Shit neighbor

Cudgel · Jul 5, 2021

tonykarter said: ↑

Yes. Fight fire with fire. As an aside, I cannot believe that anyone who has lived in an HOA would defend an HOA. DO you know what kind of people run for a board or committee position in a HOA? Control freaks and people with personal vendettas. Mostly though, hateful bitches with agendas against anyone who they believe has wronged them or who they don't like. And most of these bitches don't like anyone. You don't often prevail against such power that is backed by state laws, but I did.

I had to threaten to sue my property owner's association over not approving my construction of a 40x40 metal building. We are on a golf course. That was the reason they cited. You could build one if you didn't live on the golf course, but not if you did. Compelling argument in my favor though, they had already allowed one of their own board members who lives over on the 13th fairway to build one. They quietly changed the rules so he could, without a quorum when they voted, then when it was finished they immediately changed the rules back so nobody else could. The building committee, a bunch of man-hating bitches, came to my house to see where I wanted to build it. One asked, " What are you going to do if we don't let you?" I had been anticipating a fight, and a lawsuit, and I had practiced my best The Devil and Daniel Webster closing argument, because I really didn't want to have to go to court. I wanted just to build a shop. Delivered nicely as I could, but not verbatim, except for the first sentence: "I'm going to sue you, collectively and severally, and I'm going to seat a jury of backwoods Tyler County freedom-loving Billy Green Teeth-types who will surely side with me because I am one of them and you are not, and you know there is no shortage of us in Tyler County. They'll identify with me, not you. The salt-of-the-earth backwoods people my attorney will seat have been pushed around their whole lives, they hate oppression that they can't fight like yours, but this may be their one and only time to stand up and fight back, and they will act. They will deliver a message to people like you that you don't get to tell people what they can do with property that they own, golf course notwithstanding. I will ask for punitive damages, and when I am finished either you, or this association, or both of you will have paid for the construction of my shop. AND...If you make me sue you then I'm also going to rebuild that 20x20 aluminum awning in front of the house that Hurricane Rita took out." (They had previously outlawed awnings too, a decade or so after they approved mine.) To which she replied, "You can't do that, we won't approve it." The General Manager of our property owner's association, to her credit interjected, "Well Betty, he can rebuild it if he wants to. He doesn't need a permit. Your committee already gave him a permit to build it back in 1986, and by our rules that permit is good as long as the damage was caused by windstorm, hurricane or hailstorm." Game, Set, MATCH. I got my permit three days later. I blew it wide open for anyone on the golf course to build one now, and now they even send people over here to look at mine as an example of the quality of construction that they desire to be built, because...there is a wide array of how metal buildings can be "economized" and some really cheap shit can be thrown up.

That's not the end of it: They required that I put Hardie board that they approved across the front, eight feet high. I consented, but I told the concrete guys to not put the brick ledge on the front required to support it. If the inspector caught it at concrete form inspection time then it would be easy to add. The building would look like a bastard rat with the eight feet of Hardie board, so I laid my plans of subversion to end-run them. There were four inspections by the committee's "building inspector". He approved the progression of the construction four times. He approved the concrete forms WITHOUT provision for a brick ledge (because the committee fucked up and failed to make me re-submit my proposal to include the brick ledge, they APPROVED my initial submission without it so he wasn't looking for one!) He approved the slab, AS POURED WITHOUT THE BRICK LEDGE. About six months later I get a call from the Property Manager asking when the construction would be complete as the Hardie board had not been installed. I told her we were done, our business complete, no Hardie board would be installed. I have in my possession four inspection tags that were signed and dated by the inspector approving the progression of construction, AND THE LAST APPROVING THE FINAL CONSTRUCTION. Because there was no brick ledge on which to install the Hardie board I could not install it as it would not meet Southern Building Codes that the committee holds everyone hostage with. And if they required me to install it outside the codes then others could then argue that they should rightfully be allowed to turn a blind eye to the codes too. They knew I had them by the short hairs.

BOO-YAH BITCHES!!

And to show how STUPID they were, they were running the risk of other lawsuits too and they didn't even know that their property owner's association liability policy DID NOT CONTAIN DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS LIABILITY COVERAGE! Consequently the policy would not provide a defense for the association nor the committee. They'd have to hire their own attorneys! What a bunch of morons.

Most property owner's association officers and committeemen are well-meaning laypersons that are just in over their heads, trying to do the best they can. Some though are there to obtain gratification by making your life hell, and the association is their platform to attain Mazlow's need for personal esteem and accomplishment at the expense of others.
Click to expand...

Glad you prevailed. I’d still move. Life is too short to waste on bitch fights in my neck of the woods.

EricT · Jul 5, 2021

That’s crazy. I knew of a woodworking business that got in trouble for the way they were exhausting fumes from the finish shop, I figured it would fall under that kind of umbrella. But that’s commercial, even though a small shop. Different thing I suppose.

Log in or Sign up

Welcome to Tacoma World!

Shit neighbor

#61
Cudgel “Tonka”

#62
EricT Well-Known Member

Products Discussed in

Log in or Sign up

Useful Searches

Welcome to Tacoma World!

Shit neighbor

#61 Cudgel “Tonka”

#62 EricT Well-Known Member

Products Discussed in Entire Site Forum: Off-Topic Discussion

#61
Cudgel “Tonka”

#62
EricT Well-Known Member

Products Discussed in