Hoo boy, things are going to get downright nasty in one of the largest HOAs in Virginia. Like many Homeowners Associations, there are strictly-worded restrictions against residents who operate home businesses. The ‘home business’ clause is one of the most idiotic parts of the typical set of CC&Rs. I would venture to say that home businesses are one of the largest sectors of the American economy.
Are you a freelance writer? You’re breaking the rules.
Do you do tax returns from home? You’re illegal.
Teach piano lessons? Forget about it.
But the Brandermill Homeowners Association in Chesterfield County, Virginia is about to commit residential suicide. They’re preparing to shut down 360 babysitters and private businesses.
Child care in a private home is outlawed in most associations, but those with smarter board members don’t try to enforce the restriction, unless a business operation is causing traffic problems. But as HOAs continue to hoist their anti-kids flag, more and more potential residents are telling their Realtors, “Don’t show me anything in an HOA.”
Brandermill is going to be turned into a war zone.
I forget which country singer delivered that line, but I do want to pass along some lines to readers of this blog.
There’s another good article on the national HOA scam that’s making its way around the country. This one is published in Naked Capitalismand it discloses what I’ve been saying for years: Homeowners Associations DO NOT protect your property values!
In fact, the column by Yves Smith says while the national housing market is improving, the HOA market is going the opposite direction. Improper foreclosures, declining revenue from dues, underfunded reserves are slamming residents of Homeowners Associations.
And yes, more and more Americans are learning about HOA Amerika. My ongoing prediction: Things are going to get a lot uglier on the HOA side of the wall.
The Australian cast of The Lion King boarded a flight to Sydney and let fellow passengers get a real taste of flying. Yes, we all value the flight attendents and pilots who get us safely to our destinations. But on this flight it wasn’t the safety briefing that got all the attention!
Sometimes our seemingly hopeless cause can be frustrating. When you think you’re doing the right thing but get hammered by critics at every turn, just try to keep up your confidence. First of all, our group is growing. More people are boarding this ship every day.
Second, take a look at the famous ‘losers’ listed below. The higher your level of enthusiasm the more successful you’ll be.
Once again, this website has passed the 50,000 mark for people visiting us during the previous month. That kind of growth doesn’t come from me or my guest bloggers, although I love them dearly. It’s because YOU are spreading the word about the scam known as the American Homeowners Association Movement. And people are paying attention.
Some family members just got back from Spring Break week in Florida with stories about yet another family member who’s gotten his back up over a minor HOA dispute. An unmowed lawn, a too-high hedge, and the wrong kind of lamp in the window. He plans to fight the HOA. I plan to plead with him to pay all the fines, shut up and carefully plot his escape.
You will not, you cannot win a fight against your HOA especially in Florida. Just pay the fines. Once you have to hire a lawyer, the tens of the thousands or the hundreds of thousands you spend will pale in comparison to the amounts in the original dispute. In other words, you lose. If you lose you’re a loser. The HOA system is not built to protect property values or neighborly love. It’s a contentious, dispute-driven organism which creates losers. But as an organism it does have a life cycle. Its death is inevitable.
If you can make a clean escape, or change the system from within, or spread the word to other homeowners…then you’re a winner.
