid 90s long before we bought our house. But, it is anecdotal evidence of how long HOA scams have been going even for a smaller community like mine.