HOA rules ban ‘For Sale’ signs
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When Denise Hicks decided to sell her Lebanon home, she put a for sale sign in the front yard.
A few days later she got a letter from the Home Owners Association warning her to take it down or risk being fined.
According to the Spence Creek HOA, for sale and rent signs are prohibited. So are advertising flyers and posters and billboards of any kind.
Hicks contracted with long time real estate agent Faye Watson to sell her home.
Watson put her Coldwell Banker signs in the front windows of the home. They are very hard to see, and both women say the HOA rule makes marketing a home in Spence Creek difficult.
While Hicks cannot post a sign on her front yard, her entire neighborhood is filled with CENTEX signs. Some say sold, others say available.
Hicks says if she can’t post a for sale sign, the builder shouldn’t be allowed to either.
Both Hicks and Watson say the home builder doesn’t want any competition for the remaining available homes.
But a VP with Centex tells me that it has nothing to do with competition for home sales.
David Webster says it is about maintaining an orderly streetscape which will ultimately help maintain the value of the homes.
The Centex official says when the builder leaves the community, the HOA and the residents can vote to do away with this provision if they choose to do so.
Hicks says she realizes she signed this document, but she still thinks it is not fair.
Kathy Sutherland is the VP of the Community Association Division for the Ghertner Co. that runs the SPENCE CREEK HOA.
Sutherland says:
“I don’t know if it is a question of fairness. It is a community Association, (HOA). The HOA is created by an entity, called the Declarant.”
Sutherland will go on to tell me that Centex is the Declarant which establishes the community’s boundaries and other basics in the subdivision.
According to Sutherland, “Anyone who purchases there, by virtue of their purchase, bys into that and will submit to what it says, even if they have not read it. One of the issues is signs. It says it can be placed in the windows. The Declaring has a lot of latitude to put up their own signs, because they want to sell the lots. Centex can keep commercial vehicles on site or put up signs in early stages that will not be permitted by home owners.”
Sutherland tells me that the Architectural Standards could be amended by the governing board, once Centex leaves the community.
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While I agree that it does seem to be a double-standard that only the builder is allowed to post yard signs, the HOA is completely in the right here. An HOA can put just about any restrictions upon the residents that its founders want to. If people are unhappy with the rules and restrictions, they shouldn’t buy a home in that community to begin with. It is a legally binding contract, after all, and no one if forcing anyone to live in neighborhoods with HOAs. Just READ THE TERMS before you sign, and don’t expect sympathy from everyone when you don’t.
For the record, I live in a neighborhood with an HOA, so I am very familiar with how they work. There are some conditions my family and I are subject to that are annoying at times, but we knew about these from the start and decided we were willing to live with them. We also are in a situation where the homeowners can not change the HOA agreement until after the builder sells all of the homes in our community (not sure when that is going to happen in this economy), so we’re stuck with the rules “as is” for the foreseeable future.
I have to agree with Eric. The buyer is expected to read, understand and agree to abide by the HOA’s rules, or they don’t get to buy the house.
I’d never buy a home under such restrictive terms, personally.
Glad I read this “That’s Messed Up” portion. While I am in the market for a house at the present time, I will be sure NOT to buy a house built by “CENTEX”. Wonder what it is that Centex is “really” worried about. Maybe they build substandard homes so if others see the “For Sale” sign in the yards other people will know too? That is my line of thinking anyway. Thanks for the heads up on this one. And as for the sign, put it up anyway!! Let them fine you, get the neighbors together with a lawyer of coarse and Im sure before the sign comes down your house will be sold. (-:
Good luck with your house sale and hope your neighbors wake up and you all fight together.
Marie
@ Marie,
You can’t just band together and fight Ghetner. They are in the right, and the homeowner is in the wrong. The rules are in the HOA book.
I live in a Centex community and some of the rules are really a pain, but no-one has reason to complain when they should have read the rules.
The house across the street from my home has been for sale for months and they have had 3 signs in their front yard for weeks. Someone mixed their property up with ours and sent us a letter and a notice of a fine for posting signs on the lawn. The fine was between $150-200!
I also think that you cannot undercut the selling price of Centex’s new houses until they sell all lots in the neighborhood. Makes it difficult to sell a house when that is the case.
When you are “foced” to sign a contract with rules that should not be there in order to get your house you want, then I suggest you stick together and fight the rule. You CAN do this and I would highly suggest she do so. If you look at the housing market, CENTEX may be stuck with their houses for some time to come, why should the women be stuck with hers also if she is ready to move. Did she get a transfer in her job? What ever her reason, it IS her yard, it IS her house, she DOES pay property taxes and she SHOULD have the right to sell her house AND put the 4 sale sign in her yard just like the rest of America. I still say, get together and hire a lawyer.
Just for the record, I WAS NOT given a copy of the Archetectual Standards for this neighborhood until after I purchased my home. The document came in a stack with warranty papers. I never signed anything saying I agreed with their rules. Selling my home at that time wasn’t on my radar. Life happens to all of us. We marry, divorce, and sometimes someone dies. We should have an opportunity to market our homes like everyone else. The Centex-run board is making this impossible.
This is not messed up it’s what happens when people go through life with their head in the sand! At what point did we decide it’s okay to be incompetant in life. I think this person has absolutely no ground to stand on and needs to learn from this life lesson. READ ALL PAPERWORK! I agree HOA standards can be ridiculous and I have one in my neighborhood but I read this along with EVERYTHiNG that came with my house including appliance manuals. Wake up America and start taking responsibility for your actions!
Comment by Marie | June 14, 2009 @ 2:58 pm
When you are “foced” to sign a contract with rules that should not be there in order to get your house you want.
Marie, nobody “forced” them to sign a contract - it was a requirement to purchase a home in that neighborhood. They WANTED that home, they weren’t FORCED to buy it.
They agreed to the HOA rules up front, they have to live with ‘em. Don’t want to follow HOA rules, don’t purchase a home that is subject to an HOA. Simple.
Saw your HOA interview tonight. Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you!! They are a joke!! Money for nothing!! We spent 11 years in Smyrna, paid HOA dues and watched the neighborhood slowly degrade. Then we moved to Walter Hill (Harvest Grove). Brand new subdivision and only some of us have to pay dues and rules are being broken all around us. It is Money for nothing and HOA’s are getting rich! I cannot believe that HOA’s are legal. I bet if you investigate a little more you will uncover the largest scam of the century. We have to pay HOA dues but HOA’s don’t have to do anything. It would be interesting to see what my options were if I wanted to buck the HOA system. I only pay 190 dollars a year but that is not the point. I am being forced to pay for something with no return!!
Thanks for your time,
Denise, I am sorry that your having problems. I hope the next home you buy is not with an HOA. But lets be honest here. How many folks today just go driving down the street looking for homes to buy? Most folks do their research first online (or have their Realtor do it). Marketing is what will sell your home, so have your Realtor sharpen up their marketing plan. Drop the price to the lowest you can live with. By all means put the signs in the windows. Your selling a “used” home against a market of new homes. You have to make yours “stand” out financially against the others. This is a terrible time to sell, but as you say life happens and you may not have much choice here. Good luck to you.
This is Marie again…….CENTEX stinks, some people on here need to eat a bowl of “shut the hell up”. If the women wants to sell her house and put a for sale sign in it LIKE THE REST OF AMERICAN, she should. Thats the bottom line.
And lets DO be honest here, if the pres of the HOA has a friend that wants a for sale sign in his yard, would he/she look the other way? Probably.
And as for the research on the internet first….lots of people drive around and find a neighborhood they like, THEN do the research, and the for sale signs in the yard help alot.
I stand by my first comment, hire a lawyer or nickle and dime the HOA/CENTEX until they beg you to move out and pay you over and above your asking price.
No, Marie, YOU should shut the hell up and quit making yourself look any more stupid than you already have.
SHE voluntarily signed the agreement.
SHE approved the conditions she is under.
SHE has nothing to complain about.
So shut YOUR stupid yap.
I think this is unamerican and rediculous to tell any homebuyer that they cannot put a for sale sign in their yard. My husband and I have bought 6 homes in 42years just by driving by a neighborhood and seeing the house we wanted and a SIGN in the yard. You cannot judge a house by looking at pictures. If the homeowners are smart they need to all get a petition up to eliminate this flaw from their contract. I DEFINATELY WILL NEVER BUY A CENTEX HOME NOW.
Marie, you think the homeowner, most any homeowner, can afford to pay lawyers to nickle and dime a corporation into doing what they want? That is not realistic. The bad press Centex is getting is probably more harassment then any lawyer the homeowner could afford to pay for could do. Bottom line this homeowner moved into a community with an HOA, she was given all the time she needed to read each and every document at closing, she could have looked at the HOA agreement before closing. She chose not to. That doesn’t give her the right to ignore a binding agreement. Of course the bad press also hurts her as I am sure some folks now will not even look at a home community like Centex has there. Emily, the petition drive is not going to change that HOA agreement, thats wishful thinking. Your statement that you will never buy a Centex home is what Centex needs to hear.
Denise, I’m having a hard time believing that you were not given a copy of the Architectural Standards for the neighborhood until after you completed closing. If this is true, it’s probably the first time it’s ever happened. Ok, maybe not THE first time, but one of the few times…
If indeed you didn’t sign such a document, then tell the HOA to stick it, and then stick your sign out there in the front yard where it belongs. The HOA will then be required to take you to court and prove that you signed such an agreement. I’m sure you know how that’ll come out.
Selling your home SOMEDAY should have been on your radar all along, and it’s naive to think otherwise. You’re not a child.
If you signed a HOA agreement, you will NOT “have an opportunity to market your home like everyone else”. You also won’t be able to park in the street, park in your driveway, leave your garage door open, or paint your front door pink, etc. If you signed the docuement, you have to follow the HOA rules.
These are the reasons why HOAs exist. The people who live under these conditions do so willingly, which is why they won’t be going anywhere soon. As I stated before, I’d never buy a home under such conditions. NOBODY tells me what I can do in my yard (within reason), or whether I can park in front of my house or not, etc.