CC&R's

[stusumm]

I can leave mine in the driveway for up to 48 hours. But only if it stays connected to the tow vehicle. The second it is no longer connected I am in violation. It is a PITA.

[YZThump]

Take the high road and abide by the rules. There is no sense in b!tching about the neighbor's cars since you even said you violated that same rule when the pimpala was in the driveway for a year.

Of course, if you really think you are getting shafted, then leave the bu out for exactly 48 hrs after EVERY time you go out. That should ruffle a few feathers.

Airboat and fence...

[Jimmy Buffett]

Hang a sign on it with the date and time you parked it there, and make sure it's there exactly 48 hrs every weekend ...I love it!

[SacRiverRat]

Great inputs guys, this is exactly the discussion I was hoping for. You are right, I need to get over it and attempt to live by the rules. Clearly leaving my boat out this week is in violation.

I just need to move!.. have you seen what I have to back through? 109" total clearance at the tight spot

Love the idea of hanging a sign on the boat stating the date/time it was parked in the driveway - so there isn't any doubt about my concern for the regs (polite protest)

I'll put it away this weekend and get over it (they gave me till the 11th to put it away)

[RTS]

Hang a sign on it with the date and time you parked it there, and make sure it's there exactly 48 hrs every weekend ...I love it!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just makesure you are in full compliance on other restrictions.

48 hrs sounds reasonable to me. In my neighborhood, no boats are allowed period. But, the board (of which I'm a member) is pretty cool about it. You can bring your boat home from storage the night before you go out if you choose and we won't hassle you.

It's when they are parked there for an extended period people get upset.

Fortunately, as far as the eyesore boats go, mine's probably the cheapest boat in the 'hood, and it ain't that bad...

Edited May 5, 2005 by rts

[88Skier]

It sounds you folks with the CC&Rs live in another country. You can't bring your boat home? Can't park your car in your driveway? I'd live next to the guy with the air boat any day over dealing with a CC&R.

[jklein]

Troy:

I would say that since you got the letter directly from Cindy, that it was NOT one of your neighbors who reported you. In-fact you may not even have a resident volunteer for your village.

Cindy was probably doing her drive arounds (she visits like 14 different villages covered by the CSD) and came across your boat. Just call her and tell her it's put away and that you are now aware of the rule. Since she has so much ground to cover, it's likely she will not be back in your village for quite a while.

As far as the trouble spots in your village, all I can do is recommend that you submit a complaint to Cindy about the problems you see (yard maintenance). She may have sent letters to those people already, and if you submit a complaint she will let you know. Yard and structure maintenance I'm sure are in your CC&R's.

Better yet, if your village does not have a resident volunteer already (Cindy will know), take the initiative to become the 'neighborhood narc'. Knowing people in the CSD / DRC and the political structure in EDH can be very beneficial.

One more point. I'd be a little careful about pissing off the neighbors. I'm sure your CC&Rs say "no parking RVs (a boat is an RV) on the street, driveway, or on any lot where it is visible from the street, or any other lot." If people get upset at you, you might be getting a letter stating your boat is visible from a neighbor's lot even when parked on the side of your house. That will cost you because evenutally, you'll have to either screen it (and get the screening approved by the CSD/DRC) or you'll have to move it off the property if no adequate screening solution can be found. You DO NOT want that to happen.

Edited May 5, 2005 by jklein

[RTS]

Since she has so much ground to cover, it's likely she will not be back in your village for quite a while.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How often does the medicine man get to each village???

j/k..j/k..

[obski]

Reading this thread further supports my desire to not move into a development with strict covenants. I understand that they help protect property values etc., but still. I currently live in an old farm house that was originally on 18 acres. A development was put around it with a HOA and covenants, however, my house and its 1.5 acres is not part of that and not subject to the rules. I like that I can park my cars, motorhome, and boat where I want to. I can paint my house the way I want and landscape without someone telling me how it should look.

I'm in the process of selling and moving closer to where I am working now. There are lots of new developments being put in with lots of rules, some stricter than others. I think I would rather find a place where the homes are kept up because the owners want to keep them up. I want a little bit of land and the ability to put up an outbuilding to house some toys. Some of these places just don't fit me.

[RiverRunner]

SacRiverRat not meaning to hijack your post but, I have a similar problem that some of the members might be able to give some advice on. Since there seems to be several people here that have dealt with HOA in the past see if you have any advice for the situation I am in. Several neighbors and myself have been in an on going battle with the neighbors across the street from us for almost three years. The easiest way to explain what is going on is letting you read part of my first letter to the HOA.

I live across the street from the house at ____ and am becoming increasingly upset about what goes on at the property. This past weekend the people that live there and a half dozen or more guest set up about ten in the morning for there usual Saturday get together. After filling the street with their six cars they parked their SUV parallel to the street across the driveway opened up the rear hatch and turned up the music so loud that I could hear it in my house. Needless to say by mid afternoon I was more than upset, I walked out front to see the SUV blaring music five plus men sitting on the side walk two case of beer boxes and a pile of empty beer cans. At this point one of the beer drinking drunk’s gets up and stagers over to the fence that is very visible from the street and starts to urinates in plain view of everyone. I walked back into my house and called the police, the police showed up about a half later and basically did nothing. Later that evening I had some guest coming over, when a friend and his wife parked their car and were walking to our house the drunk’s across the street started saying derogatory things in Spanish, not realizing that my friend’s wife could speak Spanish. That was not only embarrassing to us but, the last draw, something must be done about this, and I will no longer tolerate the filthy mouth drunken group of people living across the street.

This just about pushed me over the edge, two weeks ago this Friday I was woken up by the screams of my wife, screaming for me to come quick, as I came out of the front door one of our two dogs, came running by me. When I got to the front of the house there was a large black dog and a tan dog in my front yard, my wife told me the black one had attacked our dog. I went back into the house to see how bad he had been hurt, finding him in a pool of blood we rushed him to the Animal Clinic were they immediately took him into surgery. Since it was going to take an hour or two the doctor suggested that we go home, clean up, get dressed (we were both still dressed for bed) and come back. When we returned home the owner of the house at _____ was standing across the street telling my wife that the tan dog was theirs but, the black dog that attacked ours was not their dog. We changed and went back to the clinic, from there we took our dog to the emergency room at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists which is were he remains in intensive care. When my wife and I returned to the neighborhood we drove up and down every street looking for the dog that attacked ours but, could not find it. That evening we stop at a neighbor’s house that lives behind the people at ____. We asked if we could look over the fence to see if the black dog was in the back yard of ____. At the time we looked over the fence the black dog was not in the back yard, it was in their house. Cutting through all the details I had the police out to file a report, had them witness the dog in the back yard at ____, animal control came out and removed both the black and tan dog. Throughout this ordeal that has only just begun for me and my family not one of the ten or more people living at ____ has bothered to apologies or even inquire about the condition of our dog, the only thing they have done is lie to us and the police about the black dog being theirs. As a treat on Saturday evening when we were leaving our house to go to the store they all stood up from their beer drinking in the front yard with their middle fingers extended expressing obscenities in Spanish.

A while back I told my wife that I was tired of all this and wanted to move but, after the dog attack I told her that I like our house was here before them and we are going to take our street back.

As far as the dogs medical expenses, what is the best way to get the money (don’t even want to know what this has cost us) we have spent back. I know it is a civil issue small claim, civil court, I want to get the biggest judgment against them as possible. Since I know they will not pay I will be able to put a lean against there house and hopefully force them out of the neighborhood.

Sorry about the long post but, I (we) could use some input on the best way to handle this. Oh and the dog has made an unbelievable full recovery form the attack, still not fully healed but, is going to make it.

[jklein]

Ken:

Sorry to hear of your situation. I think you're taking the right steps.

1. Take the owner of the black dog to small claims and get a judgement against them for the cost of the vet bills.

2. If you have CC&Rs, there should be a section that deals with obnoxious odors or sounds (music) coming from any other lot that impacts the enjoyment of other lot owners. Your HOA should cite them for that and begin legal action with the police / sheriff if the problem perisits.

3. Regarding drunk and disorderly, that's a police matter probably and there's not much your HOA can do about that.

You might think about mounting a video camera somewhere and get as much footage as you can with respect to the activities going on over there. If you can document the public urination, and if you're lucky maybe some drug activity, the police should take much more decisive action. It's also a good way to protect yourself in the event the neighbor decides to take some sort of retaliatory action against you or your property. Start a documentation log of dates / times / activities by both them and you. Information is power and you might need it if / when you end up in court.

Edited May 5, 2005 by jklein

[jcbatt]

It sounds you folks with the CC&Rs live in another country.  You can't bring your boat home?  Can't park your car in your driveway? I'd live next to the guy with the air boat any day over dealing with a CC&R.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Amen... and I thought our local zoning boards were bad... looks like I have a lot to be thankful for!

[Big Belly]

I don't know if there is a "soap box" big enough for me on this issue! I live in Granite Bay, Ca. and while there are many nice folks in this community, there are just as many that think that "Granite Bay" is Beverly Hills or at least equal to.

My wife and I live in an area called Ashley Woods. It's gated but the homes are pretty modest (and there's no armed guard)! We were one of the original owners back in '96 when this subdivision was first built. After 6 years of CC&R BS we decided to pack it up and get out of Dodge. We were fed up with the overly strict rules and regulations and bailed out.

We went to Roseville. It's a neighboring town with thousands of new homes. We left a 1900 sq. foot home and bought up to a 3000 footer in an area with no CC&R's. At first it was great. You could park your boat in your backyard, pick the flower color of your choice, landscape as you desire, etc.

After a two year stay, it was becoming more and more apparent that there are a ton of folks that just don't give a crap about the appearance of their home and the neighborhood began to have small pockets of scum bags that really made us long to get our dreaded CC&R's back.

So...we sold that house and moved back to Ashley Woods and bought a house across the street from our first home. Yep, you guessed it. Now that we're back, we're sick of the crap again. Basketball hoops, boats, cars in the driveway, you name it. The list of rules is long and super strict.

The bad thing is that all the complaints are not coming from the neighbors! It's the Nazi that we as owners employ as our "enforcer".

We are looking to move again! Property is the only way to go...I guess. Maybe I shouldn't have bought the new boat and chose a moving van

I guess you could say I'm frustrated, huh???

Chad

[88Skier]

What kind of place has 3,000 sf homes that people don't care about? Sounds like there's a run down trailer park mentality out there.

[obski]

BigBelly (that name could probably describe a lot of us ), welcome to the site. Sounds like a frustrating situation. You would think that people would just want to take care of their property.

I don't want to see pictures of your moving van, but would love to see your 2005 Wakesetter LSV!!! Where do you keep your boat if there are so many strict restrictions?

Edited May 5, 2005 by obski

[RTS]

Sounds like there's a run down trailer park mentality out there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Exactly why I would not live somewhere there was no HOA (unless it was some acreage out by myself.

It sucks to see someone buy a 4500 sq.ft. home across the street from you, promptly use a rebel flag for one and a velvet Elvis rug for the other front window curtains, and have no recourse.

Our HOA does not act like Nazi's. Just common sense. The paint pallette in the neighborhood is light pastel colors. When someone takes it upon themselves to paint their house bright pink with purple trim (because it's always been their dream to live in a pink house, John Mellencamp fans, I suppose), it's nice to be able to tell them, with authority, that they must change it. When I say authority, our HOA can force you into foreclosure (you keep your money, but you sell your house).

Like I said I'm on the board, and I can tell you 99.99% of our paint applications (and other applications for that matter) get approved, no problem, but there's always one family that it's nice to be able to control.

Edited May 5, 2005 by rts

[Big Belly]

88skier,

Just get in your car and drive around any fairly new subdivision and you'll surely find someone with a 3000 foot home and a lown 2 feet tall. Without CC&R's, there's onw in just about every neighborhood.

OBSKI,

The new boat is here but I haven't taken delivery yet. Should be just a day or two. I haven't figured out the storage thing yet. I've got a knot in my stomach about it!

Chad

[auto]

not a wise idea for an HOA to foreclose if the first, second, an third liens can't be fulfilled Less than a year I am free, free at last. They can take thier wannabe hall monitor, wish they had cash, can't mind their own business, have no hobbies................blah, blah, blah.

[Sunsetter95]

I just found out that in the subdivision section across the street, there is a house, that is a rental, that has weeds almost 3ft tall.

These houses are sold for in the $500k and more range. The HOA was out taking pictures the other day for evidence.

[88Skier]

88skier,

Just get in your car and drive around any fairly new subdivision and you'll surely find someone with a 3000 foot home and a lown 2 feet tall. Without CC&R's, there's onw in just about every neighborhood.

Not around here. The only time I see a mid and upper price range homes like that is pre forecloser. We don't have CC&Rs. There are HOA, but none with standards like that. And towns won't enforce deed restrictions. That's up to the homeowners.

[RoverOn]

HOA or no HOA...my neighbors won't stand for it...

We had a woman who wouldn't mow her law (white trash who's parents bought the house for her...) and my neighbors just mowed it for her

The first time she was tanning in front and my other neighbor finished the last pass on her yard and kept going accross the street and dug into the deep grass...all without blinking or acknoledging the woman suntanning with her loser boyfriend...

Good think that she is now gone...

I think that if someone would paint their house pink in my neighborhood, they would come home some day to a freshly painted tan house

Edited May 6, 2005 by RoverOn

[mrothwell]

Sorry to just get onto this topic now - I've been in 3 days of meetings and my head is still spinning.

Troy:

I got the letter from Cindy about 7 years ago. When we moved into our current house (our second in EDH), the previous owner had just finished converting the garage into an "in-laws suite". So, it had no garage, but we had a half acre to put the boat. The boat, however, could still be seen from the street and we got a letter. I called and talked to Cindy (pretty sure it was Cindy) and told her of my situation, and that I had already got my garage plans approved by CSD. I also asked if a neighbor had complained. She explained that no one had complained, but that she had seen the boat on her "rounds" and that a year earlier a neighbor had an old junky boat sitting on his empty lot, and someone had complained about it. She said that she had to be consistent and since she sent a letter to that man, that she would have to send one to me, even tho my boat was technically in the back yard. She was really cool about it, and told me not to worry.

I'm not much into the CC&R's, but my property has skyrocketed and all the houses around my look good, so I dont complain.

BigBelly - Same Nazi's in GB as in EDH.

BTW - Troy, what village are you in? I know some are way more picky than others. My village is fairly lax on the little things, but I know some will complain about everything.

[whiteVLX]

Dumb question here, do you guys live in Africa or something? I've never heard of a village in the US. Towns and cities yes, but never a village.

[NorCaliBu]

I've never heard of a village in the US. Towns and cities yes, but never a village.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Come on and get with the PC thing, man. Didn't you know? Apparently, it takes a village. Whatever that means.

[jklein]

WhiteVLX:

Village is a very common term in the US. It's used on the Right coast more than it is used out on the Left coast. You'll actually see signs on the Right coast that say things like "Village of Southhampton" etc. when you enter the village. It's used essentially the same as a town.

At least in EDH it's used to designate a "neighborhood", and not a town so much. The neighborhoods here all have names, and the CSD (that's our little government "Community Services District") calls the neighborhoods "village".