Venting, or How I may sell my house so I can keep my camper

[Javi]

I really got nothing constructive to say about HOA's... Wouldn't buy into one and wouldn't let one start up where I live without a real tussle..

Where I live the city has very strict rules/laws concerning parking my trailer on my own property... I don't care for that much neither but I bought the house before I bought the trailer so I live with it for now. Fortunately we have a good storage facility less than 5 minutes from the house.

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Precisely the reason we gave up the "benefits and accessibility" of the "big city" and moved to the woods in northern Michigan. Even now, we've got "too many rules" with the building restrictions, taxes, zoning restrictions and the host of other "government infringements" but at least we don't have neighbors calling the "HOA Police" if we happen to do something they "think" might be inappropriate..... For me, it was better to give up the "fast cable internet" and the "Pizza delivery service" and be able to sit in my back yard and "swat skeeters by the fire" to my hearts content.... And if I might happen to want an adult beverage, and even if I walk around to the front of my house with it in an open container, I'm not "imposing on someone's idea of "civility" LOL Give me my privacy on my own little bit of heaven and I'll leave yours alone. My only concern with where I park the Cougar is whether or not I have to drive over the septic system field lines, otherwise, it's my choice to park it anywhere on the property.

We might be further from the "civilized conveniences" than some who live in an HOA, but then again, I haven't heard a siren, day or night, in the past 4 years. Something to be said about having to go to the pizza place to pick up your own.

A big AMEN from me, too! That's what we did.

[chuckster57]

Wouldn't it be great if we all had the option and ability to live where neighbors were more than a stones throw away. The reality is, some don't or can't.

When we looked in 2000 and found our current residence, one of the selling features was a driveway that fit 11 cars, on a corner with side yard storage and NO HOA.

[Ram189]

Are your streets HOA controlled or are they city/county controlled??

If it is HOA than you have 48 hours to get in and out correct?? Park it on the curb and do what you need to do. That is what I do.

Problem in my neighborhood is the county passed a law 2 years ago that says anything over 21' cannot be parked in the neighborhood for more than 2 hours.

Someone complained at the end of summer when I was between trips and had it parked on a seldom used side street with plenty of room for emergency equipment to pass and 2 cars to go by carefully. Police were sympathetic somewhat but said it was code and since someone complained I needed to move it. I took for $50.00 ticket as I was leaving 2 days later but have since had to start pulling in and out everyday to make it work the way they want it to.

Seems owning an RV of any type is getting to be a problem for everyone HOA or county codes. I personally think it is jealousy on most parts. We have something they don't have or don't understand.

Sad really.

[cjelliott81]

Originally Posted by Ram189

Are your streets HOA controlled or are they city/county controlled??

If it is HOA than you have 48 hours to get in and out correct?? Park it on the curb and do what you need to do. That is what I do.

Problem in my neighborhood is the county passed a law 2 years ago that says anything over 21' cannot be parked in the neighborhood for more than 2 hours.

Someone complained at the end of summer when I was between trips and had it parked on a seldom used side street with plenty of room for emergency equipment to pass and 2 cars to go by carefully. Police were sympathetic somewhat but said it was code and since someone complained I needed to move it. I took for $50.00 ticket as I was leaving 2 days later but have since had to start pulling in and out everyday to make it work the way they want it to.

Seems owning an RV of any type is getting to be a problem for everyone HOA or county codes. I personally think it is jealousy on most parts. We have something they don't have or don't understand.

Sad really.

Truth be told the issue isn't even the HOA, they've made reasonable (ish) accommodations by allowing up to 48 hours in your driveway. However they forbid parking on the street.

The rub being that the county allows for 24 hours on the street, unlimited in your driveway, provided it does not block the sidewalk.

I just struggle with it being such an inconvenience for that one a-hole neighbor, whom I haven't actually ever seen walk past the house to take one step to the to left or right onto the apron of the driveway (not the street) for 2 days every 60 - 90 days.

[cjelliott81]

At the end of the day, it was my decision to buy where I did, primarily because acreage isn't cheap, and I didn't want to live next to the guy that parked a camper in his driveway . However, as often happens in life, directions and priorities change. When I bought I was single and had a Corvette that was my favorite pass time. I am now married with kids and spending time with them in our camper has replaced the Corvette.

As can be appreciated buying and selling houses is no small undertaking and not always feasible especially given the tumultuous state of the RE market over the last few years.

I've tried the more flys with honey idea already, even trying to find some common ground with the guy as he is retired from the same company I work for, albeit in another state, he is just an a-hole. I was even warned he was an a-hole by neighbors before I moved in. We in-fact had our last HOA management company quit after explaining to the board they couldn't charge us enough to field the 150+ calls a month and verbal abuse they get from him.

It sounds awful, but my only hope is that the guy is 83 and with a little luck will keel over soon. The downside though is that he still mows his own grass, with a push mower, in the Florida heat. So I'm afraid he's here for the duration.

[BirchyBoy]

The question over whether the HOA or the city rules the streets is an interesting one. I have called the HOA before because someone left a junk car parked for a LONG time. They said they're not responsible for that. But, they feel that they can make rules about trailers and such. I may have to see how far their reach really extends.

[{tpc}]

I like the ideas about moving, if it is a feasible idea for some. Our property in our neighborhood in fact is one of the largest pieces. It sits on 2 lots there were combined on purpose to keep the neighbors as far away as reasonably possible. We have natural pine trees all over the yard and have planted more to separate us from others.

In the end it hasn't helped. One new neighbor behind us thought he property ran up to our tree line. It didn't and no fault of his for not knowing. Instead of approaching us when deciding to drop in an in ground pool, he snuck around and eventually had to put off his pool building for a year because they had to have the property surveyed properly. He ended up dropping it as far back as he could, and erecting a silly looking fence. That irritated the entire neighborhood, which was designed not to have fences, with the exception of pools. The pool should have a fence around it, the guy did his whole yard. Similar thing happened with another new neighbor who didn't believe me when I showed them where their property was...and had it surveyed as well to only be disappointed. And because our yard is so big and tree lined, the neighborhood children think its the place to play hide and seek. The parents don't control them so we get to yell at them to get out.

I envy you all that can move far out. Its what I want and we are currently looking at moving right now. But its hard to find a private spot close to the city, which we need to be. I did find a house that had a reasonably private yard, way away from everyone with a large driveway. Perfect probably...except the driveway is kinda shared with another one neighbor with a common area, though paved or gravel (can't tell) in between.

I also like the pulling forward idea for the op. While inconvenient it may be the best option.

[cjelliott81]

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

The question over whether the HOA or the city rules the streets is an interesting one. I have called the HOA before because someone left a junk car parked for a LONG time. They said they're not responsible for that. But, they feel that they can make rules about trailers and such. I may have to see how far their reach really extends.

It's an odd situation, in my case the roads are managed by the county, i.e. paving, pothole repair, parking enforcement (parking tickets), etc. In parallel the HOA maintains some jurisdiction on the parking enforcement side, as they can levy fines for street parking. I guess the difference is recourse if you fail to pay. The county can attach to your vehicle registration, etc. Where the HOA can just send to collections. ( a 2013 law disallowed Florida HOAs to place liens under $1000, and capped fines at $1000)

I in fact was lucky enough to learn this on Halloween last year when the Sheriff's Office showed up at my door responding to a complaint of my car parked in the street. To give a little background my neighborhood is one of the few in the immediate area with sidewalks so we will typically see in the neighborhood of 700 trick or treaters with hundreds of cars parked a long the street as they come from the surrounding area. I had placed one of my vehicles on the street in front of my house to a) prevent someone from parking on my grass and b) open up the right side of my driveway so trick or treaters weren't walking through the grass or between the vehicles.

I'll give you one guess who called the police on my car out of the hundred that were parked on the street.

Anywho, after giving the officer a funny look as I looked up the street after he told me the reason for the visit. I asked if I actualy had to move, his response, " nope, I don't enforce HOA rules, I just to have to respond when a complaint is called in".

[Ken / Claudia]

If I was running the HOA and had just one person phoning in 150 complaints in a month I would find a way to consider the person nuts or mental and let him know at some point the complaints become legal harassment and will not be responded to. The police here put folks like that on notice, that they will be charged for misuse of 911 etc. if they continue to phone in neighbor problems that are unfounded. Just advice, if/when the SO comes to your house again due to him phoning let them know the history, in case the deputy does not and maybe a deputy can talk to him and explain when it right the phone 911 and when it is not. Funny ending to one such problem I took care of, neighbors were phoning about the noise of the duck hunters to the neighbors, than they started getting letters from State Police and finally US F/W enforcement(those where all made by and send by the unhappy neighbor). The hunting was legal. I had been there on 3 calls. Finally I made up a story, I took the last letter the unhappy neighbor typed up and handed it to both man and wife asking then to read the letter and asked if they did they send it. They said they knew nothing, I said Now I just got your finger prints on that copy of the letter by you handling it. If any unfounded calls to 911 or illegal letters get send to that house again I will finger print the letters and find out who did this and charge them with everything I can. There where no further calls to 911 or made up letters to the folks. I was not going to take up the cost to have finger prints checked but, my going to the source of a ongoing problem worked.

[theeyres]

I feel your pain. We bought into a retirement HOA because we loved the amenities. We have exactly the same conflicts you have. Much of our HOA is on private streets and the HOA rules. We live on a county street and the HOA rules on our property and the county on the street. Fortunately our county allows 3 days on the street so we can park our trailer on the street. We can't park it in our driveway because it blocks the sidewalk! We did have an initial conflict with a neighbor who complained our pick-up was parked on the street. We pointed out the rules and the showed her the email from the HOA that said we could park the truck on the street as well as the trailer for three days. We drive the truck every couple days. So no problems. The neighbor relented and we are now "over the fence" friends. I understand your venting and know you can't do much about it.

[Ram189]

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

The question over whether the HOA or the city rules the streets is an interesting one. I have called the HOA before because someone left a junk car parked for a LONG time. They said they're not responsible for that. But, they feel that they can make rules about trailers and such. I may have to see how far their reach really extends.

Funny thing with the City street rule and trailers is we were told by 3 different county officials "It was a city councilman that made the change because he did not like seeing all the landscaping trailers in his neighborhood."

I have a problem with HOAs not because of what they are but who gets on the boards and what they do when on the boards. 90% of the people do what 5% of the neighborhood want.
The elections are run hap hazard and almost criminal. Name calling, false accusations against people. Ganging up. It is almost as bad as being back in high school.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

~snip~

We might be further from the "civilized conveniences" than some who live in an HOA, but then again, I haven't heard a siren, day or night, in the past 4 years. Something to be said about having to go to the pizza place to pick up your own.

We have 40 acres and Suburgatory has encroached on us. It used to be quiet out here an night, now we hear traffic from 5 in the morning until midnight. The built a strip mall a mile down the road.

Might need to move...

Aaron

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

We have 40 acres and Suburgatory has encroached on us. It used to be quiet out here an night, now we hear traffic from 5 in the morning until midnight. The built a strip mall a mile down the road.

Might need to move...

Aaron

That is also a concern of mine. Our population density is currently 11 people per square mile. That allows some pretty "wide open living".

A couple of years ago an Indian tribal council bought some property "off the reservation" and opened a casino. They claimed it was "tribal land" and not subject to state laws. There's a long battle brewing about that, I won't take sides in this post about the issue, but like you, as things change, I'm concerned that some "entity" could buy acreage around me, open a casino and completely change the "serene environment" to one of "chaos and confusion" It wouldn't necessarily have to be "right next door" to change the neighborhood. Even a mile or more away could cause significant changes in how we live.

That would not be a "happy day in Flat Rock" !!!!!

[64tbolt]

The very reason I bought in an area without an HOA. My 5th wheel is in my back yard behind an rv gate. Not economical to pay HOA fees plus storage

[cjelliott81]

Small update: for the purposes of this story let me identify the cast of characters. - We have the neighbor across the street, let's call him D. He's just the kind of neighbor any of us would love to have, has a camper he stores elsewhere as well, gets my struggle with the PITA neighbor but has remained neutral as that's just his nature. We have the folks across the street from the PITA neighbor, two houses down from D. We'll call them F of PITA for friends of PITA neighbor. I wave to them and vice versa but we haven't ever really exchanged pleasantries. Apparently their niece has moved in to their home temporarily while she seeks employment. Next we have the immediate neighbor to my left, who resides between PITA and myself. They are snowbirds, so we'll call them..... the snowbirds. They are awesome, the husband comes over and shoots the bull with me when i'm grilling, he brings over different stuff they've cooked, and the wife always stops to chat when she's walking the dog and has a standing agreement with my daughters that whatever fundraiser they do for school, she is to be their first stop. They have told the neighbors around them feel free to use our driveway during the summer if you need overflow parking since parking on the street causes such consternation.

That out of the way. here's today's events:

D rings my doorbell this afternoon asking if I have permission to use the Snowbird's driveway. I tell D as far as I know, the direction has always been use it if you need it. Mind you the only time I use their driveway is about every 7-10 days when I mow the grass such as to not cover my truck in dirt and grass always parking on the right side in case any of the other neighbors need to use it. D and his wife will often use it as they have three vehicles and they will use it to avoid driveway bingo if one of them needs the car in the garage.

Anywho, D explains he needed to assemble a Kayak rack and noticed when he went to move the car, the niece of F of PITA had parked in the middle of the Snowbird's driveway, apparently when he asked the niece to move the car to one side or the other she gave him a bunch of attitude telling him she was told by the PITA neighbors to park in the middle so "he" could not park there, pointing to my truck. Well, D who has to this point been neutral apparently was not pleased and proceeded to give the PITA a piece of his mind reminding them that they are much too old to be acting like children. I mean this escalated to the point the poor Snowbird's were called by the PITA to confirm who did and did not have permission to use the driveway. Nothing like playing referee from half a country away.

My lord I hope they pass away soon.

Cliff notes: some people need a hobby.

[Festus2]

Way back in January of this year you told us about your "latest aggravation" - a neighbor who you described as being a "busybody" and who called the local bylaw folks whenever you brought your camper home to load or unload it and maintain it.

After reading your "update" it sounds as if you are once again aggravated - this time by a squabble over the use of a driveway.

I must admit that I am puzzled as to what, if anything, all of this has to do with RVing but at least it has been placed in the right section - "Odds 'n Ends".

But you're right, there are a lot of folks in your neighborhood who "need a hobby".

[Ken / Claudia]

I started reading todays post and quit. After the 3rd sentence. I have to much drama every day at work to read thru all that was printed and to attempt any help.

[cjelliott81]

No worries, I'm not looking for any help. Unless it's great smoker recipes or tips on which beer pairs well with that great smoker recipe. The intent was not to bring any drama to the board. Just sharing what I, anymore, just laugh about.

I'm not really aggravated in the sense of the word, as it, at the end of the day really had no bearing on me. My camper is in storage about 10 minutes from the house, they let me wash it there and the last time I had to bring it home to work on it, I simply emailed the board and advised how long it would be in my driveway ( 3 days) and all was well.

[sourdough]

I'd forgotten about this post until it popped back up.

All I can say is that life is too short for all the nonsense that seems to go on in your neighborhood. My motto is that I depend on no one for anything and I don't have the patience for anyone interfering with what I want to do. If I don't have it, and need it, then I will get it; I won't/don't ask people for favors or the use of their "stuff" or property.

In your case, with all the drama that goes on, I would recommend selling your house and buying something with more space so you can do what you want with the RV and get away from all the busybodys.