On Sep 10, 2:57*pm, Norminn wrote:
DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Sep 10, 1:44 pm, Norminn wrote:

DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Sep 10, 9:58 am, "HeyBub" wrote:

"[SANFORD, Fla.] A Sanford man whose wife and son were killed when an
airplane crashed into their home may have to tear down his rebuilt house
because a homeowners' association said he is breaking their rules."

http://www.local6.com/news/17427900/detail.html

As much as I dislike most HOA's, I can see a couple of sides to this
issue.

On one hand, *if the poor widower wants to rebuild on the same lot
under the same HOA, then he should follow the rules. If not, move. If
they made exceptions for every tragic event that happened to someone
in the neighborhood then the rules would be a joke. "I can never drive
a car again because my wife died in an car accident. Let me keep my
pick-up truck." I'm not defending the HOA per se, but if someone
chooses to live in a HOA-controlled neighborhood, then they also
choose to live under their rules.

On the other hand, how did it get so far into the process ("a few
weeks from being completed') without the flags going up earlier?
Didn't he have to have the plans approved before construction started?
If the HOA approved them, then they can't stop it now. If he tried to
avoid the approval, hoping to play on their sympathies, then he is at
fault.

I think there is more to this story than just what's in the article.

Wonder where the city building code authority has been on the issue? *No
permit? *That is
tragic.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The city building code may not have anything to do with the specific
issue - the HOA's rules

The color of the shingles, the elevation, square footage and setbacks
may be fine as far as the city is concerned.

However, if these particular HOA rules take precedence over the city's
rules, then he could be in violation of the HOA even if he has a valid
permit from the city.

HOA can't take precedence, but may be stricter. *I can't imagine any
municipality without basic
code requirements for the issues mentioned. *Some setbacks just require
paperwork to get an
allowance to extend it.

Yeah, that's what I meant - stricter. In other words, no need for a
setback extender or square footage variance as far as the city was
concerned, but the HOA increased setback distances by a foot, so he
was in violation of HOA rules. I think we're on the same page here.


The question that still remains in my mind is: How did they get within
weeks of completion before this surfaced?

Lots of boards meet only once per year, with board members who have
second homes far away.
Or they ignored it until someone complained. ) *The tough part is that
construction is basic in
HOA/condo documents, have to be enforced or risk losing the next time an
issue comes up.
I have sympathy for the owner's situation, but too many people use
unfortunate circumstances
to get around rules that really do protect communities.....the kid with
a handicap who got a two-
story playhouse, the woman with a husband in military who violated sign
regs, etc, etc.-

Yep, that's what I meant with my pick-up truck scenario.

BTW I had an interesting setback situation with my first house.

I got a mortgage approved by Bank A prior to closing after providing a
survey map to the lender. There were no setback issues mentioned.

A year later, we tried to re-financed with Bank B and they said we
needed a signed form stating that no one had complained about our
setback "violation" in the past 18 months. It turns out that one
corner the house was about 6 inches inside the required setback.

Bank B was aware that we had only been in the house for 12 months and
wouldn't accept my signature for the 18 month time period. They told
me to go find the prior owner and get his signature on the form.
Luckily, I knew how to contact him and while he was surprised, he was
more than willing to help out.

Here's the rediculous part of the situation:

They wouldn't accept my signature because I wasn't living in the house
for the full 18 months, yet they accepted the prior owner's signature
even though he hadn't been there for the past 12 months! They didn't
want a form from him for the period he lived there *and* a form from
me for the period I lived there, they just wanted a form from whoever
lived in the house on the day that was 18 months prior to the closing,
stating that no one had complained in 18 months.

Idiots.