Wednesday, March 05, 2008

HOA's And Good Times

I live in a townhouse complex managed by an HOA. I can totally see the benefits of having an HOA to keep the peace when so many people are living close together, and it's kinda nice to have gardeners and maintenances men take care of things around here (although I still really want my own dirt in which to grow stuff). Generally things go really smoothly and I've had little to complain about in the last 4 years.... until now.

I've sent emails and have left voice mail messages about a relatively simple issue and I just want a response. Sure, I'd like an answer and someone to fix the issues, but please be professional and give me a call back that you received my message and are looking into it, or point me to the right place if you (our property manager) are not the one to handle such issues (which you are). Our previous 2 property managers were AWESOME, so perhaps I have been spoiled for the last few years. But seeing as I sent the first email and left the first voice mail about this one issue starting last OCTOBER, and have since emailed and called, even talked to the old manager who assured me I was contacting the new manager correctly, and still... nadda.

And then today, Eric's work partner and good friend parked his truck in a guest parking spot while they went to go work on a landscape installation. The only rules for these spots is that they are for guests (which I would consider him to be), and you can only park there for up to 72 hours. Well, considering he got here at 8am, I do not consider it proper for him to get a towing notice at 10:31am. Plus, the freakin' towing warning sticker was put ON THE PAINT, and is very sticky and has now left sticky goo and sticker paper residue on his car. AND... there were only 2 cars taking up the 8 spots and both of them got these stupid stickers on them, so it's not like someone should have called to complain.

Ok, I realize I'm sounding all bitchy and whiny, but I am not going to live in an HOA controlled neighborhood again if I can help it. My irritation with living with HOA's goes beyond these 2 gripes but MAN they have put me in a mood!

3 comments:

Gina said...

A good HOA can be great, but even a slightly bad one can be a nightmare, I agree.

J said...

Who puts the stickers on the cars? I think I would have words with that person. Grrr.

Ted said...

HOAs are little city-states. The can be really frustrating places to live, but if they are small (like the one we live in) the response time for requests and the like is very short. Plus, you generally know all of your neighbors. But your complex is huge! So, I can see how annoying it can be when things like what you chronicled happened.