I think fining someone, especially someone whose husband is an Army private serving in Iraq, is horrible. Here's the link....http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060311093909990039&cid=2194

I wonder if her neighbors would be supportive of her if, God forbid, her husband got wounded or killed....doesn't sound like it.

did it violate some local ordinance?

did it violate some local ordinance?
No, just that the homeowners' association is not happy with it!

What is so wrong with a "Support Our Troops" sign....they might as well ban having the Stars and Stripes flying outside people's homes too...

This is when somebody can make a change.

Every HA charter has provisions in it for new elections.  One that I belonged to once even had a clause, allowing the members to force an election ahead of time, as long as it had 66% approval.  If people really support her, she can force a change in the Association, and change the bylaws.

This may be going off the topic a bit but I am wondering if people feel that HAs are a good thing or a bad thing? Personally, I don't like the idea of some group telling me what I can or can't do to my house.  We don't have one here but I did belong to one years ago but didn't live there long enough to create an opinion myself. But what I really didn't like about it was the fact that I had no choice to join or not.



Cat

Most do.  I just checked ours and there's no such clause.  However, we do have an "appeal process" that I have used before.  I never got a response for my request for reconsideration so I sent them a certified letter stating that since I didn't get a response in the time alloted by the bylaws, I would consider this matter closed....I haven't heard anything since ;)

  The HA can approve/deny anything they want.  They wouldn't even have to change members, they can vote amongst themselves to approve the signage.  The fact that they don't seem to want to do it shows alot about their character ::)


You might want to check for something in the by-laws.

Most organizations (Homeowners Associantions and Non-Profit, and some For Profit) follow what is known as "Roberts Rules Of Order".  Quite often, they will make references to them in the bylaws.  In fact, some states require them to be followed, unless part of the CHarter superceeds them.

And in Robert's Rules Of Order, it states that the Charter can be changed with a 66% majority of voter approval, as long as there is a Quarum.  And in most cases, Proxy Votes are allowed.

I have been an Executive on a Non-Profit in the past, and we used that very rule to throw out the sitting President, when he tried to take over the Organization.  He was not happy, since he was trying to force the Non-Profit into renting a vacant property he owned as a meeting hall.  But once he was voted off, he had no choice.

Parliamentary Procedure may be a pain in the butt, but it can work in your favor if you have the support of the Majority.

This may be going off the topic a bit but I am wondering if people feel that HAs are a good thing or a bad thing?


They can be both.

HA's are a good thing, if you have problem neighbors.  They can enforce things like appearance, noise, parking, and disruption problems that people who do not have one simply have to suffer with.

But they can be a problem, when they turn dictitorial in their enforcement of rules.  I believe a HA should have the right to prevent an owner from paining his house an ugly color, like Black or Pumpkin Orange or Violet.  But it is excessive when they try to dictate exactly what color of Beige is allowed, and which shade of White is allowed for house trim.

Most times, it seems like the people who sit on HA boards are old retired people, who do not have a life, and want to spend the rest of their life playing "Housing God".  That is when I have a problem.

This may be going off the topic a bit but I am wondering if people feel that HAs are a good thing or a bad thing? Personally, I don't like the idea of some group telling me what I can or can't do to my house.  We don't have one here but I did belong to one years ago but didn't live there long enough to create an opinion myself. But what I really didn't like about it was the fact that I had no choice to join or not.



Cat



The subdivision we live in has a HA, and it doesn't bother me much, and I don't think it bothers my parents either.  I mean, the laws are pretty straight forward; you can't paint your house some obnoxious color, you can't have farm animals in the backyard, guests can't use the pool/tennis courts without the person who they're staying with accompanying them....nothing is egregious or out-of-the-ordinary sounding.  In order to use the pool and the tennis courts you have to join, but the dues are something like $50 a year I think, and that money goes to paying for the 4th of July pool party for the whole subdivision, the easter egg hunt, decorations for Christmas for the front gate.......stuff like that.