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Toledo must be really hard up for revenue...
<a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31390180/ns/us_news-weird_news/">msnbc.com article here
Cliff's Notes: In Toledo you'll be ticketed for parking on a non-paved surface, even if that's your own gravel driveway.
I was once ticketed for speeding in my own driveway. 
Link no work....
copy and past whats in the quotes to browser.
At least one person doesn't have their head up their posterity.
City Councilman D. Michael Collins calls the ticketing "Mickey Mouse nonsense."
How many forum members here live in HOAs (Home Owners Associations--why didn't I just spell that?) and have received threats to have their cars towed FROM THEIR OWN PROPERTY because they aren't registered or don't run?
This kind of stuff is bull cookies.
I have a friend who gets tickets from his HOA on a regular basis. Usually for things like leaving his garage door up too long. Or not bring in his trash can quick enough, or working on a car in his driveway. I would rather live in China or some other communist country.
Funny HOA story. We have one, and honestly they keep our neighborhood very clean. Most of the houses were custom-built so it's definitely not a cookie cutter neighborhood.
Anyway, a year or so ago I was mowing my lawn, and a guy stopped his truck and approached me. Hi, I'm with the HOA, he said. And you have the coolest collection of cars.
He just wanted to relay that message. He's also a local Snap-on rep. I kid you not. So, I guess they're not all evil.
My fellow HOA Nazis are on a tear right now about wanting to tow vehicles parked legally but in violation of the deed restrictions.
Fortunately, our restrictions/bylaws don't give the association that much power.
Toyman01 wrote:At least one person doesn't have their head up their posterity.
I love this sentence so very much I might see if I can marry it in Vermont.
billy3esq wrote:My fellow HOA Nazis are on a tear right now about wanting to tow vehicles parked legally but in violation of the deed restrictions.
Fortunately, our restrictions/bylaws don't give the association that much power.
How would the car be parked legally but in violation of the deed restrictions? Not asking sarcastically, rather genuinely curious. I live within a fairly restrictive HOA community.
On a related note, HOA's are getting pretty aggressive about collecting dues. I've read several articles recently (work related for me) describing the lengths to which HOA's are going to in order to get paid their dues, up to and including foreclosure.
dyintorace wrote:How would the car be parked legally but in violation of the deed restrictions? Not asking sarcastically, rather genuinely curious. I live within a fairly restrictive HOA community.
Virtually all deed restrictions prohibit activity that is not otherwise illegal. If the activity were otherwise illegal, there would be no need for the deed restriction.
The following are a few ways that a legally parked car can still be in violation of our deed restrictions (obviously, yours could vary):
Our deed restrictions prohibit overnight parking on the street, but the street is public. The car is parked legally, but the homeowner to whom the car belongs can still be fined by the HOA for violating the deed restrictions.
Our deed restrictions prohibit vehicles with commercial advertising, e.g., work trucks, in driveways. (They have to be in the garage.)
Our deed restrictions prohibit "inoperable" vehicles in driveways. The definition of "inoperable" includes expired tags or inspection.
dyintorace wrote:On a related note, HOA's are getting pretty aggressive about collecting dues. I've read several articles recently (work related for me) describing the lengths to which HOA's are going to in order to get paid their dues, up to and including foreclosure.
We just foreclosed on a guy for not paying his assessment for the last 3 or 4 years, and it looks like we're going to do another one. While I find it strange that someone would be willing to lose their house over such a small amount of money, I don't find it particularly distasteful. He agreed to the assessments when he moved in, he's gotten plenty of reminders (including in-person visits from HOA board members), and if he doesn't pay his share, the rest of us who abide by the rules have to pay more.
I can't speak for other associations, but it's not like we start foreclosure proceedings if the payment is a day late. We've even been known to waive all or part of the late fees if someone just fesses up that they forgot or otherwise has a good story.
billy3esq wrote:Virtually all deed restrictions prohibit activity that is not otherwise illegal. If the activity were otherwise illegal, there would be no need for the deed restriction.
The following are a few ways that a legally parked car can still be in violation of our deed restrictions (obviously, yours could vary):
Our deed restrictions prohibit overnight parking on the street, but the street is public. The car is parked legally, but the homeowner to whom the car belongs can still be fined by the HOA for violating the deed restrictions.
Our deed restrictions prohibit vehicles with commercial advertising, e.g., work trucks, in driveways. (They have to be in the garage.)
Our deed restrictions prohibit "inoperable" vehicles in driveways. The definition of "inoperable" includes expired tags or inspection.
Ahh...that makes sense.
billy3esq wrote:dyintorace wrote:On a related note, HOA's are getting pretty aggressive about collecting dues. I've read several articles recently (work related for me) describing the lengths to which HOA's are going to in order to get paid their dues, up to and including foreclosure.
We just foreclosed on a guy for not paying his assessment for the last 3 or 4 years, and it looks like we're going to do another one. While I find it strange that someone would be willing to lose their house over such a small amount of money, I don't find it particularly distasteful. He agreed to the assessments when he moved in, he's gotten plenty of reminders (including in-person visits from HOA board members), and if he doesn't pay his share, the rest of us who abide by the rules have to pay more.
I can't speak for other associations, but it's not like we start foreclosure proceedings if the payment is a day late. We've even been known to waive all or part of the late fees if someone just fesses up that they forgot or otherwise has a good story.
I didn't mean to imply that it was necessarily distasteful. More just a sign of the times that folks are letting their dues lapse for one reason or another and that the HOA's are suffering as a result. Like you, I would prefer everyone pay their dues, lest the rest of us get hit with assessments!
Sad thing about this is, it's NOT an issue of violating an HOA agreement. There is no HOA in this neighborhood, it's just a "normal" neighborhood.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090616/NEWS16/906169972
It's also interesting that the tickets were not issued by the police, but by the Toledo Streets/Bridges & Harbor Division. You can pay a $50 appeal fee on a $25 ticket, but the appeals board you have to go in front of was eliminated a few years ago.
The mayor's response on this is almost as good as his one a few years back about moving all the deaf people out to area around the airport, after residents there started complaining about the noise.
Will wrote:Toyman01 wrote:At least one person doesn't have their head up their posterity.
I love this sentence so very much I might see if I can marry it in Vermont.
Good Luck
I am so happy choose a place to live where I dont have to deal with any of that non sense. No bodies house is falling down, and there arent any two foot high lawns, we self regulate here and there are lots of great people, and not a one is a grass measuring hoa nazi..
I think Ben said it best "Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither."
as for getting ticketed in your own driveway?? i wonder if you could affect a citizens arrest for trespassing on the ticketing agent. If they can see it from the street is one thing, but once they step on the property they become dog food imo...
The ticket I got was technically for speeding on the road I lived on, but the officer followed me into my driveway and wrote it there. It was about 2:00AM, I was tired. I got out of the car, noticed him sitting there with his lights on, and told him to leave the ticket on the windshield.
THAT didn't go over too well.
Anyway, the point was that he didn't trespass. I had committed the violation before he came on my property, so I think it would be technically correct to state that he was in pursuit when he followed me.
Perhaps the same could be said about code enforcement folks.
grafmiata wrote: The mayor's response on this is almost as good as his one a few years back about moving all the deaf people out to area around the airport, after residents there started complaining about the noise.
graf, look for my bill for a new keyboard to arrive soon. I wonder if HOAs will forclose on the houses that banks dont pay dues on? What about if it is a tax foreclosure?
Toyman01 wrote:Usually for things like leaving his garage door up too long...
wow, how could this be bad?
porksboy wrote:I wonder if HOAs will forclose on the houses that banks dont pay dues on? What about if it is a tax foreclosure?
Actually, HOA's love when banks foreclose on property within their HOA, because the HOA knows they have a better shot that the bank will pay the dues. At a minimum, when the bank goes to sell the property as REO, they will have to pay the back dues at closing.
I love rural living, no HOA, no stupid restrictions, I had 6 cars in various states of disassembly in my yard a few months ago and nobody complained, now I have a country acre with a few buildings and my house is clear again.
I couldn't live under those type of neo nazi conditions.
Re: Toledo
The garbage men were issuing the tickets, not the coppers.
The county I live in passed an ordinance several years ago that prohibits parking an unlicensed and uninsured vehicle on private property unless it is inside a structure that has at least three sides.
We have a voluntary homeowners association that dosen't really have any teeth. It is mainly to try and keep the neighborhood looking decent to keep property value up. We also have covenants for the neighborhood on the deeds (restrictions) that you have to follow. Not
924guy wrote:I am so happy choose a place to live where I dont have to deal with any of that non sense. No bodies house is falling down, and there arent any two foot high lawns, we self regulate here and there are lots of great people, and not a one is a grass measuring hoa nazi..
I think Ben said it best "Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither."
+tons
Toyman01 wrote:I have a friend who gets tickets from his HOA on a regular basis. Usually for things like leaving his garage door up too long. Or not bring in his trash can quick enough, or working on a car in his driveway. I would rather live in China or some other communist country.
Your friend new the restrictions when he bought the place. If he doesn't like it, he needs to move.
HOAs serve a purpose. If you don't like them, you don't have to live in a restricted neighborhood.
I can understand an HOA when the function is to maintain the neighborhood irrigation system, for example. A community service that is too small for the city to deal with, but too big for an individual. But an HOA that has dumb-ass rules like "your shed cannot be higher than your fence or it has to be approved by the architectural committee" makes no sense to me.
Around here, we have a couple of old coots who take care of the irrigation ditch. They recently relined a bunch of it with concrete, so those of us on the ditch pitched in a few bucks and I told them to let me know when they were working on it next time so I could help. But that's it. No HOA, just good neighbors. You can't legislate good neighbors.
I have the world's best HOA. 30 bucks a YEAR, and that covers trash, recycling and yard waste pickup. Plus they keep some small traffic islands nice and have a nice dinner every year. As far as I can tell, that's all they do. I've never heard of them hassling anyone.
