VA DOT Military Vehicles and HOAs "Junk Vehicles"

[Trailfinder]

Has anyone seen or heard anything about newly passed legislation in Virginia enabling HOAs to prohibit storage of Military vehicles on homeowner's property? My HOA has been stewing about my vehicles for years. I just received an official notice yesterday.

Covenants excerpt:

Section 6. (d) except as elsewhere provided in this Declaration, no inoperable or junk vehicle (vehicles which cannot be lawfully operated on public roads of Virginia), trailer, camper, camp truck, house trailer, boat or other similar machinery or equipment of any kind or character (except for such equipment and machinery as may be reasonable, customary and usual in connection with the maintenance of any Dwelling and except for such equipment as the Association may require in connection with the maintenance and operation of the Common Areas) shall be kept upon the Property, nor (except for bona fide emergencies) shall the repair or extraordinary maintenance of automobile or other vehicles be carried out thereon. The Association may, in the discretion of the Board of Directors, provide and maintain a suitable are designated for the parking of such vehicles or the like;

 

[wb9btz]

Don't know about VA DOT laws or regulations, but the only thing I see in your excerpt that may cause concern is the phrase "or any other similar machinery or equipment of any kind or character...", which is a very vague general phrase that could apply to anything they choose to apply it to. It therefore can be considered non-specific and over-reaching and could most likely be successfully fought in court -which is probably what you will have to do if they decide to apply the phrase to your truck.

That being said, it sounds to me like the rest of your excerpt would not disallow your truck as long as (1) it is legally titled, licensed, insured and operated on the roads of VA, (2) it is maintained in operating condition at all times, (3) it cannot be reasonably considered to be a camper, trailer or a boat and (4) you never do any maintenance on it while it is in the subdivision.

Caveat: I am not an attorney and this is not a legal opinion.

It is just my interpretation of what you posted. I spent much of my career reading (and writing) legal contracts and, while that does not qualify me as an expert by any means, I do feel reasonably comfortable with "legaleze".

I got lucky... My subdivision had an HOA, but the developer went bankrupt before the subdivision was sold to the 75% level and the HOA vaporized!

 

[HanksDeuce]

I researched my neighborhood before moving in. The HOA dissolved after the developer finished the subdivision. No one to police restrictions now. But, all of the lots are developed so we know that there won't be any trailers put in next to our houses. Zoning laws (or the lack of) suck around the rural areas. [Nice house. Dump. Commercial building. Crappy house. School. Semi-nice house. And so on...]

 

[swbradley1]

I researched my neighborhood before moving in. The HOA dissolved after the developer finished the subdivision. No one to police restrictions now. But, all of the lots are developed so we know that there won't be any trailers put in next to our houses. Zoning laws (or the lack of) suck around the rural areas. [Nice house. Dump. Commercial building. Crappy house. School. Semi-nice house. And so on...]

Thank you for pointing out what people seem to forget about HOAs, some people want to live in a neighborhood that isn't a string of nice houses, run down house, carry out, dump or school.

They serve a useful purpose. Where they (and some people) get into trouble is thinking they can sign the agreement, move in and then do what they want OR the HOA tries to change the playing field afterwards.

 

[oddshot]

Thank you for pointing out what people seem to forget about HOAs, some people want to live in a neighborhood that isn't a string of nice houses, run down house, carry out, dump or school.

They serve a useful purpose.

Especially in an area where the local government has no zoning rules or construction codes. In some places, the only thing that prevents the property next to your from becoming a pig farm, is a HOA. Of course, If you like pigs ... it ain't no problem.

Where they (and some people) get into trouble is thinking they can sign the agreement, move in and then do what they want OR the HOA tries to change the playing field afterwards.

Exactly correct. We were one of the first families to move into this HOA. The reason we bought in a HOA was that this one was VERY non-restrictive and cheap. Then the developer finished construction and left the picture. More and more families moved in, some of which wanted to change the HOA C&R's to be a LOT more restrictive. My only recourse was to become a board member. Its been a tough fight, but with the help of others on the board, for over 6 years now I've been able to hold off folks who would make sweeping and dramatic changes.

 

[Heath_h49008]

Why anyone would ever want to be told what to do with their property, or feel the need or right to tell anyone else to do with their property, is beyond me.

The simple solution would seem to be to eliminate the HOA, or avoid such things like the plague.

 

[clinto]

Why anyone would ever want to be told what to do with their property, or feel the need or right to tell anyone else to do with their property, is beyond me.

The simple solution would seem to be to eliminate the HOA, or avoid such things like the plague.

Because they want to be able to tell their next door neighbor not to hang a dead deer or a small block Chevy out of a tree and leave them there for 6 months.

 

[Heath_h49008]

Dead deer.. stench and health hazard.

350 chevy? What concern is it of mine? Is it any less obnoxious than a new Prius covered in greenpeace stickers? "To each their own" and "Oh well, it's a Free country"... we don't hear those said much anymore.

It seems to be little more than a contractual excuse for the neighborhood busy-body(s) to wag their tongues and fingers. I can't imagine ever willingly getting into such a communal living situation. If they can tell you what to do with it, you don't really own it.

If you chose to get into it, I suppose you have to deal with the consequences and stop complaining about loosing your rights when you signed an agreement to take away the rights of others. Instead you can move or rejoice in the loss of any individuality and celebrate life in the exact same little ticky-tacky box as everyone around you.

Is there a dress code as well?

Seriously. How many of these threads are there?

 

[Tinwoodsman]

I read these HOA threads time and time again. While I understand the desire to have MV's and other assorted things on one's property, anyone who moves into a community that has HOA deed restrictions signs and agrees to the restrictions as part of the title and closing process. When I first moved to Texas I built in a HOA community because I did not want a school bus or dumpster and the like next to my house. Since I wanted to pursue my MV hobby later on, I sold my house and purchased 25 acres, had it surveyed for the geographical center and built my house and shop there. Problem solved, however, I will point out that the HOA issues I faced were not something that popped up to bite me in the butt. They were there, I agreed to them and as such had to honor my word.

 

[10Lugger]

Times have changed so much OP. I grew up in your location, Springfield Va. There were no HOA's back then. Springfield Estates off Franconia Rd. and all of the surrounding communities were built in the 50's thru the 60's. Most of the residents were government employees directly or indirectly (contractors) to also include the military. Home town USA. Back when everyone mowed there own yard or paid the kid next door to do it. Shame, it actually worked back then. As a kid you knew all eyes were on you and everyone knew where you belonged. Step out of place, and be prepared for the colonel's wife to chase you with a broom stick (for real). That metropolitan area has transformed into something unrecognizable to me now, transient temporary residents with no sense of community. Residents willing to sign off there personal property rights to a board of officials they probably don't even know. I can only suggest one thing. MOVE!...................We did, and love it 60 miles west.

 

[welldigger]

I will never live anywhere that has an HOA. It won't happen with me. Aside from my mv hobby I run my drilling business out of my home/property. I routinely park my rig, water truck, track hoe, and other related equipment in my yard. Now granted I have a designated parking area for such things as to keep them out of the way and out of sight as much as possible. I will never accept someone else who doesn't pay my taxes or pay for the property telling me what to do with it.

 

[RodUSMC1962]

I suggested the "move" thing on another thread and got grief for it. If you want your individual liberties taken by the local gestapo, then live in one of these places .If not buy a large enough piece of property w/o these restrictions and plant 14,000 trees around it like I did.

 

[JasonS]

I suggested the "move" thing on another thread and got grief for it. If you want your individual liberties taken by the local gestapo, then live in one of these places .If not buy a large enough piece of property w/o these restrictions and plant 14,000 trees around it like I did.

Those liberties were not "taken"; they were signed away when the property was purchased.

 

[rustystud]

I suggested the "move" thing on another thread and got grief for it. If you want your individual liberties taken by the local gestapo, then live in one of these places .If not buy a large enough piece of property w/o these restrictions and plant 14,000 trees around it like I did.

I totally agree with you !!! I bought my 5 acres for that express purpose. When I was around 10 my family went to a family reunion at my Uncle Wilbur's place. He had a small working farm south of Chehalis WA. I remember asking him if he would ever live in a city like Seattle where I did. He looked straight at me and said " I'll never live in a place where I can't take a piss off my front porch without the neighbors calling the cops " That answer has stuck with me my whole life, and when I finally bought my place that was the number one factor in choosing it. Away from everyone else. Of course now 30 years latter everyone and his dog has moved out to the country and I live surrounded by developments. I used to be able to fire my rifles at targets I had setup . Now that is gone. It used to be zoned rural. Now it's suburban. I still can keep my vehicles and animals since I'm grandfathered in. I also planted over 400 western red cedar trees around my perimeter to keep the riff-raft out. Now the deers are using my place as a wildlife sanctuary. The only problem with that, is that they eat my fruit trees ! Literally ! Eat the bark right off the trees ! Three days ago I was spraying this deer repellant on the trees, when I turned around there where 5 deers looking at me not 30 feet away ! To add insult to injury one then crapped right in front of me ! My wife laughed so hard she pissed her pants. Oh well time to get a replacement for my old German Shepard . Now if that useless Bobcat who is living under my front porch would do something (actually he does keep the mice and rats down).

 

[Trailboss]

The great thing about living on rural acres is you can do anything you want on your land. The bad thing about no HOA/county codes/etc., is that your neighbor can do anything he wants on his property - such as a low income subsidized housing development, feedlot, chicken houses, sawmill or hog farm. When insurmountable neighbor issues arise, the first response of some is to sue or call the code enforcement nazis. Life is too short for neighbor wars, so I moved to a friendlier area. I'd rather pay a realtor rather than a lawyer.

 

[RodUSMC1962]

I like uncle Wilbur!