HOA and Renting - Please help/give advice if possible (tenant, evicted)
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So, my wife and I have been renting a nice condo in a nice area for the past 5 years. We have NEVER had any issues or complaints in that time. In fact, our landlord loves us, and gave us rent with option to buy. Over the summer, out HOA changed companies. It use to be JP Morgan (I believe, and I am not sure what it currently is). We haven't had any issues with them, nor have I ever seen them around the condo area.
Anyway, this morning, while getting in my car to go to work, the old lady 3 garages down from us (that you NEVER see) was like "Excuse me, do you rent or own? I was like rent. She then stated that they had a board meeting on Monday night and wanted to get a count of who owns and who rents. She then stated that they want to make sure that everyone is complying with the bylaws." Why would this matter, and what are looking for?
As far as the bylaws go, we are in complete compliance with the exception of an extra dog. We currently have 2 dogs, both under 25lbs (35lbs is the max for here). You are allowed only 1 dog. We more or less rescued this dog, so that is how we got 2 dogs. Further, if this is an issue, than A LOT of people in here are going to have problems. In fact, our neighbor has a huge 60-70 lb breed, people have Goldens, German Shepards, etc. The one thing I could do if needed, I could register one dog as a service dog. I am diagnosed with BiPolar disorder, and have/currently under the car of a psychiatrist and on several meds. But, I was just curious if this is what the HOA is looking for, or what they mean by "compliance."
Have any of you ever had issues with the HOA? If so, for what? What do I do at this point? Will they harass us more because we are renting? I would think the property management would have that information on file. I'm probably over thinking this, but I am just waiting to get some kind of letter or something.
I would really appreciate your help, thoughts, etc.
As far as the bylaws go, we are in complete compliance with the exception of an extra dog.
Then you are not in complete compliance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jman136
We currently have 2 dogs, both under 25lbs (35lbs is the max for here). You are allowed only 1 dog. We more or less rescued this dog, so that is how we got 2 dogs.
It doesn't matter how or why you got the dog, you are not in compliance with the HOA bylaws.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jman136
Further, if this is an issue, than A LOT of people in here are going to have problems. In fact, our neighbor has a huge 60-70 lb breed, people have Goldens, German Shepards, etc.
Last I knew, two, ten or even twenty wrongs don't make a right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jman136
The one thing I could do if needed, I could register one dog as a service dog. I am diagnosed with BiPolar disorder, and have/currently under the car of a psychiatrist and on several meds.
I suggest you get off the meds if they are causing you to get underneath your psychiatrist's 'car' or else at the very least, get a new psychiatrist. But, in all seriousness, it is your dog fight so do what you feel necessary and get the proper credentials and correspondence for a service dog. However, you shouldn't be playing games when it comes to SAs and/or ESAs. Either you need it or you don't. Using your reasoning for it sounds more like you are playing games with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jman136
But, I was just curious if this is what the HOA is looking for, or what they mean by "compliance."
You have no idea what the reason is that that person was asking. You are only making assumptions. No one here can answer that question for you however compliance is compliance and either you are following ALL of the rules/bylaws or you are not and obviously you are not. It doesn't get more straightforward than that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jman136
Have any of you ever had issues with the HOA? If so, for what? What do I do at this point? Will they harass us more because we are renting? I would think the property management would have that information on file. I'm probably over thinking this, but I am just waiting to get some kind of letter or something. I would really appreciate your help, thoughts, etc.
What do you do at this point? You follow the rules and bylaws to a T, that is what you do. You are not the owner of the condo. You can be evicted by the condo owner if they find out that you are not in compliance. You can fight it all you want that 'others' are not following the bylaws but it doesn't mean you will continue to have a roof over your head so I suggest you pick your battles very carefully.
I would just chill. If something is wrong, your landlord will advise you and you can make plans then. I have lived and owned in many HOA communities and there are typically some non-conforming issues that are never addressed by the HOA. You really cannot predict what the Board will and will not address as far as violations.
There are condos in HOAs where the owner landlord really wants little to do with the condo...doesn't even think about giving the tenant the bylaws. Owners can sometimes abdicate too much responsibility to the management/board. Lately, I encountered a single family home buyer who came to settlement with no insurance, in spite of being reminded to get it. She was just positive "the hoa office" would take care of her insurance. "The office" didn't even know her name, having given docs to the seller.
So, what was the reason for the change in mgt? Maybe a few more proactive residents thought the place was going down hill a bit and needed tightening up.
Maybe residents weren't able to sell with the financing their buyers wanted because the HOA lost their eligibility for that type of loan because the reserves were not in order, repairs were not kept up, there were too many rental units, there were a lot of short term rentals...maybe even airbnbs.
Or maybe the new management is just coming down heavy handed.
Or maybe the new management is assigning their responsibilities to residents. Or some residents are coming out of the woodwork thinking they are helping.
In the case of the woman you haven't seen in three years, if others with time on their hands feel appreciated by a manager who gets them on his side by saying he needs their help and these people are eager to have a job to do, I have seen what will happen is they'll get all mixed up and describe their renter statistics by the person's appearance or "oh, you know, the one who smokes that strong smelling stuff and throws it down and puts it out right in our grass" or "the one with that big cat that doesn't like us" .
Expect a few to ask if you rent and expect to be counted several times so that the tenants are way more than they actually are.
What city do you live in? City laws overrule HOA bylaws. I had 7 dogs. 3 were work dogs. My HOA couldn't enforce their 2 dog rule since my city had a 4 dog rule. My max was 17 for two weeks during an emergency.
What city do you live in? City laws overrule HOA bylaws. I had 7 dogs. 3 were work dogs. My HOA couldn't enforce their 2 dog rule since my city had a 4 dog rule. My max was 17 for two weeks during an emergency.
I never heard of this, hope it's true.
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But, in all seriousness, it is your dog fight so do what you feel necessary and get the proper credentials and correspondence for a service dog. However, you shouldn't be playing games when it comes to SAs and/or ESAs. Either you need it or you don't. Using your reasoning for it sounds more like you are playing games with it.
