PSoTD

People don't want to be told how to live. Hear that, HOAs?

Many at a Rockwall public meeting Monday night came in the hopes to see the power, which some call limitless, of homeowner's associations put to rest.

However, it's not just a Rockwall problem. HOA horror stories have been revealed across North Texas, which is why people from across the area traveled to Rockwall to discuss the problem.

"That's why we all drove from all across the Metroplex to say, 'Learn from the problems we have. Protect your taxpayers,'" said Carla Jordan, an Irving homeowner who attended the Rockwall meeting.

Rockwall city council members are considering limiting HOA powers. Monday night's meeting was set up so that homeowners and board members could express their thoughts.

Ben Waller describes his feelings towards his homeowner's association as a love-hate relationship .

"You just don't want a whole lot of folks telling you how to live," he said.

It's a common feeling amongst many homeowners in North Texas, which has spurred hundreds of complaints.

Rockwall's mayor, Bill Cecil, said he hears the complaints all the time.

"We have a responsibility to look at the law and make sure we're doing the right kinds of things for the right reasons," he said.

The state legislature has repeatedly tried to rein in power-hungry HOAs.

This is a good rule of thumb for HOA Presidents - if the board is going to make a ruling about a home in the development and you support the ruling, you should ask yourself a few things:

1 - Will outsiders think this ruling is ridiculous?
2 - If the news media covers it, will I have the conviction to explain to them why the board made this decision?
3 - If not - why am I President?

Because declining on on-camera interview after a resident has called out the board diminishes whatever reasoning you had. In this case, maybe there was good reasoning, maybe there wasn't, but the entire development looks silly and petty unless you go out there and make your point.

Homeowner associations as police departments. Do I really have to say what I think of this idea?

In the '60s, though, the idea really took off, and a trade association that follows HOA developments estimates that at least 57 million Americans lived under some sort of HOA [homeowners association] agreement in 2006.

Example 1015 of why homeowners rules placement into real estate covenants is really a stupid idea:

It would be great if we as a community used drought-tolerant plants and groundcovers; however, while "xeriscaping" is encouraged by the Town of Cary, our own community developers have ironically written into our homeowners association covenants that fescue is required for all lawns visible from the street. Fescue is one of the thirstiest grasses available.

The reason we don't opt for a voluntary brown lawn is that we likely will be fined. If we allow grass to die off in the summer, not only could we be forced to pay a fine, we would have to re-sod or face a lien on our homes. Our next step is to reduce the size of turf grass area and replace with beds of indigenous plants requiring less water.

Yes, shame on us for buying into the American Dream neighborhood of green lawns and picket fences, but double shame on developers who put such environmentally insane rules into our covenants (which we received at closing). Maybe city governments can stop developers from placing such detrimental stipulations on homeowners.

It is astounding, the anality of requiring a specific type of grass in all lawns...

When the titanically anal run home owner associations, you get decisions and actions bordering on the ultrapetty.

This country is on the fast path to HOA Hell.

I honestly believe that at some point, a property that does not have any legal entanglements with a homeowners association (HOA) will be worth more than the very same property having deed restrictions and covenants for a homeowners association. And it has nothing to do about the dues.

It has to do with the fact that we're putting current standards, practices and expectations of HOAs into contractual devices that may, and most likely will, outlive the need or desire for those standards, practices and expectations. And this country has been doing it for over 40 years. I suspect that as we look at many older HOAs, we'll see major long-term problems built into the contractual obligations of a development's deeds, and it is one incredibly big pain-in-the-ass to fix it over time - and that it's not getting fixed.

Sooner or later, some state legislator somewhere is going to stumble upon this problem, try to fix it, and find a country full of interested homeowners wanting to know more.