The HOA Primer

[k4kyv]

Planning to put up useful antennas on your own property?  Here's the web book you should read before you buy a home in a Common Interest Development.

The purpose of this website is awaken a sleeping public to a plague that is threatening to destroy the American dream of homeownership and undermine the common democratic principals so many have fought to preserve for over 200 years. This menace is the corporate, private government known as the Homeowners Association. As briefly as possible, I will tell you how this industry developed, how it works, and who is profiting from the scam. I've presented numerous examples of this world gone mad and offered a few suggestions as to how you might help to restore sanity to your neighborhood.

http://www.thehoaprimer.org/index.htm

[wa1knx]

it is a world gone mad, I had a hard time here in tucson
to find a place with no ccr's. I'd never buy a place that
had a home owner association. a guy at work here had to
change his mailbox to some expensive one the HOA decreed.

[WA1GFZ]

I've seen beams and towers in my neighborhood so never gave it a second thought.
The by laws don't say anything. Better hurry and put something up before the yuppies take over.
The last attempt was they wanted to run a day care business in our club house and we all foot the insurance bill to raise their brats. That was quickly voted down.
Yearly budget meeting coming so we will see what the idiots want next.

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Heard a story about a ham, who was buying a house in one of those CCR neighborhoods.  The left him with the 3/4 inch thick documents and instructions to sign here... well he actually read through the document, lined out such objectionable things as restrictions on outdoor antennas and initialed and dated. I guess thats a legal way to change a contract.  Signed the dotted line.  The other side  signed with out reading (as usual I suppose)  he put up a small outdoor antenna, got taken to court and was ok because of the agreed to contract signed by both parties... 

Beat them at their own game. 
Get the patent on your land, and tell em to stuff it...

[W1ATR]

It's easier to avoid the hassle of a Nazi HOA altogether. Why put yourself through the BS in the first place, unless your attracted to anger.

It would be a cold day in hell before I would be subjugated by some knocked up soccer mom cruising the neighborhood in her minivan checking for conformance.
 
SK     

[k4kyv]

My cousin and her husband lived in a suburb near Arlington, VA before they retired about 10 years ago.  They lived in one of those high-end developments laced with covenants and picky HOA rules.  They told me of an old couple who had lived for decades on a very elegant piece of  property, worth a lot of money, located adjacent to the "restricted" development.  The old couple was constantly being intimidated to voluntarily sign up and join the HOA that ruled the development, so they could "enjoy" its "benefits".  When my cousin retired, sold their house and moved away, the old couple hadn't signed on, but was still being hassled.  Evidently the johnny-come-late residents in the development were fearful that when the old couple died, the hiers might not use the property to their liking, and cause the value of their plastic homes to drop.   

[Carl WA1KPD]

lined out such objectionable things as restrictions on outdoor antennas and initialed and dated. I guess thats a legal way to change a contract.

I think...the other party would also have to intial the changes for it to be effective