Man spends nearly $200,000 to win right to park truck in his own driveway
07-29-10, 07:31 PM
#1
Man spends nearly $200,000 to win right to park truck in his own driveway
Man spends nearly $200,000 to win right to park truck in his own driveway
Beware of the home owner's association. Considered this country's most basic, ruthless unit of government, HOAs are typically organized and manned by retirees with little better to do than tell you what to do with your property – something A.J. Vizzi recently learned the hard way. When Vizzi purchased his home in Odessa, Florida, he was told he would be allowed to park his Ford F-350 Super Duty in his home's driveway, even though the neighborhood's rules forbade keeping vehicles anywhere other than the garage. The truck didn't fit in the home's garage.
The local HOA soon changed its mind, and before long a lawsuit ensued. In 2008, a judge ruled in Vizzi's favor, but the association quickly appealed the decision. In March, a second judge sided with Vizzi, and the courts awarded him $187,000 in legal fees to be paid by the HOA. In total, the association claims that the ordeal has cost over $300,000, including the cash it now has to pay to Vizzi.
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/29/m...ck-in-his-own/
(inside joke)
07-29-10, 07:54 PM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
HOA's do have the authority to regulate parking (and vehicle size) in common-property areas (I live in a condo-townhouse development myself). In our development, they forbid trucks over a certain size and weight, unless they are there temporarily for commercial or buisness reasons.
This is a rather misleading statement. HOA's, by many state laws, are REQUIRED to determine how the common-area property will be used and governed....that is their job.
And, in my state at least, the Board members are elected by the homeowners themselves at annual meetings.
Another thing.....that guy may have won a big settlement in court, but he is probably going to be Personna-Non-Grata with many of his neighbors. The $187,000 due him doesn't grow on trees......it will either come out of the Board's operating reserves or from the Association's own liability-insurance company. That money will have to be replaced, and, of course, that will probably mean higher monthly condo-fees for all of the association's homeowners......due to his lawsuits, and the settlement. His truck, because of this, could also be the target of vandalism from angry neighbors......when people get hit in their wallets, they can get mad.
HOAs are typically organized and manned by retirees with little better to do than tell you what to do with your property
And, in my state at least, the Board members are elected by the homeowners themselves at annual meetings.
Another thing.....that guy may have won a big settlement in court, but he is probably going to be Personna-Non-Grata with many of his neighbors. The $187,000 due him doesn't grow on trees......it will either come out of the Board's operating reserves or from the Association's own liability-insurance company. That money will have to be replaced, and, of course, that will probably mean higher monthly condo-fees for all of the association's homeowners......due to his lawsuits, and the settlement. His truck, because of this, could also be the target of vandalism from angry neighbors......when people get hit in their wallets, they can get mad.
Last edited by mmarshall; 07-29-10 at 08:22 PM.
07-29-10, 07:57 PM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
That's true, J.P., but those monthly condo-fees also save you from doing (and buying) a lot of things outside the house yourself....and it also covers some utilities and things like trash pickup, snow-plowing, yard work, swimming-pool maintenance, etc...
That's why condo-living has become so popular, especially with singles.
Also, as far as "dropping tons of cash" on your home, condos, in general, for several reasons, are less-expensive than single-family homes. And you, for example, live in MI, where land is generally much cheaper than in the big-money D.C. suburbs here. In this area, you pay through the nose for land because of growth and demand. Same in some other places, like SoCal.
Last edited by mmarshall; 07-29-10 at 08:19 PM.
07-29-10, 10:12 PM
#7
Out of Warranty
HOA's are often run by the developer, and while they may not technically have a vote in proceedings after all units have been sold, they often have a great deal to do with the contracts set up for maintenance, landscaping, pool service, etc. Most of these pay kickbacks to the developer for pasting them into this sweet deal. Even worse are the HOA's run by a bunch of amateurs, who have no experience at all in property management, finance, or law. Usually, the HOA then goes back to the developer for "help" in managing the organization.
When I had my townhome, my HOA went from one of these extremes to the other. They built two of the most expensive pools in the area - both constructed by the same high-end contractor, and both of which were structurally unsound. We spent years trying to plug the leaks from cracks caused by heaving soil and extremely poor engineering. We paid for garbage pickup - twice. Once to the city, who claimed not to be able to get their trucks into our driveways (I often turned my Suburban around in mine), so we had to pay a private contractor with an identical truck to pick up the trash - while paying the city a similar amount just to put it in the landfill.
Every year my HOA assessment went up until it approached my mortgage payment, and what was I getting? Landscape maintenance, exterior paint every six years and a new roof every ten - and of course the trash service and city water and sewer. The largest single item was pool maintenance, which was a ripoff to start with, and compounded by the poor construction of the pools.
I sold out at a loss, but I think I won.
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07-29-10, 11:39 PM
#9
Most those whom I know who are fed up with HOA, move to a property that does not have such rigid guidelines. Many cities do have "code" written for maintaining property appearances so one has to read the fine print to insure some freedoms.
In this instance, if it was already outlined that no vehicles of this size were allowed one would question how he received an exception. This doesn't sit right with the other residents who abide within the HOA guidelines. They too would be given some tolerance for uniqueness and then the HOA simply fails.
If his neighbors didn't protest and it was acceptable, this could have been a case-by-case basis for the circumstance but one can see where that will lead. Given their fess will reimburse the legal fees, the residents should have had say in the matters. <shrug>
In this instance, if it was already outlined that no vehicles of this size were allowed one would question how he received an exception. This doesn't sit right with the other residents who abide within the HOA guidelines. They too would be given some tolerance for uniqueness and then the HOA simply fails.
If his neighbors didn't protest and it was acceptable, this could have been a case-by-case basis for the circumstance but one can see where that will lead. Given their fess will reimburse the legal fees, the residents should have had say in the matters. <shrug>
07-30-10, 12:08 AM
#11
HOA's are wasteful. Ours thankfully has low rates considering some local areas around us, but I remember they spent 90k to build a fence to prevent students from jumping over because they would run through some peoples property. Now this is a nice stucco fence built to last a while, but still I don't see how it's justified that the HOA was responsible to cover replacing that fence entirely. Only those few peoples yards were crossed through, why wouldn't they at least partially be responsible to cover a portion of the cost.
As far as the driveway deal, I understand some associations, such as ours have rules as in no trailers, rv's or boats on driveways here, but this is the guys truck. I don't see how they can not allow a truck to be parked on the driveway. It's like many here said, it's usually some people who have nothing better to do than to harass others.
As far as the driveway deal, I understand some associations, such as ours have rules as in no trailers, rv's or boats on driveways here, but this is the guys truck. I don't see how they can not allow a truck to be parked on the driveway. It's like many here said, it's usually some people who have nothing better to do than to harass others.
07-30-10, 04:37 AM
#12
Pole Position
I had a friend that lived in a development (houses, not condos) that had very strict HOA rules that included no cars on the street or driveway. You were not allowed to open your garage door unless moving a vehicle in or out of it. I cannot figure out a reasonable explanation as to why a HOA would want this regulation. Driving through his neighborhood, you realized something was very, very, wrong. It was completely, and totally, lifeless. Barron.
I'm all for a reasonable association but some have rules that make absolutely no sense at all.
I'm all for a reasonable association but some have rules that make absolutely no sense at all.
07-30-10, 06:34 AM
#13
Super Moderator
I have that where I live, but it only applies to certain types of commercial vehicles. However, some other places I remember growing up here in Florida also didn't want the pickup trucks in the front.
Problem I have with HOA or Condo Assoc. is they are diligent with getting on people for petty stuff like this, but when it comes to issues with the rest of the community (for which you are paying good money), they don't do a thing.
Problem I have with HOA or Condo Assoc. is they are diligent with getting on people for petty stuff like this, but when it comes to issues with the rest of the community (for which you are paying good money), they don't do a thing.
07-30-10, 07:02 AM
#14
Lexus Test Driver
HOA's do have the authority to regulate parking (and vehicle size) in common-property areas (I live in a condo-townhouse development myself). In our development, they forbid trucks over a certain size and weight, unless they are there temporarily for commercial or buisness reasons.
This is a rather misleading statement. HOA's, by many state laws, are REQUIRED to determine how the common-area property will be used and governed....that is their job.
And, in my state at least, the Board members are elected by the homeowners themselves at annual meetings.
Another thing.....that guy may have won a big settlement in court, but he is probably going to be Personna-Non-Grata with many of his neighbors. The $187,000 due him doesn't grow on trees......it will either come out of the Board's operating reserves or from the Association's own liability-insurance company. That money will have to be replaced, and, of course, that will probably mean higher monthly condo-fees for all of the association's homeowners......due to his lawsuits, and the settlement. His truck, because of this, could also be the target of vandalism from angry neighbors......when people get hit in their wallets, they can get mad.
This is a rather misleading statement. HOA's, by many state laws, are REQUIRED to determine how the common-area property will be used and governed....that is their job.
And, in my state at least, the Board members are elected by the homeowners themselves at annual meetings.
Another thing.....that guy may have won a big settlement in court, but he is probably going to be Personna-Non-Grata with many of his neighbors. The $187,000 due him doesn't grow on trees......it will either come out of the Board's operating reserves or from the Association's own liability-insurance company. That money will have to be replaced, and, of course, that will probably mean higher monthly condo-fees for all of the association's homeowners......due to his lawsuits, and the settlement. His truck, because of this, could also be the target of vandalism from angry neighbors......when people get hit in their wallets, they can get mad.
Last edited by J.P.; 07-30-10 at 07:17 AM.
07-30-10, 07:11 AM
#15
Lexus Test Driver
Many good posts here and much of everything people have said I experience with an HOA about not leaving your garage door open, not parking your car in the drive if your garage is empty, not parking on the street for any reason along with MANY other PETTY complaints by a board of old timers that had nothing to do but be up in everyone’s business all day.
I learned then I was never going to empower someone else to have control over my HOME, let alone a bunch of retards on a power trip
I learned then I was never going to empower someone else to have control over my HOME, let alone a bunch of retards on a power trip