I've been posting homeowners association disputes from the start

You might remember the one from 2006 involving a woman who put up a peace-sign wreath and was slapped with a $25/day fine from the homeowners association. In 1999, I posted a story about a woman who dared to paint her house purple. About 145 home owners agreed to pay up to $43,500 for a lawyer to force her to change the color.

Comments

[twerp]

The thing I learned from this site is that there are plenty of people out there who LOVE HOAs and everything they stand for.

Most don't though. I love being able to put pink flamingos in my front yard. Yes, I have pink flamingos in my front yard. I love them. They wear ghost costumes at Halloween, I have pilgram hats for them to wear at Thanksgiving, at Christmas, they wear wreaths around their necks, They wear hearts on Valentine's Day, and bunny ears at Easter. That's how obnoxious of a neighbor I am!

I do need to replace my flamingos soon with another pair--they've faded in the summer sun. I've considered rubbing sunblock on them to prevent this kind of damage but have been too lazy to do so.

[KDP]

HOA - Hand Over Autonomy.

I'm still amazed that anyone would want to live in these areas. It sounds like the Stepford Wives come to reality.

[Phranqlin]

HOAs seem to be infested with small-minded people who enjoy abusing power and sticking it to their nonconformist neighbors.

[stevenvictx]

My computer room is purple, If i wasnt so lazy My house might be purple too.

[oldewave]

HOA's: what the entire free world would be doing if the Nazis had won the war. (no, that's not original; it's a line from an old Harper's article--still true though).

[Many]

Would have been cheaper if they had just hired a painter

[Pat]

I remember that purple house story, too. The woman moved into the King William neighborhood of San Antonio that is a famous historic district and major tourist attraction because it's an authentic, restored turn-of-the-century area, then proceeded to paint her house in garish purple and orange because she wanted it to look like a Mexican fiesta.

She knew there were very strict rules for paint colors before she moved in, but she thought of herself as a free-spirited "artist" to whom rules don't apply. So she defied them, then relied on the ignorance of the public outside San Antonio, plus racial grievance, to win her sympathy. Well, she gets none from me. Her house was an eyesore, it undermined the entire historic district, and she knew all that before moving in. If she'd wanted a purple house, she could've lived anywhere else in San Antonio and had one, BUT NOOOOOO! I have little sympathy with the usual piddling dictates of HOAs, but in that case, they were 100% in the right.

[twerp]

If you KNOW the place you're looking to purchase has to follow HOA rules, WHY--WHY the HELL would you buy a home when you don't want to follow their set standards? To make a statement? To prove to everybody you're a rule breaker?

The only reason I can think of is that a person wants to make a complete arse of him/herself.

In regards to the comments section on the 2006 story: I like the tacky inflateables. I don't personally decorate the outside of my house much for the holidays--save for my flamingos and wreath on my door. I don't have anything against people who go all out though--well, as long as it isn't causing traffic jams and making it seem like I live next to a football stadium in the middle of the night...

[Bernie]

I live next door to an HOA, but our property isn't part of it. Three times now I've had to throw those clowns off my property when they came and demanded that I adhere to their rules. The first time, they complained that my grass was more than 2.5". I pointed out to the idiots that according to county regulations, because of the size of the property, I don't have to mow it until it hits 12". Then they complained when I turned on my Christmas lights in February, after we got 24" of snow and I wanted to take pictures for our Christmas cards the next year. I told them to get the fwonk off my land and kept the lights lit until St. Patrick's Day. Most recently they've objected to the simple wooden sign I have hanging over my garage door with the name of the house on it (Hawk's Rest). I'm seriously considering replacing it with a neon one.

Fwonk HOA's!