• Pyr@lemmy.ca
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    22 hours ago

    I don’t understand HOAs having so much control over people’s property.

    Where I live if you live somewhere that has rules about how the exterior of a place looks, it’s part of a strata and you pay monthly fees and the strata pays for landscapers to come in and mow everyone’s lawns, repaint people’s houses, repair the roof, clean the eaves trough, etc.

    Seems so backwards that you just own your home outright but if you don’t maintain it properly someone can just fine you. Take care of it yourselves then and leave me out of it.

    • iridebikes@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      California just passed a bill that caps HOA fines at $100 per offense. (iirc). Meaning if you want to paint the house purple and the HOA doesnt allow it, you pay the $100 fine and move on. It is effectively going to completely neuter HOAs.

    • HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml
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      9 hours ago

      Where I live if you live somewhere that has rules about how the exterior of a place looks, it’s part of a strata

      Nah fuck stratas too. Mine refuses to let us install mini split air conditioners because the outdoor condensers are “ugly” and “makes this nice Canadian townhouse complex look like one of those shithole commieblocks from China” (they actually didn’t say that but someone on Reddit once did in defense of stratas and that pisssd me off so much). They don’t even let us change the windows from swing out style to the sliding type that can support window air conditioners, instead we’re stuck using portable air conditioners which are the least energy efficient type. So in a place where AC was not necessary until very recently due to climate change, and there are worse heat waves every year that go beyond uncomfortable to putting people at risk of heat stroke, they’re worried about the aesthetics of the complex over the health of the people in it.

      Our strata even got pissy at us for putting a blanket over the window to reflect the sunlight. Can’t do passive cooling either.

    • BigPotato@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      Depends on your HOA. Some maintain pools and parks in the area. Some exist solely to ‘keep property values up.’

      • Pyr@lemmy.ca
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        22 hours ago

        Which is also funny to me because I would be willing to pay less if a house was In an HOA not more.

        • BigPotato@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          Same, HOAs are a non-starter for me. That said the price is going to be high with or without and those buying $500,000USD homes are probably less likely to care about an extra $100 a month.

        • LousyCornMuffins@lemmy.world
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          21 hours ago

          we had an oppressive hoa, but did a hostile takeover with the chill neighbors next door. first order of business, no more citations for unkempt lawns, no more loud noise citations, you get to treat your home like your property so long as you weren’t piling up trash in the front yard. the old hoa board had a “legal” service run by an “attorney” downtown they contracted with to fine people for menial bullshit and we fired them. guess what? people started taking better care of their yards. kids are actually playing in the street (we have enough for a baseball team now). the neighborhood has never looked better.