HOA's Take Aim at Our Hobby!

There should be some recourse for the blatant lies in Judith's letter, but this is politics and those with money are allowed to lie about anything and everything, and if you call them on it, you get sued and go broke.

As for hams not needing permanent installations - GARBAGE! If you don't use it, you won't know how in an emergency. What makes hams of potential use in emergencies is our know-how and experience. Without a home station or some reasonable facsimile, hams have no opportunity to test their skills. If Judith thinks I'm going to pack up and operate portable every time I want to get on the air, she is nuts, but I repeat myself.

I knew it was just a matter of time before the HOA's opened up their bank accounts to kill this legislation and the Quislings in the ham community cheer them on. If others around the country are sending out versions of Judith's letter, it won't be long before it's buried.

 

Because some of us have to make compromises.

At some point, family and career needs will probably oblige me to relocate to an HOA-infested part of the country.

When that time comes, I will be looking for a place that is affordable, supports single-floor living, has some access to paratransit (both because of my wife's disability), and is within an hour's drive of parts of town where my job can be found...and which will hopefully not be encumbered by ham-unfriendly restrictions.

One of the reasons I haven't moved yet is because of the problems in finding such a place. If such a place cannot be found before I am obliged to move....

 

There's a lot of fuss and feathers here- the subject generates enough heat to run a pizzeria. Both sides make some valid points, but seem to be more enchanted with their own florid prose than in reading what others are saying.

To begin with, I completely agree with the comments about YARD NAZIS- I have a neat, well-kept yard and clean house, but don't feel I should be able to dictate to others what color they can paint their shutters or what plants are permitted in the flower garden.

I have ham friends who live in such 'communities,' and some of them chafe under harsh restrictions. Some moved in after getting their tickets, and others were licensed after moving in; those are really two different cases. If a licensed amateur knowingly moves into such a situation, the term often used is "Buyer's Remorse." I pity them, but they should have known what they were getting into. On the other hand, a newly licensed ham may discover to his or her horror that they're caught in a web not entirely of their own devising.

In either case, the best advice I could give them is to get out as quickly as possible. When my wife and I bought our home a few years ago I made very sure my realtor (a close personal friend) knew exactly what would or would not be acceptable. As an important point, my wife agreed with me- the decision isn't a source of family tension since she loves the house we bought.

First off, we made sure there were no restrictions- our city has no regulations about antennas or towers, provided they meet sound engineering standards. Next, we looked for (and found) a location where the power lines don't cross the back yard; they come in from the street to the corner of the garage. Finally, there are some nice tall trees.

All in all, I support the legislation. Reasonable accommodation probably won't help anyone wanting to set up a 70 foot tower in a small back yard, but it should help make compromise possible where none can be achieved now. The worst thing we can do is start a poison pen letter campaign. Never get into a P1$$ing contest with a skunk- nature has equipped him to win every time.

Just my opinion, YMMV.

73, Bill

 

The best advice is to write to your elected representatives.

For more information about who you should write to, and what you can do, please visit:

http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-parity-act

.

 

The problem with the boilerplate letter is that it says NOTHING about the black UN helicopters that are as part and parcel of the conspiracy as those HAM (don't forget to shout it!) radio broadcasters whose jiggawatts of microwave power pointed directly at us from atop gynormous towers....

Seriously, I am left wondering whether Ms Duncan is misinformed, or is she deliberately lying?

 

I guess the point went over your head. I'm sure it's not impossible, but you'll be hard pressed to find a deed covenant that doesn't include antennas. If I've got to chose between retaining my property value and enjoying the positives that come with residing in a planned community or supporting my dying hobby, I'll go with my home. There are plenty of others that feel the same way. It doesn't make us fools. We simply have different values.

Darrell

 

I would tend to agree except for the fact that Big Business has already bribed and bullied there way into infringing with the HOAs rights when it comes to antennas. Most states have already passed laws telling HOAs they cant keep out dishs. Is someones ability to watch Opera or the Shopping Network any more important than our hobby?

 

Hi Phil,

Just fyi, some of us moved into our HOA homes before we became hams. Believe me, our next house will not be in an HOA. We wouldn't have moved in this neighborhood if we had been hams at the time. I hope to get to a meeting soon. I still have that radio for you.
Allison KZ3JFY

 

Nowhere did I speak for anyone other than myself. Don't be paranoid.

 

We have a home in a development governed by an HOA. An HOA is nothing more than a parasite which attaches itself to a host. The host is you and your real property. To resolve this issue, I have purchased several acres of property in a less developed area of the mountains; where I am building my amateur radio facility as I please.

You may wish to consider doing the same.

Jim Stanley W6GH
Surprise, AZ

 

OTARD is a Federal law that specifically excludes HOAs from preventing home owners from putting up outside antennas for TV reception and satellite reception. I don't care WHAT HOA you live in. If I lived there, I can put up an outside antenna for TV reception AND a dish for satellite reception. There is absolutely NOTHING that any HOA can do to prevent me from doing so. (for the purest out there, those antennas do have to meet certain restrictions, but I add that only for completeness).

As I said before, ham antennas have NO affect on property values. Those who claim otherwise are simply ignorant of reality. This issue has been studied ad-naseum and litigated over and over. Property values and ham radio antennas have NOTHING to do with each other. You can whine all you want to, but it will not change the reality.

...............Bob

 

If I could not enjoy myself I would NOT take a piece of property to live on or in for FREE.Be miserable living in a huge home is not living.It's living under a dictatorship. Those of you waiting on a bunch of crooked politicians are living in a dream world thinking they actually care.Most could care less about you or I much less Ham Radio but maybe it's your way of dealing with it but in reality it's a far fetched dream with as big a chance as a snowflake does on the surface of the sun.When you signed that agreement you signed away your rights so live with it & stop complaining because it's your fault that you moved there & signed the agreement so have fun hiding those antennas & SMILE so they will think you are living the dream in bliss.

Clayton
W4KVW

 

Except...that's not really true.

I have a real estate broker license and have been through this a lot of times.

In many cases -- possibly most cases -- the signatory of the agreement on the part of the buyer has no idea what he's getting into and the covenants are not disclosed in advance in any way...not in ANY way, at all.

So, at escrow closing, you sign one line that states 'I agree to be bound by the existing deed restrictions...' without having ever seen them or reviewed them, and the agent assures you this is just 'boilerplate stuff' and 'don't worry about it.' THAT is an absolute fact, since I've been through more closings than most here will ever witness.

That's not an agreement, it's an initial on a line that to new buyers doesn't mean anything...until it does.

And that's the problem in America, actually. There needs to be a federal law, not just 50 state statutes, that demands complete disclosure at least 30 days prior to closing, and if the buyer does not agree with the covenants, the opt-out is free of burden, which means he would get any deposit or earnest money returned to him, and that's the end of the deal.

There is no such law.

There should be. And it needs to be federal, rather than 50 different statutes, because many people buy properties in states they're not from.

 

First I don't live in a HOA, I live in a town that has restrictions on towers and even antennas that are ridiculous.That is the war I am fighting..I was just putting my two cent in and supporting the soon to be law!