Do any of you live in a HOA with restrictions on trucks?

[balucipher]

So I don't live in a HOA community but one of my friends does. I was telling him about my Maverick order when he mentioned "oh my HOA doesn't allow pickup trucks to be parked in the community over night so I can't get one." I thought this was odd, but he showed me a copy of the by-laws and sure enough, no pickup trucks parked overnight in driveways or on the street. My friend has a home gym taking up his entire garage, so sure enough, no truck for him.

I thought about all you first time truck buyers and wondered, how many of you live in HOAs that have similar restrictions, and if so, is there an appeal/exemption process for non-commercial vehicles?

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[Lappo424]

I have rentals in hoa communities they allow trucks but not commercial trucks

 

[dldsm7]

That is one of the most absurd things I have ever read. Trucks are commonplace nearly everywhere. Hell, my neighborhood I would bet there is a truck in every 4th driveway.

I am supposing the true intent is no work trucks (signage on the sides) rather a personal vehicle, but dang that’s wild.

he would have to petition the HOA to change its bylaw wording, possible at the HOA meetings.

if they disagree, he can always go buy the shittiest midsized rusted out SUV and park it In his driveway. Nothing like malicious compliance!

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

I actually joined the Board of the HOA I live in to help address this issue. It's a difficult task, to not allow "commercial" trucks, yet allow pickups used only for personal use. Before I moved here, and had a company Silverado, I asked the question, and was told that as long as it didn't have ladder racks and company signage, it would be allowed.

Unfortunately, some of the Board members think everyone should drive Camry's, so revising the covenants is going to be an up-hill battle.

HRG

 

[Didj]

Yes. In fact, there is currently a dispute about someone parking a 1 ton, commercial truck in the driveway. HOA rules state no 1 ton trucks can be parked in the driveway. Also, no commercial vehicles can park in the subdivision. So, according to the HOA they are breaking 2 rules. This is a new subdivision and it has recently been turned over to our board from the management company. I completely understand the truck owner’s argument/concern as they keep getting $50 fines from the HOA that, if left unpaid, will turn into a lien against their house. However, they were provided the HOA rules before building and they chose to build anyway. Also, during closing, they signed a document saying they would abide by the HOA rules. Now, whether the rules are stupid or not is up for debate BUT the truck owner was provided the documents and chooses to break the HOA indentures. That being said, the rules also state that an owner can’t have more than two dogs…the home owner with 4 dogs doesn’t get fines. My point being, if there are rules, don’t break them BUT the HOA must enforce the rules and issue fines equitably. If not, I don’t believe they have ANY power to enforce ANY of their rules.

 

[Art_Vandelay]

When I started house shopping the first thing I told my realtor was to ignore any property under an HOA. Having grown up in a neighborhood with one and seeing my parents constantly fined every month for the slightest infractions I knew it would be a quick decline into insanity and murderous intent for me.

 

[Sam]

I have restrictions in my community. This vehicle fits in my garage. Ifyou dont like the rules, move. They ae shared before you move in. They are called restrictions.

 

[abjbrtd]

Some hoa are easer to deal with than others, check your bylaws.

A neighboring hoa took a resident to court.
VERY 1st question from the judge.
Do you 7 homeowners represent 80% of the hoa members?
Their answer... hmm oh uh NO
BOOM goes the gavel, case dismissed, 7 homeowners pay court costs of 1K$

When we moved to a hoa we didn't get a letter welcoming us to the hoa, we did get one giving us 10 days to move our boat my legal secretary wife sent them a registered letter requesting they enforce bylaw #'s 3 (no visible sat antenna) and 11 (2 trees in front yard).
Got another letter inviting us to a hoa meeting, LOTS of members attended.
I had TWO more unenforced bylaws, didn't need them antenna trees boats never mentioned again

 

[The Speaker Guy]

It’s not a truck, it’s a sports activity vehicle!

 

[erwinandfire]

Wow I can't believe this is a thing.

 

[balucipher]

It’s not a truck, it’s a sports activity vehicle!

interesting, just checked the websites

Hyundai lists the Santa Cruz under SUVs as a Sports Adventure Vehicle

Ford lists the Maverick under Trucks & Vans

 

[JASmith]

I wish our HOA didn't let people park in the street more than 24hours. When people with large vehicles park on both sides of the street, a two lane road can quickly become a 0.75 lane road where you have to drive a Ram 1500 by at 1mph just to ensure you don't knock one of your mirrors off because there's not much room left.

Some hoa are easer to deal with than others, check your bylaws.

A neighboring hoa took a resident to court.
VERY 1st question from the judge.
Do you 7 homeowners represent 80% of the hoa members?
Their answer... hmm oh uh NO
BOOM goes the gavel, case dismissed, 7 homeowners pay court costs of 1K$

That doesn't make sense, so seven random homeowners claimed the authority of the HOA even though they weren't the elected HOA members? If they were on the HOA board, then they would represent 100% of home owners by law. I think the judge meant to ask if the 7-HOA board members represented 80% of the HOA board, and if not would have asked for signed documents from at least 80% of the HOA board members to show that the representative there does speak on behalf of the HOA board.

While some HOAs can be nightmares its much like governments.

While a dictatorship government can be bad, there's really nothing worse than having no government at all. I can instantly tell when I enter a community that doesn't have a HOA in the Houston area, because the properties are typically falling apart. Without accountability to ensure you have grass in the front of your house and not a 8 foot tall jungle of weeds, broken down cars sitting on bricks in front of the house, window AC units facing the street, etc then property values decline, people start selling quickly before they get upside down massively on their mortgage and go bankrupt, and in no time you're in a transitioned neighborhood where only low-income people want to live that don't really maintain the property value.

Not having a HOA is a massive risk, because if you buy say a $600K home, but then the neighbors all around you have paint peeling from their walls and fences falling over and cracked driveways and what not, your house value can plummet to $300K, and now you owe more money than you can possibly repay, trapping you in the house. HOAs ensure that if someone lets the property values drop through neglect or whatever, they can be evicted before causing a "block bust" cascade, something that some real estate investors used to do on purpose.

 

[2022EOW]

No HOAs for me. I’m not paying annual dues so they can tell me what I can and cannot do. Stupidest thing ever.

 

[abjbrtd]

JASmith said
"That doesn't make sense, so seven random homeowners claimed the authority of the HOA even though they weren't the elected HOA members? If they were on the HOA board, then they would represent 100% of home owners by law. I think the judge meant to ask if the 7-HOA board members represented 80% of the HOA board, and if not would have asked for signed documents from at least 80% of the HOA board members to show that the representative there does speak on behalf of the HOA board."

The whole story is much longer, actually made the local (Granbury, TX) newspaper.

 

[notfast]

I thought about all you first time truck buyers and wondered, how many of you live in HOAs that have similar restrictions, and if so, is there an appeal/exemption process for non-commercial vehicles?

I don't, but my racing teammate did. He recently moved for unrelated reasons, so the truck restriction was more like a bonus.

The HOA's bylaws explicitly say no pickup trucks. Teammate drives an F-350 Platinum, which is arguably nicer than the flood of Toyota Camry and RAV4 LE's in the HOA.

After no success of appealing, he went out and bought a $350 beater that runs/drives/doesn't leak, has current registration, but has two different sets of wheels, and three different colored doors and a different-colored rear bumper, and parked it on the driveway. By the HOA's bylaws, it was 100% permitted.

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