So, I got a nasty-gram from my Home Owners’ Association…

So, I got a nasty-gram from my Home Owners’ Association…

I live in an area that is comprised of blocks of attached townhouses. The townhouses are set off of a main road in an enclave with its own little streets.

There is a homeowners’ association (HOA) that ‘runs’ our little neighborhood. Most of the people who live here (including us) rent from the owners of our individual properties. Such an arrangement effectively makes the HOA an annoying third party. Like most HOAs, our HOA thinks that it rules the entire world and can tell us how to live.

We’ve gotten nasty-grams telling us that we need to weed our flower bed or power wash the side of our house because these things were hurting the property value of our neighborhood. There’s a house across the street that has pieces of siding that don’t match the rest of the house. A couple of other houses have visible wear and tear on them. One yard doesn’t have any grass. All of these things haven’t changed in the three years we’ve been here. But it’s the dandelions in my flowerbed that are bringing down the property value. Bye, Felecia.

A couple of weeks ago, the HOA sent a nasty-gram to our entire neighborhood.

If you are unable to read the picture, it says:

[Redacted] PLEASE TAKE NOTICE

Dear Homeowner or Tenant,

STOP placing your trash out prior to the night before pick up! YOUR TRASH SERVICE DAYS ARE MONDAY AND THURSDAY– Early trash disposal is creating a major problem with debris in the common areas and on neighboring yards. Also the common area barrels are not for household trash. DO NOT PLACE YOUR BAGS IN THESE RECEPTICLES [sic]. It is for bottles and the like. VIOLATORS WILL BE FINED. 

Please help us, [sic] help your community look nicer. You live here. Show some pride! Please report violator’s [sic] address [sic] and times. Should you have any questions please contact [Redacted]. Thank you.

We have a ‘free’ trash service (I’m sure costs are included in our rent or the owners’ HOA fees) that comes to pick up our trash twice weekly. Residents typically sit their trash out on the so-called ‘common areas’ (which are large, grassy berms that round out the end of each unit of houses), though there are a few people who do keep small bins and sit them out on the curb on trash day.

My yard is actually one of the yards that gets affected by debris because of the trash. My house is positioned behind one of the berms, and there is always a pile of trash there. People tend to hang around outside a lot and will often place their litter on the berm. I don’t think that it’s a good look for the neighborhood to have a bunch of trash lying about.

HOWEVER…

The HOA is going about this all wrong.  This isn’t the first time that this kind of note has been sent out by them. They don’t know who’s doing it. They likely won’t know because this is a recurring issue and no one has bothered to report it. It’s pretty much the same people putting their trash out early all the time. If they’ve been reported the fine hasn’t been enough to deter them.  I doubt that anyone is going to report on their neighbors because we’ve all done it. Who wants to have funky trash in their house?

The HOA refuses to solve its own problem. They wouldn’t have to worry about when people put their trash out if they made common trash bins available.

I guess the HOA wouldn’t have much left to do if they could’t spend their time driving through the neighborhood and nitpicking about when and where trash is placed and what the outside of peoples’ houses looked like. They wouldn’t have much to do, because these activities are literally ALL they do.

I dislike Home Owners’ Associations.

Do you have any HOA funny/horror stories?