HOA and DirecTV Dish

I just moved into my new home about a month ago here in Beaverton OR. I knew there was an HOA but was never provided any contact information or the bylaws.

I had my DirecTV installation today and the installer said the front of my house is the only place I would receive a clear signal and not risk interference and disruption.

My neighbor came by to tell me I might get "notice" about the dish, he did not care because he is on their "black list" already but kindly gave me a heads up. I knew it was trouble when he said he was on the list because he had his daughters pink swing hanging from the side of their front patio and because his shed stands about 10" above the top of his fence....really? and so my disdain of HOA's continues!

Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, here comes the HOA President to tell me "bad news for you"...I do not think so, I told him about the FCC rules and that the installer did try the back of my house and sides (honestly, I would rather have it there too) but the signal was not good.

I proceeded to tell him, that I have never seen any bylaws, received any information and now I at least know how to get their attention. I also said I will not be moving the dish and risk a degradation of my signal/service.

HOA's are largely overstepping bounds. I understand and support the idea of keeping yards maintained, no long term or regular parking on streets, not painting your house an obnoxious color not consistent with the neighborhood, not have boats and other recreational vehicles in the driveway as storage or yard, side of house etc. where it is not designed appropriately...these all make sense.

But to say where you can have a dish, simply putting up fencing on the side of your house (from house to existing fences) and all the other nit picky things they try to control, it is absurd. This is why I too will soon be on the black list. I will not participate in any meetings or any of their activities. We only have 21 homes in the HOA and on my first day moving in, two people told me they wanted to get rid of the HOA and not have one...make that three as of today...I wonder how many more of us want to truly own our homes?

? since you dislike HOAs, why did you join one ?

! you DID join, by signing the deed transfer which references the restrictions !

? who held the gun ? your realtor ? your attorney ?

CAVEAT EMPTOR

ps. after you disband the HOA, who, exactly, will maintain the storm water retention and drainage system(s) ?

It seems harder and harder to find homes that are newer/nice without an HOA unless you buy something on a large piece of land. I wanted the views I have....that is why I bought.

Secondly, I was not given the bylaws or any contact information, in fact, the moment this dish went up is the first I have heard from anyone about it...conincidentally, I also got my bill saying I am passed due when I was never given any information on who, when, how to pay!

HOA's would be great if they would stick to the basics of community upkeep (landscaping needs, community common areas (which we have none) and general upkeep guidelines.....when they are so nit picky on everything you do and have a committee to approve anything you want to do.....it is overkill. We only have 21 homes in our neighborhood, so I will be making it clear that I am not a fan....like I said, others have already told me they are a pain and want to do away with them.

In the end bylaws are just that, some they can enforce, some they can do nothing about (such as my dish) what are they going to do fine me? OOOOHHHH I am scared, that will go directly into the recycle....

Well said Dave. He will be back....LOL

Gary, Refusing to participate in any of the meetings or activities is certainly a choice you can make. The consequences of this choice is that you will then be allowing those who are willing to participate to run things.

If you don't like the way things are being done, you need to participate in order to change it.

If you believe that the Board is overstepping their authority and choose not to participate, you are removing the checks and balances the membership is supposed to do of the Board by only voting for those (or serving yourself) who will not overstep their authority. Hence, you are allowing the Board to overstep.


Well, depending on your governing documents, getting rid of your Association may be easy or hard. It will really depend on the amount and type of common elements.

OF COURSE, if you only want to remove the enforcement authority of the Association, this can easily be done by amending your Covenants. That document should specify how it is amended. Then all that needs to be done is become involved and gather enough support to make the change.

Gary,

Since there are only 21 homes, my advice would be to become active in the neighborhood. Maybe join the board and help enact positive change. If there truly is a desire by the residents to disband then gauge interest, organize, and disband. Not becoming involved is a surefire way to let ignorance and abuse to continue and grow. Take it from me - I'm not the biggest fan of HOAs (moved into neighborhoods with no or voluntary HOAs that then attempted to make stricter mandatory rules). I got involved and helped protect and preserve the neighborhood. There were plenty who did not want any part and did nothing and many of those people experienced greater harm than good.

Even if the neighborhood doesn't want to disband, you support the general principles of deed restricted living and sound reasonable. You can help mold the neighborhood to a kinder, gentler place to live. If others have shared your sentiment I think it is safe to assume they all sat by and allowed things to progress. You can give them a voice. 21 homes is not a lot. You only need 11 homes to gain a majority - that's you and 10 others.

Just so you are all aware, EVERY dish goes on the front of the house, not because it gets the reception best but because the wires going into the house (existing cable tv, phone, electric) are usually on the side of the house but towards the front so meter readers can read the meters easily. It is easier and convenient for the Dish to be placed in that area so they use a minimum amount of cable and its simply easier to mount to the house instead of a pole in the yard. This was told to me by a satellite company employee. In my HOA, everyone that has a dish has it on the side at the front of the house regardless of which way the house is facing. In our rules we can require a satellite notification form be filed with the board, and I believe the federal rules apply to the smaller dishes.

We are going to have to agree to disagree DaveD3 because all the houses in my neighborhood face all different directions and they put the dishes in the exact same spot on every house. They CAN put the dishes elsewhere, but unless you ask, they will not. This info came right from an installer.

They are making fill out the paperword but said they will approve it since the signal proved to be strongest at that location.

My issue with HOA's is how nit picky some can be. I was advised by my three closest neighbors that "they are a pain" and how they have tried to disband it, but cannot get enough votes. I, fortunately bought a home around all the people that want it gone and do not like them.

What really set me off was the Presidents cavalier attitude when he knocked on my door regarding the dish. I will NEVER attend a meeting, vote on any of their stuff etc. unless I know we will be able to change or rid something.

It is nice to know the neighbors closest to me said "good" now we have one more on our side.....they provided me very specific examples of their "policing" of the neighborhood....

How about someone who has a childs pink swing hanging off the end of one side of their convered front patio....or his shed that the roof can bee seen over the fence line....who cares!! It is a nice clean neighborhood, the shed is new and clean.

To each their own, but I will give no support to the HOA other than paying my monthly dues and abiding to things that should be in place...keep your yard cut, weeeded and green...I get that, no regular parking on the street...that makes sense....I am sure I am complaing to the wrong group...probably majority HOA fans here and/or board memembers....at least I know that I have several of my neighbors that agree.

I did hear that a recent new member to the board is another one who got on the board to "subdue their antics" he did not like things either so he joined....sorry, my time is more valuable that playing a virtual reality sim city where someone gets to play mayor and the rest act like a council....

Gary's definition of a good HOA, one that will make others toe the line but leave him the hell alone.

I like my house and my view those are why I buy a house...not because of an HOA....basically you summed it up. My place will be clean, well maintained etc. so yes....leave me alone. I have a real life to live and attending HOA meetings and being involved in my neighborhood for their silly cares is not one of them.....I having only 21 homes has made it real easy to figure out who my friends will be in the neighborhood, like I said, fortuantely, all of us in the part I am in are on the same page. Those residents are the ones who told me the HOA was awful and pointed to the busy bodies homes and gave me several examples of their issues.

Congrats on your interest in being involved in your HOA!!! I remember those days as well when I got involved. A few words of warning is don't always volunteer for everything. You will burn yourself out. Know your place. If you find yourself wanting to paid for the things you do, quit. ALWAYS carry a copy of your rules/documents with you to meetings and refer your answers to those documents. Remember, the money the HOA has is NOT your money, it is EVERYONE's money. Which means you have to do what the majority wants you to do not what you think. It's like setting out your checkbook on the dining room table for the whole family to look at and decide how to spend the money. Adopt that way of thinking will help you out greatly. Finally, being a HOA board member/officer is a THANKLESS job...However, I found that I was always thankFULL to have it.

There are some great debates and education to be found on this website. I'd suggest looking at some older posts but be careful of reopening them. Just make a new topic if the date is an old one. You probably will get a better response with a new topic.

Overall KNOW your documents inside and out...They will give you the answers and solutions to whatever happens in your HOA...

Since 1996, and there are still HOAs that haven't gotten the message. All one has to do is look at the recent rulings on the FCC website to learn that.

S

A

R

C

A

S

M