When I bought my current house, my side of the position was that the place should have no covenants, no HOA, and if possible no municipal government. I got overruled on the last part. The local school system was allegedly the best around and that's what my daughter was going to get.*
My friend Robert was not so lucky as he got into a condo with an H.O.A. that left him not only completely cold, but out a good deal of money to boot. He documents his experience in his book of the same title as this post:
If you are considering buying a place, be sure you ask the Realtor first if there is an HOA or a restrictive set of covenants that you will be expected to pay in to or live up to at your own expense down stream. There is a huge subdivision jest south of me called Highlands Ranch. I razz a couple of my friends who moved in there about getting to their places by driving down Highlands Ranch Blvd to Highlands Ranch Avenue, West to Highlands Ranch Lane, up Sleepy Skunk Circle and look for the beige house with the tan roof. The joke being that beige with tan roof is about the only color combination you're allowed down there.
Anyway, if you want to see specifically why you wouldn't want to have anything to do with a HOA or restrictive covenants, his book is available at
www.madisonhillhoa.com for about $10 plus shipping. If you weren't already convinced, this should do it.
*Never ask an educator which schools are "the best". You will hear which schools are fully subscribed to the latest educational gimcracks from California which is something quite different.
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Anyway, if you want to see specifically why you wouldn't want to have anything to do with a HOA or restrictive covenants
Another book I'd recommend is Ward Lucas's Neighbors At War. It's more of an overall look at the problem, while my book is about details of my dispute -- specifically, how the Madison Hill H.O.A. corporation stole $5,000 from me using crooked accounting methods.
My allegations are so scandalous, that even Tattered Cover was too scared to deal with me.
“Upon further review and consultation with our attorneys, we have been advised to not print your book…we would be placing the bookstore in jeopardy and do not feel that we can undertake that risk.”
I guess that was how they celebrated "Banned Books Week". Yet the H.O.A. board refuses to sue me for libel, because every word in the book is true.
For a 5 paragraph summary of what's wrong with H.O.A. corporations, see CO-HOA-2014-02-01.pdf (printable as one double-sided sheet), although it doesn't mention the threat of unlimited liability, since I didn't have space on the page.
If you want to see the Libertarian Party and Republican Party vision for America, look at H.O.A.s.
- robert at madison hill hoa dot com
on-line petition to allow home owners to opt-out of their H.O.A.: wh.gov/lmJmD
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