And some people wonder why HOAs (Home Owner Associations) sometimes often usually have a bad reputation.
From The Zonie Report comes this story. . .
APACHE JUNCTION — An Apache Junction Homeowners Association is facing stiff penalties and a discrimination charge from the lawsuit of a local property owner who found her handicap van towed from in front of her home.
Sharon Turley claims the Arizona Goldfield Homeowners’ Association discriminated against her by not making “reasonable accommodations” for her disabilities and violated state law by not providing proper notice and opportunity to be heard before towing the van.
HOA officials first said they would respond to the situation in a meeting scheduled to be held the following month.
Alas, said meeting never happened.
Meanwhile, Ms. Turley’s van is racking up holding lot fees of $15/day and the owner of the lot is saying the van will be sold soon if it is not retrieved.
It seems that it’s well past time for this HOA to remove its head from a particular body orifice and do the right thing. That would of course be pay for the van to be returned to Ms. Turley and amend their CC&Rs to allow for the parking of the van.
There are, of course, two sides to every story. And I’d sure love to hear the HOAs rationalization of this one.
HOAs, properly managed and with the right Board of Directors, can do great things for a community. However, if they are mismanaged, or managed with a complete lack of common sense and civility, then they can swiftly spiral out-of-control, and bone-head decisions can prevail.
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
The thing that really chaps me about this situation is that the HOA never held the meeting to discuss it. Another instance where communication may have saved a lot of time, money and hassle.
One guy made this decision. If the other home owners are scared #$%&less by this example of leadership, nothing will.
If the guy/gal who made this decision isn't removed, they deserve what the future holds.
You would think the owner of the lot would have the sense and decency to give the vehicle back whist the case is sorted out; at least then Ms Turley would still have some mobility.
The people on the HOA should be absolutely ashamed of themselves.
"HOA officials first said they would respond to the situation in a meeting scheduled to be held the following month."
The following month. LOL
Classic.
It sounds like there's more to this story than we know about. Did this handicapped home owner just move in? Or has she lived their for upteen years? I am hoping it was a situation where this person has lived their for some time and then recently became handicapped, which then forced her to park in front of her home.
In any event, will all the homeowners in said H.O.A. be willing to pay higher monthly H.O.A. fees to cover the cost to provide “reasonable accommodations” for her disabilities and any other owner's handicapped status. Or should they rewrite the CC&Rs to allow only handicapped owners to park their vehicles in front of their home in a "common area". Isn't their a huge liability issue if everyone started parking in the common areas?
We can easily criticize HOA's and most homeowners do. However, if we want them to change we need to get involved, become an officer, etc. When was the last time you attended the monthly meeting to express your opinions? Let them know they're out of line, but be constructive. I've attend ours and I was the only one there that was not on the board. Participate!
I certainly don’t know about Arizona parking rules, but I suppose every housing association should have a clause which will allow disabled person to apply for a special disabled badge, which will allow them to park near their house. However, as you said, there are two sides of every story. I am sure she didn’t park it there for the first time.
Amen, Gordon!
Amen, Gordon!