Das Boot: One man's crusade against injustice
It's time for another installment of Carsumer Advocacy. We won't go into the nitty gritty details of this one, as it's spread across a 61-page forum post on VW Vortex. The basic gist is that a guy moved into a house in a nice neighborhood. Said neighborhood then started a Home Owners Association with an annual fee of over $1,500. The new HOA then hired an outside contractor to police parking inside the neighborhood. Parking passes were then required that had to be displayed within the vehicle at all times, even when parking in your own driveway (!). If the loose passes (they weren't stickers) weren't displayed, a homeowner would get a $140 ticket and a couple of boots slapped on his or her wheels until the ticket was paid.
One day, forum member The A1 and A2 German forgot to hang his parking pass on the rearview mirror of his mildly tuned Audi A4. The boots came, but rather than acquiesce, he got some rolling jacks and wheeled his car, boots and all, back into his garage. It's the principal of the thing, as this guy apparently always used his parking pass and, despite the rent-a-cops knowing his vehicle, they ticketed him and gave his car the boot anyway. Then the standoff began. This guy was smart and called the police to make sure he wasn't doing anything illegal like stealing the contractor's boots, and when the HOA contractor's eventually found out where their they were hiding, he was happy to let them come and retrieve their property. The contractor now his boots back, but the man's parking pass has been revoked and apparently his neighbors are now being terrorized by these boot police who are hell bent on revenge. Click the source below to read the whole story, or hit up the second source to view just those forum posts by the man in question.
[Source: VW Vortex, GT Planet]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
jgp 5:04PM (6/20/2008)
I'm firmly convinced that the only way to deal with homeowners associations is the same way you deal with a totalitarian government: you overthrow them violently.
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Kaptain75329 5:21PM (6/20/2008)
Amen. No one knows what it's like until these rat turds on a power-trip start acting like government on your front lawn.
Ryan 12:31AM (6/21/2008)
The thing we have to remember about a HOA is that they are voluntary. We can avoid them. Beware the same busy bodies running our Federal government (vote for Liberty, not Big Government!). From the Feds, there is no escape ('cause Canada just aint an option!).
According to this story, it seems the HOA was started AFTER the A4 owner moved into his home. In this case, it seems he had no choice in the matter, unless he actually voted yes and agreed to join the HOA (in which case, he made a contract and is obligated to its stipulations). But, if what the story hints at is true, and the governance of his home and property was essentially annexed by the HOA, then I think he ought to fight back. And, if justice prevails, he ought to win.
Likely though, somewhere in the purchase contract of his home, there was mention of an HOA. Either that, or he joined the HOA by choice. If so, Mr. A4 is now paying the price.
sw 12:42AM (6/21/2008)
Ugh, home owners associations. Basically housewives and old people with too much time. Threaten them with legal action and they fall like a house of cards. I think the idea was thought up of by useless people with no real power. I can't describe in words how much I hate people that are a part of this.
JZeke 10:17AM (6/21/2008)
Simply amazing stories.
Why do people accept these sort of policies? I used to think an HOA was an extension of living in a nicer neighborhood: one that has access to better schools, closer proximity to better health care, and generally higher property values.
After living 3 years in Florida I've come to believe they are self-imposed restrictions on freedom that people who are completely scared of the world prefer over real liberty. I've had the chance to meet lots of people in HOA communities in FL and an equal number outside, of all ages and races.
My sad conclusion is that the ones who elect to live in the most strict communities tend to be racist, religiously intolerant, homophobic, and generally so uptight they could eat coal and s**t diamonds! I've heard some of the most damaging words come from the mouths of children in these communities.
Me? Id rather live in a scruffy neighborhood with mixed incomes, races and no property restrictions other than those the city imposes than live in an HOA-restricted community ever again.
kballs 2:23PM (6/22/2008)
City ordinances (including parking and needing parking permits in some areas) are often just as strict as HOA policies.
Anybody ever watch The Riches (on FX)? Their neighborhood is just like this, 1000 rules about what's on their lawn etc. and rent-a-cops banging on the door every day.
In this case it sounds like some stuck-up rich busybody housewives are running the HOA. But in the end this is what happens when people are politically apathetic and don't vote, they get screwed (by their HOA or by their actual city/county/state/federal government). If there are that many neighbors being terrorized, they should just hold a vote to dissolve the HOA and fire the rent-a-cops. Exercise your power, campaign, vote, and if you're too lazy for that, think about how much work it is to move!
(In the meantime they could also buy/build some boots of their own and put them on the cars of the HOA council and rent-a-cops, and/or just start sharing a cutting torch and turning the HOA boots into scrap)
User 5:07PM (6/20/2008)
There are a LOT of typos and grammar mistakes in this story. Tell someone at Autoblog to read through it carefully...
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Tourian 5:51PM (6/20/2008)
I agree, the story needs editing because right at the meat of it, it becomes hard to follow.
R 6:42PM (6/20/2008)
Yah i wasted my time sifting through it, but page 51 has all the pertinent posts lumped together. They're written by A1 guy or something like that.
phez 8:55PM (6/20/2008)
What the heck is this post about? Horrible grammer.
ASEVENSEE4 11:54PM (6/20/2008)
GrammAr ;)
gotsmart 12:10PM (6/21/2008)
It's the *principle* of it... not the *principal*.
Michael 2:26PM (6/21/2008)
Not only that, they didn't even thank the person who sent in the tip!
mrmee 5:09PM (6/20/2008)
I don't understand, he gave them their boot and lost his pass?
He should a charged them to pick up the boots the fee of the tickets...
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tankd0g 10:01PM (6/20/2008)
Here's what I don't understand, he needs a parking pass but he has a garage?
The Other Bob 5:30PM (6/20/2008)
The answer to this is simple.
-Wait for the next election of the neighborhood association
-Organize the neighbors and toss the officers out of office.
-Elect yourself president
-Remove all the stupid rules.
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MD Drew 6:41PM (6/20/2008)
Yeah, that worked pretty well for us in '04...
;)
DKB_SATX 5:41PM (6/20/2008)
Often it is not so simple. If, for example, the development isn't fully built out yet, the developer often holds multiple votes for each of the lots it still owns. Usually the majority requirement for rescinding rules is set pretty high, so it doesn't take many lots at 3 or 5 votes per lot for the developer to be able to sandbag any changes.
Oh, and usually the developer pays little or nothing for each of those lots. Where I made the mistake of building a house with an HOA, the developer paid $15/year per lot for which they got 3 votes, where real residents who had a personal stake in things got 1 vote for $320/year, on top of a mandatory membership in the "rec center" (pool) association and another mandatory membership in the property owners' association. So, you pay about 800/year for your 1 vote and the developer pays $15/year/lot for 3. The developer tends to have a "closeout sale" very quickly as soon as they are down to few enough votes that they don't have reasonable control (lowering prices compared to what current residents paid.)
It's definitely POSSIBLE to fix things in most HOAs, but it does sometime require threats of insurrection to get it done. We called a meeting to oust the board over an issue they were ignoring and they managed to schedule an "emergency meeting" a week before, thinking they'd be able to control the agenda. I'm sure the developer wasn't happy about their rep being booted from the board almost unanimously, but it was ugly and complicated and I hear from friends who still live there that the board still tries to do stupid and expensive unnecessary crap.
C.W. 5:21PM (6/20/2008)
I have a story like that, only 5x less intense and with a happy ending. I live in a gated townhouse community and own my townhome. The local police patrol through every night and I got a giant orange sticker slapped on my window while my car was in my driveway saying it was abandoned (because my registration had expired by about 5 days when May turned to June) and that it would be towed in 5 business days unless it was fixed. I left for France that day and just put the car in the garage before my taxi came, and when I got back the garage was open and the car gone. Now I know I should have fixed it but I didnt have time and thought my car would be safe inside my property. Anyway, I filed a complaint with the real estate company controlling the neighborhood and told them that my garage was opened by someone (police, towing company, i still don't know) and they busted their butts to pay my fee and fix the situation. How they got into my garage I don't know and someone is playing CYA with the situation because the only people with the codes are me and the real estate company.
Bottom line, they fixed it and as long as it doesnt happen again I'm cool. Got my registration renewed so hopefully next year this wont be happening
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cool guy 5:26PM (6/20/2008)
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8845/legendarythreadlk3.jpg