JordynP (Missouri)
Posts: 6
Posts: 6
Posted:
I am not sure where to begin, so I apologize ahead of time for the length of my post. :-/
We just moved into a home which has covenants in place. We were not notified of any covenants before moving in (I will take that one on the chin, as we should have done our own due diligence before moving in). We are doing a lease-to-purchase to buy our home.
The day we were moving in, a man came down to introduce himself as the president of our HOA (this is when I found out we had one). He was very kind, seemed excited about the idea of us raising our five children in the neighborhood (they are 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3). He told me how I should mow my yard a certain way, etc. During this conversation he asked if we had dogs. I said, "yes". I explained that they had always been outside dogs and had NEVER caused an issue before. He said, "Well, it says in the covenant rules that all dogs are to be brought in at night, but we can make an exception for now. We will just feel it out and see how it goes." He seemed nice, a little bored obviously, but nice. He then went home and I went on moving in...
A couple of weeks later, we called the trash company wondering why they had not brought containers to use yet. They said that someone from the HOA had to call and add us to their contract. We thought (surely) this had already been done, since he explained that he would take care of it the day that we met. So, my husband called him to verify that he had made the call. The only thing he said to him was, "You are not a real homeowner. The real one has to call me and ask me to do that." We were completely thrown by his attitude until it hit us that he had heard about how we were purchasing the home, and did not approve. I wrote it off as no big deal.
-We have now lived here for nearly 3 months and we have gotten 3 phone calls from the owner about the dogs (immediately after the first call, we started keeping our dogs inside at night-problem solved. Mind you, we would still sit on our back porch and listen to all of the other neighborhood dogs bark and carry on all night...Oh well.) Every other time he has called about the dogs barking, he is reminded that it cannot be ours, they are kept in. He waits a couple of weeks and calls again.
-A few weeks ago I went to check the mail and overheard him in our neighbors garage talking with them about how we have so many kids. I heard him give them the "we will just feel it out and see how it goes." line. What does that even mean?
-He called the home owner and asked if we were running a "damn daycare" because there are so many kids here.
-We drove the neighborhood to see if others had dog pens in their yards before we put ours up (this is a $500 pen, not a "cage" or "crate" of any kind). There were some others, so we put ours up to keep the dogs in during the day (just like we have for years). He wants it gone, it's a nuisance. It's in our back yard, which is surrounded by a privacy fence...
-The home owner (who also owns a large construction company locally and has had some issues with this man in the past) has asked him-flat out-why he is so obviously discriminating (there have been other comments made, etc.) against us. His response was to laugh and say, "They're just tenants."
-We have been told that, at the annual HOA meeting, he made it a point to discuss how we "should be handled" and they are discussing the possibility of contacting a lawyer and having us "evicted". He gave no reasons to the home owner what grounds he has to do this, but judging by the fact that he keeps making ridiculous calls about our dogs even when they are inside, I would guess that is the angle he will try and use.
-He looks in our back yard when we aren't home (that's how he knew about the pen)
Yes, we have five children. They go to school during the day, and enjoy riding their bikes or playing basketball when they get home. Our property is ALWAYS well kept, mowed, clean, etc. This is a very nice neighborhood and we fit in as well as everyone else...Except for the lease-to-purchase.
My first reaction was to simply wave and smile-go on about our life. But, this is stressing me out to no end. Calling their attorney to have us evicted?! It's very obvious, not only to us, that we are seen as "less than" everyone else because of how we are purchasing our home...I just don't know how to handle this.
We just moved into a home which has covenants in place. We were not notified of any covenants before moving in (I will take that one on the chin, as we should have done our own due diligence before moving in). We are doing a lease-to-purchase to buy our home.
The day we were moving in, a man came down to introduce himself as the president of our HOA (this is when I found out we had one). He was very kind, seemed excited about the idea of us raising our five children in the neighborhood (they are 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3). He told me how I should mow my yard a certain way, etc. During this conversation he asked if we had dogs. I said, "yes". I explained that they had always been outside dogs and had NEVER caused an issue before. He said, "Well, it says in the covenant rules that all dogs are to be brought in at night, but we can make an exception for now. We will just feel it out and see how it goes." He seemed nice, a little bored obviously, but nice. He then went home and I went on moving in...
A couple of weeks later, we called the trash company wondering why they had not brought containers to use yet. They said that someone from the HOA had to call and add us to their contract. We thought (surely) this had already been done, since he explained that he would take care of it the day that we met. So, my husband called him to verify that he had made the call. The only thing he said to him was, "You are not a real homeowner. The real one has to call me and ask me to do that." We were completely thrown by his attitude until it hit us that he had heard about how we were purchasing the home, and did not approve. I wrote it off as no big deal.
-We have now lived here for nearly 3 months and we have gotten 3 phone calls from the owner about the dogs (immediately after the first call, we started keeping our dogs inside at night-problem solved. Mind you, we would still sit on our back porch and listen to all of the other neighborhood dogs bark and carry on all night...Oh well.) Every other time he has called about the dogs barking, he is reminded that it cannot be ours, they are kept in. He waits a couple of weeks and calls again.
-A few weeks ago I went to check the mail and overheard him in our neighbors garage talking with them about how we have so many kids. I heard him give them the "we will just feel it out and see how it goes." line. What does that even mean?
-He called the home owner and asked if we were running a "damn daycare" because there are so many kids here.
-We drove the neighborhood to see if others had dog pens in their yards before we put ours up (this is a $500 pen, not a "cage" or "crate" of any kind). There were some others, so we put ours up to keep the dogs in during the day (just like we have for years). He wants it gone, it's a nuisance. It's in our back yard, which is surrounded by a privacy fence...
-The home owner (who also owns a large construction company locally and has had some issues with this man in the past) has asked him-flat out-why he is so obviously discriminating (there have been other comments made, etc.) against us. His response was to laugh and say, "They're just tenants."
-We have been told that, at the annual HOA meeting, he made it a point to discuss how we "should be handled" and they are discussing the possibility of contacting a lawyer and having us "evicted". He gave no reasons to the home owner what grounds he has to do this, but judging by the fact that he keeps making ridiculous calls about our dogs even when they are inside, I would guess that is the angle he will try and use.
-He looks in our back yard when we aren't home (that's how he knew about the pen)
Yes, we have five children. They go to school during the day, and enjoy riding their bikes or playing basketball when they get home. Our property is ALWAYS well kept, mowed, clean, etc. This is a very nice neighborhood and we fit in as well as everyone else...Except for the lease-to-purchase.
My first reaction was to simply wave and smile-go on about our life. But, this is stressing me out to no end. Calling their attorney to have us evicted?! It's very obvious, not only to us, that we are seen as "less than" everyone else because of how we are purchasing our home...I just don't know how to handle this.