hide a trailer in plain site

Does anyone know why an HOA cares about a Verizon van or plumber's truck parked outside? I have never (and will never) lived under the Nazi rule of an HOA, so I am honesty curious about the reason for this rule. Is it to discourage pedophiles? CIA undercover operations?

Make it a vehicle with a tag.

pinchvalve wrote: Does anyone know why an HOA cares about a Verizon van or plumber's truck parked outside? I have never (and will never) lived under the Nazi rule of an HOA, so I am honesty curious about the reason for this rule. Is it to discourage pedophiles? CIA undercover operations?

I don't agree with it, obviously, but I believe it's an appearance thing. They don't want to make it look like anyone ::gasp:: works!

pinchvalve wrote: Does anyone know why an HOA cares about a Verizon van or plumber's truck parked outside?

It's to keep people from running commercial operations out of their homes. When you allow a Verizon/Cable van, then you've got to allow a Class 8 truck, dump truck, or box van, and then you've people running single-employee businesses out of their home. You don't want to live next to a guy that's got a home-office for his landscaping business with multiple pieces of equipment, dump truck, and trailer.

Zoning Ordinances started that restriction, and HOAs went further with it.

I've seen Zoning Ordinances that allow for "vehicle with only two axles" or "vehicle advertisements are prohibited." This usually does a good job of limiting people from doing business from home.

I disagree.

Zoning laws exist to define which areas of town particular activities may take place.

HOA covenants are a contractural agreement between property owners to maintain paticular guidelines for the protection of property values.

One doesn't lead to the other.

HOA rules against commercial vehicles are STRICTLY because of appearance, and probably unenforceable, because they are discriminatory in nature (plumbers can't do business at home while lawyers or webmasters can).

My rebellious side wants to tell you to put a cattle feed trough on it full of water and call it a "mobile jacuzzi"m

My practical side asks, didn't you know the rule before you bought the trailer? Didn't you know the rule before you bought the house? You kind of agreed to this long before you had this predicament.

HOAs run rampant here is Western WA. We are renting, luckily, so we avoid a lot of the hassle, but I have gotten many dirty looks when washing a motorcycle engine in the driveway, or even working on a car/bike with the garage door open. They are the devil's work! In my friend's neighborhood down the street he got a complaint letter from the board because his grass was a darker green than the other lawns around him -- ridiculous.

/semi off-topic rant

back it right up to the front porch and drop the tongue on the ground. It's a handicap ramp for your sick Aunt Flo!

Put camo duck blind fabric around it and say "what trailer?" when they ask...

Uproot the subdivision entrance sign and put it on the trailer. Then park where the sign goes.

ehh...that last one might get you arrested.

My aunt just bought a big ass house there around Birmingham. I'll find out the area and if she'd be willing to let you "store" it there. If you're interested.

This isn't just an HOA thing, a lot of cities don't allow a trailer or motorhome to be parked where it is visible. I don't understand it, but that's the laws.

SVreX wrote: Zoning laws exist to define which areas of town particular activities may take place. HOA covenants are a contractural agreement between property owners to maintain paticular guidelines for the protection of property values.

Zoning laws classify what is and isn't a use. If my Residential Zoning allows for me to park my dump truck on my property, and says nothing describing what is or isn't a "commercial vehicle" than I've got a nice zoning ordinance.

I would agree though, that HOAs are mostly just appearance based, and usually they don't back up the rules with good legal descriptions of what defines a trailer, a pool, or a work vehicle.

Personally I think that any HOA with a Board of Directors is scary as hell. It's a blatant conflict of interest from the get go (my property values go up as a cleanse the neighborhood) and there are very few avenues to challenge the subjective nature of the Board of Directors. It seems to me a covenant should give the Directors the ability to contract shared maintenance and costs, but allowing a select group to be "keepers of the sword" worries me.

Personally I think that any HOA with a Board of Directors is scary as hell. It's a blatant conflict of interest from the get go (my property values go up as a cleanse the neighborhood)

No, the HOA used the argument of your property values going up as a way to try to make the rules more palatable, but as you can see from this thread alone most people don't want to live where there's an HOA which gives you a smaller buyer pool which gives you a lower value.

Speaking as an appraiser I can tell you there is no line item or standard that gives an area with an HOA a positive value increase. Now with that said, if you live outside the city limits and don't have those zoning ordinances and you also don't have an HOA AND you have some Aholes in the neighborhood that leave their cars up on blocks or otherwise trash the area, then and only then an HOA adds value.

PHeller wrote: It's to keep people from running commercial operations out of their homes. When you allow a Verizon/Cable van, then you've got to allow a Class 8 truck, dump truck, or box van, and then you've people running single-employee businesses out of their home. You don't want to live next to a guy that's got a home-office for his landscaping business with multiple pieces of equipment, dump truck, and trailer. Zoning Ordinances started that restriction, and HOAs went further with it.

Funny, this is pretty much the whole area I live in.

Almost everyone in my area IS self-employed and has their work stuff at home.

Those folks who actually work for a living must offend the hell out of people in the HOA.

They're also the most decent bunch of folks I've met, everyone has a live-and-let-live attitude around here. Plus, if I need to buy some cage tubing, I drive a few blocks and buy it cheap from the guy who builds GT-40 replicas in his home shop.

There's a guy a couple miles away who builds sprint cars.

Got invited to go fishing on a guys boat a couple weeks back, he's going to be doing my kitchen cabinets when it's time for the reno.

Yeah, those honest, hard-working, self-employed people can be real difficult to get along with.

Shawn

tuna55 wrote: For instance, my stepfather works for Time Warner. He cannot, due to the silly HOA, park the van at his house without stipulations. He has to either have a car cover over it or take the ladders off, the cone off, and cover the logos with magnets. I suggested that they get a car cover done up that looks exactly like the van, logos and all.

Ah, the Salvador Dali approach - Dali famously painted the radiator covers in his castle to look like radiators after his wife complained that she didn't like the look of the radiators and that he should put radiator covers on them.

I approve .

The problem with HOAs is that the board is composed entirely of people who have nothing better to do with their free time than tell their neighbors what they aren't allowed to do at their house.

Aside from storing the trailer somewhere else or moving, the only suggestion I have is to get a trailer that's light enough that you can put some wheels on the side, tilt it vertically, and get it into the side yard that way. :)

--Ian

Ok seriously? NO BBQ GRILLS?!??!!?!?

MOVE. AWAY. NOW.

^^^ No E36 M3.

We had one local HOA find it was unable to enforce a rule about fences because it hadn't rigidly enforced every rule in it's book. Apparently they had been lax about TV antennas (aka :dishes) and the judge ruled against the HOA , saying that their rule book could not be selectively enforced when they felt like it, so he negated the whole book. I know one fellow who keeps his camping trailer at home because they can't enforce the rules.

pinchvalve wrote: Does anyone know why an HOA cares about a Verizon van or plumber's truck parked outside? I have never (and will never) lived under the Nazi rule of an HOA, so I am honesty curious about the reason for this rule. Is it to discourage pedophiles? CIA undercover operations?

Because the people who make the rules and start up HOAs are generally petty shiny happy people and morons who want to spend their time telling other people what to do.

It probably has something to do with the suburbs where hoas pop up being the nesting grounds for middle management.

Been there before. I went about it a different way. I offered near by neighbors use of truck and trailer, when I got them. As always everyone with a house/family needs either at some point in time. I've help several haul items with both. Not one issue over several years.

Toyman01 wrote: Put a rail around it and call it a deck.

damnit you beat me to it! I was gonna say back it up to the house, put some "temporary fencing" (ie random E36 M3) around it, and say its an add on to the house.

Wow, those HOAs are like Nazis aren't they? You buy a home and then the HOA hits you with all these rules.

Oh wait, maybe you signed something when you bought the house, maybe that meant you agreed to the HOA rules? So maybe you shouldn't have moved there in the first place?

Let me ask you this stupid question. Maybe you liked the house because of the HOA? Maybe the neighborhood was attractive to you because of the HOA?

Or maybe you just like to benefit from others...

Houston has a problem.

HOA's can serve a purpose but can also get way out of hand. My dad lived in a n'hood with a very strict HOA, his old '32 Ford replica needed to stay in the 2 car garage so he left his Grand Cherokee in the driveway. They continually complained about it.

My ex m-i-l had a big run in with hers about her 'full view' storm door. She wound up taking it down. A year and a half later, we resubmitted the request using a picture OF THE EXACT SAME DOOR and it was then approved. It came out of the garage and went back up immediately.

On the OP's question: I say put the thing at your house and (basically) dare them to remove it. If they do, file a complaint with the local PD for theft.

In reply to HoustonNW:

There are no disclosure laws for HOAs in Alabama.

Alabama does not have any law to provide the homebuyer any protection when it comes to HOAs. I moved here from Virginia where it was a bit over the top, but the buyer had to get an official copy of the HOA rules 72 hours prior to closing and had to sign a form that you were provided them and understood them. In Alabama, there is no such law. I bought my house over the other ones in the running because the MLS listing stated no HOA. After a year and half I find out there is an HOA and there are restrictions, they just haven't been enforced because the developer was still in control of the HOA. I'm still waiting to get a bill from someone because I will not pay the dues when it comes. I did not do my due diligence when I bought the place. When I asked about no HOA I was told that I couldn't put an oil well in my yard...other than that no real rules. Turns out the actual rules specify how many and which species of trees are supposed to be in my front yard and how many bushes I need along the side of my house. Fortunately the thing has not ever been enforced, but I expect that whenever the developer turns control over the the residents there will be issues.

Another idea: What are the actual consequences? Can they charge you actual money, or will they just sneer?