Whatever happened to a the freedom to contract? HOA provisions are set by homeowners, and can be changed by the assent of homeowners. If you are buying into a pre-existing establishment, you are made fully aware of any HOA provisions before purchasing. If you don't like it, don't buy!

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I figured HOA Nazis were mostly for condos. Interesting...

It sounds like some of these people should have seen it coming...If you move to a place like Quail Ridge Commons Manor or Whispering Willowy Pines Estates, what do you expect?

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Quaint little gardens with their "organic" and smelly fertilizer combined with any kind of ecologically friendly eye sore = lower property values in a given neighborhood.

The reasons are obvious. The solution is even more obvious. If you don't want to be beholden to the tyranny of the majority in a housing association you simply have to live somewhere that doesn't have them. Since most of those places tend to be outside of the suburbs you'll probably be living a more "ecologically friendly" life style anyway if indeed that is your goal.

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I have a mental image of the masses living in these regulated subdivisions, huddled in their 3,000 sq ft homes trying to keep warm in the dark during power failures(no solar/wind power of course- how tacky), gnawing on their manicured lawns (calorie content of tulips?), wearing smelly dirty clothing(clothes lines are so lower-class), with their 3 car garage filled with the SUV's they cannot fuel...... ah well- it IS their choice. HOA's are not a given- they could choose to take them out- or not buy in such communities.

They'd be horrified by where I live- houses are built in whatever style anyone chooses(mine is mostly recycled), I have solar panels and a wind gen, the geese mow the "lawn", the clothesline is in use year-round(even in winter sometimes), gardens abound, chickens and ducks amble about- how low class...... just think what it must be doing to my property value- I stay awake at night fretting about it all the time......:)

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in most cases. Seems like the only folks who want to run for the offices are the local busybodies. I was incredulous when an acquaintence who had been burgularized twice and installed a fence to protect his property was forced to take it down by the HOA. I guess if you crave uniformity these communities are heaven to you. Not me - thanks.

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I think that Home owners associations are ridiculous... That would probably explain why I do not live anywhere like that.... When buying property I view those kinds of things as a red flag as to move on and not consider buying.... I do not see what all the fuss is about..... Buyer beware..... (Or are too many people too stupid to understand that anymore as noted by a poste above)?

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Y'know, for all the smarts that got them their money, they sure act like a dumbunch!

I suppose they want us to care about them too while they continue to waste all the resources, stealing even more from the rest of us. Wasn't it enough to hog the corporate profits and lower our wages so they could live like little kings and queens? Now they want to use up all the resources because they think solar panels are unattractive.

SOLAR PANELS ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!!! GORGEOUS!!!
WINDMILLS ARE GRACEFUL AND ELEGANT!

These people are big nothings.

And as the "BIG NOTHING" song goes...

"I NEVER KNEW HOW BIG NOTHING COULD BE!"

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Here in Israel (yes, I know, you thought we were the bad guys) - Since 1990, at least, you can't build a house without solar hot water built in. It's in the building code. If only we could make peace that easily...

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"Everybody gets their little cookie cutter."

Screw 'em. Same thing will happen to these "commies" that has, is, or will happen with the big boys--eventually folks will revolt or move, and the establishment will either change or rot from the inside.

Simply can't stomach the thought of living among people who think they have a right to tell me what to do with property I own. Humans aren't programmed to be subjects, and Western-style liberty is a hard, hard bell to un-ring.

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"Florida is one of the more progressive states"... glad to hear it! The Miami realtor's comments were encouraging - I think people will come around on solar panels and native plants fairly quickly, but clotheslines will need a major p.r. push. Btw, a properly tended compost pile doesn't stink or attract pests.

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... please keep telling me how you don't want anyone telling you that you have to do things that are eco-friendly.

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I'm tired of hearing the wimpering of owners who don't want to comply with HOA rules. These rules are given to a land or home purchaser BEFORE settlement. If you don't read them, how is it the HOAs fault when they stop you from violating a rule? The rules are made by the existing owners, and if you don't agree, you shouldn't move there. HOAs are a perfect example of democracy in action.

If you can afford to build a home in an area with average home prices of $834K, I’m guessing you know how to read. This article sounds more like someone who didn’t do their homework got bit in the a@# for their own negligence.

I have lived in areas with HOAs, and without. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but neither is wrong. It's a matter of choosing what's right for you. If you like structure and more secure property values provided by neighborhood compliance, move into one. If you want more freedom, move elsewhere. If you want COMPLETE freedom, GET SERIOUS, it doesn't exist. There are such things as codes, laws, and ordinances that everyone must follow even outside of an HOA. Freedom and democracy are not synonymous with lawlessness or anarchy.

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These phony folks are terrorists to nature, terrified of the natural. Most of them are unnatural aggressive cancer cells or parasites on a predatory, patriarchic economic system that scams money from poor to rich by way of the stockmarket casino. Love is the solution, like love of all things natural.

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in a recent Alternet-article bashing him....we need to make environmentalism "SEXY and COOL".

How cool and sexy it is to have a clothesline, a flock of chickens, a compost pile (I have a tumbler one...no smell..and I painted it a pretty light green).
an organic garden, and solar panels....the mainstream has just not caught up yet.

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There are also municipalities (suburbs and exurbs, mostly) where the exterior color of a house is regulated by municipal code.

The flip side of that is the real solution. Homeowners' association rules are trumped by even the smallest municipality's laws. Run for local office, pass something saying that no association can restrict solar energy devices (or whatever) to any extent short of preventing a hazard.

The problem is, it takes involvement. On an ongoing basis, not just once in a while. And forget petitions. No one reads them.

As an aside, if I had the bucks, I'd move into one of those restricted 'burbs and paint my house fluorescent lime green with orange trim and a purple garage door, or some other equally ludicrous combination, in order to challenge the color restrictions on 1st Amendment grounds. (All the while giving thanks that while I was inside my own house, I would not have to look at it.)

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Don't live in Associations! First of all anyone who would want to live in a HOA is a sheeple. Then the ones that think they're cool try to put up solar panels (oooo, rebels!) which is clearly against the HOA which they had to be aware of before they built or bought.

Most HOA are situated outside of cities and commercially zoned areas. All those "pro-environment" rebels catching fines for clotheslines and wild flower front lawns HAVE TO DRIVE EVERYWHERE to get their soy caramel lattes and locally grown broccoli.

Gimme a break! If "those people" ("who you calling 'those people'" in the voice of Biff and Buffy Whitebread) really cared about the environment, they would not choose to live in a 3,000 sqft home, which costs $500 or more a month to heat and centrally air condition, with a mandated two car garage, which they feel compelled to fill with gas guzzling, monster sized SUVs.

Go live in a city or a mixed zone area! Try walking or riding your bike to most places. And don't tell me that most Americans can't afford it. I'm talking about Biff and Buffy who spend $800K on a way too large house. They can afford it. And they should. You can't be environmentally friendly and still want to live like that in a HOA.

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Most of these HOAs are in subdivisions on the fringe of the city. They have little or no access to transit and they have huge sprawling yards. Subdivisions by their very nature encourage excessive auto use and conversion of natural areas to chemically-treated lawns.

Yes, HOAs are bad, but people who truly care for the environment would never build a house out on the urban fringe to begin with.

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By that reasoning, we are not a democratic nation, because newborn children had no say in the creation of our laws. For that matter, neither did I, since I'm not more than 200 years old. How about legal immigrants? Are we undemocratic because we expect them to abide by our laws even though they weren't previously here to create or vote on them.

And I've read HOAs before a purchase before. It takes very little effort to zero in on architectural guidelines. You can easily tell if there are a lot of restrictions, or just same basics. You DON'T need an attorney if you're of average intelligence. And I've never seen any fine print - it's pretty much all Times New Roman 12pt

Ironically, I'm not a huge fan of HOAs and find if funny I'm here defending them. I'm just sick of everyone blaming everyone else because they make irresponsible decisions and don't read things before they sign. When you click okay to a terms of service online agreement, it's a pretty big difference from plunking down the largest sum of money you'll ever spend in your life on a house or condo. We're not talking about a $30 t-shirt here. People need to start taking some freaking responsibility for themselves these days. It's not everyone elses fault when they screw up.

If you want to live in an HOA and don't like what you see, participate in the community and exact change. It's the same as society as a whole. If you don't want to do that, don't complain when others make your choices for you.

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In 2000, I was ready to buy a house in a fancy suburb with all kinds of restrictive rules- and then the programming market crashed (outsourced to hell), and my world turned upside down. Circumstances brought me into the downtown parts of Indianapolis. In Indianapolis, like in many cities there are large numbers of middle class houses with yards and lawns- that stand vacant and abandoned in the inner part of town. There are no homeowner’s restrictions here. I will be putting solar panels on all 6 of my houses. The first of them have already started going up. I suspect that the green movement may evolve by returning to the old neighborhoods that do not have all the restrictive rules. My experience here is that the worst of the rules are in the newest, most recently built homes. The builders put them in place to protect their interest- and then when they had finished building out a subdivision they turned them over to the owners. Older neighborhoods rarely have these rules.

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I just read a column in today's Denver post that projects the Denver area will grow by 1.2 million people by 2030 (the size of Dallas). While I can't vouch for those figures it says one thing loud and clear: we need planning that is both highly imaginative and stringent at the same time or else the entire country will turn into a single morass under an unrelenting sky. While the planning and ideas can and probably will originate on the local level they need to be implemented on a large scale - building codes, transit systems, water use restrictions, etc.
It will be one big HOA, and not everybody will be happy.

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Against my better judgment, I just bought a house with an HOA. First of all, the house was amazing and had a great price (~$150,000 in downstate Illinois). It's footprint is only 900 sq ft with a total of 1800 sq ft in the house. It was built 3 years ago, and every single appliance (including the windows) is high efficiency. Moreover, this is the least restrictive HOA I have ever seen. The rules are pretty much don't abandon your property, don't put a car in your back yard, your fence has to be a certain height, and no clothes line.

For the record, I have ever intention of lobbying to get rid of that clothesline rule.

I wouldn't have bought with a more restrictive HOA, because I find it utterly ridiculous. But not every single HOA neighborhood is snooty and obsessed with conformity. My neighborhood is made up mostly of young professionals and academics who are buying their first house. No house in the neighborhood is worth more than $175,000, and no one could construe these as McMansions.

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...is about residential segregation. All the rules constructed and enforced by HOA’s are designed to keep people “not like them” out of their neighborhood. And this may be fine for some (I know I never want to live in creepy suburban hell), but what this amounts to is an increasing gap in who has access to resources and who doesn’t. And by resources I mean quality schools, political influence, etc. And who is most likely to be excluded from areas with more access to resources? Racial minority group members and the poor. Blacks and whites, regardless of income and wealth, are just as segregated now, in terms of where we live, than we have ever been. HOA’s are the epitome of institutionalized discrimination in this country. And for that, everyone who is concerned about the increasing gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” should give a damn. Just say no to HOA’s!

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You complain about 3 dollar a gallon gas pump prices, you complain about importing oil from unstable countries, you complain about engery prices being high, you complain about greenhouse gases.

Yet you buy that 500hp sports car, or that thing called a hummer, you don't want a nuclear plant in your state, don't want solar panels or wind turbines on your properties on fears it drives down your property value, but yet you want everything for nothing!

You guys of these suburban heavens do the rest of us a favor and just shut the hell up and take it up the ass, for it's you that makes it hard the rest of us cause you're too damned worried about how your bland neighboorhoods look!

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I know: my brother-in-law is one. You will never get any positive change from such conformist sheep. They will need to feel the heat of market forces. Their way of life will become more and more expensive.

I have always lived in high density places. I have always walked or ridden my bike. You meet more interesting people that way. As for all the monster homes, which ironically are most plentiful in that socialist paradise to the north, Canada, we won't see them stop until we see the end of cheap credit.

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HOAs that require solar panels. Weirder things have happened.

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It's ironic that we're just now seeing legislation to prevent HOAs from blocking green features. Since 1996, the feds have prohibited HOAs from banning OTARDs (satellite dishes). Priorities!

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Its bad for my blood pressure and stress levels.

It makes me advocate completely irrational things like wanting to cause physical pain to busybodies who sit on HOAs.

Breathe... Breeeeeathe...

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I line dry my washing, have a vegetable garden and would have solar if I could afford it. I would never live in a neighborhood with a HOA. I find them intrusive and only for the super rich who are lazy to boot!

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With or without HOA's, suburbs are intrinsically economically wasteful and antisocial, not to mention environmentally destructive and - depending on your aesthetic tastes - just plain ugly. In the US, they exist so that a privileged section of the population can act out their individualist pioneer "freeholder" fantasies by pretending that they do not live in an urban environment. But they do live in an urban environment, just a very poorly planned and very wasteful one. Needless to say, the housing industry loves the low overhead that comes with slapping down boxes on virgin land.

Not uncoincidentally, suburbs - with the exceptions of hoity-toity liberal ones like Marin Co. (CA) - are usually the key centers of right wing reactionary politics in the US. The last refuge of the willfully ignorant.

Time for suburbanites to grow up and join the rest of humanity. The 19th century was over a long, long time ago already.

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Close to one-million dollar homes and you want me to feel sorry for and upset about these people? You're out of your mind. If you join that kind of community and have the dollars, then you can also abide by the conventions. Putting in solar or a vege garden is just a symbolic action without real meaning. If you want a vege garden and solar, then move to one of the older (and poorer) neighborhoods...Can't we get serious and realistic about alternative energy and lifestyles instead of dealing with frivolous issues like this one?

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This was a great article. EVERYONE, no matter where they live, needs to become more ecologically friendly. Telling people they shouldn't move into a neighborhood with a HOA is stupid. Their resource use affects you too! And the lives of your children!

I happen to live in a 1400 square foot townhome (including the garage) within 15 minutes walking distance from the historic downtown area of my city. My townhome complex has a HOA. This complex is one of the few affordable home options where I live. I walk and bicycle everywhere within the city. I am a low income person. HOAs are not only for the rich.

Luckily, the Arizona legislature has seen fit to allow solar devices and political signs. I have been working on convincing several members of my city council to pass an ordinance allowing ecologically sustainable practices everywhere in the city, such as drying clothes outdoors, installing wind turbines, keeping small flocks of chickens, etc.

Why not spend your time and energy making the world a better place? The book "Superbia!" has lots of great suggestions for how to turn your neighborhood into a sustainable community. In addition, permaculture enthusiasts are also working to demontrate how suburban homes and yards can be transformed into small sustainable homesteads.

I would also love to see HOAs and cities mandating environmentally friendly practices, limiting the maximum square footage of homes, etc.

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In looking at the housing industry over the last decade, I noticed one thing - older neighborhoods do not have HOAs because they have either expired (they are after all limited institutions that fade with time usually) or they did nothave one to begin with. HOAs are the outgrowth of developer controlled restrictions while the developments were being built. In fact, here in Arizona, I have not seen one HOA that did not start as deed restrictions during construction that were established by the developer and foisted off on homeowners as part of the sale agreement.

Most homeowners did not worry too much about these restrictions while homes were still under construction, what with the mess of construction and all, but it was only when the subdivisions were done and they wanted to start making changes to their homes that they found out about this HOA being set up by the developer and that it was going to continue the covenants that they thought were only to be temporary. Often the original HOA directors were staff representatives who were still selling the last of the homes and lots, and actual homeowners had very little say in the process, because these corporate shills always seemed to outnumber them and demanded compliance with the building covenants and codes as justification. Many homeowners did not even know that many of these covenants were not part of building codes or zoning regulations to begin with, and only became enforceable when enough homeowners had bought into a subdivision and agreed to them as part of the sale agreement. It was a way for the developers to control how much they could ask for a property by being able to use existing properties that were occupied as sales tools. Worse yet, for new homeowners who did not want to stay, they had trouble selling their homes because they were in HOA developments.

Personally, I think every HOA should be banned legally and the rights of the individual to protect their property and how they use it should be accepted as part of being a citizen. Sure, on occasion you get the jerk who thinks no one matters but him/her, but face it, that is just life, and there are legal remedies that do not put a person's home at risk of seizure by someone else over a few dollars. Here in Arizona, one HOA tried to seize the home of a single mother who was dying of cancer and had gotten behind in both her mortgage and HOA dues. She had gone back to work after chemotherapy, paid up her mortgage, only to find that for a little over $300 the HOA was moving to evict her and her children. She got the local media involved, and a fund was set up that paid for her HOA dues, and helped her care for her children. She passed away a few months later, and the children's guardian was able to sell the home so that her equity went to her children not the HOA. Anyone who thinks an HOA is anything more than greed personified is being both naive and foolish, especially if they choose to live a subdivision that has one.

http://www.standanddeliveramerica.com

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We started a RESIDENTS association here in Ft. Lauderdale to force the City officials to pay attention to our rotting infrastructure and slum housing, not restrict what color people paint their homes. Basically, ours was founded to bring our neighborhood from its status of a slumlord crack and crime-ridden inner city area to one where people could safely raise kids and walk dogs after dark.

Some of the older homes here have passive, sun-heated water panels on the roof. Our windows open wide to collect breezes and we have polished terrazzo floors which hold the cool temps, it's like walking on a solid slab of marble. (Once fashionable, they fell out of favor when carpet came into vogue.) Now they are fashionable again!

After Hurricane Wilma, the ONLY way to dry our clothes was to hang them in the sun. We forget (or never knew) how sweet-smelling sun-dried clothes smell. Actually, the ultraviolet kills bacteria, which is the source of body odors. I continue to dry my bedsheets and bathtowels on the retractable clothes line out back. I also have a veggie garden with the sweetest tomatoes. We are within walking distance of downtown.

I feel sorry for those whose HOA's that restrict people from having boats in their yard and all the colors of the homes are boring and the same. People pay extra for those gated communities, then become upset when it restricts them. Well, the rocks come with the farm, y'all. Go unincorporated and bitch again when the guy next door has 3 rusting cars up on blocks.

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You forgot one covnant which may seem harmless but renders a green area permanently useless. A member of my family bought a house in a warm state. They wantd to put in a small above ground pool for their kids. They were told they couldn't do above ground and would have to have an inground pool. The part of their lawn which would have been used for a small pool and could have been returned to grass when they no longer wanted it is now permanently taken up by a huge (minimum size also regulated) pool which will probably remain a hole in the ground surrounded by paving stones.

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Those of us that read and post here forget that we're a pretty small minority. The majority of Americans still say "The American way of life is non-negotiable."
Everybody will be all about changing their light bulbs, but tell an American that they can't drive their car anymore. Forget it. This society is going down kicking and screaming. Having a garden, compost pile, and clothes lines in your backyard won't do you any good when the millions of starving masses come to take it from you. Try to tell me to be optimistic about the future and I'll show you 300 million Americans that make me think otherwise.

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All of you so quick to bash HOAs are overreacting. This article is written with a clear anti-association bent. That's OK. Most HOAs are made up of the residents and your neighbors, and if there is a consensus on an issue, you as the resident have the power to change the rules.

I am an environmentalist and a Board member of my association. I care deeply about the environment, and if I thought my HOA was doing anything to restrict environmentally friendly living, I'd work to change it.

Associations can foster the positive that we seek to create as well. Don't label them all as anti-environmental and out to enforce mandatory uniform living---that just isn't the case for most of them.

PS I cannot imagine, as an avid gardener, an HOA telling someone they cannot have a vegetable garden. Outrageous!

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I have not yet seen any substantial proof that HOA rules increase property values. In fact, I would imagine that the more freedom you had to do things on your property, the more that property would be worth.

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I live in a subdivision in Fishers, IN that prohibits awnings. OK, some awnings can look tacky if not maintained, but so do windows with torn and tattered window blinds! I wanted to install an awning over my patio that retracts, when not in use, into a small cassette not noticable from more than 20 feet. The HOA said no .... "an awning is an awning no matter what." So, I can't use my patio for most of the summer since it broils in the sun most of the day. That means my family stays indoors with the air conditioning ramped up. So much for the environment.

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Back in the 80's our company bought an existing home in an undeveloped suburb. There wasn't yet a HOA. We chose the home for a couple of reasons. First, it was a large accessible home (we run group homes), and secondly, group homes have zoning laws.

A couple of years later a land developer bought up the surrounding land and the group home ended up falling under the new HOA.

Any group home built after 1984 in our state has to conduct an "open house" for it's neighbors and believe me it becomes an interesting "bitch" session at quite a number of them.

Some of the posters have showed no mercy to those that end up in a HOA that they don't agree with and maybe try to change... and maybe in a situation where your told the rules before you buy there's some legitimacy to that attitude.

But I ask you... how do you justify this mindset for those that are caught up in this drama by no fault of their own and can't just pick up and move?

I kid you not, one of the biggest gripes from this particular HOA was we didn't have enough flowers/plants on the property and that there was a number of vehicles coming and going... especially vans.

Like our staff have enough time to go out and plant/maintain gardens....*mumble, mumble*... and vans? Yeesh, how do they expect our clients to get around?

Listening to them, I realized where their children's hostility towards our clients came from. But that's a whole other gripe. :)

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http://www.narpmcalifornia.org/
http://www.calassoc-hoa.com
http://www.npma.org

Just three of the gigantic multi-billion dollar industry lobby a mere homeowner has to contend with. There are NO properties in CA that aren't part of an HOA, developers make it part of the deal before they build. There is no choice for a consumer, period. For those who insist this is a choice to buy an HOA house/condo or a non-HOA dwelling, you don't have enough info to support your imaginative belief. I've got the eighth largest economy in the world to prove your belief a fantasy.

For those who say, well, get a majority and change the CC&R's, um... can we say that works at all in this country for any similar thing? Of course not. Not when there are billion dollar corporations invested in ensuring the status quo is immune to changes. Stop foisting imaginative belief systems onto reality.

When the GP of Ventura County did a clothesline campaign a few years back, even in the middle of rolling blackouts, the CAAHOA jumped in and hired attorneys and paid SCE reps to show up at council meetings and successfully shot down every effort but one (there were Greens on that city council). Even Ed Masry, may he rest in peace, of Erin Brokovich fame couldn't secure the right of a homeowner to dry their laundry in the sun during a rolling blackout. It cost the party a buttload of cash and got nowhere. And that was just for a clothesline, in the middle of an energy crisis. Yeah, a couple of eco-minded homeowners are gonna prevail against that.

Sure, perhaps an HOA made up of the right people could be part of the solution. First they'd have to fire their property management company (another barrier) who fights tooth and nail with the funding of CAAHOA and others behind them to ensure that doesn't happen. Generally, the HOA wonks who get suckered into board service are the worst of control-freaks. They will NEVER be part of any solution.

That's the reality based on lived experience.

The only possibility for change is converting HOA's to cohousing HOA's.... but that will never fly in a state where group cooperation is now considered as some form of communism, something to be violently fought against with cultural malevolence. And even then, cohousing groups are not immune... I was involved in one that once it got to drawing up it's CC&R's just got lazy and picked up the boilerplate from the CAAHOA. Swell, that worked really good.

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Back in 1979, we built a home, in a new subdivision with no homeowners association at all. The homes were in the $150,000 to $300,000 range at that time. The township we lived in, we found out later, had a law prohibiting clothes lines. I was outraged as we did not know this, and were not told this, before hand. They had a variety of other very stupid regulations. Since then, we've lived in condos which are always restritive but one was not nearly as bad as where we lived in that home. Things have just gotten worse this way over the years. We now live in, and I made damn sure we knew all the hidden laws, an older home in a lovely neighborhood that does not have these restrictions nor do we have a homeowner's association, I am glad to say!! I hang my clothes on the line when weather permits and we have a very large organic vegetable garden!

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The stories we are likely to hear are about the wackos who got elected and got power hungry. Happens all the time in a democracy. We are territorial critters.

My experience is that as housing prices have skyrocketed, HOAs are primarily interested in keeping their territory exclusive. That is, their main job is to protect and defend, since the only way we have for keeping creeps out of a neighborhood is by making it too expensive for them. So gated communities make sure the only folks who can move in are just like those who are already there.

So like cops everywhere, HOAs play "gotcha." But is that really any different from landlords?

We are an anxious and insecure society. Bullies to the left of us. Bullies to the right of us. "Hell is other people" writes Sartre. Ain't it a shame since no one knows more about being human than a human. The real tragedy is when we think "I am an island." Listen to for whom the bell tolls. The myth of independence is the path to loneliness and a form of divide and conquer for those in power.

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We are. After six years of trying to work within the system to get the board to actually protect the wetlands and wildlife running through the neighborhood ( they're why we bought here, assuming the governing documents and federal govt. would enforce the explicit protections) we resorted to a lawsuit. It has been ugly, and we're just to the deposition stage. They will lose, however. They are choosing to ignore the CC&R's regarding wetlands, and nothing we've tried over six years has changed that. We hope to set an example here, and encourage others to stand up for the environment in their neighborhoods. Not all people with nice homes are bad, folks.

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I'm accuall very suprised that noone has talked about one very, very important point: Legallyu,. these things have absolutly no legals status. A private organization is not allowed to act as a govenment unless you sign a contract allowing them to. And Contracts are negotible by the current owner and the buyer- outside entities are not allowed to be involved.

If you buy the house form an owner and not a compalny which will not allow that clause to be taken out, it is easy enough to remove the cluase from the contract ath requires you to do it. To not allow that would be downright illegal.

A few court cyhallenges to these groups woudl be in order I think. Not jsut because of bad rules, but because they exist.

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So few meteors.

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Reading the article, I made a list of various anti-green regs mentioned, from little things to big ones:

* prohibit clotheslines
* prohibit window fans in front windows
* prohibit window air-conditioning
* require continuous dusk-to-dawn lighting
* prohibit awnings at front of house
* prohibit composting
* require seeded or sodded grass lawn
* require lawn watering, fertilizer, chemical use
* prohibit vegetable gardens, or limit their size
* require sprinklers in front yard
* prohibit solar panels (PV or hot water), wind generating systems, or similar appliances, altogether, or prohibit from front of house
* require concrete driveway
* require central heating and air conditioning
* require minimum of two-car garage
* have minimum living area requirements, e.g. 2750 sq. ft.

I'd like to challenge these sorts of regulations in my area and encourage others to also do so. It behooves us to reduce waste (water, energy, trash), as well as the use of nasty chemicals. Local food and local energy are, of course, key parts of the growing relocalisation movement, as in the Boulder Going Local! campaign.

Feel free to share other general anti-green regs from your own list. Please, no flaming.

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I lived in a home in a desert state that had a homeowner's association. The realtor told me it would help me hold on to the home's value, but that was not how it worked in real life. In the end, the association spoiled all of my joy of living in the home.

A neighbor, an idle drunk and member of the association board, harassed me continually about my indigenous plants. The loudmouth would waddle over to my yard, start kicking my plants, and yelling that they were "spoiling the neighborhood." However, the plants were not only on my property, but they were drought tolerant, hardy, good for the environment, and I thought they were beautiful. Isn't "drought tolerant" supposed to be a plus in an extremely dry and hot place?

After a few months of resisting my bullying drunken neighbor's demands I returned home one evening to find gallons of gasoline had been poured on my landscaping. Within weeks all my landscaping was black and dead, and I thought about how the water table was probably poisoned now too. Soon many of my neighbors volunteered to yank out the roots of the poisoned trees and bushes, and they seemed a bit too happy about it. I remain haunted with the thought that I may have narrowly escaped having my house torched as well.

It was a God forsaken place, and I will never live anywhere again that has a homeowner's association. Being surrounded by meddlesome, controlling, malicious neighbors will forever be my definition of living in a home with a homeowner's association, and I would not recommend it to anyone.

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Having read all of the rules and regs and horror stories of living with HOA's, my only question is why anyone puts up with it in the first place? Makes little sense to me. Actually, I think that many people who buy into these places have the sense that the HOA's will somehow "protect" them and their property, keep out the "undesirables", and maintain their subdivision as exclusive, thus keeping the value of their home up. In the end, it traps them and restricts them and basically bites them in the butt. Would be kinda funny if not so sad. But they signed on the dotted line and got what they paid for really. Hate to say the old "you made your bed so now lie in it" bit, but there is truth to that. If you want to opt out, either sell the place or organize the neighbors to change the rules orban the HOA if enough are so inclined. And if that is not the case- sell.

Look, I have neighbors in the next town just over the line from me who keep all sorts of junkers in their yard, carparts the works. Is it pleasant to look at? No. But that town has no rules whatsoever and this is the way it is. But with that comesthe ability to not be hemmed in by others rules- one can basically do what they want on their own property. I support that fully so long as one is not say pouring oil or gas on the ground or destroying the environment. Blasting music at 2 a.m. wouldn't be ok either. But basically, as long as you are not hurting others one can do what they want here. So if you don't like the clunkers up on blocks in the neighbors front yard, you just look away and don't do that in your yard. But that is as I mentioned before a whole 'nother place in terms of giving up control over others- and I'd guess that many are not wiling to go there. But what they fail to realize is that if you have the power to control others, they can control you.

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Who was it who pointed out the totalitarianism of the left (communism in all its forms) is the final putrescent stage of organised religion and that totalitarianism of the right (fascism) is the rotting corpse of capitalism?
Seems to me that the behaviour described in this article proves the latter contention fully.
The real connection between the forms of dictatorship are not their roots but their methods of self maintenance.

Wisegalah in Sydney

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I don't understand how someone with the wherewithal to purchase a home in one of the wealthiest, most exclusive, most restrictive towns in the country, (I have personal experience with Scarsdale), was so foolish to enter into a deed restriction, the HOA, without knowing what that would entail. Even if the HOA were less restrictive, or even non-existant, the Scarsdale zoning regulations would probably have shot these foolish people down anyway.
People in Scarsdale don't hang out their clean laundry to dry; the maid throws it in the drier. The lawyer takes care of the dirty laundry.

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It is always dangerous to make sweeping general statements:

1. I live in the most intergrated community ever in 14 years (before in Las Vegas, Bakersfield and Modesto- I was the only Black person on the block with few Black neighbors in an entire community). My neighbors in my cul de sac are from Trinidad, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Britain, even Cleveland and a couple of native Californian's

2. We are currently having our siding replaced to more energy efficient and climate rated concrete composite. I also put in Low E double glass windows to improve the heating efficiency of my townhome.

3. I have a very non smelly worm farm (four tray deal) to help fertilize my garden. Growing vegetables and herbs in containers due to our clay Adobe Soil.

4. Yes the HOA board got a little snippy when the extra broken basketball hoop had to be removed from the front of my home. It's the only beef I have had so far.

Glad to live in environmentally conscious Petaluma, where there are bikeways on all streets, green zones, many pedestrians and most people think green even in a HOA:)

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I live in a development of 120 homes in San Francisco, CA.
When our development was built by the City Redevelopment Agency the HOA was required. And I have been told repeatedly, that every time a builder builds more than 5 houses in California, a HOA is required by law.
We bought our home when the HOA was brand new. The people running the board of directors were like Dictators. One family had to move out because they had a LARGE satellite dish on their property. It violated the CC&R's. That is the contract, covenants and rules that control us. It was only a few years later, that the small satelllite dishes came on the market. I believe the manufacturers of the small satellite dishes went to the US congress and got a federal law passed that says HOAs cannot ban the small dishes.
My partner and I had a difficult and expensive legal bill
when we put Solar Collectors on the roof . We got to keep the
Solar but good records have not been kept by the Board of Directors. 15 years after the installation, a member of the architectural committee began to harass us re the solar collectors.

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My friends groan because they are mowing their lawn for the third time already and I have not mowed yet. I've got birds nesting in my lawn, bunny rabbits, bees, and probably 100 different native plant species in my yard. I'll never water or fertilize except for a few perenials if it gets really dry and they've got to be dying before I'll give them anything. I've got neighbors on three sides fertilizing and spraying for me, the only place I've got dandelions is in the center of my backyard. Unfortunately I've got domestic cats roaming the neighborhood which will come through fairly soon to drive off the wild animals. I burn wood for supplemental winter heat, I can have a firepit in my backyard, a clothesline, and junk laying around is an icon of our American culture. I would never consider moving into a condo, they probably won't even let you have a swing set in your yard.

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