[Coronita]

So I guess drinking hand sanitizer doesn’t work??? Shocking…

[Coronita]

I hate doing major home improvements when the economy is good. Hard to find good contractors available, price is higher.

[Coronita]

job too small probably…
DIY time.

[Coronita]

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[Coronita]

[quote=scaredyclassic]Yes. Get the rules. Study them! Find all her violations![/quote]

Oh, you don’t even need to study the rules. I bet she’s already out of compliance with some of these basic rules that probably exist in common HOAs but either aren’t enforced or people don’t know about….

My favorite one is the HOa rules that says you aren’t allowed to park your car outside and use your garage.for storage. You can only park your car outside if you have more cars than spaces inside your garage.

That rule will get most American families that use their garage for storage versus parking cars, and yet it’s a pretty common rule on most HOAs.

And if this want to enforce this rule on someone, wow what a pain in the ass for the the poor victim that has to clear.out their garage to park their cars… I mean,enforcing this rule, is just downright one of the most disruptive thing you could do to someone….

I never had this problem because I always have somewhere between 4-6 cars, lol.

Like I always said… Don’t get mad, get even. Revenge is best served freezing cold ..

[Coronita]

[quote=kiki]Svelte, Coronita. Thank you for your kind words.

The neighbors that have to sign the form (immediate front and back) did sign it. One even, one year ago, painted white that is no even on the scheme list. We signed so he can paint what he wanted. No hoa issue. Or maybe because white did match the roof warm color[/quote]

Interesting..So basically there are a bunch of houses that technically are out of compliance?

That (and photo evidence of it) should be included in your lawyer letter to suggest arbitrary enforcement and discrimination. In other words, if they are going to enforce you to pick a color scheme, even one in the list of approved.ones, then they better go through the neighborhood and may every house that doesn’t follow any of the schemes repaint…

Also, what sort paint scheme is currently on Bitchy Karen Board lady’s house? Is she in compliance too? If not, I would report her house as being out of compliance.and force her to repaint.

[Coronita]

[quote=kiki]Svelte, Coronita. Thank you for your kind words.

The neighbors that have to sign the form (immediate front and back) did sign it. One even, one year ago, painted white that is no even on the scheme list. We signed so he can paint what he wanted. No hoa issue. Or maybe because white did match the roof warm color[/quote]

Interesting..So basically there are a bunch of houses that technically are out of compliance?

That (and photo evidence of it) should be included in your lawyer letter to suggest arbitrary enforcement and discrimination. In other words, if they are going to enforce you to pick a color scheme, even one in the list of approved.ones, then they better go through the neighborhood and may every house that doesn’t follow any of the schemes repaint…

Also, what sort paint scheme is currently on Bitch Karen Board lady’s house? Is she in compliance too? If not, I would report her house as being out of compliance.and force her to repaint. Also, what other rules is Bitchy Karen Lady out of compliance with? For example, is she parking her cars outside and using her garage for storage? If so, many HOAs specifically state that cars must be parked inside the garage unless there are more cars that parking spots inside the garage. It’s a dumb rule and in my old HOA never enforced (and it doesn’t apply to me because do use all spots inside my garage and have 4 other cars to park outside), but for many Americans, they don’t park their cars inside.. So if she’s one of them , I would report her ass too.

[Coronita]

I’m sorry for your loss Kiki.

Lawyer letter. I think is still best option, given that you already submitted an architecture change form.

It’s too bad your neighbor is on the board and you already submitted the forms. Because in My old HOA, I know people would fill out the forms just so the neighbors would sign and approve but never submit the forms to the HOA. Afterall, no one from the Board of this HOA really does a walkthrough..And even if they did, they wouldn’t remember which color scheme is suppose to be for which house provided you stayed within the set of color schemes.

Your neighbor who is on the Board sounds like a bitchy Karen.

[Coronita]

[quote=svelte][quote=kiki]

I am from South America and although I have been blessed not to feel discriminated – I am pretty laid back so if people did I actually didn’t notice/care. I work for a Asian company so ethnicity diversity is in their DNA. I have strong supporters at work that are white. But you never know, they might not like our last name.

I hope I don’t have to go to arbitration though. I just want to paint, i am not interested in ruining the HOA that at the end will increase the fees for everyone. I’ll keep you posted on my saga.
[/quote]

I doubt you are being discriminated against based on your ethnicity or country of origin.

More likely the current HOA board or architectural committee probably has a few Barney Fifes and they constitute the majority at the moment. I’ve seen that happen and usually what happens next is at the next election, the homeowners vote them out because other homeowners have been subject to ridiculous decisions just like you.

So a passive way out is to just wait until the next election.[/quote]

the problem I see with HOA’s many times is homeowners don’t give hoot about the elections until something affects them. So if you aren’t lucky , and the HOa Board singled you out for something , you could very well be on your ownnfor a long time. A lot of the rule enforcements are totally inconsistent and many of the board members themselves don’t follow all the rules. Lawyer letters are great for situations like this.

I found that most of the time, anal retententive HOA Board members tend to be the stay at home Karens and Karls that have nothing better to do.

[Coronita]

[quote=kiki]Thank so much for all the great advice ! I will call the legal service from work on monday and use the wording recommended.

I am from South America and although I have been blessed not to feel discriminated – I am pretty laid back so if people did I actually didn’t notice/care. I work for a Asian company so ethnicity diversity is in their DNA. I have strong supporters at work that are white. But you never know, they might not like our last name.

It is crazy (and funny) the stories I am reading from you – thank you for sharing!. Is common sense that hard??

I hope I don’t have to go to arbitration though. I just want to paint, i am not interested in ruining the HOA that at the end will increase the fees for everyone. I’ll keep you posted on my saga.

thank you![/quote]

Americans are stupid and has always been. However, when our country is led by a stupid leader that tells people that perhaps drinking hand sanitizer might cure covid, and some people actually try, all that means is our American stupidity has fallen to an all time low.

[Coronita]

actually, if you’re not white , I’d even insinuate that in the letter too.

Example:

“Is this selective enforcement happening because I’m Asian?”

Just kidding. well sort of.

I do have another story to tell you about the HOA. One time, both me and my property manager got thrown out of an HOA board meeting, shortly after the HOA Karen President said my property manager couldn’t be there and turned to me and ask me something to the effect “why can’t you speak for yourself, do you speak English?”

I smiled and said no thinking “I got you now , you idiot bitch. because of what you just said in front of everyone, including property management company’s rep and a Vietnamese homeowner that was also there to witness it.

My property manager the next day crafted a very nice letter to the HOA’s management company’s rep about discrimination and lawsuit and oh boy were they nice to me for awhile. And every opportunity I could, I would bring up that incident again. When they cited my tenant for using a removable cloth drying rack outside the patio because it looked unsightly and apparently against his rules, I whipped up the CA law that said drying racks are legal now and HOA rules can’t ban them, no different that satellite dishes. And I kept asking them was their illegal enforcement because I was Asian? It went on like this for a year lol…
And there was a time when they wrote my tenant up for a violation notice, and I got fed up and used the “is it because I’m Asian?” line.

But what really helped was the last letter I sent to them
“By continuing to harass me and my highly professional tenant, you are causing irrevocable damage as my tenant is considering terminating the lease. I will be holding the HOA financially responsible and if that happens, I will have no choice but to lower my income standards for leasing out my unit and opening up the possibility to tenants who can only afford my lease with a lesser amount from a Section 8 voucher. I will also consider removing my smoking restriction and consider allowing recreational use of MJ…. And since I am not a residence there, that is not of my concern.”

That shut them up for awhile too.

I have an awesome property manager that will go to bat for me all the time. It’s not the tenants that are usually the problem and why I need a property manager. My tenants generally are trouble free. It’s usually the HOA or the neighbor that refuses to pay a shared cost that is a problem and my property manager is a great advisor on what I should do in certain situations because he isn’t afraid of dealing with difficult situations.

[Coronita]

.

[Coronita]

[quote=kiki]Coronita,
I understand that I am only allowed to paint the exterior with one of the color schemes. What I am baffled at is the fact they won’t approved a color from their approved list so the question is do you think I any chance to win if i fought back.?

is B E R N A R D O P O I N T corner of Alva and RB road.

I already work full time and have 2 small kids that i have homeschool I don’t want to waste my time if HOA will win regardless of how illogical they are.

thank you[/quote]

Usually I find the best way to deal with the HOA that is giving you an unnecessarily hard time is get a friend who is a lawyer to send a brief letter with their law offices letterhead to the HOA asking what the problem is. Doesn’t have to be elaborate, just a few sentences You could even write it yourself and just ask your friend to send it. Then they usually shut up. I did this with my HOA one time and I also did this with an insurance company that refused to pay me liability claim. I wrote the letter, asked my then neighbor is a partner at a law firm to review it, he send it on his stationary. And poof HOA problem gone and insurance paid the claim.

If you don’t have such a friend, I would check with your employer. Some large employers offer employees free legal services and consultation and even offer to do minor paperwork for free. Part of the many benefits you might havr told by HR but you probably slept through thinking it doesn’t apply to you. Employees of UCSD medical have such an employee benefit as a friend of a friend was trying to dispute a ridiculously large SDGE bill that they did not rack up. So again you can draft the letter and ask them to send it.

If that also isn’t an option, there are plans called “legal insurance” or something like that which for monthly subscription I thinks allows you to get such a letter written. And sometimes that’s what it takes. Just a stupid piece of paper from a law firm, and then the HOA sings a different tune. Keep in mind most of the HOA board mbers are homeowners in the hood and really don’t want trouble. So many of the Karen’s that like to flex their powers quickly shutup once lawyers start to get involved or the appearance of lawyers will be getting involved.. Your goal is to try to appear you will go postal without spending a lot of money to actually do it. Hey, I hate it too. But it’s just a game.

in life I think one probably need a few friends that are one of the following: a lawyer , a doctor, an accountant, a real estate agent, and someone really handy either techie or hands on.

that way you can sort of barter your services. I’m in the techie /handy category.

[Coronita]

If you say so.

[Coronita]

[quote=spdrun](1) Don’t live in an HOA-infested area if you don’t like dumb fuck rules

(2) See #1[/quote]

Useful advice as usual… NOT.

[Author]

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