Board will not enforce declarations

You are right about the antennas and dishes they are protected by the FCC OTARD Rules: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

As to parking enforcement; you can:

Recall or replace the Board at the next election with members willing to enforce or you have the power to enforce the documents yourself either in an action against the HOA or against the violating homeowners. Most States and documents allow you to recover your attorney fees if successful.

ballot. vote. change.

if it doesn't work, vote again.

It's more difficult to FIX something than to deal with it at its beginnings.

Sounds lilke this has gotten out of hand over time. The Board may see it as unenforceable.

Ask to be on the agenda on the next board meeting and state your concerns. Simply ask what is the Board's procedures for dealing with CCR 'illegal' parking.

Next step is to bring in your local municipality enforcement to see if there are violations regarding safety issues from these csrs parked along the streets.

Tony,

I won't say you can't do it,I have just not ever heard of an HOA member taking another HOA member to court to enforce a covenant restriction. I know this can be done when there is no HOA to enforce. Have you thoroughly read your CCRs to find out what they say with regard to enforcement? In many CCRs if the BOD fails to enforce, a certain % of the members may petition them to enforce and if they do not w/i a certain period of time then the members may enforce. But, first they must petition the BOD to do so.

The following is from my CCRs under "Enforcement":

"Association as enforcing body. The association, as agent and representative of the owners, shall have the exclusive right, but not the obligation, to enforce the provisions of this declaration. However, if the association shall fail or refuse to enforce a mandatory provision of this declaration for an unreasonable period of time (which shall exceed at least 30 days) after written request by at least 10 owners to do so, then the requesting owners may enforce them on behalf of the association by any appropriate action, whether at law or in equity."

Note that it say the BOD has the "exclusive right" meaning only they can enforce. Only after the petition is ignored can the members enforce. And because those members would have a right to enforce "on behalf of the assn", that means it's on the assn's dime.

Sorry for the late reply. The covenants say homeowners cannot park on the street overnight and vehicles must be in the garage. It is unlikely the on street parking ban can be enforced since the streets are owned by the local government. However, parking on the driveways should be enforcable or at least that is the question put to members of this forum.

Tony

If your HOA can't prevent on-street parking, then demanding cars be parked in garages won't help much, would it? Couldn't a property owner simply park on the street and thus move outside the HOA's jurisdiction? You may just find your frustrated but I'm interest to hear any resolution you discover.

Good luck.

The ability and willingness to enforce whether cars can be parked in a driveway will likely hinge on the condition of the HOA organization in terms of effort required to maintain other aspects of the common areas, the daily grind of insuring collections are timely and the overall cash flow health of the HOA. Most of us running HOAs watching our spending and dealing with vendors, contractors and bids on most every job, even small ones. I can't imagine having to pause daily HOA operations to enforce a driveway ordinance given what the one or two of us on the board have to manage as volunteers.

I literally would have to preserve my "fights" to cash flow and spending issues. Otherwise, everyone would remain exhausted.

MaryA1 mentioned case law that would support enforcing the restrictions on street parking that are contained in the CCR's. Mary, could you point me in the direction of that case law? I would certainly like to look it up.

Mary, you are, also, probably right about the original intent of the parking restrictions. The vehicles are unsightly. We even have commercial vehicles parking on the driveways, which is specifically forbidden in the CCR's. The BOD's answer to that is to ask the vehicle owner's to cover up the commerical advertising on the vehicle when parked within the community. So we have a bunch of pickups and vans with tarps draped over the sides of the vehicles.

No wonder real estate values have dropped so dramatically in Florida with this kind of stuff going on. It just adds to all the other ills in our economy.

Tony

One of the problems with complaining to your HOA is that you can become a target of the HOA - this is currently happening to me and some other people who complained about other issues. Our HOA is terrible - our streets have basically been turned into playgrounds with basketball hoops everywhere - which are loud when in use (and unsightly). Some people have even taken to believing the street areas around their hoops are their own exclusive property. Two areas have even become difficult to navigate (cars parked all along the street and kids in the street on the other side). Also voting practices are ridiculous and probably would not stand up in a court of law. The list goes on.

I believe that most homeowners are not aware of HOA covenants and rules and don't care to get involved with HOA matters. My opinion is that HOAs don't work and most people would prefer to be without one except for necessities (maintenance, snow removal etc) or where the location government could take over (my neighborhood option for this - which is a single family home neighborhood with virtually no common areas). The whole idea of "keeping home values up" is a joke. I've heard many HOAs exist simply to make HOA management companies (lawyers etc) rich.

Dealing with HOA issues can be very stressful - and expensive - but as it's where you live - I don't believe anyone should give up. Consult with an attorney - read the CC&R very carefully and determine all of your options. Also it's quite likely you could find a whole lot more violations that the ones you mention - perhaps some related to the issues you mention (example location and method of dish or antenna mounting, commercial vehicles or trailers etc).

Good luck

Tony,

The case law I referred to comes from a MO Court of Appeals. I've posted the case below. Note that the Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's decision. Please pay close attention to the wording in para. (12)

With regard to commercial vehicles, I believe most assn's have that restriction. Some assn's do allow the commercial sign to be covered but not by a tarp hanging off the side of the vehicle. There are magnetic placards which can be placed over the signage. Ladders are definitely not allowed and must be removed if the vehicle will not fit in the garage.

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MO Case Law:
12/17/96 MARYLAND ESTATES HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION
[1] COURT OF APPEALS OF MISSOURI, EASTERN DISTRICT, DIVISION TWO
[4] December 17, 1996
[5] *MARYLAND ESTATES HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION, PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT,
v.
KAREN PUCKETT AND CHRIS SCHALLERT, DEFENDANTS/APPELLANTS.*
[6] Appeal from the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. Hon. Robert Campbell.
[7] Gerald M. Smith, Judge, Crane, P.j. and Pudlowski, J., concur.
[8] The opinion of the court was delivered by: Smith
[9] Defendants, Puckett and Schallert, appeal from a summary judgment granting plaintiff, Maryland Estates Homeowners' Association, an injunction prohibiting defendants from parking Schallert's truck in their driveway and on the streets of the subdivision. We affirm.
[10] Puckett is the owner of a home in the Maryland Estates subdivision. Schallert resides with Puckett. Schallert owns a one ton truck which he parks either in the driveway of the house where he resides or on
the street in front of the house. The plat establishing the subdivision provides that the "streets are dedicated to the City of Maryland Heights for public use forever." The Indenture of Trust and Restrictions preclude the regular parking of trucks or commercial vehicles in streets, yards or driveways in the subdivision. Trucks" do not include pickup trucks of ½ ton or less.
[11] The Association brought this action to enjoin Puckett and Schallert from parking Schallert's truck in the residence driveway and on the street in front of the residence. Defendants concede that the truck
cannot be parked in the driveway. Their only contention on appeal is that because the streets have been dedicated to the public, the Association has lost the power to control their use. They rely upon City of Camdenton v. Sho-Me Power Corp., 361 Mo. 790, 237 S.W.2d 94 (Mo. 1951) for the proposition that a dedicator cannot attach conditions or limitations inconsistent with the legal character of the dedication or which exclude public control of the property.
[12] City of Camdenton might be applicable if the Association were attempting to restrict the accessibility of the streets to members of the public who are not residents of the subdivision, but that is not the case here. The Indenture of Trust and Restrictions is a contract to which each homeowner becomes a party when acquiring property in the subdivision. Kauffman v. Roling, 851 S.W.2d 789 (Mo.App. 1993)[1,2]. By acquiring the property the owners agree to the terms of the restrictive covenants contained in the Indenture. It is agreed by the parties that persons residing in property in the subdivision are equally bound. The Association is seeking enforcement of the promises contained within the Indenture to which defendants have agreed. Defendants agreed that they would not park a truck regularly on the streets of the subdivision. They have breached that agreement and have insisted on their right to do so in the future. An injunction was the proper remedy to prevent such actions in the future.
[13] The court awarded the Association attorney's fees in the amount of $3000. Defendants challenge that award on appeal. Attorney's fees may be awarded to a successful litigant where provided for by contract. Harris v. Union Electric Company, 766 S.W.2d 80 (Mo.banc 1989)[5]. The Indenture, a contract, provides for such an award. The court properly made the award. We need not address the issue briefed by the defendants that the language of the Indenture authorizes an attorney's fee award whether the Association
wins or loses and that such a provision is against public policy. Here the Association won.
[14] Judgment affirmed.
[15] GERALD M. SMITH, Judge
[16] Crane, P.J. and Pudlowski, J., concur.

Mary,

Thank you so much for going through the trouble to look up that case law and post it. I will make good use of it.

Tony

So seed the lawn, document it, mail a copy to the board. Done.



This is normal and typical for most HOA's.

In a nut shell, this is what living in an HOA is. They have huge amounts of power and there is nothing you can do about it. Just pretend to get along, try to follow the guidelines and stay off the radar.