Thread: Neighborhood association says I have to get rid of my car..

Tweet

Alright.. I live in a condo outside of a little neighborhood division.. My driveway is always packed.. My wife has a 06 TL I have a 98 z-28 ,80 Dodge war wagon,64 impala .. The impala isnt lic but is always completly covered with a nice fitted car cover I would put it in my garage but its to long and I need my garage because I do work on all the local kids imports and so on.. Lately my yard has looked like hell because I pulled the engine in my truck in the driveway.. Its to tall to fit in my garage or it would have been done in there.. The truck is sitting on its front rotorswith no engine in it . As soon as I get the crank back from the machine shop this week I intend on putting back together asap.. That vehicle along with every other is lic and insured.. Well a couple days ago I recieved a flyer on my mailbox for a junk man that will come and pick up stuff for free. I personally think its funny and cant stand the wannabe high class goupies that Im surrounded by..This morning the maintence man stops by and says that the neighborhood asc. has complained to the landlord about my cars and they all must go... I told him about the sito with the truck and said its legal and I drive it sometimes and its not going anywhere.. He said thats fine as long as its driveable.. And that I have until next Friday to get the other out of my drive..

WHat to do is this legal? I thought that only the city could c fit in telling someone to have stuff removed and so on.. Me and my wife are about to buy a house in the end of November begining of December.. I havent really done much to the Impala because of this . My intentions where to wait until I move so I can have the space to tear into it.. What to do? Opinions please..

Sounds like you need to learn about CC&R's (Covenants, conditions and restrictions). If they exist on such matters there you signed paperwork agreeing to abide by them when you purchased/leased your property.

Rent a storage shed or some storage space in a lot and put all the extra stuff there till you move. As Bob said, check the CC&R's and see what you agreed to when you move in....

Im moving out in the country.. Do rural areas have CC&R's to? Also I called around today and found out Im not even in this Neighborhood Asociations area.. Im right outside of it..This really T's me off because thetruck in normally parked behind the impala and has been this way complaint free for about 6 months or so..

Its like the contractors associations ,a bunch of slackers that have way too much time to worry about things they are not in charge of,while their own life is a far cry from perfect,they get no money ,only the satisfaction of raining on everyones parade..........these types are drawn to this kind of position,all they can do is make you move ,you are already doing that.

Originally Posted by 217-z

Do rural areas have CC&R's to?

We're the wrong ones to ask. Contact the real estate agent, or the seller if there's no agent. The prudent thing to do is to ask for a copy of any condition, regulations, or any other factors that will affect your intended use of the property before making an offer. That being said, I'd guess 98 out of 100 buyers don't do that..............which leads to a lot of whining later.

I'm going to be on the other side of the fence for a change on this question. From your description, your yard is a mess.........cars sitting on their rotors, engines apart, etc. How would you like to have a nice home and have a neighbor who had something like this next door to you?

Codes and restrictions are there for a reason, and that reason is that the majority of the people in that area have decided they want a certain standard upheld so that they can live in an attractive, perhaps upscale environment, devoid of eyesores.

The reason I say I am on the other side for a change is because at one time in my life I was inconsiderate of my neighbors by pursuing my car hobby and letting it spill over into my yard. My ex-wife hated it, and now that I look back, she was right and so were my neighbors. Have you ever driven down a street with nice, well kept homes, and then you come to this one house ? It stands out like a sore thumb and brings down the value of the entire neighborhood.

Not trying to get on you, but it sounds like your neighbors have been very tolerant for a long time, even allowing you to run a repair facility (even though you may be doing it free) out of your garage for the import owners.

As suggested, rent a storage building or small shop in an industrial section until you can move far out into the country and have no neighbors near you who have to look at your "toys." I also live in a condo since I sold my home 9 years ago, and that is why we keep a shop in an industrial park to play with our stuff.

It all boils down to being considerate of others.

Don

Don, I think you are right on with your response.

While I do understand 217-z situation, I don't think I would want that situation in my neighborhood (if I lived in a neighborhood, which I would not).

Jack

I totally see both sides of the fence here. But where I feel it falls into the bs catagory is that I dont have car parts everywhere.. I dont generally have a giant mess.. My yard is free and clear and the impala is always covered up..I just so happend that the truck is sitting there with no engine or front tires on it .. That isnt intended to be a long deal either.. I was planning to have it taken care of in a single weekend but that was before I had to go to the machine shop.. This isnt the first time for this pain in my neck either.. I have a Syberian Husky.. Hes registered and cost me right over $500 gorgeous dog.. Hes also a house dog. I let him out when he wants and when he wants in he comes to the back door.. When its a certian temp out he likes to go lay in the back yard.. This whole time he has a chain on.. Somebody called and said that I was not feeding my dog or watering him.. The humain society came out twice over this and I told them to get lost after I showed them the dog and my cat and that they where perfectly fine.. Some other knocukle head lady came walking behind my yard and decided to walk up in my yard with her little dog and mess with my dog it nipped her dog wanting to play and she had a total hissy fit..

I do agree to the fact that I have a rather unusual driveway right now.. But if someone would just come ask me about it instead of running around with whispered complaints we wouldnt have a issue..

Doing it to be considerate is one thing, be forced to is another. If you aren't in their association and never signed a contract to that affect then you don't have to do what they say, period. Now if it is like california I think you can't have a non-tagged vehicle visible. I had a situation in a mobile home park I lived in where I had a valid tagged but non-op car in the back of my driveway not bothering anybody, but had an ongoing with the park (I had one of the oldest mobile homes and they were forcing all of those owners out) and they made it an issue. I towed and stored at a friends till I moved.

I agree with it looking bad and not being right though. I have the front fenders for the 51 out in the front of my driveway right now and think it looks horrible (before that it was the bed up on sawhorses) I am sure my neighbros don't all appreciate it. I intend to move it ASAP but can only do so much. The only reason I don't worry about it more is that the neighbrohood in general is horrible, people overwater all the time so we have green gunk in the gutters, lots of neighbors don't take care of their yards at all, some houses have been foreclosed so the yards there are like little forests. in short, mine does'nt look so bad in comparison to the rest of the area. Not that it makes mine better, but it keeps me from worrying about complaints.

It's easy to say rent a place, but that is costly and if it wasn't I'd have a seperate garage rather than trying to do it all out of my 3 car. at this point sicne you are moving it is really just a hold on till you can escape deal. if you aren't in the association then don't sweat it and let them know they don't have power with you. if you are in it then use all the delay tactics available (normally there are lots of ways of staving things off) and move as soon as you are able.

Red

I rent right now so they instead of contacting me contacted the landlord and he sent a messenger over saying had until friday to remove the car because of complaints.

I live out in the country. Out here it is mandatory that each house must have atleast one vehicle that does not move.
Seriously, we picked this place as it is far away from any kind of subdivision. No onebothers us out here, Not yet anyhow.
But we don't push it. if you drive by our place, it is very neat and clean. Just another boring house in the woods. But go in back and there are cars and trucks that cannot be seen from the street. Not a bunch just a couple.
It is all about what can be seen.
Our place is very isolated. but I am still careful.

And there is no covenant out in the country. Know the zoning codes and if you are gonna do things, do not advertise. if I am working on a project in the driveway during the day, my truck is across the driveway, blocking any view from the street. Projects that have to be in the driveway overnight are covered by a big tarp. And if the garage door is open, my truck is parked to block any view from the street. Not that there is much traffic, but I would rather people do not know what i am doing. I take no chances. Not that I am doing anything wrong. But I know one ugly truth.
The sad truth is that there are too many people with far too much time on their hands. They love to mind other people's business. And it only takes one.
case in point, my brother buys a house on 5 acres in YuppieNoisyville, CT. He loves it. I look at it and know he is gonna have problems. Why? You can see all the neighbor's houses from his. Even tho it is 5 acres, his house is in the middle and the neighbors are located right over the property line.
Sure enough, one of his neighbors is a total jerk who has no life other than to wonder what his neighbors are doing.
He works on a car in the driveway with the music playing, here come the cops. is the car stolen? Is he stripping it? Is it registered? Turn down the music. Why is he making noise on Sunday?

10 years, numourous police calls over nonsense stuff, thousands of dollars in lawyer bills, one impounded car that he never got back, and much more, he finally moved. He could not even walk his property without the cops coming. He is down the road from me on in the middle of 16 acres next to a 6000 acre hunting preserve. He can do whatever he wants.

The truth is in this country in this century, if you want to "live free," look carefully for a place to live.

Find someone or someplace that will take your impala or other stuff for a short period. Maybe a storage rental place or a friend or family member with a lot of space and no restrictions. Storage rental places around me will let a unit renter also park their boats or cars in the fenced in areas. Some for a fee others not.

Considering the condition of your yard and the junkiness of it, I would probably want the stuff gone too. As to restrictions in rural areas, that you have to check as Bob has stated. I live in a rural area and whereas there is no community/neighborhood association to contend with, the township has it's own set of rules and regulations that govern what I can put on the property. Bad thing about any association is that they can rewrite or change the rules usually as they see fit.

Years ago when I rented property, the property owner had 20 basic rules for rentors to follow. By the time I moved out, the list has grown to over 100 nitpicking rules.

My wife would like to stay in the city BUT I want out.. I dont like to be bothered in my home. I dont intend to fill my yard full of parts and junk either.. I just want to build a pole barn and shoove all my stuff inside of it..

Currently all my unattached parts are in my garage.. The truck engine everything that came off of it.. All the parts from my impala. There all inside .. Its just a covered car and a truck with no wheels on the front of it in my drive.. And it hasnt even been a week yet and these people are having a coronary..