5 ms·

If you are in California, a 2018 law (civil code 714) makes it illegal for your HOA to prohibit solar. You have a right to put up solar even if the roof is join

by jjeaff 4y ago

If you are in California, a 2018 law (civil code 714) makes it illegal for your HOA to prohibit solar. You have a right to put up solar even if the roof is jointly owned and controlled by the HOA. According to the law, the HOA may make reasonable restrictions but they may not increase your cost by more than $1000 or decrease your solar efficiency by more than 20%. So tell your HOA to shove it.

dotancohen 4y ago
I don't live in the US, but you guys post HOA horror stories frequently enough. How many times have we heard "I go the HOA that way, so they stuck it to me here, and here, and here". Maybe that's a bear not worth poking.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > How many times have we heard "I go the HOA that way, so they stuck it to me here, and here, and here". Maybe that's a bear not worth poking. This varies HOA to HOA. Mine has one-page bylaws mostly dealing with outdoor parking rules and not putting explosives in places.
- NoNotTheDuo 4y ago
  I'm with you. Read way too many horror stories that I didn't want to deal with it. I'm in the US and when we were looking for a new house a few years ago, one of the hard requirements was no HOA. We compromised on other factors, but not on the HOA!
- wil421 4y ago
  You only hear the horror stories. My HOA is very reasonable and just wants to make sure no one doing anything stupid. They don’t even enforce their own bylaws in most cases or fine people. People outside the US have HOAs they are just called something different in apartments/condos or even when the local city runs things. Not sure why people complain about HOAs when they bought the house knowing full well what they were in for. I had to agree to the HOA rules well before I bought the house.
  - ricardobeat 4y ago
    > Not sure why people complain about HOAs when they bought the house knowing full well what they were in for Ah, the old fallacy of choice, usually heard as “you can choose to work somewhere else”. If most homes are under a HOA and they all have similar policies, complaining is well justified.
    - zaphar 4y ago
      Here in the US you have lots of non-HOA options. Even in the areas with lots of HOA options you can read the rules beforehand and choose the HOA ruleset you prefer. Myself I don't like any of the HOA rulesets so I avoid them It's never been a hindrance to me. It's largely not a fallacy of choice here.
    - samatman 4y ago
      It's about 28% of US homes which are under community associations, this includes condos and HOAs. My home is not; it's the city which gets interested in my lawn when it's looking wilder than statute dictates.
  - HarryHirsch 4y ago
    They don’t even enforce their own bylaws in most cases Ah, selective enforcement. We know why that's a bad idea when the cops do it, but when the HOA does it it's all good. Not sure why people complain about HOAs when they bought the house knowing full well what they were in for. HOA's are like Wikipedia admins, perhaps well-meaning, definitely with an agenda, and 100 % unaware of best practice. Back then, we had civil servants upholding city code. Nowadays we have HOA's where they won't hesitate to fine you for the wrong shade of paint and will do jack shit about the neighbour who breeds mosquitoes in his flowerpot dishes. (For those who don't know, standing water rich in organic materials is mosquito paradise.)
  - delecti 4y ago
    I'm in the process of buying a house (closed last week) and couldn't realistically have accessed the HOA's bylaws before placing an offer. At least speaking from my experience, you don't really know what you're signing up for when you buy a house in an HOA, you just know that you're signing up for something.
- lq9AJ8yrfs 4y ago
  Here is a positive story. I live in an upper middle class neighborhood in the suburbs of a major US Midwestern city. The community is diverse and split evenly between families with young kids and retirees. We pay $500 / year in fees, which goes toward holiday decorations and minor block party events, and a management company that mainly enforces code such as keeping lawns weed and pest free. My neighbors on both sides each had major weed control issues that were spreading to my lawn and garden, resulting in about twice the weeding effort on my part, but eventually the HOA kicked in and they both developed a sudden interest in lawn care and hired local companies to do the basics. We also started sharing with our neighbors extra bulbs that our garden produces anyway, now that our neighbors and their gardens became receptive. We have had a couple notices from the HOA about code items ourselves, and it was stuff that we were going to fix anyway that the HOA noticed. They were cordial about it and thanked us for letting them know we were in front of it. There were no threats or fines, except what is implicit in the bylaws. The main bylaws are cosmetic, things like keeping paint, mailboxes, and trim in shape. We have made several requests, just a one page letter, for accommodations to the HOA and they have approved each one. The board of the HOA are just other neighbors down the street, and I am very grateful to them donating their time and effort unpaid to keep order in the neighborhood. Property sells very quickly and several of our friends have complimented us on our neighborhood when they visit. This was our first HOA experience, and I was skittish about entering into it but cannot think of any complaint. I find it very effective. There have been houses in the neighborhood that have been neglected to the point of becoming unlivable and it is great to have a framework to recover them and fill them with happy families that we can befriend, up to and including seizing the property if it ever came to that, but to my knowledge it never has and hopefully never will.
  - wedn3sday 4y ago
    $500/year! Most of the condos in my area are more then $500/month in HOA fees!
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      HOA fees for detached homes and condos are not comparable. Condo owners are paying for building maintenance in the HOA fees, while detached home owners are only paying for common area amenities.
- latchkey 4y ago
  I want to put a $100 keycode lock [1] on the front gate so that each owner can have a separate code (and I can give my code to Amazon so they can easily deliver my packages). Myself and one other person are the only full time people in the 14 unit building, the rest are all short term rentals. Right now, the other owners have lockboxes attached to an area on the gate and they give out the code to the short term rentals. The board of the HOA refuses to switch the lock. Reasons have been all over the map, but one of the dumbest ones was that they were afraid the codes would get leaked out and that the other full time persons stalker would get into the building. As an engineer, the simple logic baffles. I kindly pointed out that a code on the gate is no different than a code on the lockbox attached to the gate. Never mind that the building isn't secure at all... it is super easy to just climb the fence to get onto the property. Or her stalker could just wait till she opens the gate. I've now had two deliveries stolen because they were left at the front gate for 10 minutes. They still refuse. The 'horror' stories aren't really horror. It is just having to deal with people who you would never have to deal with under normal circumstances. I'd say this goes with owning any property in a city... you don't pick your neighbors. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Schlage-FE575-PLY-626-ELA/dp/B001COEZTU https://www.amazon.com/Schlage-FE575-PLY-626-ELA/dp/B001COEZ...
tekknik 4y ago
So now those living in apartments are supposed to pay for solar, installation, and then what when they move? This is an insanely costly proposition that still won’t net me enough solar to get off the grid.

by jjeaff 4y ago

dotancohen 4y ago

I don't live in the US, but you guys post HOA horror stories frequently enough. How many times have we heard "I go the HOA that way, so they stuck it to me here, and here, and here". Maybe that's a bear not worth poking.

JumpCrisscross 4y ago
> How many times have we heard "I go the HOA that way, so they stuck it to me here, and here, and here". Maybe that's a bear not worth poking. This varies HOA to HOA. Mine has one-page bylaws mostly dealing with outdoor parking rules and not putting explosives in places.
NoNotTheDuo 4y ago
I'm with you. Read way too many horror stories that I didn't want to deal with it. I'm in the US and when we were looking for a new house a few years ago, one of the hard requirements was no HOA. We compromised on other factors, but not on the HOA!
wil421 4y ago
You only hear the horror stories. My HOA is very reasonable and just wants to make sure no one doing anything stupid. They don’t even enforce their own bylaws in most cases or fine people. People outside the US have HOAs they are just called something different in apartments/condos or even when the local city runs things. Not sure why people complain about HOAs when they bought the house knowing full well what they were in for. I had to agree to the HOA rules well before I bought the house.
- ricardobeat 4y ago
  > Not sure why people complain about HOAs when they bought the house knowing full well what they were in for Ah, the old fallacy of choice, usually heard as “you can choose to work somewhere else”. If most homes are under a HOA and they all have similar policies, complaining is well justified.
  - zaphar 4y ago
    Here in the US you have lots of non-HOA options. Even in the areas with lots of HOA options you can read the rules beforehand and choose the HOA ruleset you prefer. Myself I don't like any of the HOA rulesets so I avoid them It's never been a hindrance to me. It's largely not a fallacy of choice here.
  - samatman 4y ago
    It's about 28% of US homes which are under community associations, this includes condos and HOAs. My home is not; it's the city which gets interested in my lawn when it's looking wilder than statute dictates.
- HarryHirsch 4y ago
  They don’t even enforce their own bylaws in most cases Ah, selective enforcement. We know why that's a bad idea when the cops do it, but when the HOA does it it's all good. Not sure why people complain about HOAs when they bought the house knowing full well what they were in for. HOA's are like Wikipedia admins, perhaps well-meaning, definitely with an agenda, and 100 % unaware of best practice. Back then, we had civil servants upholding city code. Nowadays we have HOA's where they won't hesitate to fine you for the wrong shade of paint and will do jack shit about the neighbour who breeds mosquitoes in his flowerpot dishes. (For those who don't know, standing water rich in organic materials is mosquito paradise.)
- delecti 4y ago
  I'm in the process of buying a house (closed last week) and couldn't realistically have accessed the HOA's bylaws before placing an offer. At least speaking from my experience, you don't really know what you're signing up for when you buy a house in an HOA, you just know that you're signing up for something.
lq9AJ8yrfs 4y ago
Here is a positive story. I live in an upper middle class neighborhood in the suburbs of a major US Midwestern city. The community is diverse and split evenly between families with young kids and retirees. We pay $500 / year in fees, which goes toward holiday decorations and minor block party events, and a management company that mainly enforces code such as keeping lawns weed and pest free. My neighbors on both sides each had major weed control issues that were spreading to my lawn and garden, resulting in about twice the weeding effort on my part, but eventually the HOA kicked in and they both developed a sudden interest in lawn care and hired local companies to do the basics. We also started sharing with our neighbors extra bulbs that our garden produces anyway, now that our neighbors and their gardens became receptive. We have had a couple notices from the HOA about code items ourselves, and it was stuff that we were going to fix anyway that the HOA noticed. They were cordial about it and thanked us for letting them know we were in front of it. There were no threats or fines, except what is implicit in the bylaws. The main bylaws are cosmetic, things like keeping paint, mailboxes, and trim in shape. We have made several requests, just a one page letter, for accommodations to the HOA and they have approved each one. The board of the HOA are just other neighbors down the street, and I am very grateful to them donating their time and effort unpaid to keep order in the neighborhood. Property sells very quickly and several of our friends have complimented us on our neighborhood when they visit. This was our first HOA experience, and I was skittish about entering into it but cannot think of any complaint. I find it very effective. There have been houses in the neighborhood that have been neglected to the point of becoming unlivable and it is great to have a framework to recover them and fill them with happy families that we can befriend, up to and including seizing the property if it ever came to that, but to my knowledge it never has and hopefully never will.
- wedn3sday 4y ago
  $500/year! Most of the condos in my area are more then $500/month in HOA fees!
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    HOA fees for detached homes and condos are not comparable. Condo owners are paying for building maintenance in the HOA fees, while detached home owners are only paying for common area amenities.
latchkey 4y ago
I want to put a $100 keycode lock [1] on the front gate so that each owner can have a separate code (and I can give my code to Amazon so they can easily deliver my packages). Myself and one other person are the only full time people in the 14 unit building, the rest are all short term rentals. Right now, the other owners have lockboxes attached to an area on the gate and they give out the code to the short term rentals. The board of the HOA refuses to switch the lock. Reasons have been all over the map, but one of the dumbest ones was that they were afraid the codes would get leaked out and that the other full time persons stalker would get into the building. As an engineer, the simple logic baffles. I kindly pointed out that a code on the gate is no different than a code on the lockbox attached to the gate. Never mind that the building isn't secure at all... it is super easy to just climb the fence to get onto the property. Or her stalker could just wait till she opens the gate. I've now had two deliveries stolen because they were left at the front gate for 10 minutes. They still refuse. The 'horror' stories aren't really horror. It is just having to deal with people who you would never have to deal with under normal circumstances. I'd say this goes with owning any property in a city... you don't pick your neighbors. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Schlage-FE575-PLY-626-ELA/dp/B001COEZTU https://www.amazon.com/Schlage-FE575-PLY-626-ELA/dp/B001COEZ...

tekknik 4y ago

So now those living in apartments are supposed to pay for solar, installation, and then what when they move? This is an insanely costly proposition that still won’t net me enough solar to get off the grid.