HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - April 14, 2023
Published: Fri, 04/14/23
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HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - April 14, 2023
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In this week's tip, we cover the latest corporation to take aim at the hard-working and dedicated volunteers who oversee condo and HOA communities.
First it was HOA Cynthia, a Geico ad poking fun at an HOA president who was all up in her neighbors' business. We can't find that original video on any of Geico's online channels, but you can watch it here.
Now it's Motor Trend that's making hay out of a Florida HOA. The HOA is crying foul over the size of an owner's new truck, which happens to be Motor Trend's 2022 truck of the year: Rivian's R1T. The HOA says its governing documents require the owner's truck to be parked in the garage—where we're guessing it doesn't fit.
According to Motor Trend:
"Now, it's pretty obvious to us, as we're sure it is to you, that this HOA rule is meant to prevent big, ugly commercial vehicles from cluttering up the neighborhood.…But Gordon's Rivian is not ugly, it's not particularly big, and it's certainly not commercial. The R1T, like millions of other pickup trucks, is a personal-use vehicle, and at $100,000 a rather upscale one at that."
Considering that the top three models in a recent list of best-selling "cars" in the country are pickups, HOAs seem to be on a collision course with truck owners.
Our experts are indeed seeing more trucks cruising into owners' drives, and they're concerned about conflicts with community rules and, frankly, safety.
"We have communities where extended-bed pickups won't fit in the garage," reports Michael Crew, CEO of Alpharetta, Ga.-based Homeowner Management Services Inc., who has been in the community management profession for 30 years and whose firm represents more than 200 associations in metro Atlanta. "You can't have the tail end sticking out. That won't work. One guy tried to modify his garage to allow his truck to fit in. These have been a battle for years."
They're also causing tension in communities advised by Robin Strohm, CCAL, a partner at Williams & Strohm LLC in Columbus, Ohio, who has represented condos and HOAs throughout Ohio for nearly 20 years. "I see trucks as a challenge where parking is already tight," she says. "In Columbus, the code is that parking spaces have to be 9 feet by 18 feet long.
"We've had people who've come in with trucks, monster trucks, and 'duallys,'" she says. "Those are large widthwise, and they make it harder for the person parking next to you. It's a big market for pickup trucks, and when you get the larger ones in your communities, it's an issue."
Are you steering toward conflict with your parking rules? Read more in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/4684.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Why Board Members' Loose Lips Can Sink Condo/HOA Litigation Ships [HOAleader.com Video]
In this week's tip, we help an HOAleader.com reader navigate the treacherous path board members often tread between transparency and protecting confidential information...
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https://www.hoaleader.com/members/What-Transparency-Means-When-Owner-Sues-Your-CondoHOA-HOAleadercom-Video.cfm
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Condo Owner's Son Is a Dangerous Menace: What the Board Can Do
In this week's tip, we answer an HOAleader.com reader's question that's essentially a no-win for an association. What can and should the board do to stop an adult child of owners who's harassing, threatening, drunk, and drives without a license?...
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https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Condo-Owners-Son-Dangerous-Menace-What-Board-Can-Do.cfm
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Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/Solutions-for-Community-Dangerously-Disrupted-by-Adult-Child-Owners.cfm
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Is There a Condo/HOA Housekeeping or Recordkeeping Lesson in This Tale of Woe?
It seems an HOA in Ohio just stopped operating as an HOA, or never operated as one. The result is: Poof! Just like that, their parking lot is no longer their parking lot. The 80 townhome and condo owners in the Smokey Ridge Estates are now in a dispute with the purchaser of the lot, who's demanding they cough up monthly fees to pay for spots that were supposedly part of the development...
Click here for more:
https://www.hoaleader.com/members/There-CondoHOA-Housekeeping-or-Recordkeeping-Lesson-in-This-Tale-Woe.cfm
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