yet another example

Quote :

"An Evans neighborhood association has blocked a group that was prepared to build a home free of charge for a local veteran who was injured in Afghanistan. The homebuilding group, Homes for Our Troops, says Knob Hill Property Owners Association approved the home's design June 2 but reversed its decision in a later meeting. A member of the association, however, says the group got only a conditional approval, pending a review of its design; the neighborhood is carefully protected by building covenants, and the final design did not fit. Homes for Our Troops -- a national organization that has built or remodeled homes for more than 100 severely injured veterans -- had planned to build a house for Army Sgt. 1st Class Sean Gittens and his family this weekend. Gittens suffered concussive head injuries while serving in Afghanistan. After he returned home, a brain aneurysm caused a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. Homes for Our Troops worked for four months with the Knob Hill Property Owners Association to get the design approved, according to John Gonsalves, the group's founder. But at an association meeting, members said the 2,700-square-foot home was too small and neighbors thought it would bring property values down, Gonsalves said. A cease-and-desist order was issued as the site was being prepared last week. "We've done everything they've asked. For them to do this at the last minute is very disturbing," he said. "I don't think there's a community in America that shouldn't embrace this family after what they've sacrificed. No one deserves it more." But owners association member Tom Rogers said Homes for Our Troops did not do everything asked of it. The group did not have written approval from the association's architectural review board, but negotiated through e-mail only. "What's important to understand is the family already lives here. They're a great family. We have no qualms with them," Rogers said. "The problem is, that street down there has 5,000-square-foot homes all the way up and down the street there. ... It just doesn't fit. That's the whole issue." Gonsalves said his team checked association documents, which do recommend that at least 2,700-square-foot houses be built, but Rogers said homeowners in that section built much larger homes. "We want to protect our homes that we worked hard to achieve, and we want everyone to be treated equally," Rogers said. "These people will have to go through the same process as everyone else did.""

http://chronicle.augusta.com//news/metro/2011-06-22/neighbors-pull-plug-injured-vets-home?page=1

[Edited on June 24, 2011 at 8:57 AM. Reason : .]

6/24/2011 8:57:20 AM

i've seen some decent ones. but largely overpriced and unwarranted additional steps to better your own property

6/24/2011 9:00:20 AM

neighbors

lololol

6/24/2011 9:04:22 AM

an HOA would be a dealkiller for me, no matter how awesome a home is (were i looking, i mean)

sure, their stipulations and dues may be reasonable when you buy the house, but a year later they could royally fuck you over

they serve a purpose in theory, but in practice they're downright retarded

6/24/2011 9:04:31 AM

Oh god, I have to call them on a daily basis.

It almost always involves dealing with some crotchety old person that lives to enforce those fucking rules.

I've seen some restrictions in some of the nicer neighborhoods here in Wilmington stating that if you open the blinds/curtains in any of your windows facing the street, you have to open them in every window facing street. Can you imagine running upstairs/downstairs every time you want to let a bit of light in.

6/24/2011 9:19:14 AM

Fuck those people. Seriously. Fuck them. They wouldn't have the ability to own a nice house if it weren't for veterans. FUCK THEM.

6/24/2011 9:20:37 AM

Reading just the quoted part, I'd say the HOA is being completely reasonable. Homes for Our Troops didn't have permission to build a house, so they were issued a cease and desist.

6/24/2011 9:32:20 AM

completely reasonable in rejecting plans for a house for an injured vet.

yes completely reasonable.

6/24/2011 9:33:08 AM

ncsuapex said:

Quote :

"Fuck those people. Seriously. Fuck them. They wouldn't have the ability to own a nice house if it weren't for veterans. FUCK THEM."

Ahahahahahaha, how the heck do you figure that? We haven't had actual combat in the United States since...what, Pearl Harbor? God bless those World War II vets who...got bombed and...watched the planes fly off and...I guess we nuked the Japanese later?

Build those motherfuckers a house if you want, but ain't no veteran of Afghanistan making it possible for us to own a house what the fuck is wrong with you

6/24/2011 9:38:51 AM

reasonable would be making the sqft issue known before anything else

6/24/2011 9:38:55 AM

Quote :

"They wouldn't have the ability to own a nice house if it weren't for veterans."

of all the arguments against the HOA, in this case, this is idiotic enough to make me want to take their side.

6/24/2011 9:46:58 AM

i couldn't care less whether the home was for an injured vet or bill gates or mother theresa's corpse

the only people who like HOAs are those that are on the HOA board and get off being big fish in a tiny pond

6/24/2011 9:48:29 AM

how is a disabled veteran going to clean 2700 sq. ft. of house, let alone something bigger?

6/24/2011 9:50:21 AM

Quote :

"What's important to understand is the family already lives here. They're a great family. We have no qualms with them," Rogers said. "The problem is, that street down there has 5,000-square-foot homes all the way up and down the street there. ... It just doesn't fit. That's the whole issue."

6/24/2011 9:51:19 AM

Oh look. Jonathan has learned how to use the user tag and the quote buttons. How cute.

6/24/2011 9:52:07 AM

maybe the "smaller" home is what they need because of his disabilities

6/24/2011 9:52:17 AM

if they can't make do with 2700 square feet, they're douchebags

6/24/2011 9:56:02 AM

Thank you Luna. I've said this before, but if you are looking into buying a home, seriously take a strong look at your home owners association. Some are very reasonable and cheap and stay out of your business, and some are just beyond ridiculous and help no one, or a select few out of sheer greed or power (thinking they should be in everyone's business). Personally I think it's best to just get a home that's NOT in an HOA, but nowadays unless you are willing to live in the country you are kinda stuck.

6/24/2011 9:56:18 AM

I know it's cool to hate on HOAs and rich people, but these folks just started building a 2700+ square foot structure on a piece of land they didn't own. Thats just ridiculous.

Quote :

"the only people who like HOAs are those that are on the HOA board and get off being big fish in a tiny pond"

Or, you know, people who want their six-figure home to retain value.

6/24/2011 9:58:41 AM

Drive around Downtown Raleigh, and also Laurel Hills by Crabtree, you will see 5000 square foot homes sitting next to 2500 square foot homes all over the place, somehow this phenomena exists without a homeowners association.

6/24/2011 10:00:53 AM

Quote :

"these folks just started building a 2700+ square foot structure on a piece of land they didn't own."

where does it say that they didn't own the property?

6/24/2011 10:04:27 AM

I am okay with what the HOA did in that article.

6/24/2011 10:04:32 AM

ncsuapex said:

Quote :

"Oh look. Jonathan has learned how to use the user tag and the quote buttons. How cute."

I've been replying like this since the user tag was introduced. And my name is right there in my profile, dogg. It ain't like you exercise some secret power over me, name all up in your mouth like it's my dick and whatnot.

6/24/2011 10:14:42 AM

i grew up in a community that had an HOA and it was fucking horrible. I remember moving there and thinking "oh good. cookie cutter land" it was always a bit creepy. if i drop bank on a house I'd like to be able to do w/e the fuck I want to it personally. like paint it electric blue

6/24/2011 10:23:35 AM

Quote :

"Gonsalves said his team checked association documents, which do recommend that at least 2,700-square-foot houses be built, but Rogers said homeowners in that section built much larger homes."

So the builders did abide by the rules?

6/24/2011 10:29:57 AM

Quote :

"Ahahahahahaha, how the heck do you figure that? We haven't had actual combat in the United States since...what, Pearl Harbor? God bless those World War II vets who...got bombed and...watched the planes fly off and...I guess we nuked the Japanese later? Build those motherfuckers a house if you want, but ain't no veteran of Afghanistan making it possible for us to own a house what the fuck is wrong with you "

This is probably one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard someone say. GO FUCK YOURSELF!

6/24/2011 10:34:19 AM

We all want a big giant house on 4-5 acres of land out in the country, but definitely not too far from your Harris Teeter. A nice pool would be a bonus, 3-4 car garage would be great too.

But then reality came and none of us can afford that. So we move into a neighborhood with an HOA, shared pool and a 2 car garage.

6/24/2011 10:35:46 AM

'Cause we all just wanna be big rock stars
And live in hilltop houses drivin' fifteen cars

[Edited on June 24, 2011 at 10:38 AM. Reason : elision is cool]

6/24/2011 10:38:12 AM

ooo nickleback

6/24/2011 10:38:34 AM

can someone plot out for me how fighting a war in afghanistan has made it possible for me to own my home

6/24/2011 10:38:50 AM

oh god now there's two of them.

Quote :

"can someone plot out for me how fighting a war in afghanistan has made it possible for me to own my home"

6/24/2011 10:40:46 AM

My only issue with the HOA is that it was up to something subjective like a board.

Ive seen covenants that describe layout and acceptable dimensions etc. in clear English.

6/24/2011 10:42:07 AM

Quote :

"can someone plot out for me how fighting a war in afghanistan has made it possible for me to own my home"

I think the only case one could reasonably make here is that the existence of the armed forces, rather than anything specific its actually doing, is vital to the territorial security of the country and, by extension, your property.

6/24/2011 10:44:43 AM

^ But even then, how could you link that security to being able to buy a home?


I mean, my future brother-in-law served 3 tours in Afghanistan (and has 2 purple hearts) and I think even he would laugh at that statement from earlier

6/24/2011 10:50:45 AM

FroshKiller:

I'm glad your only concern is what you personally gain... You should get an award for most selfless citizen.

6/24/2011 10:50:56 AM

so do i just post whatever here and you see whatever you want or

6/24/2011 10:53:21 AM

^^ you are a fucking knuckle dragging moron. His point flew way the fuck over your head. Hell, i could probably roll a bowling ball and it would be over your head.

[Edited on June 24, 2011 at 10:55 AM. Reason : . ]

6/24/2011 10:54:43 AM

Quote :

"Drive around Downtown Raleigh, and also Laurel Hills by Crabtree, you will see 5000 square foot homes sitting next to 2500 square foot homes all over the place, somehow this phenomena exists without a homeowners association. "

Order of operations.

6/24/2011 10:56:15 AM

back on topic now...

HOA's do suck, but I don't think they were in the wrong here. Although I personally dislike their stance, I think the vet would be better off having the home built in an accepting community rather than deal with these snobs.

6/24/2011 11:01:12 AM

My HOA banned alcohol at my pool.

6/24/2011 11:03:36 AM

I would move...

6/24/2011 11:17:18 AM

would you move to afghanistan

6/24/2011 11:19:24 AM

Unless your community has a pool or you live in a part of the country that gets a lot of snow, I think HOAs are pointless.

That, of course, excludes townhouses/condo communities that have a lot of "common area" that needs to be maintained.

[Edited on June 24, 2011 at 11:23 AM. Reason : a]

6/24/2011 11:23:22 AM

Quote :

"would you move to afghanistan"

And to answer your dumbass question: I will be temporarily...

6/24/2011 11:38:26 AM