Lake Bridgeport Neighborhood Network

Codes, Covenants, and Restrictions

Warning About Homeowner?’s Associations and Property Owner?’s Asso

Warning: Codes, Covenants & Restrictions contain a potential lien capability whereby the Homeowners Association can foreclose in the event you do not pay maintenance fees or commit some other CC&R “violation.”

Lake living has a variety of meanings to different people. For some, it’s an escape from the city where leisure activities can be enjoyed and you can let your hair down, live and let live, and “do your own thing.” For others, it’s an opportunity to have a great view, protected property values, and a way of importing privatized government into the wilderness. Fortunately Lake Bridgeport has plenty of both kinds of developments to suit your needs.

The basic difference between choosing to live in a development with an HOA or POA, which are encumbered with many restrictive covenants and mandatory fees, or without an HOA or POA, is individual freedom. If you have dreams of building your own place with a unique design, forget HOA’s or POA’s, where uniformity is the name of the game. If you like privacy and don’t want your neighbors telling you what you must do, forget HOA’s or POA’s. But if you like a sense of sameness and order, strong involvement in your community government, and actually enjoy the prospect of constant enforcement battles, then HOA’s and POA’s are your cup of tea.

There’s no unbiased proof that HOAs or POAs actually increase property values – especially on lakes where land resources are limited and all the land values are constantly skyrocketing. On Lake Bridgeport many existing neighborhoods have turned over time and time again. Old rustic cabins have been replaced with beautiful new luxury homes. These existing developments have minimal restrictions and offer the would-be lake homeowner the freedom to be expressive. They also offer the protections guaranteed by the Texas Homestead Act – something you will have to give up if you move into an HOA or POA.

Before you purchase a home or piece of property anywhere – especially in Texas, study the Codes, Covenants and Restrictions. Understand that you may be giving up your constitutional rights when you move into HOA’s and POA’s. Study all you can about what your will be facing when you move into an HOA or POA.

Petition to Stop HOA Foreclosures (especially in Texas)

To: United States Congress
Attention all homeowners and potential homeowners across the United States of America:

Protect your property from foreclosures by your neighborhood Homeowner Association (HOA) or Property Owner Association (POA). You may not be aware of this but throughout the United States, developers have been and are placing nonnegotiable restrictions and conditions of ownership on your future property as they develop the land. These restrictions and conditions are listed in the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) attached to the title of the property. These CC&Rs contain a potential lien capability whereby the Homeowners Association can foreclose in the event you do not pay maintenance fees or commit some other CC&R “violation” such as painting your mailbox a color they don’t like, or a roof type that is not approved, or if you are not cutting your lawn enough, etc. These are certainly not violations you should be foreclosed for. If you are having trouble paying your maintenance bill or fail to pay included penalties generated by your board members, you should not be subject to a foreclosure of your property. WE must get the attention of the Federal Government to stop the practice of HOAs and POAs filing foreclosure proceedings and foreclosing on our property. Let’s take our rights back from these developers and injudicious Association Board Members. WE must stop this practice of including a foreclosure capability in the CC&Rs. It is unjustly robbing us of our property and causing us financial loss. WE must remove this capability from existing CC&Rs and prevent its inclusion in future CC&Rs. To that end, we, the undersigned, do petition the Congress of the United States of America to draft and pass legislation that prohibits the foreclosure of any of its citizens’ property by a Homeowner Association, a Property Owners Association, or any comparable homeowners Association that may go by any other title.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
http://stoptexashoaforeclosures.com/

Read excerpts from the following . . .

PEOPLE MAGAZINE, published a devastating article on homeowner associations in its October 4, 2004 edition. The article is titled "Loathe Thy Neighbor" and can be located on Page 123.

The article covers the emotional trauma and financial devastation that can come with simply flying the American flag, planting flowers, or displaying a pink flamingo lawn ornament in your garden, if you live in a homeowner association.

American Homeowners Resource Center
http://www.ahrc.com/new/index.php/src/news

Links

Stop Texas HOA Foreclosures
American Homeowners Resource Center