redTiburon: I have owned a condo. read the frickin' fine print.

redTiburon: I am AMAZED to find such intelligent comments on fark...had just about given up clicking on the right.


/going to the politics tab now....am sure that same well thought out comments will be found there.

There is a certain amount of irony that these two statements were made in the same thread.

You joined the association.

RTFA, she was there before the association existed. Since you didn't and made your snide comment anyway, that makes you the idiot.

I just watched something like this unfold where I live, but in my case, the condo owners all got together and decided the association had to go. So when election came around, they voted everyone in the old board out, voted the lady with the flowers in and fired the administrative staff. It was pretty damn epic.

She's moving out anyways. The previous fines should be gotten rid of, just have her pay the last one and get her the hell out.

Not sure why this hasn't already happened.

strapp3r: used to own a home with yards of yard (veggies, flowers, shrubs, trees, boulders...)
now living in nice apt (divorced) and each spring is a struggle with the urge to get dirty.
i still help my ex with yard chores - gladly!
starting sunflower seeds next week - will plant along a freeway fence so i can see my garden when i drive by.

/good luck lady!

I bought a condo last fall, and I've spent the last few weeks setting up a garden on my balcony. Since my space is so limited compared to a real yard, I've been making heavy use of square pots and hanging pots in order to maximize the garden's space-efficiency. And I've actually managed to pack a lot of plants into that space.

The only problem I've found so far is that there are walls on three sides of the balcony and another balcony on top, so it only gets direct sunlight during the morning hours. Which makes it nice place to relax, but my tomatoes will probably take a very long time to ripen.

Sounds like another condo association who wants to kick her out so they can make more money off the next person, and get "the right" people to buy it.

AverageAmericanGuy: despite whatever deal she and the developer originally worked out.

The developer still owns the property and manages it. Their rules and agreements take paramount over the neighborhood association.

SuperTramp: People "right" for condo living are those who can wrap their head around the fact that they will be legally bound to a number of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions.


In other words, people who just need a place to crash and hang their hat until they are ready to buy/rent something more private. Folks who share a work area but insist on packing it with plants, pictures, and tchotchkes probably would not do well in a condo.

Wanting to grow things and living in an apartment or condo is no problem. Answer: don't plant in the ground---plant in "decorative buckets".

Buckets can cost nothing if you have a contact in the eatery or drywall business. They use knee-high "5 gallon buckets (actually a mis-nomer) every day and cant pay to get rid of them. The local track's chef gets tons of food every year off the Ben-E-King truck in these buckets and they end up stacked 10 high near the loading dock because they cant pay people to take them away. With holes punched with 10-penny nails near the bottom of the sides for drainage and proper soil/gravel/sand fill--plants like flowers and peppers LOVE IT.

Condo people don't like buckets with 'Hebrew National Hot Dogs" written on the sides? Spray paint them to match the color of the grass or even the color of the condo. You arent digging in their precious topsoil and the buckets are perfectly portable. Have a sunny back deck, patio, or balcony? They will flourish there. The best news: peppers brought inside for the winter and put in a sunny window and watered when they get wilty will live and thrive again next spring! Many times they will bear peppers in the winter as well! (Flowers are usually annuals and are a one-shot a year plant).

So read your contract carefully and if it's NOT prohibited--they CAN'T biatch about it.

If you want the free PDF file on how to grow in buckets just PM me and ask. Pepper-heads are good people and will bendover backwards to help you get started. Our payment? None---just do the same thing for someone else. A Random act of Kindness.

SuperTramp: anfrind
I bought a condo last fall, and I've spent the last few weeks setting up a garden on my balcony. Since my space is so limited compared to a real yard, I've been making heavy use of square pots and hanging pots in order to maximize the garden's space-efficiency. And I've actually managed to pack a lot of plants into that space.

The only problem I've found so far is that there are walls on three sides of the balcony and another balcony on top, so it only gets direct sunlight during the morning hours. Which makes it nice place to relax, but my tomatoes will probably take a very long time to ripen.

I hope you do not consider knocking any of those walls down.

I don't intend to. One of the walls leads to my bedroom, the second wall leads to my living room, and I think the third wall is load-bearing for the upstairs neighbor's balcony.

CSB: I once had a neighbor in a condo association who decided that his windows were too small, and so brought over workmen who proceeded to knock out portions of the building so he could have larger windows installed.

Never underestimate the stupidity of people.

Fortunately, my condo has some very nice windows, and my neighbors seem reasonably intelligent. I have considered installing mirrors inside the condo to make more efficient use of the light from the windows (especially around the window I use for my seed starter), but that's about it.

It shouldn't matter how pretty her gardening is if it's against the rules in the first place. Didn't she go over that sort of thing before purchasing her condo?

Of course, the board is going to roll over like a dog in heat due to media pressure and she'll get her way, but still people. RTFM before you purchase property.

YouPeopleAreCrazy: Some, but not all. But it does have most of the disadvantages of renting an apartment.
Personally, I don't want to hear the fat guy upstairs walking around, or the girl next door slamming her headboard into the wall at 3 AM.


Duplex with a solid dividing wall is the way to go IMHO.

Fano: D)Playing solitare til dawn with a deck of 51

Smoking cigarettes is out since there is probably a smoking ban, and Captain Kangaroo is dead. What's a girl to do?

Harvey Manfrenjensenjen: Fano: D)Playing solitare til dawn with a deck of 51

Smoking cigarettes is out since there is probably a smoking ban, and Captain Kangaroo is dead. What's a girl to do?

Crack smoking is not explicity banned

She would have seen the place had no flowers or personal adornments before she bought.

She picked a sterile environment. It wasn't foisted on her.

The My Little Pony Killer: It shouldn't matter how pretty her gardening is if it's against the rules in the first place. Didn't she go over that sort of thing before purchasing her condo?

Of course, the board is going to roll over like a dog in heat due to media pressure and she'll get her way, but still people. RTFM before you purchase property.

It seems like everybody missed this part of the article. There was no board when she planted them. The damned flowers were there before the board existed.

strapp3r: starting sunflower seeds next week - will plant along a freeway fence so i can see my garden when i drive by.

That is awesome. I hope they get huge!

SuperTramp: SuperTramp: People "right" for condo living are those who can wrap their head around the fact that they will be legally bound to a number of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions.

In other words, people who just need a place to crash and hang their hat until they are ready to buy/rent something more private.

Actually, those are the people least likely to get involved in the association or voluntarily comply with CCR's, at least from my 20 years owning condo units.


Why? What's in a CCR that would conflict with sleeping and hanging up your clothes? I'm actually curious because I'm about to rent a condo and have no plans to personalize it in any way.

YouPeopleAreCrazy: waiting4godot: Owning a condo does not have "all the hassle" of owning a house.

Some, but not all. But it does have most of the disadvantages of renting an apartment.
Personally, I don't want to hear the fat guy upstairs walking around, or the girl next door slamming her headboard into the wall at 3 AM.

Yes, owning a condo may be building equity, but the 'shared wall' thing is not my cup of tea. Others love it. For me, no. Given the choice between shared wall or lawnmower, I know which I'd pick.

Well, this all depends on the type of condo. My complex has about 120 owners in buildings of 4 units each. I'm on the second/top floor. I don't hear anyone walking around. The buildings are made such that I've never heard the young (mid-20s) couple below me having sex and their bedroom is directly below mine. Perhaps they just use gags.

Of course, with a house, if your neighbor decides to put a billion holiday lights, you have to deal with that... or, as happened where I grew up, the neighbor decided to build a 2 story addition out the back of his one story ranch house... which basically increased the size of the house by about 3x and looked completely ridiculous. He ran out of money before he could get siding put on... so the thing sat unfinished for about three years with the insulation exposed (there was literally no siding what so ever on the addition). It was great for directions. "We live next to the unfinished barn, don't worry.. you'll understand when you see it." I moved away so I'm not sure what happened with it.. but I imagine he had to rebuild most of it as bits that shouldn't have been exposed to the weather were for so long.

If I was a person who found... some sort of satisfaction in yard work, I'd opt for a house too. I, however, have always been boggled why people want a nice big yard full of lush green grass... that is never the right damn height. Again and again and again you to cut the grass -- it's the prefect analogy (metaphor?) for modern humans -- we simply MUST alter the world to fit our whims. No where does it say laws must be made of grass, we just decided that's what we want.

Fight the power, lady. Don't let The Man hold you down.

SuperTramp: Abox: Why? What's in a CCR that would conflict with sleeping and hanging up your clothes? I'm actually curious because I'm about to rent a condo and have no plans to personalize it in any way.

Nothing.


So what makes crashers and hat-hangers least likely to voluntarily comply?

SuperTramp: Sabyen91
It seems like everybody missed this part of the article. There was no board when she planted them. The damned flowers were there before the board existed.

Once the developer turns control of the property over to the owner association, the developer and any previous "understandings" or "agreements" with him/her are completely out of the picture.

I am not sure why they are pitching a fit about something that preceded them. Also, a lien? They are just being dicks.

SuperTramp: Nothing. However, you should ask for a copy of the bylaws and rules, because renters are bound by them, too -- and from experience, pay close attention to "quiet hours." Should you choose to ignore any of the rules, you'll hear from your landlord once the board has contacted him/her.

You must be a blast at parties.

SuperTramp: you should ask for a copy of the bylaws and rules, because renters are bound by them, too


CSB: I'm in a townhouse now and the last time my parents visited, their car got towed from what I thought was a visitor spot. After a little research, I found that the HOA had provided new parking rules to my landlord but he didn't provide them to me. My landlord owned up to the mistake and paid for the towing.

The condo is within its rights in enforcing the condo rules. If you own a condo and hope to do anything that affects common property, then you need to get an approval, IN WRITING from the trustees. If you don't have it in writing, then you are out of luck. Trustees can't just allow people to do whatever they want, whether you might think it is good or bad, pretty or ugly. The rules are the rules, and if you don't like them, don't buy a condo.

jbrooks544: The condo is within its rights in enforcing the condo rules. If you own a condo and hope to do anything that affects common property, then you need to get an approval, IN WRITING from the trustees. If you don't have it in writing, then you are out of luck. Trustees can't just allow people to do whatever they want, whether you might think it is good or bad, pretty or ugly. The rules are the rules, and if you don't like them, don't buy a condo.

There were no trustees.

Carth: million ea

Why people live in areas like this are beyond me. It's so easy to find places that are NOT like that and yet still have tons of things to do.

SuperTramp: anfrind
I bought a condo last fall, and I've spent the last few weeks setting up a garden on my balcony. Since my space is so limited compared to a real yard, I've been making heavy use of square pots and hanging pots in order to maximize the garden's space-efficiency. And I've actually managed to pack a lot of plants into that space.

The only problem I've found so far is that there are walls on three sides of the balcony and another balcony on top, so it only gets direct sunlight during the morning hours. Which makes it nice place to relax, but my tomatoes will probably take a very long time to ripen.

I hope you do not consider knocking any of those walls down.

CSB: I once had a neighbor in a condo association who decided that his windows were too small, and so brought over workmen who proceeded to knock out portions of the building so he could have larger windows installed.

Never underestimate the stupidity of people.

What is "CSB"?

jayphat: NewWorldDan: I learned last night that there are 3 open seats (out of 5) on my HOA's Architecture Review Board. I'm going to sign up at next month's election. I'll approve anything.

Penis shaped mailboxes for everyone.

hand-painted Penis shaped mailboxes for everyone. Of which, you are the only local supplier in the area.

/Thimk ahead

SuperTramp: Abox: Why? What's in a CCR that would conflict with sleeping and hanging up your clothes? I'm actually curious because I'm about to rent a condo and have no plans to personalize it in any way.

Nothing. However, you should ask for a copy of the bylaws and rules, because renters are bound by them, too -- and from experience, pay close attention to "quiet hours." Should you choose to ignore any of the rules, you'll hear from your landlord once the board has contacted him/her.

In most cases where there is a problem with a tenant it's because the owner didn't give them the rules before they signed a lease or even told them it was a condo. In the end the condo has no relationship with the tenants, only the owner, and it's the owner who pays the price for their behavior. I've seen several owners lose their units to cover damage/legal costs incurred by tenants.

I wrote a clause in all my leases requiring the tenants to obey all current and future condo rules. Likewise I give all prospective tenants a copy of the rules and by-laws so they can make an informed choice.

Mambo Bananapatch: SuperTramp: anfrind

I hope you do not consider knocking any of those walls down.

CSB: I once had a neighbor in a condo association who decided that his windows were too small, and so brought over workmen who proceeded to knock out portions of the building so he could have larger windows installed.

Never underestimate the stupidity of people.

What is "CSB"?

C*ckSu*kersBullshait, obliviously

SuperTramp: Bananapatch:
What is "CSB"?

Cool Story, Bro'
/and a true story

And I think it started with this picture:

waiting4godot: If I was a person who found... some sort of satisfaction in yard work, I'd opt for a house too. I, however, have always been boggled why people want a nice big yard full of lush green grass... that is never the right damn height. Again and again and again you to cut the grass -- it's the prefect analogy (metaphor?) for modern humans -- we simply MUST alter the world to fit our whims. No where does it say laws must be made of grass, we just decided that's what we want.

If/When I buy a house with a yard, my plan is to get rid of the lawn and replace it with native plants. That way, the yard would be very low-maintenance, and would still has a nice, distinctive look.

It would most likely end up looking something like this:

Mugato: Great, now I have Paint it Black stuck in my head. Not that it's a bad song. Could be a lot worse, there's a Dolly Parton thread up there.

Great. Now I have Dolly Parton singing Paint It Black stuck in my head.