I recently moved to an "active adult" community, basically to get away from kids. Love them, but was tired of dealing with them in the pool I used to swim in. To my surprise, the first day in my new pool (which is almost 25 yards!), I was approached about my "fins" and "kickboard." It seems the pool "rules" prohibit large flotation devices. My kickboard is 17" long. The Board then decided to prohibit fins.. I am fuming. :bitching: I can't even fight it because, conveniently, the board doesn't meet until September! I swim in the morning, and there is NO ONE in the pool. My fins are also short fins. They ruled them as "hazardous." Did you ever hear of anything so insane???? Yes, I could swim without them, but a great deal of my 3600 yard workout includes those items. The irony is that the pool is hardly used, unless the weather is over 90 and the water over 85. UGGGHHHHH.
I had to join an outdoor pool and PAY (even though I pay plenty in the "active adult" community per month in association dues) for the summer, and as my prior thread whines, 2 weeks later, I received a whopping sinus infection. I'm ready to quit swimming.
Talking to an attorney sounds like a good idea, but remember that if you sue the hoa, you're suing yourself because you pay dues and whatever payout they make will come back to bite you in a fee hike. We had something like that at our last home, where the board decided to spend more than $1 million to repair roofs and pro-rate the homeowners based on the size of their units. Ours was one of the two largest, so we were charged the most even though our unit was newer and there was nothing wrong with our roof. They just went through and replaced them all and charged us the most while we actually had the least repair. Nothing we could do about it. They did this without holding open meetings or getting input from the residents. They told us after they'd signed the contracts.
I honestly would suggest that you talk to your board members. Read through the hoa rule book and the insurance policy because I'll bet you're the only one who'll have done this. They can't just fine people unless it's allowed by the rules. Usually, an hoa establishes rules based on what's covered or not by insurance. If they're just being a bunch of jerks and you don't want confrontations, join a center with a pool. Consider that the added expense will save you stress.
I don't know where you live, but I can tell you from having just moved back from New England, that they have some of the worst hoas on the planet with some of the dumbest rules that benefit no one except by making the people who establish them feel like they sit on the iron throne.
Talking to an attorney sounds like a good idea, but remember that if you sue the hoa, you're suing yourself because you pay dues and whatever payout they make will come back to bite you in a fee hike. We had something like that at our last home, where the board decided to spend more than $1 million to repair roofs and pro-rate the homeowners based on the size of their units. Ours was one of the two largest, so we were charged the most even though our unit was newer and there was nothing wrong with our roof. They just went through and replaced them all and charged us the most while we actually had the least repair. Nothing we could do about it. They did this without holding open meetings or getting input from the residents. They told us after they'd signed the contracts.
I honestly would suggest that you talk to your board members. Read through the hoa rule book and the insurance policy because I'll bet you're the only one who'll have done this. They can't just fine people unless it's allowed by the rules. Usually, an hoa establishes rules based on what's covered or not by insurance. If they're just being a bunch of jerks and you don't want confrontations, join a center with a pool. Consider that the added expense will save you stress.
I don't know where you live, but I can tell you from having just moved back from New England, that they have some of the worst hoas on the planet with some of the dumbest rules that benefit no one except by making the people who establish them feel like they sit on the iron throne.
