Ever use your tractor for revenge?

[bpattie]

Covenants seem like a good compromise to me.

What kind of recourse does your road maintenance association have if your neighboor doesn't pay his share of the costs?

not sure about road maintenance, but I remember when I lived in an area with HOA they could slap a lien on your property. I would expect their recourse is outlined in your agreement with them.

 

[eepete]

We had a guy that didn't pay any road maintenance back where we used to live. He went to sell his lot. We wrote his Realtor a letter explaining the past due road maintenance fees. The Realtor had to disclose that to any buyer, which would scare the buyer because 1) they would be worried about a lean on the property and 2) it gave them some insight into the nature of the seller. The Realtor strongly urged the seller to pay the past dues, which he did. We did not add interest on the amounts. We were then of course cast as something between used horse food and evil itself by the buyer. Fortunately his reputation preceded him and nothing "stuck". I love it when people make their shortcomings your problems and reputations....
Another guy didn't pay, and he got zero tractor assistance when others had their driveway plowed for free, and trees across the driveway after storms removed for free. He just told everyone how unfriendly the neighborhood was.
Am very glad that now I'm attached to a state road, no HOA or covenants.

 

[Soundguy]

But I don't oppose our covenants- We are on 10 acre lots close to town. I don't want a junkyard going in next door, and I'd prefer a swine lot or chicken farm not go in either. The covenants prevent that and don't do much else.

.

Seems like those very same rules would also prevent a person from owning a pet pot bellied pig.. or a child from having an easter 'peep'.

that's what we need to do.. pass more rules for thought control..

soundguy

 

[Iplayfarmer]

not sure about road maintenance, but I remember when I lived in an area with HOA they could slap a lien on your property. I would expect their recourse is outlined in your agreement with them.

I know that HOA's have quite a bit of power. It may depend on how the association bylaws are written, but I believe that you can actually be evicted from your own home by a HOA.

I was wondering how much power a road maintenance association had.

 

[Zephrant]

The covenants are several pages long- they state two large mammals (horses, goats, etc...), some small number of other small animals, etc...
A few rules on setbacks, fences and no mobile homes/trailers for longer than a year while building, etc..

And yeah, we have had a few people that have not paid- not sure if they ever paid up or not, I should check in to it.
That is one down-side- while I'm technically the "secretary" and have check signing authority, It's been years since I've even seen the account balance...

 

[MikeD74T]

I believe only a judicial authority can evict anyone from their home, and even then it's not easy. Ask any landlord, you can't even evict a non paying tenant from your home. The concept of a HOA having that authority is similar to rental car agencies citing & fining drivers for speeding, which was untimately thrown out of court for lack of authority.

A covenanted property is just a disorganized HOA.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I don't care much for how many of the HOA become a cliquey political group of folks that want to impose their will. But in Theory the origin was probably a good one. I believe most were organized to protect the property values in PUD's and other medium density areas by making sure that covenants were enforced folks cut their grass, kept their houses painted and didn't start collecting half disassembled 47 Chevy's in the front lawn. So I can see the purpose if the purpose stays true.

Thats freedom being infringed...
larry

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I believe only a judicial authority can evict anyone from their home, and even then it's not easy. Ask any landlord, you can't even evict a non paying tenant from your home. The concept of a HOA having that authority is similar to rental car agencies citing & fining drivers for speeding, which was untimately thrown out of court for lack of authority.

A covenanted property is just a disorganized HOA.

Point taken. I meant to imply that a HOA may be able to request eviction in the same way that a landlord can. The bottom line is that a HOA has certain powers and authorities over your home that simple neighbors in a non-HOA neighborhood don't have.

 

[collije]

Point taken. I meant to imply that a HOA may be able to request eviction in the same way that a landlord can. The bottom line is that a HOA has certain powers and authorities over your home that simple neighbors in a non-HOA neighborhood don't have.

I would think that unless the HOA can prove ownership of a property they cannot even request eviction. A lein can be filed and must be cleared prior to selling of the property but eviction, I don't think so.

 

[CowwFace]

I'm part of a small HOA (15 lots) where one lot is owned by the guy who built the sub-division. This guy gave himself 6 votes as compared to everybody else's 1 vote. If he had done it legally, in a real meeting, there wouldn't be a problem.

But I'm not out for revenge on the builder. I'm out for revenge on one of the other owners that said they would pitch in for lawyer fees when we ("we" being the owners other than the builder) investigated the builder. Then after the secret meeting discussing what the lawyer found out, this ONE owner decided they didn't want to pitch in and left me to pick up their share of the bill.

Last year I was hired by the HOA to use my tractor to plow the road (1/2 mile or so). Being a nice guy, I cleared out the end of each drive way and if there were large drifts I'd get them too. So this year, everybody but ONE will get their drive way cleared. Too bad too, because that ONE is the longest drive with the tallest drifts. And I KNOW they don't have a snow blower. I'll be sure to smile and wave on my way past too.

Hey JnJ,
Don't let him pull You down to his level.... Now with that said.. You could always plow his drive.. but on a random basis.. Plow the first storm of the year, then not again until the 3rd.. then plow the 4th, but not agian until the 7th... That will mess with his mind.

I'm down in Conifer Co. as well. I'm hoping for a ton of snow this winter.. we're near the bottom of the solar cycle so I think we'll get a bunch.. but I heard that the weathermen are predicting an easy winter??

Carry on,
Phill