HOA in regard to pet rules

Got a letter from the HOA for my dog. The complaint was too many pet poop in my back yard. I clean my backyard of pet waste every weekend and now I get this complaint? Says pet waste must be picked up DAILY! I don't see such rules for my neighborhood. Hell, my next door neighbor has a fenced yard and 2 dogs. They rarely pick up their dog droppings unless their kids wants to play outside. My other next door neighbor has 6 outdoor cats. I don't see them cleaning after their cats waste. This is ridiculous. My guess is somebody likely one of the kids next door went through my yard again to retrieve a ball or ran through it while playing and step in dog crap. I knew I should have bought a farm instead. Anybody ever go through such a ridiculous thing?

1) read your bylaws. Nothing is gonna happen without that

2) I don't know of any place where it is legal to look into a backyard.  Most places HOAs are limited by what they can see from the sidewalk (again, though, check your bylaws)

Utterly ridiculous. Reason number 19,326 I would never live with an HOA. 

But yeah, it's all about what you agreed to (?!?!?!) when you moved in. If you agreed to let them control you to that extent, you can only become a stepford wife and fall in line. 

I would respond with "Hi, my dog poop is picked up daily. I need to know who filed this complaint, because I need to know who was trespassing upon my property so that I can press charges"

I'd also post signs and cameras. Go scorched earth. HOAs are not inherently bad, but this is some bullE36 M3 that you should not put up with. 

In reply to Sine_Qua_Non :

Was this a complaint and letter originated just for you?
or
Was this a generalized letter sent to many or all dog owners?  

Did the letter point to any consequences if the poop was not picked up daily?

Do the by-laws state a consequence?

Find out who made the complaint.

Deposit dog poop into their yard.

Beer Baron said:

Find out who made the complaint.

Deposit dog poop into their yard.

No - establish dominance, poop on their lawn yourself

no offense, but I follow our dog around when she goes out and pick it up right then and there.  

In reply to Beer Baron :

Or you could just pick it up every day, box it, and send it to the President of the HOA. You know, so that they know you are picking it up every single day.

mtn said:

Beer Baron said:

Find out who made the complaint.

Deposit dog poop into their yard.

No - establish dominance, poop on their lawn yourself

But remember, it only works if you establish and maintain eye contact THE WHOLE TIME

mtn said:

Beer Baron said:

Find out who made the complaint.

Deposit dog poop into their yard.

No - establish dominance, poop on their lawn yourself

I second this

mad_machine said:

no offense, but I follow our dog around when she goes out and pick it up right then and there.  

Nope. I got 2 acres. Dogs go out and fertilize the grass for me.

mad_machine said:

no offense, but I follow our dog around when she goes out and pick it up right then and there.  

My last 3 dogs would spend a minimum 4 hours a day outside. In the winter, it would be 10 hours, easy. Literrally the reason I have a fence.

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Beer Baron :

Or you could just pick it up every day, box it, and send it to the President of the HOA. You know, so that they know you are picking it up every single day.

I see nothing wrong with this.

My in-laws have a farm that is surrounded by subdivisions. One of the houses was throwing their dog poop over the fence into the field despite repeated requests not to - people still work in fields, it's not abandoned land. 

My in-laws have cows, pigs and chickens along with a tractor with a bucket. Had this been my problem, I would have dumped a bucket of assorted manure back over the fence. Don't start a fight you're not willing to finish, people.

Instead, they deployed my huge, tattooed, ex-Airborne brother in law and his command voice. It was effective, but nowhere near as fun.

I have never... and I mean never...  heard someone say "my HOA is a beneficial parameter in my neighborhood."  HOAs are never fair or proportional, or if they are, nobody talks about it.  As far as my experience talking about HOAs, there are those that have screwed you, and those who haven't screwed you YET.

I like to think that there is actually some literal brown noser that has been given the unenviable task of investigating the freshness of poo in peoples yards, as they try to work their way up through the ranks of the HOA.

Modify recipient accordingly.

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Beer Baron :

Or you could just pick it up every day, box it, and send it to the President of the HOA. You know, so that they know you are picking it up every single day.

Don't do that.  The hoa president usually has nothing to do with the complaints.  Most hoas have an enforcement person that is hired by the board.  That person enforces the bylaws that were signed when the house was purchased.

In other words, if ya buy a house in an hoa, and they are enforcing the bylaws, who's to blame?

Hoas are beneficial for maintaining homeowner value and keeping amenities in the neighborhood.  Most hoa board members are volunteers.  You can run to be on the board if ya wanna make change.

Signed: a carguy that lives in a neighborhood with an hoa and has a racecar, open trailer, and project car.  I don't get letters because I read and follow the rules.

Maybe my hoa is different.

I feel like people that complain about the rules in their hoa are the same people who move into a neighborhood near a racetrack and then complain about the noise.

This rant is not directed at anybody in particular.  Just generally that hoas have a place and if ya don't like it, don't buy a house where there is one.

That's what I did. I told my Realtor(TM) "garage and no HOA".

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

I have never... and I mean never...  heard someone say "my HOA is a beneficial parameter in my neighborhood."  HOAs are never fair or proportional, or if they are, nobody talks about it.  As far as my experience talking about HOAs, there are those that have screwed you, and those who haven't screwed you YET.

 

I've lived in a few. First one, I actually lived in for 20+ years and never knew it. Participation strictly voluntary. Maintained signage and a small, privately owned park. Eventually was absorbed by the park district, which was when I figured it out.

Second one was not voluntary. Dues were $20 or $50 a year - I remember my roommate/landlord asking me to borrow either a $20 or a $50 bill to pay it because he was out of checks. Again, paid for a park. This one also had restrictions on colors that you could paint your house (extremely reasonable - basically no colors that would audibly hum), as well as limits on number of consecutive days that vehicles could be in the driveway, visible from the street. It was either 550 or 730 days - what that meant was, you could either have two vehicles in the driveway that didn't move for (9 months or 1 year), or 1 for (18 months or 2 years). 

My brother nearly bought a home in another one that was reasonable. Dues were something like $600 a year, and it paid for garbage, and gave you access to a beach and boat launch. 

You just don't ever hear about them, because what about the above is worth mentioning?

John Welsh said:

In reply to Sine_Qua_Non :

Was this a complaint and letter originated just for you?
or
Was this a generalized letter sent to many or all dog owners?  

 

Did the letter point to any consequences if the poop was not picked up daily?

Do the by-laws state a consequence?

It was just me. 

I had 48 hours to clean it up. 
it was just cleaned up Saturday since that is the day I do my landfill run to drop off trash/waste. I cleaned it up again today. 3 freaking piles. Took pictures of the yard as requested for proof of completion. Signed their form of the warning at the HOA office which is a major realty company  

I do not see anything in the bylaws about pet waste in backyards. Just that a warning and a fine can be impose if an owner walking their dog leaves a mess on someone else's property not cleaned up or a loose dog leaving a mess and the owner is identified as the owner. I did neither of those things. 

Keith Tanner said:

That's what I did. I told my Realtor(TM) "garage and no HOA".

This is what I told every realtor we ever worked with.

Sine_Qua_Non said:

John Welsh said:

In reply to Sine_Qua_Non :

Was this a complaint and letter originated just for you?
or
Was this a generalized letter sent to many or all dog owners?  

 

Did the letter point to any consequences if the poop was not picked up daily?

Do the by-laws state a consequence?

It was just me. 

I had 48 hours to clean it up. 
it was just cleaned up Saturday since that is the day I do my landfill run to drop off trash/waste. I cleaned it up again today. 3 freaking piles. Took pictures of the yard as requested for proof of completion. Signed their form of the warning at the HOA office which is a major realty company  

I do not see anything in the bylaws about pet waste in backyards. Just that a warning and a fine can be impose if an owner walking their dog leaves a mess on someone else's property not cleaned up or a loose dog leaving a mess and the owner is identified as the owner. I did neither of those things. 

I would honestly investigate the laws in your state as to what is considered trespassing, and whether or not you can be fined for something that is invisible from the street.  If someone is getting that far up in your E36 M3, they're going to keep going.

wvumtnbkr said:

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Beer Baron :

Or you could just pick it up every day, box it, and send it to the President of the HOA. You know, so that they know you are picking it up every single day.

Don't do that.  The hoa president usually has nothing to do with the complaints.  Most hoas have an enforcement person that is hired by the board.  That person enforces the bylaws that were signed when the house was purchased.

 

In other words, if ya buy a house in an hoa, and they are enforcing the bylaws, who's to blame?

 

Hoas are beneficial for maintaining homeowner value and keeping amenities in the neighborhood.  Most hoa board members are volunteers.  You can run to be on the board if ya wanna make change.

 

Signed: a carguy that lives in a neighborhood with an hoa and has a racecar, open trailer, and project car.  I don't get letters because I read and follow the rules.

Maybe my hoa is different.

 

I feel like people that complain about the rules in their hoa are the same people who move into a neighborhood near a racetrack and then complain about the noise.

 

This rant is not directed at anybody in particular.  Just generally that hoas have a place and if ya don't like it, don't buy a house where there is one.

 

You actually took my post seriously?

At any rate, unless there is a rule or something in the bylaws that specifically states that dog waste is to be picked up daily and that there is a time stamped video of the dog pooping and it not getting picked up in 24 hours or something like that, the HOA may not be able to do anything but send out letters. As far as that goes, you could let the dog crap on the letter and then throw it in the backyard with all the dog poop. Then the HOA can go back to the person who complained and say that "Well, we sent them a letter, our job is done, now go pound sand."

Of course I live in Texas. Anybody who looks over fences for dog crap, unlicensed kangaroos or something to steal might just get shot, HOA or no HOA.