Question about cops and for those who live in Association communities

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I like Texas. With the exception of a few places people are friendly, yet mind their own business. "Mind not what someone else is doing on their own property," is the 11th Commandment. Occasionally someone moves in who hasn't learned it, but it isn't long before someone teaches them. Often it is the police who do the teaching.

I have heard tales of Austin, though.
 
That's called Official Oppression, and its something that cops do get in trouble for.

If you're having problems with local cops, you should protect yourself. Put some signs out saying "By entering this property, you voluntarily submit to audio & video surveillance". Get similar stickers made for your car and put it in the window. Then get a surveillance system and carry an audio recording device. As soon as you get a whiff of Official Oppression, contact the state attorney generals office.

I wish I could affors it. this guy has been a thorn in my side for 25 years. He started it,& it spread from him by his own admission. gotta love mayberry...
 
When I lived in Georgia, one of the houses in our subdivision was for sale. It wasn't well kept up at the time, and clearly needed some TLC. The folks that bought it were very nice, and we used to hang out in the evenings over a few adult beverages. They took excellent care of the place, did beautiful landscape work, etc.

The wife, after a couple of glasses [bottles?] of wine told us "You know, we only bought that place because we saw how bad the yard looked. We figured that if the HOA let them keep a yard like that, they wouldn't be Nazis about approving all the improvements we wanted to make."

I took a lesson from that. Now I live in Laguna Hills, CA, and again where I live has an HOA. But when driving through the neighborhood before buying the place, I noticed a couple of things:

1) A lot of open garage doors at random times during the day.
2) No uniformity of landscaping/etc.
3) A lot of pickup trucks.

I said to myself, "I can live here." I brew in the garage, facing the street. No hassles so far in 2 1/2 years. In fact, it's been the route by which I've met most of my neighbors! :)

Long story short: F*** Irvine.
 
I live in CA in the LA area but it's pretty laid back here. I had the cops show up but they were just driving by and wanted to see what was going on on my driveway, when they found out I was brewing they asked a lot of questions about the process and how much was legal to brew (I have a 1bbl system). I asked if they wanted to try some and they said "not while on duty". I poured a tiny bit in a cup and they passed that around, then tried another, and another.....

I made sure I bought into a non HOA neighborhood, my neighbors all know each other on our street and if there is an issue they say something. They don't call the cops because most of them are cops......
 
I was under the impression you didn't have to sign the hoa papers when you bought a house my buddy bought one in a hoa area and refused to sign the paper
 
I was under the impression you didn't have to sign the hoa papers when you bought a house my buddy bought one in a hoa area and refused to sign the paper

You have to pay the fees or they will put a lien on your house, when you make the payment you are agreeing to the terms.
 
I was under the impression you didn't have to sign the hoa papers when you bought a house my buddy bought one in a hoa area and refused to sign the paper

It probably varies by state, but I doubt that. Refusing to sign the papers would kind of defeat the purpose of a HOA.
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
It probably varies by state, but I doubt that. Refusing to sign the papers would kind of defeat the purpose of a HOA.

Yeah it would i moved into a development that tried to have one 10 years ago all the neighbors got together and refused to pay and it went away lol
 
I know the PRK from names like Leland Yee, and Dianne Feinstein, and Barbara Boxer, and Jerry Brown. I know the PRK from issues like Sanctuary Cities, and lawsuits over the smell of bacon.

I know the state realistically should be cut into two or more states.

I know that even though it is a beautiful place, I would never live there.

Wow, you know it all I guess.

Did you know that your state BURDENS federal resources to the tune of $603 per capita while my state PADS federal resources to the tune of $1466 per resident?

So tired. It's rampant and it's ignorant. The vast majority of those who are uber quick with the "Kaliforniastan" quips, are living in states that ironically are on the dole from the federal government..where the coffers are lined with California dollars.

PS, glad you're not planning a move here. The line for Pliny the Younger is already too long.
 
Man.....I could never deal with a HOA no matter what the state. I'd be in jail after the first snooty, nosey, sob walked on to my property and told me what I could and couldn't do with it (within the real law of course).

Buy 6 speedo's and then stop at the local home depot and pick up 6 of the fattest day workers you can find. Then have them bending over weeding your lawn all day Sunday.
 
I live in one of the largest HOAs in America. Yeah I got a nasty letter last year after being on vacation for 2 weeks when the sprinkler reset and the yard started to die. Watered the grass and all was good. Right now the average days a house is on the market before selling is 20. I refinanced in Jan after 1.5 years in the house and the appraisal was up 23% from when I bought. How is the realestate market in the non HOA neighborhoods? I talk to my neighbors on a regular basis and the like my BBQ and my beer so no complaints. Had an issue when I first moved in with the guy behind me cranking up Rush Limbaugh during the day while he was working in his garden and I was trying to work. Talked to him about it, now he cuts it down and gives me free veggies. It's not perfect, but I'll take the HOA over the guy next door who's house is falling in and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. But then again, as I said I talk to and know my neighbors
 
I was under the impression you didn't have to sign the hoa papers when you bought a house my buddy bought one in a hoa area and refused to sign the paper

HOAs are normally created by deed restriction and one has no choice whatsoever when purchasing the property. The recorded covenants effectively encumber the property and you may not opt out.
 
After some reporting on this thread, I read through it and was dismayed to find that folks who wanted to make a political point had taken it over. I'm not going to spend the time to go back over 11 pages to prune out the nonsense, so the thread is closed.

A reminder that no one here at this forum about brewing cares about your political opinions and they are not appropriate for the general forums. I'm disappointed in this behavior. If you must post your political rants, do so in the place that's been provided - the debate forum.

Think of it as a matter of respect - we have tens of thousands of members at HBT, approximately half will disagree with you politically. So, if you want to treat half of the members of HBT with respect, you won't try to shove your political ideology and agenda down their throats.
 
Another moderator did take the time to weed out the political nonsense - thank you, PassedPawn. So, I'm opening the thread back up. But if there is a whiff of political posting here, it will be closed again and there will be consequences for the offenders.
 
As for myself,i did post my brewing concerns in regard to the local HOA. My oppologies for getting off on rants. I at least got them to understand that brewing at home is a fun pasttime & completely legal.
 
Did the op ever get the info he needed?

I would call the local fd. Here the fd/police can only make you put out your grill/ fryer within 10 ft of structure if you rent the property. I.e. apartments. But, and this is a big but, i live in north carolina.
 
Hoa=headache. I live in Fl and everything is a HOA. My car was blocking about 5" of side walk and they towed it. I sued them and eventually won. They have rules about towing when left over night on street but there are no rules about side walk. Anyway, I donate all the money (tow + attorney fees). In the end still costed me $ and was a PIA.
 
To the OP, this kind of crap really makes my blood boil.
I am the Pres of my HOA here in Fullerton.
As far as the local PD, they can pound sand, you are doing nothing illlegal, tell them your neighbor is smoking weed 24/7. They can look into that.
As far as your CCR's, you are good. I see nothing that constitutes a "nuisance"
If your HOA is flush with cash, and likes to screw with people for the little things tell them to go head on. If they want to fine you for some imagined infraction, then let them do so. You have the right to Arbitration. That is where you tell your HOA you want a sit down face to face. They have to tell you their justification for fining you.
Believe me, they do not like this. Someone on the board of directors and your management company has to take time off work, at YOUR convienience, show up, and face you. When you request arbitration I guarantee you, 99% of the time the HOA will just ignore you and your supposed infraction of the rules goes to the moon.
Continue brewing, get to know your board of directors, and if you have any problems shoot me a PM
 
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same...


You could probably grow weed with less hassle. Sorry for your troubles, though.
 
So we brewed Friday early evening with no issues. We moved the entire brew stand outside the garage and made it a point to say hello to all our neighbors that walked by. Everyone was very polite and supportive of us brewing beer. I will keep you guys posted on our brewing sessions as they come and if we continue to have anymore issues.
 
I have read this thread and have an observation or two.

Disregard the "screw the HOA" advice from the Internet Tough Guys and Sea Lawyers. Take the advice of the real lawyer posting in this thread. HOAs are much more powerful than most of us think they are. If they fine you and you blow off the fine and they put a lean on your property you will find out how much of a hassle that can be when you go to sell your home. In the end, you'll probably pay them...

Your best bet is to find a way to work with them. (and it looks as if you did)
 
I don't recall having seen a copy of his declaration posted. NO way of knowing this without having read the restrictions themselves.
Ok, to clarify, I have not seen the OP's CC&R. I am assuming there is a nuisance clause in there somewhere, always is. What I was saying is that from my experience of being on HOA boards for many years, I cannot see where doing something completely legal would be considered a nuisance. I have seen HOA boards get their butts in some pretty bad situations because of over zealousness in enforcing rules, real and imagined.
You cannot just pick a association members name out of a hat and say "It's your turn in the barrel". The HOA better have all it's ducks in a row when it decides to go after someone for some "perceived" infractions of rules.
This is where a good management company comes in, they look at all the legalities, liabilities and $$ it will cost the association and will advise HOA boards on whether or not it is wise to take action.
Like I said earlier, any fine for infraction you receive automatically entitles you to appeal thru arbitration. It is California law.
In my HOA, you have to be a real work of art to receive any kind of correspondence from the association, we like for neighbors to work out their differences before it gets that far.
Whenever my board receives a letter requesting an appeal, we just write it off and drop the subject. The person requesting the appeal has usually gotten the message and cleaned his act up by that point.
 
Ok, to clarify, I have not seen the OP's CC&R. I am assuming there is a nuisance clause in there somewhere, always is. What I was saying is that from my experience of being on HOA boards for many years, I cannot see where doing something completely legal would be considered a nuisance. I have seen HOA boards get their butts in some pretty bad situations because of over zealousness in enforcing rules, real and imagined.
You cannot just pick a association members name out of a hat and say "It's your turn in the barrel". The HOA better have all it's ducks in a row when it decides to go after someone for some "perceived" infractions of rules.
This is where a good management company comes in, they look at all the legalities, liabilities and $$ it will cost the association and will advise HOA boards on whether or not it is wise to take action.
Like I said earlier, any fine for infraction you receive automatically entitles you to appeal thru arbitration. It is California law.
In my HOA, you have to be a real work of art to receive any kind of correspondence from the association, we like for neighbors to work out their differences before it gets that far.
Whenever my board receives a letter requesting an appeal, we just write it off and drop the subject. The person requesting the appeal has usually gotten the message and cleaned his act up by that point.

Yeah but yhe OP said he was brewing in the garage, that is against the national fire code, and therefore is a nuisance
 
update..

we have not heard anything else from our HOA in regards to us brewing. We have moved the entire setup outside of our garage and have decided to brew in the evening to avoid any issues with our neighbors. For those neighbors who do walk by we have made it a point to be super friendly and talk with them on a personal level. (everyone in the community has been amazing when we do this) Its been working out great but the only thing that sucks about starting in the evening is that we usually dont get to bed now until 2-3am..haha we are just trying to adapt to our situation so we can continue to brew our test batches for the new brewery...

On a side note--our garden plot is going well and once we get moved over to a large plot we will begin to grow hops....cant wait for this..everyone who we met who in the community garden in our HOA have been amazing generally laid back.. i guess this is where all the cool people hang out in Irvine..haha
 
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