Colorado HOA calls cops on kids’ lemonade stand to get ‘illegal’ operation shut down

jeffw@lemmy.worldmod to News@lemmy.world – 367 points –
Colorado HOA calls cops on kids’ lemonade stand to get ‘illegal’ operation shut down
independent.co.uk
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Run for your local HOA to dismantle and disband it if you have one. Make it your platform and every person who's ever gotten a petty ticket from a nosy nobody will vote for you.

This right here is the answer. HOAs usually have fairly complicated rules, but they're absolutely are and are required to be bylaws that dictate the operation of the HOA, how board members are elected, what responsibility is the HOA has to the residents, etc. A big part of why HOAs get out of control is because the only people who bother to serve on their boards are the busybodies you least want in charge of your HOA. So simple solution, run and get yourself and your friends elected. Then then when you have power over the HOA, push through a bylaw amendment that significantly restricts the HOA's authority and makes it very difficult to get it back. IE, The HOA may not create any new rule or regulation or penalty governing what people do on their private property without an in-person vote at a meeting where at least 90% of the residents personally show up and vote yes, however the president or board may remove any such regulations or penalties at will.

Or if you have support, just push through a charter amendment that says the HOA ceases to exist on some specific date and releases all CC&Rs for all governed properties.

This right here.

Figure out how to get elected. Get elected under the 'if you don't like the way the HOA is run, vote for me, my friend, and their friend!’ platform, and then change the fucking rulebook to your liking.

Exactly. Busybody assholes always end up in charge of HOAs because they're the only ones who bother to vote and go to meetings. HOA starts as a quiet little thing that just prevents the most egregious stuff, and ends up as intrusive because of it. Unless the majority of your neighborhood is that kind of people, or is buddy buddy with the people who take over, it's real easy to take power back a lot of the time.

I'm on my local strata council and from the earliest meetings discovered my nemesis who is there for exactly the opposite purpose of me. I want a permissive atmosphere that doesn't look for trouble and only responds to actual problems instead of nitpicking to create unnecessary trouble.

My nemesis, on the other hand, is somebody who I believe can only get an erection by covertly causing another human being frustration and torment. By getting myself on council he cannot get rid of me nor can he use his power to abuse me. I have a small but dedicated power base that hates this guy and they all give me their proxy votes at the AGM specifically because I am supposed to sit on him and keep him down as much as possible. If I ever move than someone else will need to take over the job of sitting on him so he doesn't think he has power.

Sounds exhausting. I would give my vote to you though, were I apart of that HOA. Good luck!

In this area there’s a HOA but most of the people who live here are renters and don’t get a say. This leads to strange regulations that are sometimes impossible to follow.