ignorance, judgment, neighbors

[Usmcsousa]

SO my wife and I bought our first MH finally!
But first lets rewind.
About a year and a half ago, we bought our first home, 2000 square ft absolutely beautiful in a quite dead end neighborhood.
I knew then i wanted two things, a flag pole to fly my usmc and american flag and a large enough driveway for a class a.
Our "wonderful " neighbors have been great up until recently.
A few months ago, i pulled our new used 34 foot gem up to our home and like with any new toy, began making it ours, wash wax rip out the old, put in the new ect.
Not even 4 hours into my endeavor, this 200+ year old lady from waaay down the road( not visible from our property ) walked up to my driveway to kindly explain to me that there are restrictive covenants in our neighborhood. Which my realtor neglected to inform us of.
She came back the next day with a print out, sure enough, no flag poles, no motorhomes, amongst 140 other ridiculous restrictions.
About a week later i moved my mh off of MY property and into storage. Even though. We have NO hoa and 3/4s of the neighborhood are not in compliance with the covenants.
I recently found a facebook page of our neighborhood where i read a lot of nasty comments from about 4 select neighbors of which I've never met, calling us trailer trash and scum, putting their childrens safety at risk ect.
I was shocked to say the least, not One of these folks actually spoke to us about their concerns, just blasted my character over the internet.
Am i crazy for wanting to sell my $200,000+ home to go live in my MH with the friendliest "trailer trash" people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting throughout our short RV'ing travels?

[Bird_Freak]

I may be wrong here and it would not be the first time. I would think if you have lived there that long and never paid or been asked to pay HOA dues are go to any meetings, and the fact your deed says No Restrictions on it in plain print I would tell the busy bodies where to stick it. I would also have my MH in MY yard.

[super_camper]

Usmcsousa wrote:
This was our first home purchase, shame on us for not knowing covenants exist without a proper HOA, I have read through every shred of paper provided at closing,and there is nothing about deed restrictions, it actually says no known restrictions.
I Am not too much concerned with the covenants because it seems that if I wanted to fight them I could successfully.
I guess this is more of me ranting about secret underground snob community gosip that grinds my gears, considering these prople don't actually know me nor I them.
I did however begin interior renovations on my class a in my driveway. Make note, a very meticulous reno of which had anyone not known it was happening, they would continue to not know. IE all debre was clean an disposed of off the property and not left laying around.

My internal debate is weather to sell my home and invest that same 200,000 into my dream coach without the headache of nosey neighbors who can be so rude an vile behind others backs.

I own a MH and store it away from my house in a storage lot. The last thing I want to see is someone parking/storing an RV permanently in our neighborhood, its just plain ugly.

[93mastercraft]

We have been there... done that. You will fight it and get pissed off and eventually throw your hands up, put that house up for sale and move somewhere where you can keep your RV at your new home.

[mowermech]

If you choose to stay there, I recommend that you take the tests and become an Amateur Radio Operator. Then, VERY carefully read the FCC rules regarding installing antennas, and put up a couple of nice big antennas on your property that are in complete compliance with ALL FCC rules
Oh, and make sure your station RF output is in complete compliance with said rules, as well.
Then let the busybodies complain!

[wildmanbaker]

Jared, welcome to the forum, again. Do you have enough advice yet? WOW! You seem like the kind of people we, or most of the people on this forum, would not mind having as neighbors. Please let us know what falls out of the trees on this, and good luck.

[soren]

As a builder, and frequent buyer and seller of rural property, I have stumbled down this exact road, a time or two.

Bottom line, (assuming that all info. is correctly, and fully disclosed), is that you are being harassed by a neighbor who is trying to enforce deed restrictions that were placed by the developer. These restrictions are probably filed with your title, in the courthouse, and are "technically" legally binding, and "run with the land". Which is to say that they come with the property and can only be changed by the courts. Odds are that the developer has little concern about their validity once he was free of the project, which raises the question, who is the emperor here, and how much power does he have?

In my experience, the first move by a disgruntled neighbor is to contact the developer/ builder to demand that they show up immediately to enforce THEIR rules. This it typically a waste of time, particularly if the developer no longer has any skin in the game. The second move is making a copy of the restrictions and marching into the local township office, awash in righteous indignation, and demanding that they make it right! This usually results in the zoning officer politely telling the enraged citizen that the township has no dog in the fight, and doesn't get involved in civil disputes between neighbors. The next step is huffing out the door, threatening to get " my lawyer involved".

Now it's off to see the lawyer, and a reality check. You can call a lawyer anything you would like, but most small town lawyers are savvy enough to get to the bottom of things like this pretty quickly. After a quick initial visit the neighbor, who wants to rule the world, learns a few things. #1, if the rules have been previously ignored, and only apply to some of the property owners, the outcome of the fight is far from certain, and may be a real waste of time and effort. #2 This can become a civil matter, that can be litigated once the lawyer gets a $5000 retainer, and a signed contract to cover additional expenses, hours, research, etc..... No guarantees as to the outcome. It may take years, and it may not only end up unfavorable, but it could irritate the opposition enough that they counter sue for harassment and damages.

IMHO, that's usually when the story dies a slow, quiet death. Good luck.

BTW, a couple of times, over the years as a builder, I have looked the neighborhood busybody right in the eye, as they ranted, and raved about, "you don't know exactly who you are dealing with here, it doesn't matter who did what, before I took charge. We follow my rules" I then politely smile, give them my card, and tell them I have no issues following the same rules as everybody else does, however it's pretty evident that rules and rulers come and go in these parts, and they only apply to some of us. I then end the discussion by recommending that they contact their lawyer.

The most ludicrous example of this was being told to "report" to the HOA presidents house while I was framing a two story home, down the street from her's. As I'm standing in her foyer, she tells me (correctly) that the restrictive covenants forbid homes taller than 1-1/2 stories. I asked home many of the homes built in the last few years were two story models? She acknowledges that a significant percentage were new two story homes. I asked if I was in fact, standing in the foyer of HER two story home? Once again, she agreed. I told her that she should probably make sure that the HOA's lawyer was informed of this, if she choses to continue engaging in selective persecution. Last I heard from her.
The term "drunk on power" is a very real condition.

[Usmcsousa]

Well I didn't expect nearly this much feedback,
Thank you all for listening to me complain, your criticisms are appreciated.
God bless

[buta4]

wildmanbaker wrote:
I would find out everything I could about the HOAs, and if you are really bound by them. You will be surprised at what the Realtor is liable for. Check with Attorneys about this, as most times the first consul is free. You may find one that will take it on for a reasonable price. If you decide to stay, I would consider making life a little unpleasing for the offending neighbors, within the HOAs.

Perhaps setting up a large table with umbrella and a few chairs around it. You could sit there with drinks and offer the suitable hand digit welcome to "nosy offended" neighbors?

[NMace]

I have not read all the replies, but most are missing the distinction between HOA rules and a covenant in a deed. The first can be changed according to the charter, the latter only by a judge, and they rarely do so. I have seen covenants dealing with farm animals upheld in court for a property now in a densely populated neighborhood.

The OP will need deep pockets to change a deed restriction or covenant. The real estate agent should have informed him, and he does have recourse against the broker for actual financial damages.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Fer cryin' out loud- the "Flagpole Issue" didn't even exist for this O.P. until the "RV issue" came up....else why wait a year and a half before putting one up (assuming he's even done it by now)?

No offense, O.P., but I think you just threw that in to generate sympathy...the real issue seems to me to be the RV restriction. Well, and the Facebook page...

And anyway:
Outright bans on Flag Display is against Federal Law. See Freedom to Display The Flag Act, 2005

HOA's and others (Municipalities, e.g.) can, however, regulate such displays per size/hours etc. And as someone that's actually tried to sleep fifty feet away from an enormous flapping banner, I can understand why!
Link to expla, if you're interested.

[steelpony5555]

My internal debate is weather to sell my home and invest that same 200,000 into my dream coach without the headache of nosy neighbors who can be so rude an vile behind others backs.

Would not bow down to such rude and ignorant specimens of the human race. Didn't you say they lived out of sight of your residence? Then why worry bout them, go about your business and leave em in the dust. Now if one lives next door that can be miserable. You can nip it in the bud by going to the media about the flag issue. I bet most any local news source would love to do a story about a vet being told to not but up an American flag.... May be enough to shut them up forever or then too it can escalate the issues.....

[2oldman]

Francesca Knowles wrote:
.how did it become part of the O.P.'s now-unintelligible answer???

Looks like OP quoted, but took out the 'Quote' text labeling it as such. There's one other poster who does that and it's very confusing.

[rvis2005]

I am embarrassed there are folks who disallow a flag pole while displaying the US Flag within the proper flag protocol. I will NOT live among those folks and don't! I'd move at whatever loss and live among folks who respect the real reason for their freedom. The RV ordinance is a different topic for me altogether. Semper Fi! Tommy

[Usmcsousa]

My guess is i have no idea what im doing with technology. Sorry folks.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Usmcsousa wrote:
Your anger is showing 😉

I bet the "200 year old lady" would not have said anything if you weren't doing major renovations in your driveway. If you are active duty, why not keep your RV at the base hobby shop and work on it there? That would also get it away from your own two children and keep from exposing them to the hazmat used in older RVs.

Also, are you piling the debris in your yard? I know it has to go somewhere, is that why some of your neighbors say you are endangering their children?

Although it may sound like it, I'm not really criticizing you. Just saying, to have a good neighbor, first you must BE a good neighbor.

PS, hubby and I have over 70 years of combined military service. 🙂

Base storage has a 7 year waiting period, lol yes 7 years is what i was told.
Not once was there even a scrap of debris in my yard, went from coach to pickup truck bed, to the dumpster. No time lapse .
At one point i was in my generator compartment replacing fuel filter and cleaning carb. Took about 20 min.
I also spent a good amount of time with a pressure washer and sponge cleaning the exterior .. any fluid changes, or hazmat fixes were done at the hobby shop on base.

:h

Totally off-topic question from a Confused Observer:

Two seconds ago, the red-highlighted part of the above post was put up by "April Whine"...how did it become part of the O.P.'s now-unintelligible answer???