Whats rustling your jimmies?
- Thread starter Big Phoenix
- Start date
- 18,801
- 67,743
Xequecal
Trump's Staff
- 11,559
- -2,388
I basically got mugged by my HOA as well. When I moved in I knew I had monthly association fee payments but had no idea on where I was supposed to send them, none of the paperwork provided any kind of an address, just a phone number. So after a month living there with no correspondence from them, I called them and the person picking up gave me an email address to send my questions to. I emailed this person and she answered that the reason I hadn't gotten anything was because they do quarterly statements and that I'd get a bill then.
I was a little suspicious of this, as the agreement said monthly, but here I have it from the horse's mouth, in writing no less. And since I told two people that I wasn't getting mail, that if it was monthly I'd just get a bill.
So, fast forward three months with me not having received anything in the mail from them. I get emailed a bill (Yes, email, they didn't even mail this to me) saying I am 3 months delinquent and owe $150 extra in late fees. So, I sent them the 3 months of payments immediately but did not send the late fees. I tell them I was told quarterly statements and send them the email I received. Their reply stated that:
1. The "quarterly statement" in the email referred to a quarterly coupon book and newsletter that they do and which the statement just happens to be sent with that month.
2. What the woman told me in the email is irrelevant, as the monthly payments are spelled out in the agreement and she does not have the authority to change it.
3. Whether or not I got any kind of bill also doesn't matter as the payments are my responsibility whether or not I get a bill.
I thought this was fairly ridiculous as there's no way I could have done this differently without directly accusing email lady of lying and I really should get some kind of bill for my records. I asked to speak to a supervisor. She said one would get back to me.
Well, they definitely got back to me. 3 days later I get a letter from their lawyer saying that he has filed a lien against the property for my delinquency, and if I don't pay $300 (the late fees plus $150 for his cost in doing a title search) within 30 days he will sue me to foreclose on the property and sell it to get the $300. I also get a letter from the bank saying that the delinquent association dues and lien constitute default on the mortgage and that if I don't get them to remove the lien quickly they will report out my mortgage as being in default and also commence foreclosure action.
In the face of that, I figure I have to pay them and do. I'd normally chalk that up as an expensive learning experience but I still don't know at what point I **** up there.
I was a little suspicious of this, as the agreement said monthly, but here I have it from the horse's mouth, in writing no less. And since I told two people that I wasn't getting mail, that if it was monthly I'd just get a bill.
So, fast forward three months with me not having received anything in the mail from them. I get emailed a bill (Yes, email, they didn't even mail this to me) saying I am 3 months delinquent and owe $150 extra in late fees. So, I sent them the 3 months of payments immediately but did not send the late fees. I tell them I was told quarterly statements and send them the email I received. Their reply stated that:
1. The "quarterly statement" in the email referred to a quarterly coupon book and newsletter that they do and which the statement just happens to be sent with that month.
2. What the woman told me in the email is irrelevant, as the monthly payments are spelled out in the agreement and she does not have the authority to change it.
3. Whether or not I got any kind of bill also doesn't matter as the payments are my responsibility whether or not I get a bill.
I thought this was fairly ridiculous as there's no way I could have done this differently without directly accusing email lady of lying and I really should get some kind of bill for my records. I asked to speak to a supervisor. She said one would get back to me.
Well, they definitely got back to me. 3 days later I get a letter from their lawyer saying that he has filed a lien against the property for my delinquency, and if I don't pay $300 (the late fees plus $150 for his cost in doing a title search) within 30 days he will sue me to foreclose on the property and sell it to get the $300. I also get a letter from the bank saying that the delinquent association dues and lien constitute default on the mortgage and that if I don't get them to remove the lien quickly they will report out my mortgage as being in default and also commence foreclosure action.
In the face of that, I figure I have to pay them and do. I'd normally chalk that up as an expensive learning experience but I still don't know at what point I **** up there.
Big Phoenix
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
- 44,651
- 93,309
Property rights are a fucking retarded joke in this country. Reality is you dont own shit, youre just renting. Dont pay your HOA fee? Foreclosure. Dont pay property taxes? Foreclosure. Dont pay random fee city/county/state assess you? Foreclosure.
Condo my mom used to live in had an absolutely terrible piece of shit HOA. Fee was $150 a month and they did jack fucking shit for the property aside from paying water, which would of been 1/5 of that at most.
Condo my mom used to live in had an absolutely terrible piece of shit HOA. Fee was $150 a month and they did jack fucking shit for the property aside from paying water, which would of been 1/5 of that at most.
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
- 8,157
- 140
Towing companies when an accident is involved.
Need a tow 5 miles up the road when your car breaks down? $75
Need a tow 5 miles up the road when someone rear-ended you and you have a dented bumper and broken tail light? $350
W T actual F?
I put most tow companies only a hair above payday loan places in the hierarchy of scam-based businesses.
I'm in insurance, I see a lot of tow bills come through with claims and such. We've even had tow companies convince people(usually young teenagers/naive people) to sign their title over to the tow company in lieu of payment for the tow if the person doesn't have cash on them. We had a kid sign over his ~$4000 8 year old Honda Accord because he didn't have $100 in cash on him for a tow and the driver insisted they didn't take credit cards(while their website plainly stated that they did take credit cards) The driver had a kid with a broken down on the side of the highway at midnight and took advantage of him.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
- 24,633
- 31,987
I own a small parcel of land in TX that is exempt from property tax since it was an original land grant and hasn't left the family and that was the deal apparently. Never getting rid of it.
I did a 3 way trade between the US Forest Service and a timber company in an effort for the forest service to consolidate their land. They don't pay property taxes, when they established the 4 national forest in TX that was the deal. They traded 50% of timber sales to the county in exchange for not paying property taxes. Pretty much bankrupt the counties when the forest service quit harvesting timber. They get sued weekly about "old growth" timber. Funny considering the 4 national forest in TX were failed cotton farms in the 30's and were replanted by the CCC. They have pics of them being planted but not good enough lol. Half the county went off the tax roles and was never replaced when they shut down timber sales.
Anyway, I still haven't received a bill for it yet 5 years later. We'll see if someone wakes up. However in that area timber land is only $3-$5/acre not counting any improvements like fencing, wells etc...
Same friend I mentioned about the mailbox, he got a ticket from his HOA for $100 for having the moving van sit on the road too long when they delivered his stuff when he moved in. It was still there at 5pm so they fined him.
I did a 3 way trade between the US Forest Service and a timber company in an effort for the forest service to consolidate their land. They don't pay property taxes, when they established the 4 national forest in TX that was the deal. They traded 50% of timber sales to the county in exchange for not paying property taxes. Pretty much bankrupt the counties when the forest service quit harvesting timber. They get sued weekly about "old growth" timber. Funny considering the 4 national forest in TX were failed cotton farms in the 30's and were replanted by the CCC. They have pics of them being planted but not good enough lol. Half the county went off the tax roles and was never replaced when they shut down timber sales.
Anyway, I still haven't received a bill for it yet 5 years later. We'll see if someone wakes up. However in that area timber land is only $3-$5/acre not counting any improvements like fencing, wells etc...
Same friend I mentioned about the mailbox, he got a ticket from his HOA for $100 for having the moving van sit on the road too long when they delivered his stuff when he moved in. It was still there at 5pm so they fined him.
RobXIII
Urinal Cake Consumption King
- 3,670
- 1,800
I'm glad stuff like this doesn't happen to me, I would probably get myself in trouble retaliating. It was pretty easy to repaint my stupid mailbox post, but if lawyer got all tough like that right off the bat, well, yeah would probably be one less lawyer.
Burren
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
- 4,052
- 5,341
Un-fucking-believable. Yet, I absolutely believe it.
HOAs in neighborhoods around here range from $200/mo to $600/mo. But, if the HOA tried to pull shit like that to people in our neighborhoods, you'd better believe anyone threatening the residents would be shit-canned and end up paying the home owners restitution. Don't let those fucks push you around.
Hoss
Make America's Team Great Again
- 25,578
- 12,049
It can be hard to find houses without HOAs. All the real estate agents I ever had gave me funny looks when I told them I needed to see the deed restrictions and covenants before I could get serious about a property. Half of them didn't even know how to find the information. A couple of times they bought me a deed of trust for the property (which is just the official notice of a property changing hands ... but hey it's got DEED in it, rite?). But if you read them, every once in a while you find one that's not too bad. I remember one that only had restrictions on cutting trees. It just said you couldn't cut any more trees than you have to to build whatever you wanna build. My current HOA is completely voluntary. Suck it bitches. If I ever get rich and get a lot of land, I'm going to put a covenant on it that says there can never be an HOA or anything like that.
Couple of rustles for me that I don't think I listed yet.
Got my car inspected and for some reason the fucker adjusted everything. Both side mirrors, the rear view, moved the seat back and tilted it up and even changed the radio station. What the fuck, I now they have to drive it a little bit to make sure breaks and shit work, but fuck that guy. He had it for 15 minutes max, that was unnecessary.
Fuck, drawing a blank on the second one.
Couple of rustles for me that I don't think I listed yet.
Got my car inspected and for some reason the fucker adjusted everything. Both side mirrors, the rear view, moved the seat back and tilted it up and even changed the radio station. What the fuck, I now they have to drive it a little bit to make sure breaks and shit work, but fuck that guy. He had it for 15 minutes max, that was unnecessary.
Fuck, drawing a blank on the second one.
Ritley
Karazhan Raider
- 15,715
- 34,238
My HoA isn't bad at all, costs like $325 a year which mostly goes towards the pool and mowing common areas. It mainly just specifies doing shit that you should already be doing like mowing your grass and keeping your lot in a relatively nice state. They do say the shit like you have to have a certain style of mailbox/fence and you have to get approval before painting your house but those are pretty small things in my opinion. Biggest thing I guess is they don't allow permanent freestanding structures like sheds, but there is nowhere that I could put one anyway so I don't really care. Also says you can't leave your car in the street for extended period of time, but no one fucking follows that and they definitely don't enforce it
Hoss
Make America's Team Great Again
- 25,578
- 12,049
Oh and Burren, when the neighborhood is new, odds are the developer completely controls the HOA and will not give even a half a fuck what any residents say. Cause the thing is, it's having an HOA that makes a house desirable to (stupid) people. No one asks the neighbors if the HOA has good customer service.
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
- 8,157
- 140
Hey, when you have neighbors that are renters for life that do shit like:
- tie into your fence with chicken wire to keep their mangy dogs in, rather than actually fencing their own yard
- place an old refrigerator in their driveway and when the trash men won't pick it up, it just stays there for 6 months
- refuse to trim their trees because "nobody trims trees in nature, and they do just fine" so the overgrown trees drop the occasional branch on your fence
- park half a dozen beater cars in the street because their grown children + the grown childrens worthless boyfriends/girlfriends all live there and nobody actually works, about 10 people live in the home
Sometimes you wish you had a basic HOA to keep that shit in check.
When we move in a couple years, I'll be actively seeking out a neighborhood with an HOA. It sucks keeping your house & yard nice and have to look at the equivalent of a dump next door to you.
- tie into your fence with chicken wire to keep their mangy dogs in, rather than actually fencing their own yard
- place an old refrigerator in their driveway and when the trash men won't pick it up, it just stays there for 6 months
- refuse to trim their trees because "nobody trims trees in nature, and they do just fine" so the overgrown trees drop the occasional branch on your fence
- park half a dozen beater cars in the street because their grown children + the grown childrens worthless boyfriends/girlfriends all live there and nobody actually works, about 10 people live in the home
Sometimes you wish you had a basic HOA to keep that shit in check.
When we move in a couple years, I'll be actively seeking out a neighborhood with an HOA. It sucks keeping your house & yard nice and have to look at the equivalent of a dump next door to you.
AladainAF
Best Rabbit
- 12,864
- 30,813
Your title company (at least in Texas, not sure about other states) is required to provide you this information around your HOA, as well as ensure its current (at closing) by either charging seller or buyer if it is not but its known beforehand. Additionally, I'm surprised that your title company also did not pick up an extra few months of the HOA dues at this time.
Which agreement?
#1 and #2 - save the email. That is the reason you waited, and its from someone at the HOA, so they can say all day that its "irrelevant" but it's not. #3 IS true, but you need to look over your agreement. Part of the agreement should tell you where to remit payment to. What does the agreement say in regards to payment?
You have every right to get an itemized bill for your records.
Talk to title company, this is INSANE for them to move so quick.
Burren
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
- 4,052
- 5,341
That wouldn't surprise me. Stupid abound in this country. I sincerely wish I didn't have an HOA; they do nothing for me and all of my neighbors feel the same. Commi-fornia.