eclipse23

Sometimes being an asshole does work and I am GREAT at being an asshole. I believe in the heavy handed fist when it comes to condo associations. If they think your an asshole, even better. Being a nice guy with an association is a waste of fucking time. How I handle associations:

I wanted to take an opportunity to congratulate the YCCA for doing a fantastic job of welcoming a new owner into such a wonderful community. As I open my door on a rainy day I can always be reminded of what a great job they have done by the clogged gutters raining down on me as I struggle to get my key in. On a nice sunny day, in between killing carpenter ants in my stairwell I can have my guests peer at the rotting wood above my door from the carpenter ants. On a windy night I can listen to the sound of the huge tree that lumbers over my place and touches the roofline rap against the vinyl siding. The best part is if I am lucky some squirrels or termites will use the tree as an egress and move in above me. The cheap plastic outdoor light (bulb I replaced with my own money) is cracked and horrible looking but that is secondary to my mangled metal doorstep that lets out a loud shriek every time I close my door (my neighbor downstairs must love me). Oh, while were talking about neighbors I never did receive anything from you guys as to whether my neighbor ever fixed his air conditioner which has leaked a huge wet spot through my sheetrock in my stairwell. He was supposed to have his 20+ year ancient old unit serviced so that the lines would not freeze up and leak but I see no evidence the work was ever done. Where is the yardwork? I never see anyone doing anything around my place if the association uses midnight gnomes who use magic to sweep up please let them know that their magic is not strong enough to clean up my leaves but they do a GREAT job of remaining OUT OF SIGHT. I closed August 18th and it is now October 18th and NOTHING is done. As a first time homeowner YCCA has proven to me that associations really do ruin your homeowner experience. Enclosed with this letter is my first payment of $403.00 which is late because my booklet arrived shortly before the October 10 due date. I find it absurd that I would give you guys an extra $25 in a late fee because as far as I am concerned your association is 60 days past due in fulfilling your job of maintaining and enforcing rules on your property. I am past being friendly about the absolutely abysmal job YCCA has done. I should get a fee-free month for my patience. What am I paying for exactly to this day I am clueless. Don't call me with apologies, don't send me happy letters, just do your damn job.

I fucking hate associations.

dallison

so where is the sarcasm

looks good to me

Reddly9007

should be interesting how they reply to that. I agree that they are a huge pain in the ass, but I am not so sure they will find your letter amusing. While I know the intent of your letter was not funny and your seriously pissed about nothing getting done, HOA can hold a personal grudge and start sending you letters about every little thing in their bi-laws. Hopefully all works out for you!

eclipse23

Funny you mention that. I follow the bi-laws very closely so that I can not be accused of violating a rule. I figure i would give them ammunition if I broke condo laws so I put my trash out after dark, I do not work late on my place, etc.

I've dealt with associations before and I have never had any luck being nice.

Scrib

did water-s write the letter?

Reddly9007

Well then if you follow the bi-laws you have every right to be pissed if they are not holding up there end. 3 months ago when I first started to look at places I kept running into these new Townhome developments, brand new places. They all had HOA fees of like 150-180 a month! These are f-ing brand new places, what would justify a cost of that much, they don't need to fix much, they don't need to paint much, all they have to do is the lawn. HOA's for the most part are bloody theives! Lucky I ended up buying a home and the HOA's seems alright, 450 a year. Although, if I want to change my landscaping I need to draw them a diagram, and take a picture of the bush or tree I want to use. So anal its annoying. Oh well I try to tell myself its for the greater good of the community.

eclipse23

It passed spell checker and where in hell did I mention a firetruck or a honda that has over 150k miles?

doopstr

Ah the association, how I don't miss thee.

I feel sorry that your place is 20 years old (like the place I just left). Those fees are going to go up up up because of all the crap that is going to need fixing.

I really got pissed when I realized that all the crap that would normally be handled by the township (street repaving, street lights, water lines to the house) comes out of the association's pocket . What was I paying township taxes for?

Plus, as previously stated, who really knows where that money goes. 99% of the people never go to the meetings and the other 1% are on the board.

All the streets in my townhouse development were going to , I'm glad I got the hell out of there before they actually decided to fix that and pass the bill along to the home owners. It's bad enough I had to help fund every one's roofing project. When I left my house still had a 20 year old roof on it and they couldn't tell me when it was going to get a new one.

G

$150 to $180 per month is CHEAP!! If you think about it, there is NO reserve in a new place-the builder's almost never invest anything into the reserve. So, besides the two months up front that you pay, the association has no reserve to pay for anything above the normal maintainence, like a new roof in 20 years, or fixing siding in 5 years.

Plus, you have to remember that that amount pays for your yard-work, community areas, insurance, community lighting, probably water, and pool up-keep if you have one.

I am secretary for my board, and I know that we clear about a thousand, or two if we are lucky, per year. Besides the couple of hundred we invest per month, the reserve doesn;t have much on it's credits side to handle things like gutter replacement, driveway improvements, grill maintenance, insurance rises, etc.

eclipse-hope everything works out for you. Many management companies do suck a big one.

zeroday

i was once fined 40$ by my HOA for having my christmas lights up a week too long on the 2 foot tall pine tree next to my door. this is just one of many examples of HOA fun I had when I lived in my townhouse. i got to the point where i considered hunting them all down one by one and killing them but i somehow managed some self restraint. to this day, i'm not sure how.

good luck ern!

Scrib

How in the fawk could they fine you for something like that? Was that expressly written in the by-laws???

fdl

I hope you used paragraphs in the actual letter.

Billiam

From what I've been told by my HOA and other individuals I've spoken to, the water leak from your neighbor's A/C likely has nothing to do with the association. That's between you and your neighbor. The association can likely help out with copies of builder prints and so forth, but that's about it. I'm pretty sure that most HOA's have zero responsibility in situations like this.

zeroday

i failed to read that page.

still not a very nice thing to do to someone who's trying to bring a little christmas cheer to the place.

Prolanman

Plain and simple HOA's suck! They're usually made up of people who may have wanted to make a difference, but end up power happy. The only thing that they will respond to is a letter from your lawyer. Otherwise they'll just treat you as blowing hot air. The next time you send a letter, send it certified return receipt. At least you'll have some proof that you sent them a letter.

jlukja

Did you use red in your letter?


I once got a letter from my association telling me to remove the reflective film from my window and sliding glass door. This was about 6 years after I bought the place and the reflective film was on there when I bought it.

phile

Doesn't sound vitriolic enough.

Anyways, my sister lives in a condominium and her association is equally as bad. They did not mark the concrete with parking lines, so it's a free-for-all when it comes to parking. And it really ticks me off how some people refuse to park in a manner that would allow someone else to park nearby.

Scrib

that blows goat balls

doopstr

At least my old association would send a nasty-gram asking you to remove the lights with the threat of being fined. They would give you a few weeks and then whack you if you were being a hard ass.

Oh, for you guys that don't know, if you refuse to pay the fine they can put a lean on your house. How nice.

eclipse23

They do, it was supposed to be fixed as a condition of sale. The HOA sent my neighbor 2 letters but they never enforced him fixing it. :finds corner to cry in:

soopa

funny shit

dallison

i hope i never live in a hoa neighborhood, i hate conformity

Sarlacc

My parents got sick of their HoA....So, my mother read all the bi-laws, wrote a letter...got the homeowners behind her....and now my father is the new president of their housing development.

He didn't really WANT to do it. But to keep stupid people from doing stupid things, and pissing away their dues...sometimes you HAVE to do it.