NO TRESPASSING

Obviously SOMEONE did something to cause the change in policy but it doesn't sound like it was you.  If the area in question is private property, and it sounds like it is, you trespass on it at your own risk. 

 
Yes I agree. I know it wasn't me that actully did anything,,as I said I don't even let Bubblegum even walk on anyones grass there. But since I go there almost every day and have for years now,,,and not really see anyone else walking their dog,,,I have to believe it is me they (??  whoever they is) don't want there.   Unfortunately I can't find out if it was me thru my son who has the friends there because he asked them this morning and they said they have no idea, and were sent no notices or anything.  You never know, some people are just "nutty" like that. They know its private area, and they know I don't live there..they just might resent it." Why?? Who knows!  Eventually I will find out,,,because I know so many people around there to talk to. The problem is the weather,,,its not getting nicer,,,so I won't be walking as much. But eventually I will find out.
Its not gated, but I believe they are responsible for their own maintenance.  I know where I live is like that...the city doesn't come in an plow or anything, I doubt that it does there either.

It is unlikely it had anything to do with you in particular. I think often some stupid person's antics with his/her dog ruins it for everybody else. You might not have encountered anyone else with dog on your walk but that does not mean that other people don't use that place as a thoroughfare.  It may not have anything to do with dogs at all but with people in general cutting across other people's property.

Paula

ORIGINAL: loveukaykay

Aww Dyan Im sorry about that!  Ill tell ya what I would do.  Keep right on like normal until someone told me otherwise, in person, sent me a letter... something like that.  Its a neighborhood with their rules, you will not be PROSECUTED in any crazy way.  Theyll probably just tell you you cant go anymore, give you a warning or something.  I dunno, I would keep going.  Maybe its not for you.?

The home we are selling that weve been living in with my parents is obnoxious with the HOA rules.  We got in trouble for having our garbage cans by the garage door.  Apparently they cant be visible from the street.  Then we got in trouble for having a boat in the driveway.  So, we opened the gate and put it back there and we were none too happy about that.  Well... then they said it has to be COVERED!  WTF??  In my own backyard your gonna tell me that.  We put that boat right back in the driveway where it was originally.  Basically, shove it!  We use the boat almost every weekend its like, PEOPLE!, Im just living life here leave me alone!  We knew we were putting the house up for sale anyway which it is now so they can deal with it until we are gone.  How rediculous!  You cannot park in the street in front of your house.  Oh I could continue but it annoys me too much.  $400 a year for what you may ask??  To be bossed around like children! Thats what.

When I was looking for my first house I studiously avoided active HOAs. As far as I'm concerned unless you're sending me a regular stipend you don't get to tell me much about the property I'm paying for.  Frankly I think, at least where I used to live in Maryland, HOAs are used to keep neighborhoods 'pure'. In this case economically pure. I mean when you have stipulations against pick up trucks with tools or pick up trucks of a certain size you're excluding a certain economic group. 

When I was looking for land to build on I ran in to 'deed restrictions' like your house must be at least 2000sqft and be made of 80% brick or stone with a two car garage.

Paula

ORIGINAL: paulaedwina

Frankly I think, at least where I used to live in Maryland, HOAs are used to keep neighborhoods 'pure'. In this case economically pure. I mean when you have stipulations against pick up trucks with tools or pick up trucks of a certain size you're excluding a certain economic group. 

i think you are right on that. as i mentioned before our HOA is proposing some new amendments to the covenants. one of them is that you cannot have certain sized vehicles on your property. i told my wife if this passes any number of the self employeed contractors in our neighborhood will have to find a new place to park their work vehicles. it would not really affect us, but i think it is a crappy thing to do to someone.

our neighborhood is basically a middle income/working class neighborhood (based on the prices of the houses), but i think some of our neighbors are trying to make it upscale for some reason. granted i dont want a car on blocks in the yard next door, but i have no problem with someone parking their work truck/RV/boat/etc on their own property.

I never lived in a neighborhood that had "rules" but once I was in a home with 4 other roomates and the parking was a little squished and often one of us would park across the streed in front of a home no one lived in.  The lady who owned it was grumpy and didn't want to sell or rent it but if one of our cars was parked neer it and she drove by she would come knocking on our door and demanded we move the car.  Come to find out parking on the street was not wrong and that part was owned by the city which was open to anyone to park there.  The lady still did not like us because of that and called the cops once but they couldn't do anything because we did nothing wrong.  I think most silly rules like that come about by the grummpy people who just like to cause trouble for almost no reason reguardless of who they are dealing with.

The Navy base here got hit with closure--the newest, most up to date on no less--and there is talk of turning it into a gated community--don't know what they would do with all the buildings, but there is large, new guy, big swimming pool, very big community center,  and af ew others that would git in perfect.  And of course it is already fenced with gate house.  We do not want it here  in our small town (9300) because it would turn our taxes sky high.  Over in Port Aransas, which use to be a sleepy little fishing village on Mustang Island, the big developers have come in from Dallas, Houston, up north, and built zillion dollar homes and condos, etc and taxes have gone so high some 3rd and 4th generation people are having to move off the island because they can no longer afford their little homes on their charter boat fees, shrimping  boat earnings etc.  I s really sad.

I also think that some people are so miserable that they want others to be the same, so they do their best to make it that way. That is the case with the people that live in my HOA,,,,that are trouble. Really, the others just stay away.  I go because I don't want them to ruin my life.

Well in our subdivision I think its just snobby older people who are retired and have nothing better to do than to be a nosy snobby neighbor.  We have made jokes that they have maps of the subdivision in their homes and monitor everyone... sit in their window with the rule book watching us.  Its just rediculous! 
 
We also have the buliding restrictions.  The garage has to be on a certain side, certain amount of square footage, certain size attic, certain size yard, certain distance from the street.  All kinds of things that I dont even know of but I do know that the building plans have to be reviewed and approved by the HOA before you can build.  We bought this house already built but the neighbors built one shortly after.  That was the last lot anyway.  Its a small gated sub., about 25 homes I would say.  Very ritzy and snobby... we didnt realize though lol.  All we saw was the pool and good property value.  They drove us outta here quick with the bullsh** though.
 
They all know each others business and one lady a few houses down always knocks on the door to gossip with my mom.  We hide.  We all hate it! 

I've always hated those gated private communities. If you want to sequester yourself from the rest of the community, then get your own police and fire dept. If I'm paying to help save your house from a fire, I should get to drive by and look at your freaking Christmas lights! We don't have an HOA, in fact we had to move an hour farther west from where we were to avoid one (Northern VA is simply fraught with them). We have some restrictions, but they're primarily building things dictated by the town, easements, etc.

To tell a self-employed contractor that he can't park his work vehicle at his house is unconstitutional. We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which often involves working for a living. I would sue that HOA into bankruptcy. How else can a small business get started and expand to where they have their own offices, somewhere else? A person cannot be denied the right to work and they must sometimes carry their tools with them, often on a vehicle outfitted for that.
 
Yes, a private property can make their rules all day long and often do just that. But they cannot violate the Consitution and they cannot supercede the authority of a municipality, i.e., the police have the right to enter private property if they think a crime is being committed, such as assault, burglary, etc.
 
The streets of a housing division can only be considered semi-private in a gated community. I know of a case of someone acting as if the common areas of a gated community was private property only to find out that it is also semi-public if others have access to it.
 
The admonition against dog walking where Dyan is the only person actually walking a dog there smacks of someone politically important in that HOA throwing their weight around, not because there is a dog problem, but just to be throwing weight around. Some people can only feel good if they have their foot on someone's neck. And it gives me great emotional satisfaction to stand up to bullies like that, as I cannot tolerate a bully.
 

i agree with you 100% ron. the wording of the HOA amendments do not necessarily state work vehicles. it says something like "vehicles of unacceptable size" but it does plainly mention box-vans. there are plenty of painters/plumbers/lawn maintenance people/etc. i see on a daily basis driving box-vans. to tell them they cant park their work vehicle in their own driveway is basically taking away their livelyhood. we intend on voting against the proposed amendments. 

ORIGINAL: ron2

To tell a self-employed contractor that he can't park his work vehicle at his house is unconstitutional.

That may be true if it were a city, state or nation-wide law, but if you choose to live in that neighborhood then you choose to live by the HOA rules. Just like this forum, free speech doesn't apply because you have to agree to the rules when signing up.

ORIGINAL: sooner

That may be true if it were a city, state or nation-wide law, but if you choose to live in that neighborhood then you choose to live by the HOA rules. Just like this forum, free speech doesn't apply because you have to agree to the rules when signing up.

that may sound right, but what it the rules were to add that you couldnt have any kids living at your house? i know that singles apartment complexes were deemed to be unconstitutional based on existing discrimination laws. isnt this kind of the same? ie. "i dont like looking at work trucks therefore no contractors can live here"... sounds like discrimination to me.

i can understand having rules about keeping the grass cut and the appearance of the house neat because that directly affects everyone's property values. but how does it affect my property value if my neighbor parks his work truck in his driveway?

ORIGINAL: cyclefiend2000

ie. "i dont like looking at work trucks therefore no contractors can live here"... sounds like discrimination to me.

But they'll never say "no contractors can live here". That would be discrimination. They only say that their trucks can't be parked there. That's not discrimination.

That may be true if it were a city, state or nation-wide law, but if you choose to live in that neighborhood then you choose to live by the HOA rules. Just like this forum, free speech doesn't apply because you have to agree to the rules when signing up.

 
Exactly my thoughts!!  I live in a gated community with an HOA.  We bought there specifically because of the "rules".  The home we had before was at the end of a cul-de-sac and when you drove in, you'd have sworn it was a used car lot.  No one put even one car in their garage.  Then a family moved in next door with 2 ice cream trucks.  They kept one on the street with an electrical cord running up the driveway into the garage.  Anyway...it took awhile to sell that house and the changes in the neighborhood probably cost us several thousand dollars.  We weren't interested in going thru that again with the biggest investment of our life.  I fully understand why some folks don't want to live in an HOA, I just don't understand why some buy into one and then complain about the rules or disobey them [:@].