anotherbrother Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 I just received another (one) of many letters from our management company. This time they are complaining that our 6 month old puppy barks too much. He almost never barks while in the house and he's only ever walked on a leash away from our property. He does bark when he sees another dog and sometimes other people, but we do always try to stop him. It feels like the entire board has it out for us. We live in a community with 28 units. There are not many kids, and at three we certainly have the most. We also have two dogs, both fairly small. Of course we are the only family that homeschools. It seems as if they have no desire to address all of the other people that are being "offensive". The people at the very end have loud parties and many cars. The neighbor across from us has two many cars of the property. One lady on the board has a hideous green porch light that she keeps on all year longs, the people next to her have to dogs that have been left outside all night barking. A neighbor behind us has a son who plays the drums and some other instrument. No less that six people regularly park their cars in guest spaces. Best of all the president of the HOA who lives next door to us leaves her garage door cracked open while she's smoking pot. We live in a very nice community with lots of families, why is this happening in our development? We had just gotten in the door from a nice family day, only to see this letter. I'm so tired of feeling like I can't live in my own home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I got a letter from our condo association once, about my barking dog bothering the neighbors (multiple complaints, yadda, yadda)... I left a very nice message explaining that if my cat was barking, I had larger issues than the neighbors being disturbed. :lol: Perhaps you should write a letter back, explaining your puppy is a drug sniffing dog and it would probably be better for everyone if the HOA president next door smoked her pot outside the community. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherbrother Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 I got a letter from our condo association once, about my barking dog bothering the neighbors (multiple complaints, yadda, yadda)... I left a very nice message explaining that if my cat was barking, I had larger issues than the neighbors being disturbed. :lol: Perhaps you should write a letter back, explaining your puppy is a drug sniffing dog and it would probably be better for everyone if the HOA president next door smoked her pot outside the community. :D Thank You! I really needed a laugh right now. My husband especially like the part about the drug sniffing dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cin Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Get one of these for your dog. I HATE HOAs. We lived in a condo with one. I got a letter complaining about the mop I left out on the deck for *2* days. To dry. When we moved, we passed up a TON of nice houses because of the HOA stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 (edited) We had a condo neighbor who was the WORST. Our condos all had either a small deck or an enclosed porch. We had a deck. She called the police on us twice while we were on our own deck. (Not attached to anyone else!!) The first time, I was sitting on DH's lap and we were reading a text book together. The cop came around our condo and asked, "What are you doing?" We replied, "Reading." And he told us to carry on. The next time, I was breastfeeding my daughter. Discretely. When I saw the cop come around the corner of our condo that time, I decided to not be so discrete. The cop saw me, came over and cooed at the baby and told me she had nursed her son for 5 years. It was amazing how much I needed to BF DD on our deck after that and how very much of my bOOk was exposed each time. I almost got hypothermia out there one November. :D Edited September 25, 2011 by Jennifer3141 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimm Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 The next time, I was breastfeeding my daughter. Discretely. When I saw the cop come around the corner of our condo that time, I decided to not be so discrete. The cop saw me, came over and cooed at the baby and told me she had nursed her son for 5 years. It was amazing how much I needed to BF DD on our deck after that and how very much of my bOOk was exposed each time. I almost got hypothermia out there one November. :D This made me laugh! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 These stories are making me feel much better about our HOA, too! I detest our HOA. We got the barking dog letter a few weeks ago. I was almost in tears, feeling like they are just out to get us, so I know the feeling. Then we thought about it... our dogs stay inside and rarely bark when they are out. The only reason they bark is to either come inside (one quick bark at the door), or if someone is standing at our back fence. The new HOA president takes a nightly stroll behind the houses, and I think our dogs bark at him when he's behind our fence. Hmmmm, sounds like our dogs are doing their job! Regardless, we always call them inside if they bark, but still - sounds like the HOA pres doesn't want his nightly walk announced. Blech. HOAs. You're not alone. Bark collars for all! (Kind of wish we could get a bark collar for the new HOA pres... oops! Did I say that out loud??) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I got a letter from our condo association once, about my barking dog bothering the neighbors (multiple complaints, yadda, yadda)... I left a very nice message explaining that if my cat was barking, I had larger issues than the neighbors being disturbed. :lol: Perhaps you should write a letter back, explaining your puppy is a drug sniffing dog and it would probably be better for everyone if the HOA president next door smoked her pot outside the community. :D I LOVE this!!! "He's a drug-sniffing dog in training. It's important that he socialize with a family and that we NOT encourage him to stop barking altogether. It's for the greater good." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zookeeper Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 These stories are making me feel much better about our HOA, too! I detest our HOA. We got the barking dog letter a few weeks ago. I was almost in tears, feeling like they are just out to get us, so I know the feeling. Then we thought about it... our dogs stay inside and rarely bark when they are out. The only reason they bark is to either come inside (one quick bark at the door), or if someone is standing at our back fence. The new HOA president takes a nightly stroll behind the houses, and I think our dogs bark at him when he's behind our fence. Hmmmm, sounds like our dogs are doing their job! Regardless, we always call them inside if they bark, but still - sounds like the HOA pres doesn't want his nightly walk announced. Blech. HOAs. You're not alone. Bark collars for all! (Kind of wish we could get a bark collar for the new HOA pres... oops! Did I say that out loud??) The president of our old HOA used to do this too. We always called her the "Gestapo" when we'd see her out. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherbrother Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 Keep the stories coming, it's so helpful to hear others experiences and problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara in Colo Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 In my early 20's, I lived in a condo. I was on the second floor facing a field. I had a deck on the first floor of my unit (2 floor off the ground). I waited tables so sleeping til 9:00 am was normal. The HOA was always sending in repair/maint people without telling anyone. One day I came downstairs in my nightshirt, and there was a painter ON MY DECK (I often kept the drapes open siince I faced a field and you needed a 20 foot ladder to get on the deck). I screeched and ran upstairs and called the HOA. They told me I shouldn't run around in MY OWN HOME in my altogether. Really???? At the HOA meeting I told the story about the insensitive JERK on the phone. The man running the meeting said he was the jerk---I said.."yes you are". My other HOA story is from our last house. We asked to add grass to the yard and was given permission. During the work (all the xeriscaping was already pulled out and just dirt was left) the next door neighbor complained to the HOA; we were told to stop until the next meeting (30 days later)so the neighbor could voice her opinion. By that time the city was in a drought and we couldn't add new grass. The for-sale sign went up the next day. The only requirement for the new house was no HOA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socalmom Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 We got reported for having an illegal sign in our yard. It was a stork sign that a friend got for us announcing the birth of our younger dd. Our daughter was in the NICU because she was born early with breathing problems. My DH is on the board now and the current members are all pretty sane. Most of the time the complainers are only a small minority of the neighborhood that seem to have too much time on their hands. I heard there was someone in our neighborhood that used to complain that there were too many snails on someone's house. I hope to move someday and no HOA will be at the top of my list of requirements. Margie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SewingMom2many Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I didn't used to mind our HOA until they recently started looking for problems. In the past they would only send a letter if there were complaints but now someone drives around looking for rules that have been broken and takes pictures of any infractions. The person who takes these pictures is apparently not very good with remembering which address goes with which picture though. We recently got a picture of someone else's trash cans that were put out to the curb <gasp> 3 hours early! Thankfully they recently changed that rule and you can now put your trash out as early as 6 p.m. We have lots of silly rules out here. We are hoping to move in a couple of years to get away from the HOA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photo Ninja Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Our HOA is messed up because of a few people who are masters at being busybodies, liars, and who appear to consider the neighborhood to be their own personal kingdom. Honestly, if our HOA were a reality show it would fail because it would be too unbelievable. Never again do I want to live anywhere with an HOA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherbrother Posted September 25, 2011 Author Share Posted September 25, 2011 My biggest issue with the letter, besides the fact that I don't think we're particularly guilty, is that it says they can require us to get rid of our dog if the problem persists. I'd like him to stop barking just as much as everyone else, but is 15 seconds at a time a few times a day, really a problem? In reality I don't think it would happen, because in order to enforce that, they would also have to enforce the rules for all of the other offenders. I'm thinking of becoming a super sleuth and sneeking around in the dark to document the other neighborhood offences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I got a letter from our condo association once, about my barking dog bothering the neighbors (multiple complaints, yadda, yadda)... I left a very nice message explaining that if my cat was barking, I had larger issues than the neighbors being disturbed. :lol: Perhaps you should write a letter back, explaining your puppy is a drug sniffing dog and it would probably be better for everyone if the HOA president next door smoked her pot outside the community. :D Whoa, It's like you read my mind man! :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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