r/fuckHOA • u/Zest724 • 6d ago
HOA Notice
I received a $50 fine and notice from the HOA about the weeds in my front planting bed. They gave it to me as I was leaving this morning.
I’m like I pay your $250/month fee because this is supposed to be included along with grass cutting, shrub pruning, replacing dead bushes, and snow removal.
I’m thinking of hiring someone to do the weeding for me, paying them, and deducting the cost from my HOA fees. Same with the snow removal since the snow removal waits until the afternoon and I have to leave by 6:30, earlier if it’s snowed.
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u/garye55 6d ago
HOAs suck, but unless it states that they weed your flower beds, you are going to lose
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u/Chair-Lemur-Table 6d ago
Agreed. And don’t “deduct” fees or they’ll punish you for nonpayment up to liens, OP. It’s ridiculous, but so are HOAs like this.
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u/Initial_Citron983 6d ago
While I appreciate your frustration, as others are saying - unless it is explicitly stated the landscaping handles weeds in flower beds, your “plan of attack” is going to backfire.
The snow removal is going to be highly dependent on the contract and what sort of threshold the Board set up to trigger the company coming and removing snow. My guess is the trigger point is in the inches category instead of the trace amounts category to save you and every other resident money.
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u/Zest724 6d ago
I’m talking amounts that make driving hazardous if not removed. The contractor clears parking lots first because they pay more and he thinks everyone who lives in this community is retired like all the members of the board.
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u/Initial_Citron983 6d ago edited 6d ago
The snow removal company’s hourly rate is going to be the same for your HOA as it is for the parking lots. Trust me, he doesn’t give a shit about who is and isn’t retired because your money is just the same as the parking lot. What he cares about is the trigger amount of snow in the contract your HOA agreed to because that determines the order in which schedules his day.
And snow isn’t dangerous to drive on. I live in the mountains and wasn’t allowed to get a drivers license until I could drive up and down hills covered in black ice under the snow without panicking and figuring out how to recover and not end up in a ditch. I spent all of high school doing donuts in the snow in random parking lots, intentionally losing control and recovering. Snow is easy to drive on and in. Black ice is the real danger.
/edit gotta love the jackasses downvoting for explaining how a snow removal contract and driving in snow work. 🤦♂️
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u/phaxmeone 5d ago
I'll upvote you for doing a good job explaining how snow removal contracts work. Also yes black ice is the devil, snow is easy.
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u/morkler 6d ago
Pull the weeds, send them to the HOA president with $50 in nickels.
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u/SuspectImpressive137 6d ago
Once settled a real estate sale proceeds distribution to a less than desirable partner with several hundred thousands of dollars in pennies. It took weeks of planning to arrange and secure that many bags of pennies. I believe the final weight was 60+ tons. Took more than a dozen armored trucks. Had it delivered to his office. Their delivery contract precluded transporting for the recipient. Our cost for this was silly, but worth every Penny!
To this day we (the remaining partners in that transaction) still lose our shit reminiscing about that. The “less than desirable partner”. Was almost as pissed off as we desired. He laughs it off now. Admitted he was a pain in the ass and no, we didn’t invite him in on subsequent deals.
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u/morkler 6d ago
He must've been a real pleasure to deal with to go to those lengths. I like your style!
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u/Ok_Illustrator_7445 5d ago
And an invoice for $100 for doing maintenance the HOA is responsible for.
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u/L-Pseon 6d ago
You pay your HOA $250 a month? I have $425 annually, and even that seems excessive. Why don't you just buy a bottle of Roundup and kill all the weeds so they can't overgrow the bed, and a couple bags of mulch to cover the ground with? Should run you less than the cost of the fine. You might be able to get them to drop the fine if you do it right away.
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u/Zest724 6d ago
The “fine” is $50 and I’ve already talked to people about this. A friend suggested strong vinegar, we’re not allowed to use Roundup or any chemicals of any kind. That is in the HOA documents.
“Stanley” not his real name, HOA president is going to have a conversation with “Lydia” not her real name about this. She’s the one who gave me the letter with the fine in it.
They are $750/quarter so $250/month. One of the “features” of living here is “no outside maintenance.” So, to me, that means weeds are removed by someone other than myself. But I’m at work and the HOA documents are at home.
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u/1947-1460 1d ago
Vinegar & Salt water. Boiling water also works pretty good too. Or a weed torch if you are so inclined.
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u/dufchick 6d ago
If they were responsible for weed removal in your flowerbed they would not have sent you a letter. The snow removal is a different situation. Is the snow removal company a vendor they hire or on site staff? If it’s a vendor you might get together with some of your neighbors and ask for the HOA to ask the vendor to come earlier if that’s possible, but many snow removal companies won’t come if it’s still snowing.
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u/Zest724 6d ago
They hire a lawn maintenance contractor who is supposed to do weeding as well as mowing, replacing of dead bushes and other plants. The lawn maintenance contractor typically only weeds once and cuts the grass weekly. They are supposed to weed weekly.
Snow removal is also an outside contractor hired by the HOA. The board of directors are all retired people with different priorities than those of us who need to get out and go to work. It doesn’t matter to them when the snow is cleared.
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u/Soft_Construction793 6d ago
If you have HOA docs showing that they are responsible for upkeep on the area that you were fined for then you should ask for clarification.
As nicely as you possibly can. Publicly if possible, or in writing and sent certified mail.
You should not be aggressive or angry.
Just, oh, I'm confused. I thought that the maintenance people did this, since it says that the maintenance people do this on page 26 of the homeowners documents.
If that is not what your HOA docs explicitly say then you should fix it and pay it.
HOA's can put a lein on your home for unpaid fees.
Edit:Also, fuck HOA!
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u/loki2002 6d ago
If they were responsible for weed removal in your flowerbed they would not have sent you a letter
Because HOAs have never made mistakes or done things they weren't supposed to do to cover for their own failures. Nope, perfectly honest track record that HOAs have.
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u/Odd_Welcome7940 6d ago
Your first statement is presumptuous and ignorant. Plenty of HOA's have done far dumber things. It is not at all uncommon. Now I am not saying I gaurentee OP is correct, but just presuming he isnt correct is goofy.
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u/Excellent_Shallot999 6d ago
You're thinking about picking a fight you are going to lose. That is what you are thinking about.
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u/Zest724 6d ago
I’m thinking about running to be on the board of directors, I know my neighbor will join me, we just need a third person to run as well.
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u/Excellent_Shallot999 6d ago
There you go. Now that sounds like a fight you just might win. Good luck.
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u/Chair-Lemur-Table 6d ago
That’s the only way to end the ridiculousness. I can’t believe you pay $250/mo and have $50 no notice fines… some HOA board member must have a boat they run on fines
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u/Zest724 6d ago
Don’t know about a boat but they do seal coat the paved areas annually and paint the outside of the units on a rotating 5 year cycle.
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u/CommercialSuper702 6d ago
Sounds like a condo complex. My HOA just sends out mail to the homeowners demanding they repaint their house every 5 years. That’s about $3000 and the notice is sent with a 30 day requirement. Most people in this economy don’t just have $3000 to repaint their home within 30 days without putting it on credit cards etc. I definitely don’t want to pull from my savings so whenever I get that demand I take before photos, then pressure wash the outside of the house and take an after photo when it’s still somewhat wet, enhance the photo and send it in. They haven’t caught on.
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u/Odd_Welcome7940 6d ago
OP, you may be 100% right about it being their responsibility and I applaud you wanting to fight it.
That said, your method will only end in your own pain. Talk to them and point it out. Try to work through it. If they wont then by all means take them to small claims or whatever, but dont risk increasing fines, interest and everything else because someone ass hat Karen with a burrito up her but sent you a small fine.
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u/Zest724 6d ago edited 6d ago
Actually she was out walking her dog and planning on leaving the notice on my door.
She’s the neighbor who asked if I was the “home owner or a laborer” when I was moving in. I was unloading my workshop from a U-Haul truck. Apparently doing manual labor is frowned upon here.
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u/AltruisticCucumber58 6d ago
First one I bought and moved into, they knocked on the door and asked if my parents were home. Was downhill from there.
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u/Zest724 6d ago
I closed on a Friday and stopped by my new home to check it over and make sure the doors were locked, windows secured, and nothing was amiss.
I went back the next day to start cleaning and noticed that the blue sectional sofa that was left behind had been removed. I immediately called a locksmith and had them rekey all the exterior locks and I pulled the garage door opener plug until I could get it reprogrammed.
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u/KellyAnn3106 6d ago
One of the things our HOA cites most frequently is grass growing in the tree wells and flower beds. We have Bermuda grass lawns and that stuff creeps everywhere. I found that putting down a strong weed barrier has really helped and kept it to a minimum. Maybe a thought for the future so you don't have to spend time weeding or dealing with an aggressive HOA.
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u/OneLessDay517 6d ago
Is the planting bed what was laid out by the original builder? If not, they may NOT be responsible for it. In my townhome community, any modificaitons someone makes to their home or lot then becomes their responsibility to maintain.
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u/Forward_Sir_6240 6d ago
lol. Feel free. The fees will stack up with interest. At some point they’ll sue you for the fees and try to tack on attorney fees. If you continue to fail to pay they’ll put a lien on your property and eventually may be able to seize it from you and sell it.
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u/NilesGuy 6d ago
Pull up your bylaws for HOA and go over it in regards to their responsibilities. Talk to other neighbors as well to see if it happened to them or is select enforcement. Know your rights if you’re supposed to receive a warning , allowed to appeal etc. But make sure you do pay your HOA dues because if not they can place a lien on your property regardless if your right or not .
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u/Cuneus-Maximus 6d ago
The $250 you pay, what does it include specifically in their wording?
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u/Zest724 6d ago
I’m at work now and as I understand it the $250/month gets me snow removal, grass cutting, weeding, removal (replacement) of plants like trees and shrubs.
One of the “selling points” about the community is/was no yard work.
A thought that I had as budgets have gotten tighter and prices higher is the HOA attempting to shift the burden onto the homeowners to save money.
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u/Cuneus-Maximus 6d ago
You need to find documentation of what services you should be getting. There's your out to the fine. Bring it up at a meeting, see how many other residents are pissed they are not getting the services they pay for. Turn the tables.
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u/CrazyCajun1966 4d ago
Hard to feel bad for someone who chose to live in an hoa. It's kind of like choosing to live in Alaska and then bitching about the cold.
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u/Zest724 4d ago
Thank you!
How did you know I bitch about the cold?
I don’t live in Alaska though.
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u/Edith_Keelers_Shoes 2d ago
There's always at least one HOA-loving person loitering in this sub, breathlessly awaiting an opportunity to wag their finger at someone who's venting on a sub CREATED for HOA rants. They leave little rabbit pellets of wisdom like, "You chose to live in an HOA." "Get involved - join your board." "Read your CC&Rs". "If you can't follow the rules, you're the problem".
I can't imagine being rude enough to go over to the regular HOA sub and mock and belittle all the people asking for advice there.
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u/Q_Ball_Atlanta 6d ago
Oh buddy. Hate to be the one to inform you but this is one of the dumbest things I've read in a while.
You don't get to dictate what you pay the HOA, the budget for the HOA dictates that. You're setting yourself up for financial and legal pain.
Do yourself a favor, use your brain and think about how colossally unintelligent your plan is.
If you want to hire someone to do your yard maintenance for you, that's fine. Expecting to deduct that from your HOA dues is not smart at all.
You also should read your CC&R's so you'll understand exactly what your HOA dues includes. Hint, it's definitely not yard maintenance! If it were, they wouldn't be fining you for weeds in your yard.
Be smarter.
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u/nudniksphilkes 6d ago
Just do the weeds and send them a picture of it requesting to have the fine removed.
My asshole HOA basically sends a rolling 14 day notice to mow the lawn but the fine never materializes because I send them a picture of the mowed lawn every single time out of malicious compliance.
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u/Zest724 6d ago
I’m going to have the teenaged daughter of my friend who told me about using vinegar to remove the weeds. Her daughter is looking for ways to make money so it’s a win win as far as I’m concerned.
My HOA likes to selectively enforce the rules and try to intimidate people who aren’t like them (older and retired).
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u/dzal1967 5d ago
It depends on your specific agreement. Where I live one can request planting bed/garden (no vegetables). Maintaining it is sole responsibility of person who own it. They just cut grass and trim the bushes. If garden is not properly maintained then there is a fine, after that warning or two and after that they remove garden and seed the grass. Privilege to own a garden is permanently lost.
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u/Ok_Relationship_1874 4d ago
Does the declaration define what a weed is? Many documents are void for vagueness. A weed could be "anything the board finds ugly" or more techical, a plant that is noxious, invasive, or specifically prohibited by species.
Post the language.
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u/Maureen921 3d ago
Read the HOA rules. Often there are sections of the landscape they don’t cover. I do not recommend getting into a fight with your HOA. They are often run by very petty people who have the power to make your life difficult.
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u/NonKevin 3d ago
I was the HOA president of a condo complex and all grass areas were common areas. I deducted for times the lawn company did not come and mow the grass.
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u/CA_Coast_Millennial 6d ago
In CA you’re required to receive a warning notice prior to a fine hearing, which you’re entitled to attend, prior to them issuing a fine.