Pink playhouse causes lawsuit

[speedog]

Pink playhouse causes lawsuit in Georgia - home owner's association says it runs afoul of the rules (link to story). Homeowner associations - believe we've got them here in Calgary where you're restricted as to what you can do with your home/yard. They're not everywhere and certainly not in my mid-50's neighborhood, but a lawsuit like this seems a bit ridiculous. Could see it happening in Calgary though as many of the newer communities probably have such restrictions in place.

[Tik-Tok]

If only she'd watched more HGTV, Beck-Rogers would know that being at the mercy of a homeowner's association is pretty much as close as anyone in America can get to living in a communist country,

Why does American news media always call things "communist", when it's clearly the opposite?

[Xtrema]

HOA or condo committee are always ran by people who has nothing better to do.

Not surprising.

The Hamptons HOA advises people not to use shingle for roof replacement. But I have seen a few did it or use cheap ass material that looks slightly better than shingle. I don't see any take down request yet.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Why does American news media always call things "communist", when it's clearly the opposite?

Fascism and communism (on the surface) can appear very similiar.

[speedog]

Originally posted by Xtrema
HOA or condo committee are always ran by people who has nothing better to do.

Not surprising.

The Hamptons HOA advises people not to use shingle for roof replacement. But I have seen a few did it or use cheap ass material that looks slightly better than shingle. I don't see any take down request yet.

In reality though, does the Hamptons HOA have any actual control on what people do with the roofing on their homes? In fact, are there any communities in Calgary that have these types of architectural controls outside of condo complexes?

[98type_r]

Originally posted by speedog

In reality though, does the Hamptons HOA have any actual control on what people do with the roofing on their homes? In fact, are there any communities in Calgary that have these types of architectural controls outside of condo complexes?

A lot of them have architectural controls in place early on, so when you build then the builder forces you to abide by the controls so they can charge extra for exterior upgrades. I haven't really heard of anything being enforced after things have been done but apparently in Kincora you're only allowed to build one type of fence.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by speedog

In reality though, does the Hamptons HOA have any actual control on what people do with the roofing on their homes? In fact, are there any communities in Calgary that have these types of architectural controls outside of condo complexes?

No. I don't believe there are any legal actions other than dirty looks from neighbors.

[speedog]

98type_r - using Google streetview, it would appear that you might be right and in fact, the fences are all painted that same bland version of gray/beige as the rest of the houses/road surfaces/sidewalks. Man, the only thing with color are the street signs, fire hydrants and utility boxes - oops, here's a couple of homes (link) that have more than the regular Kincora fence blandesss although black iron isn't that much of a color stretch.

[ZenOps]

In Canada you really can't complain about anything as we don't really own the land.

If your neighbor wants to blast a 109 decibel airhorn every 15-minutes all night long... You might not have a lot of recourse.

http://www.abbynews.com/news/1692755...News&bc09=true

The legal limit on how often you can use a "torturing bird sound" seems to be fairly universal around the world every one minute and six seconds.... Which if you notice carefully, the C-train stops in Calgary adhere to this general rule (although it seems totally strange to have such an exact number)

If you use a torturing bird sound every 1 minute five seconds, or above a certain decibel level, it is illegal in most places.

Pink house? Not a freaking problem. Someone should go down to Georgia and blast an supersonic airhorn at them just to remind them how lucky they got it.

[Masked Bandit]

Some of those HOA's in the states are downright militant. I've got family in Florida and he lives in a nicer neighbourhood. They can get pretty picky on stuff and have the legal clout to follow through with it.

Up here though I've never heard of any actual action being taken. We have a HOA for Chaparral and I know there were architectural controls when we built but I really don't know what would happen today if someone reno'd and changed something that didn't "comply" with the original guidelines. Does anyone have any experience with that?

[dexlargo]

^These kinds of restrictive covenants are on tons of places in Calgary. They are right on the title of the property, when the lot is first developed.

If your neighbours get pissed off because you paint your house the wrong colour or use the wrong kind of roofing material, they can take you to court and ask the court to force you to change it.

When I bought my current house, I reviewed all of the restrictive covenants on title and made sure I could live with them, because I kind of have to.

I don't know of any specific examples of people being forced to change work they did (at least in detached houses - I know of several instances in condominiums), but I know what the process is to make it happen, and it's not that complicated.

Maybe I'll do some research on the issue - I'm kind of curious about what comes up.

ETA - I had a look and found some examples of restrictive covenants being enforced. Here is one example: http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/jdb/2...06abqb0135.pdf

In that example, some people bought a lot and started building a house. It was noticed fairly immediately that they were roofing with asphalt shingles and the developer of the area immediately went after them to enforce the restrictive covenant requiring "better" quality roofing material. The court imposed an injunction on the homeowner to remove the shingles and to comply with the restrictive covenant.

I found other examples too, but the upshot is that you can only get a restrictive covenant of this type removed in one of two ways - first, by getting the unanimous consent of all other owners similarly bound by the same restrictive covenant, or second, by demonstrating to the satisfaction of the court that the non-complying feature actually benefits the other homeowners (by increasing their property values, or something).

so, long story short: yes these things get enforced from time to time when people get worked up enough to go to court.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by dexlargo
so, long story short: yes these things get enforced from time to time when people get worked up enough to go to court.

I can understand the building in a new community. But who enforces is when the community matures? Does HOA actually has legal rights to enforce or is it up to individual home owners to take action?

[baygirl]

AFAIK Britannia's HOA is fairly strict, and will fight if they don't approve. I vaguely recall something about a home owner being forced to tear down and rebuild because they didn't like his garage... can't remember details though.

[bmeier]

I once saw something similar on the news but about peoples grass!

they had a very specific grass that everyone had to use but they lived in either Texas or Arizona where that breed of grass did not do well because it was too hot.

some guy re-sodded his lawn 4 times before he just said fuck it and was getting sued by the HOA.


grass for fuck sake!

[03ozwhip]

when i built my house, they made me get HE washer and dryer ie front load, or it wouldnt pass something.

they also said that the requirements of living in my community, REQUIRE us to have some sort of homo cowboy looking things on my garage door. i told them that if they make me put them on there(when building) i will not be buying the house.

the thing is about requirements, is some are land requirements and some are building requirements. the land requirements i understand and you cant do anything about, but the buolding requirements are usually builder enforced and from my experiences, you can get out of alot of it.

i built my house the way i wanted, with the colors and accessories i wanted, not exactly as they say is required. so no, i dont have homo cowboy looking things on my garage door, but i do have the HE appliances, mainly because i wanted them anyways.

[dexlargo]

Originally posted by Xtrema


I can understand the building in a new community. But who enforces is when the community matures? Does HOA actually has legal rights to enforce or is it up to individual home owners to take action?

I think either can. Individual homeowners definitely can. Since the Homeowner's Association represents owners in the community they would likely be able to get standing. Interestingly (to me anyway), once the developer sells all the lots bound by the restrictive covenant, it loses the ability to attempt to enforce the covenants that it imposed.

Anyway, from the case I linked to earlier:

[49] In the Munro case supra the learned judge in Paragraph 13 states:

“It seems clear that at common law all those who are entitled to benefit from a
building scheme are entitled to enforce the restrictive covenants that create that
scheme. But it is equally clear that any variation in a building scheme requires the
consent of all who benefit from it.”

[50] I adopt this as a correct statement of the law.

[speedog]

Originally posted by 03ozwhip
when i built my house, they made me get HE washer and dryer ie front load, or it wouldnt pass something.

they also said that the requirements of living in my community, REQUIRE us to have some sort of homo cowboy looking things on my garage door. i told them that if they make me put them on there(when building) i will not be buying the house.

the thing is about requirements, is some are land requirements and some are building requirements. the land requirements i understand and you cant do anything about, but the buolding requirements are usually builder enforced and from my experiences, you can get out of alot of it.

i built my house the way i wanted, with the colors and accessories i wanted, not exactly as they say is required. so no, i dont have homo cowboy looking things on my garage door, but i do have the HE appliances, mainly because i wanted them anyways.

While I can understand a HOA controlling the external appearance of a home, it certainly seems quite inane that they would have control over what you do inside of your home.

Never the less, I suppose conformity and control appeals to quite a few homeowners as can be seen in all the newer communities in Calgary.

[03ozwhip]

Originally posted by speedog

While I can understand a HOA controlling the external appearance of a home, it certainly seems quite inane that they would have control over what you do inside of your home.

Never the less, I suppose conformity and control appeals to quite a few homeowners as can be seen in all the newer communities in Calgary.

i totally agree with you. at first when they told me that, i was pissed because i had basically a brand new set that wasnt front load. i think it came down to getting the highest numbers of eco-friendliness in the area(per house) as they could, as it was supposed to be a certain number that each house had to hit.

i dont know, its been a couple years, i cant remember what the full reasons were, or the terms they used. sounded fairly legit, all appliances had to meet those criteria so it wasnt just my washer and dryer.

[03ozwhip]

i think its the same in calgary, but they also regulate the amount of time that a trailer is parked out front of your house(even on your park pad) or on the street.

i actually wish they would enforce what people do to their yards. a pink playhouse in the back yard is hardly a concern for me, but i have a few neighbors that have a good amount of front area footage and they just dropped gravel instead of laying sod and it looks like balls.

i asked the one lady why she did it and she said "so its easier to let my dog poop there instead of other peoples lawns". to which i replied "so how awesome is it, that you are picking through gravel and rocks to find small dog shit?"

she went in her house and hasnt talked to me since. shes a new neighbor, who gives a fuck, i hate her front area and i wasnt afraid to tell her so. i honestly do think that the way people do their yards should conform with the neighborhood, i think an ugly ass front would bring down the value of the houses next to it...

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by 03ozwhip
i honestly do think that the way people do their yards should conform with the neighborhood, i think an ugly ass front would bring down the value of the houses next to it...

This sounds like NW/NE. Probably with Asian/South Asian owners.

Most of them just want big houses but not the lawn.

I really wish they would at least mandate fake lawn in the front. "Rock Garden" is just a pile of random rocks. Rarely are they nice.