My turn to vent

[Pearlulm]

This morning I was in the basement doing laundry. My husband was upstairs and let Peaches out in the yard. Our Homeowner's Assocaition hires landscapers to cut the common area near the back fence. John ( hubby) heard her raising hell at the fence so he went out to get her. She was in a corner where he couldn't reach her. The landscaper was on the other side of the fence blowing the leaf blower directly in her face on purpose. John screamed at him but between the blower and the ear plugs I guess he couldn't hear. Hubby then started throwing things over the fence (firewood). The guy decided to move on. I am so upset because of how dangerous this was. He could have hit her in the eye with a rock or who knows whatelse. Not only that it could damage her hearing. Well, I called the HOA's and they gave me this ..so, what do you want me to do about it attitude! We have lived here for over 10 years! I have never complained about a single thing so I don't know, I would think they would take the complaint seriously! This weekend we are going to add additional boards to make the fence solid wood so it can't happen again! Poor Peaches!

[rmci]

Isn't that what HOA are for, to help the tenants?
Maybe you could get the name of the gardening company off one of the trucks and call directly to their supervisor.

How mean...

[IceyBlueSibes]

Originally Posted by rmci

Isn't that what HOA are for, to help the tenants?
Maybe you could get the name of the gardening company off one of the trucks and call directly to their supervisor.

How mean...

LOL

Our HOA doesn't really do squat. They like to go around and police everyone. If you have something on your porch (such as a chair) it has to be removed. They have been threatening us to fix our roof or they will call a lawyer. Explain to me who has over $5000 right away to fix it? *cough*

Sorry.. just had to add that. LOL

We hate HOA... if we ever move, we are moving somewhere that doesn't have a HOA.

Sarge used to bark at the lawn guys that our neighbor had. We mow our own lawn. We never had a problem letting him bark - it's his property, and we didn't mind him letting those guys know that that was his turf. I would always watch, and call him in once he's said his peace.

But our neighbor did something similar to your dog. The guy was out back cutting the vines off of his fence. He was using a machete, or something similar (it was a huge knife - not an ordinary kitchen knife). We heard Sarge barking, and we went to see what it was. As soon as we looked out the window, he smacked the knife against the fence. Sarge stopped, and was finally minding his own business. He stopped to sniff and turned and looked at the guy (my mom watched this the entire time), the guy jumped at him which cause Sarge to bark. That made my mom sooo PO'd. She went out asking what his problem was and he proceeded to tell my mom "He ain't no dog... he needs a real dog on 'im that'll shut'im up". In other words, Sarge needed to have another dog tear him up. My mom told him he needed to take his drunk self (other words used) back in his house and go move out to the country where he belongs (he's a huge redneck). Well, he came out 5 minutes later and apologized to my mom.

Some people are just morons. I feel for you..

[calgal]

I really feel sorry for you being under such a terrible HOA. For this reason we decided we didn't want to move into our new house. We have no HOA where we live now, but it's up for sale too in order to make sure one or the other sells. If we end up selling this house and move into the new one, we will wait another year and then sell it and move to another area where there is no HOA. I'm with you.........HOA's are worthless and they never help with problems, but boy can they ever dish it out.

[Carrie]

Poor Peaches. Could she have left the area on her own? Or was she somehow trapped? At any rate, I would contact the gardening company supervisor and complain and maybe even warn them that if they injure your dog who is in HER OWN property with that thing, they'll be receiving the vet bills. They have no right to blow stuff....debris etc into your property anyhow. (I would think, at any rate) I'd be ticked too.

[GSD]

I really don't like HOA's, I guess maybe they had a purpose, but to me now seem a pain in the butt. People do weird things to our animals sometimes, i'd go past the HOA and call the landscapers and they city itself to report them.

On a related note, last friday I took the dog out and found razor blades from box cutters tossed about in our yard??? what the *&#@ was that all about????

[Raised By Wolves]

The lack of understanding and compassion towards animals is sometimes hard to take.

The landscaper I work with has a tub of cookies in his truck. He's not terribly comfortable around dogs, but at least he makes an effort to be seen as a "good" thing when he's around them.

The human is the one who is "supposed" to have a bigger brain, but to torment and spar with a dog though a fence, is petty, small, and childish.

From what I've experienced, HOA's are more concerned with the "look" of their pretty little "stepford" communities, and many would rather not have dogs in the neighborhoods at all.

[calgal]

The HOA here isn't even taking care of the common ground or beside the street. My new house sits in between two cul-de-sac and in the back on the street side of our fence they are supposed to take care of that area. They planted a few trees and some sort of foliage and have never touched it since and that's been a year. Two trees are totally dead from lack of water and the others are dieing. The weeds of every thinkable discription is about 4 feet tall. My husband has called this problem in several times, but nothing has been done. I really would love to know where all our money is going that we pay each month. Every time I go to the meetings and ask that question, I get some really flimsy answers and the other home owners jump in and raise hell. It's a mess!!

[Carrie]

You have a right to see the books...the invoices etc. I was in one of those before I moved to Idaho. I swore I'd never repeat that again. LOL.

I would get really tough with them and if they still balk at satisfying you with some answers. Ask them if they want you to call them again or would they like to hear from your attorney. I realize that's like suing yourself and your neighbors, but depending on if they're a corporation or not, you may be able to go after individuals who are in charge...not 100% sure about the law. You might get a free consultation with an attorney and find out what your rights are before contacting them again. And go through the bylaws as well as the CCRs again...see what the provisions are or if there is a set process to lead to a remedy.

[mulroony]

Have you considered appealing to the other dog owners in the HOA?? I bet they would be much more open then any person on a HOA board I have ever met... (No hanging American flags outside your house... enough said)

You get enough people together and they have to listen. I would consider bending the truth if you do call the company, because I would not be surprised if this was not the first time and other owners might not have been as lucky to witness it.

[ewarp]

I had a problem with the landscapers hired by my HOA too. They planted irises and hydrangeas, both of which are toxic to dogs. I let the other dog-owners in the neighborhood know about it, and then contacted the HOA and the landscaping company directly. The HOA pulled a "it's not our fault, we can't help it!" It took several phone calls and a threat to get the landscaping company to fix it, but they pulled out all of the offensive plants and replaced them with hostas and daylilies.

[Pearlulm]

Well, our HOA only cuts the grass and blows the grass off of the sidewalk. We too have two dead trees on the other side of the fence. My husband would cut them down himself but they are on a very steep incline next to a four lane highway. To cut them you would have to close down one lane. Not something we could try. We are planning on selling next year so I just have to hang in there. I am a country girl living 20 miles from Washington, DC on a 1/5 acre lot! Atleast, I now have even motivation to get the house ready to sell. I was stripping wallpaper this morning!

[dedeeboru]

Pearlulm,
You must live semi-near me (also outside DC...only further).
We have some non-HOA communities around us and Yikes. Scary. Not that I'm a stepford-wife, but the houses we looked at in non-HOA neighborhoods scared me. But then again, we had a puny budget so that could be why we felt the neighbors may have been comfy on the Deliverance set.
Our HOA isn't sooo bad. They take care of the common space and keep people from doing some of the weird things we saw in the other neighborhoods:
Hanging stuffed animals from the porch roof, like the prizes in a boardwalk game
Setting up a shooting range (and using it) with junkyard artifacts in the front yard
Installing bathroom fixtures in the front yard (I’m not kidding)

[Pearlulm]

Our HOA used to be run by neighborhood voluteers but then it was turned over to a managemant company. I will admit when they first took over they did clean up the neighborhood. We had a nieghbor across the street that had a car on jack stands under a cover parked on the street. But now that it has been a few years they don't do anything. Our HOA fees are next to nothing ($150. per year) so I guess you get what you pay for. I guess because we are planning on selling (fingers crossed) next year it makes the situation even worse. I just want to be living on the lake with my hubby and puppies!

[linnie]

If that had have been my dog I would have thrown a brick at the guy and with deadly accuracy then said the blower must have dislodged it.
Have never heard of the HOA but the sound like another thing put in place by beaurocrates to give people a job doing nothing