HOA Legi-Slate

In the July/August 2010 edition of Common Ground magazine, vehicles that don’t fit in garages were discussed.  Numerous communities here in Colorado, mostly those formed in the early 80’s, prohibit pickup trucks and many other declarations require all vehicles to be parked in the garage.

A Florida association faced this all too common scenario. Mr. Vizzi drives a Ford F350 which won’t fit in his garage. The association fined him and eventually sued in 2006. The association lost with the court ruling that the associations rule was “utterly unreasonable.” An appeals court upheld the decision and the association was ordered to pay approximately $200,000 in attorney fees.

The courts were not persuaded by the fact that the association had attempted to repeal the ban on pickups, nor that the board had a duty to enforce the restrictions. While this could be a rogue decision by a rogue court, it is certainly reflective of the continued scrutiny of community association boards and their reasonableness.

Good for him. Some HOA's just get too far out of hand.

Every one of our 190 townhomes has a built-in two-car garage. Our Covenants prohibit any resident from parking anything in our complex except in the respective garage. We enforce that diligently and uniformly, and would probably "take our chances" that no Colo. court would overrule us on this -- but one never knows.
Steve Susman, Pelican Pointe HOA, Denver.

I am president of our Master Association and we have determined that we have no authority over any vehichle parked on a public street.

I don't think that's "good for him" since the guy drives a living room on wheels. If you own something so big it doesn't even fit in a garage it should be parked on a public street or fined for not conforming to the HOA's rules. It's a legal ruling that has the potential to open a "whole nother can of worms". Live within the communitys guidelines or live somewhere else.

I have always felt that a total ban on pick-ups was unjust, but if that is in the covenants, the law requires that it be enforced. However, I'd be willing to bet that most HOAs have steered away from this problem by amending the decs. However, if the covenants say that all vehicles MUST be parked inside garages, and that is consensus of what the homeowners want for their community, then that restriction should be enforced.

I have always felt that vehicles present too much opportunity for contention, and that the edge should be taken off by keeping in mind that most residents just want to live their lives in peace without being harassed. For this reason, I have always advised my boards to allow trucks and vans up to a certain size. In my thinking, any vehicle that is too large to fit into a standard-size parking space should not be allowed, except on a temporary (loading) basis.

Keep in mind, too, that, in some places, street parking is prohibited altogether. That is the case where my sister lives in Florida, so people started parking in their front yards. Then the city passed a law making it illegal to park on a landscaped surface, so people started paving their yards. Then the city passed a law saying that only-a-certain percentage of the front lawn could be paved. So people moved their fences up to make their back yards larger, and put in gates. Then the city passed a law saying that each homesite could have x-number of linear feet of fencing. It all seems a little childish now, doesn't it? Especially when the complex may be in need of siding, roofs, new sewer lines, etc. My opinion is that this is where the board should be directing its attention.

I'd be willing to bet that most managers think as I do, because, as a group, we tend to be a little more practical and use common sense. That's what our associations expect of us.

Sorry Steve and Dave. If the thoroughfares in your HOA "neighborhoods" are public, you'd probably face a defeat like the case from Florida.

1) I personally hate pickups and SUVs but I can't imaging trying to dictate what someone can or cannot drive and park at their home -- within reason. I believe a prohibition of motor homes and trailers is enforcable, due to most local ordinances.

2. Community guidelines need to keep up with the times. What may have sounded entirely reasonable thirty years ago may be entirely unreasonable today as situations and circumstances, not to mention generally accepted standards, may have changed.

3. Any situation that pits an overbearing HOA board against their own neighbors is likely to end up -- unpleasantly -- in court, and that is not a winning situation regardless of who prevails.

Courts may well apply standards of "reasonableness" and if your HOA is deemed unreasonable as in the Florida case, you stand to lose big time.

HOA's can certainly get out of hand but I'm disappointed with this outcome.

Trucks the size of a Ford F-350 are not only eyesores that lower property values but they pose a safety hazard by obstructing drivers' views. By the time most children are old enough to run through the streets, they are tall enough to be seen over/through a sedan. An pickup truck that size is like a big wall that kids don't think twice about running out from behind and other cars cannot be seen approaching from behind.

Finding a place that doesn't have an HOA these days is getting harder. Telling someone they can't drive a truck (and saying you can't park it at your own home may as well be the same thing) is totally unreasonable and thank heavens the Florida court agreed.
Now that poor HOA in Florida was between a rock and a hard place because the community prevented them from repealing the rule (so they were obligated to enforce it) even though the rule was absurd. The missing detail was whether the attempt to repeal the rule was a meaningful effort, or a weak attempt to justify their position. Either way, everyone that lived there (including the guy with the truck) lost because they’re all paying the HOA to pay the lawyers. The only winners were the legal counsel, who should be liable for negligence for agreeing to represent them in defense of such an absurd rule.
I think that HOA’s should be dealing with roofs, painting and infrastructure repairs and not trying to regulate people’s lives (like whether they drive “a living room on wheels”). If the only concern was the physical property and not the overbearing control of appearances that HOA would have new paint, shingles and a beautiful green lawn, but instead they bought their lawyer a really nice boat. Yay for them!

I am just happy to get all of our assessment fees in on time.

Our Declaration does not allow residents to park on the street and they have to park in the garage. We do not enforce this restriction.

If the truck becomes a safety hazard for our children and pets, then I believe something should be done about it.

But if the truck is not causing a problem when it comes to safety, why waste the HOA's fees on enforcing a law when the fees can be used to improve the HOA community.

Maybe because we can, but who does it really hurt.

I know our community could not afford $200,000.00 in lawyer fees.