HOA RV Storage Rules?

[jwpaquette]

Originally Posted by Dennis C

I’m the president of my HOA. We live in a small, gated community. I didn’t write the bylaws and covenants, but it’s my responsibility to ensure that they’re followed. Our HOA doesn’t allow any vehicles to be parked outside in the neighborhood. This includes cars; they must be parked in the garage. We make an exception if there are visitors for an event or a weekend, but nothing more. People who own travel trailers are allowed to bring them into the neighborhood to pack and load them, and we allow them to stay in the driveway for one night.

Live in a HOA. We have a 2 week grace period for campers to come and go, max 4 times per year. I can live and work with that. Dirty secret of HOAs with streets that are public / dedicated / managed by the local government - as long as the local government doesn’t have an ordinance prohibiting street parking, then you can park in front of your HOA’d home without regard. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still get a letter telling you otherwise. It won’t be until push comes to shove that someone who knows the rules shares with the HOA that public roads through HOA neighborhoods are exempt from HOA rules as they aren’t part of the HOA nor are they deed restricted. Gated communities are a whole different story.

[Dennis C]

Originally Posted by jwpaquette

Live in a HOA. We have a 2 week grace period for campers to come and go, max 4 times per year. I can live and work with that. Dirty secret of HOAs with streets that are public / dedicated / managed by the local government - as long as the local government doesn’t have an ordinance prohibiting street parking, then you can park in front of your HOA’d home without regard. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still get a letter telling you otherwise. It won’t be until push comes to shove that someone who knows the rules shares with the HOA that public roads through HOA neighborhoods are exempt from HOA rules as they aren’t part of the HOA nor are they deed restricted. Gated communities are a whole different story.

Yup. Our community is gated and our roads are private and managed/maintained by the HOA.

My stance as the HOA president is that I don’t try to push my opinions on anyone. I simply try to do my job to help enforce the bylaws and covenants as they are written. I was elected by the HOA to do that. If the residents don’t like a particular policy, then they can vote to change it. We have done this in the past. I actually don’t like being the HOA president, but it’s a small neighborhood and there wasn’t anyone else who would do it.

Every homeowner agreed to follow the covenants and bylaws when they bought a home in the neighborhood. The only time we ever really have any issue is when people do things without proper approvals. For example, we had one resident in the past who built a beautiful stone patio. Unfortunately, he built it on HOA common area. It is now owned by the HOA and all residents can use it if they choose. None of them ever do, but that’s the way it was resolved.

[propchef]

Originally Posted by Dennis C

Yup. Our community is gated and our roads are private and managed/maintained by the HOA.

My stance as the HOA president is that I don’t try to push my opinions on anyone. I simply try to do my job to help enforce the bylaws and covenants as they are written. I was elected by the HOA to do that. If the residents don’t like a particular policy, then they can vote to change it. We have done this in the past. I actually don’t like being the HOA president, but it’s a small neighborhood and there wasn’t anyone else who would do it.

Every homeowner agreed to follow the covenants and bylaws when they bought a home in the neighborhood. The only time we ever really have any issue is when people do things without proper approvals. For example, we had one resident in the past who built a beautiful stone patio. Unfortunately, he built it on HOA common area. It is now owned by the HOA and all residents can use it if they choose. None of them ever do, but that’s the way it was resolved.

It sounds like you have a great neighborhood. To have good neighbors is such a blessing.

The issue becomes the interpretation and enforcement of the rules and covenants. I bought into a neighborhood that prohibited "trucks." Reading the bylaws it was clear that it meant work trucks with toolboxes and/or business logos. The board at the time decided it meant all pickup trucks. They ignored body-on-frame SUVs like the Toyota Forerunner, even though it was classified as a truck. I parked my brand new Dodge PU in the grocery store parking lot, but the HOA president at the time with the Toyota was OK, as was the guy with the 20-year-old Buick that he never washed or maintained.

We needed a new landscaper. I was by this time the president and did my due diligence, getting 4 or 5 written bids that I took to the board. We choose the best fit for our community. The problem was that particular landscaper was recommended to me by my wife's ex-husband who was president of a nearby neighborhood (something I disclosed), and I was immediately accused of hiring relatives, despite all evidence to the contrary through a transparent process. That rumor persisted until we left.

Just say NO to HOAs

[Rfriebele]

Ours prohibits storing or parking it in the driveway but allows 3 days to work on or otherwise do whatever until it must be moved so we park ours in front of our house the day before we go somewhere to load up etc...plus our streets are wide so it doesn't obstruct traffic...I got cited once for parking my boat alongside my house for more than 3 days so there ya go...we've had violators though but they get assessed fines.

[jcanavera]

In St. Louis County where there are no municipalities (unincorporated), the county requires newly built subdivisions to have street lighting. With that in mind, developers each write their own HOA agreements filed with the county which are initially enforced by the builder but eventually turned over to elected homeowners as the subdivision gets to various stages of completion. The county has no enforcement authority for HOA agreement violators. If no one volunteers to run for a trustees position, St. Louis County will hire a company to maintain the association who will enforce the HOA agreement and collect the fees required. That company can also charge the HOA for their expense and fees.

Municipalities within St. Louis County, may or may not require an HOA. In St. Louis County there are 90+ municipalities so anyone who owns an RV is responsible for researching the ordinances for that municipality relating storage and parking of their RV.

There are also quite a few subdivisions in unincorporated areas and municipalities that were built prior to the county or municipality requiring street lighting. They are grandfathered at this time and have no requirements for HOA's or street lighting. Municipalities usually provide street lighting in many cases and local municipalities can include the cost to pay for those lights in their annual real estate taxes.

My subdivision is in an unincorporated area, and the builder's written HOA agreement does not allow open parking on the street or driveways for RV's, boats without approval of the HOA. And even with that approval it's only for a temporary period. The HOA agreement has no specific time frame attached to parking and no fine for not having approval. The trustees for the most part are not aggressive in enforcing the rules and the vast majority of the folks who live here are very tolerant of our toys when we bring them home from our storage locations for loading and unloading and minor maintenance tasks.

I've often thought about the remedies available to the HOA for folks violating the no parking rules and quite honestly know that there are no penalties or actions that be brought about fast enough to deal with an RV owner who brings an RV to their home for a temporary period of time.

We did have some Trustees who are retired and in the past, have stopped at homes having RV's in the driveways. It happed to me when I came home from a trip on Sunday. I had to go to work Monday and a Trustee rolled by Monday morning to inform my wife that we were in violation of the HOA. She told the trustee that we had gotten home less than 12 hours earlier and that we kept our trailer off site and we hadn't had time yet to get it empty and cleaned up returned to storage. She also told him we had no interest in leaving it out on the driveway since we had an inside storage location for the trailer and would much rather have it inside too. She left it at that and asked them to talk to me at work if he had other questions. We got no further calls and never had an issue again. Typically our longest periods where we keep the trailer home is not more than a week at the worst and those periods are usually when we dewinterize and load up for our first trip of the year, and when we winterize. None of my neighbors on my block have ever complained or said anything, and many in the subdivision have boats, RV's and motor homes. I'm also lucky that I live at the end of the cul-de-sac so we are out of view of the main subdivision traffic.

Jack

[Cdusm]

We live in a rural lake community that has both full time residents and part time "cottage" owners. The rules here state that you have 30 days a year...period. Clean up, pack up, repair, or as an extra room for visitors - your reason is not important. Just don't go over the 30 days (and yes, Security keeps copious notes).

Point of irony: My airstream is worth more and looks better than than half of the homes on the lake.

[NY24]

If you have to deal with an unreasonable HOA, get your "Technician" Amateur License ("ham" radio; the Technician and General Licenses are VERY easy tests). Then, put up an antenna which, by FEDERAL LAW cannot be banned / blocked by HOA "rules". If the HOA tries to make you take such antenna down, notify the FCC. The FCC will unleash a world of hurt on anyone trying to limit / shut down Amateur Radio (the only exception would be if your antenna's height is at the end of an airport runway posing a hazard to flight operations).

[DonRich7878]

Originally Posted by NY24

If you have to deal with an unreasonable HOA, get your "Technician" Amateur License ("ham" radio; the Technician and General Licenses are VERY easy tests). Then, put up an antenna which, by FEDERAL LAW cannot be banned / blocked by HOA "rules". If the HOA tries to make you take such antenna down, notify the FCC. The FCC will unleash a world of hurt on anyone trying to limit / shut down Amateur Radio (the only exception would be if your antenna's height is at the end of an airport runway posing a hazard to flight operations).

NY24, I disagree. In my opinion, it would be better to keep your property within the HOA guidelines, place your home for sale and move to an American apple pie community as soon as possible. HOA'ers will never respect you, placing common good over the rights of an individual. Even if you install a giant federally protected antenna in you front yard, it wont change how they feel about you. They already hate you, continuing to antagonize them, while enormously entertaining, only wastes time, money and delays the pursuit of happiness. Keep'em Flying High Sir...

[Silvr_Bullet]

Originally Posted by DonRich7878

NY24, I disagree. In my opinion, it would be better to keep your property within the HOA guidelines, place your home for sale and move to an American apple pie community as soon as possible. HOA'ers will never respect you, placing common good over the rights of an individual. Even if you install a giant federally protected antenna in you front yard, it wont change how they feel about you. They already hate you, continuing to antagonize them, while enormously entertaining, only wastes time, money and delays the pursuit of happiness. Keep'em Flying High Sir...

Like it or not, you’ll lose the fight. You probably agreed to the terms before you purchased, know it or not.

[jondrew55]

We had a trade off when we bought our last home. We needed something centrally located, with good schools and easy access to medical care for my parents. This house is perfect for all that. We could have moved out another 5 or 10 miles and gotten something with no HOA and land or whatever. But we did not see a house we liked that had all that stuff. So we made the decision to keep our property neat, paint the house when it needs it, pressure wash the sidewalks once a year, cut the grass and yes, no RVs on the property except when loading unloading. It was a conscious decision and no regrets. My storage is a bit pricy, but I wanted covered storage with electricity and this is the only thing near by. That's the comprise we made. Our HOA is not overbearing. That's how exercise my freedom. If you think the only real freedom is everyone doing whatever they want no matter how it impacts others, then I'd say you really don't understand the concept.

[DonRich7878]

Originally Posted by NY24

If you have to deal with an unreasonable HOA, get your "Technician" Amateur License ("ham" radio; the Technician and General Licenses are VERY easy tests). Then, put up an antenna which, by FEDERAL LAW cannot be banned / blocked by HOA "rules". If the HOA tries to make you take such antenna down, notify the FCC. The FCC will unleash a world of hurt on anyone trying to limit / shut down Amateur Radio (the only exception would be if your antenna's height is at the end of an airport runway posing a hazard to flight operations).

A bit off topic- NY24, FYI under FCC provisions OTARD Rule 47 CFR § 1.4000(a)(1), Ham Radio towers are specifically excluded under ORARD regulations, which allows satellite antennas, TV antennas or WIFI rebroadcasts antennas to be installed on HOA regulated properties, even if HOA prohibits them. Do you have an FCC case reference that says otherwise?

[Vista Nic]

I'm President of the Master HOA. This question has come up before. The CC&R's indicate only "24 hours"; however, there is also a clause in the CC&R's that defers to the city ordinances (City of Vista, CA). The City of Vista says "no longer than three days on the street". We have discussed this at our meetings (because I have an Airstream) and we go by the "three day rule". I believe that is more reasonable than 24 hours; especially with doing maintenance or adding things to an older AS. The HOA has also given a temporary dispensation for anyone who wants to use the trailer to quarantine in during a Covid incident with a family member.

[Vista Nic]

I have to comment after reading some of these. The CC&R's and By Laws can be very ambiguous and vague at times; they are up to interpretation by the HOA Board Members as they feel about the particular subject (i.e., right to privacy vs right to a view). I got on the HOA Board to interpret the rules to be fair to everyone and close out a law suit; we had one lady who wanted to control everyone (she eventually got voted off of both Boards; Master and Sub Association). I really don't like HOA's but in Calif. they are prolific and it is hard to move into an area and not be in one. Another thing I've found is that as long as a resident pays their HOA dues, there is not much an HOA can do about violations. I could park my AS in the driveway permanently and get letters and fines from the HOA's but they cannot stop me from selling my home if my dues are paid.

[SYC2Vette]

Originally Posted by Dennis C

Our HOA isn’t bad at all. The board functions well, the people are respectful, and we rarely have any issues. I’m happy with our HOA because of the high standards for property maintenance and appearance. I don’t want to see a bunch of junk or kids’ toys in the yards in my neighborhood. I can see how an HOA could be difficult, but that hasn’t been my experience.

Sounds great. I don't see the reason for some folks wanking about how bad HOA's are and why they would never live in a neighborhood with HOA yadda yadda yadda, um so don't then and everyone is happier, plenty of places without HOA's.

On topic I kind of like the idea of a simple paper permit issued when you need to have your RV onsite could have a prominent date certain on it. Of course that makes more paperwork for HOA, make it a simple online request when needed.