Anybody ever lived in a condo and dealt with the HOA?
There is a request from the HOA to kill a 'wild palm' in my patio. Reasons cited were 1. that it will be too big in the future and not appropriate for a small patio. 2. that its root system will be too big and might damage the nearby irrigation system and fence.

I am not buying that 'too big and inappropriate' claim.
But I am not familiar with the root system of a wild palm.
Can it really damage the lawn sprinkler system underground?

Can the HOA force me to kill that palm if I refuse to do so?

perhaps reviewing such.. would be better than asking us ...

good luck

ken

HOA contracts can be pretty strict.

You're screwed. Might as well just get rid of the tree or move out.

Anybody know what they really are? Are they not just some company the condo board hire to manage the community? So seems to me there are 3 entities involved in this incident:
1.The HOA, whoever they are
2.The landscaping committee, probably just another company hired by the HOA or condo board to maintain the common area and make sure each unit adhere to the condo standards.
3.The condo board that were elected and serve voluntarily.

Condo board has the power to decide all things related to the community, no? I can try to get on the board too and campaign for it if I wish to. So am I not a boss, or at least a potential boss, to the HOA - since they are employed by the condo community after all? Or did I misundertsand the whole HOA thing?

I suppose you could either "get involved" in the government there or try to bend it to your liking from the outside.

Do me a favor and remind them big government starts at home not in Washington.

What logical terminology.

As far as landscaping goes HOAs tend to serve primarily to make sure nobody has a nice garden. Of course, in the case of condominiums the point of being in one instead of a house is that you don't have to do yard work - so I guess it makes sense that there would be a board that is liable to be occupied by arborphobes.

Do you happen to have a photo? I'm curious as to what a "wild palm" is.

This condo is a bit unusual in that each unit has a small patio. Owners are responsible for the plants in the patio. I did not pay too much attention to this when I bought the condo. It has turned into a real headache.

I expect that there is a HOA office somewhere. I'd strongly suggest that you sit down with somebody soon so you can go over your agreement. Find out what you agreed to, lol.

If you want to disagree, you'll need to learn more about the tree you planted so you can inform them (if they're wrong about it being to big - according to THEIR definition.)

Will add a few thoughts as time allows.

Remember, the HOA is there to protect you from neighbors doing something disturbingly different from everyone else, and to prevent psychic shocks like when someone parks an old pickup truck in their driveway for more than 24 hours.

Remember, you're paying for peace of mind. Losing a palm is a small price.

It's a weed. Kill it not for the HOA, but for your own benefit.

Days???? Hopefully not for someone with at least a high-school education! If I remember right, it took me far less than an hour. Besides that, I would think the buyer could at least scan through the contract enough to focus in on items that might be important to them.

If you don't read the contract before signing it, you are saying, "I agree that I am so lazy or unconcerned about what I am doing that I agree to ANY and ALL legally-valid conditions, restrictions, and burdens that the seller may choose, for whatever reason, to impose on me."

Hoovb, noticed you are from southern CA. I am near the bay area and can honestly say have never seen a rat here. The HOA never mentioned the kind of problems you said could happen later. They just worry about the potential damage the palm might do to that pretty little white fence, which the HOA is responsible for, near it. But I can keep it trimmed. No problem. You would notice the few missing prongs on the palm. I removed them. Why is it necessary to hire people to do the trimming? Unless it gets really big and tall? They also mentioned the root system of a palm will get big and might damage the nearby lawn sprinkler system. Do all palms develop big root system, anybody know? How big can this palm get? I estimate it has grown by about a foot in the past year.

I can't imagine anyone signing a complicated legal document without reading it thoroughly......how dumb is that?? You can always request copies of those things before closing and there is a three day right of recission period if one really objects to the terms.

And rats are present in EVERY urban environment - most suburban and rural ones as well. Just because you haven't seen any doesn't mean they aren't there. They are one of the most populated species of mammals in this country, estimated at between 100-200 million. Rats will live where people live - humans are their primary source of food (improper garbage disposal, feeding of pets, littering etc.) and easy-to-find habitat and cover (sheds, garages, crawl spaces, attics......and plants like palms and Engish ivy. You've got rats whether you see them or not.

Unless you have some sort of extremely strong attachment to the palm, why not replace it with another choice? There are literally dozens of plants that would be more appropriate for that setting and that would not easily outgrow the space and become a target for the evil HOA.

In this situation the argument is over a weed tree with the potential of damaging HOA property. The HOA argument is justified. Shovel prune it. Request Committee help in selecting a replacement and move on. Challenge yourself to create a colorful patio with a few large container gardens which you will find much more interesting than a weedy palm which produces constant litter. Your choice.

Minor correction/clarification - your post might imply to some people that you meant AFTER the closing of a sale: this isn't true. It is true in most states about a _refinance_. If you think about it, reversing a sale 2 days later could have catastrophic consequences for various parties. There are some pretty hilarious court decisions I've read of people who have tried to unwind sales weeks, months or even years later. I think it's very seldom successful but if anyone can provide a link to one that was, please do so.

If you mean there's a right of recession after getting the HOA docs, this definitely varies by state, and it would not surprise me if in some states it only depends on the contract language.

"HOA = Home Owners Association. HOA's are comprised of owners of the properties, not some faceless organization in an office downtown. "

In my case, it was. This was in a kind-of-rough townhouse development in the far western suburbs of DC, but by no means the roughest in the general area. Nobody wanted to serve on the "committees" so what was left of the HOA board had years earlier appointed a management company in a city 20 miles away to essentially run almost all aspects of the HOA. You could NEVER reach the alleged point-of-contact about "violations". I wasn't even sure if the person really existed by the time I got out of there. You can be sure this "management" company was shaking down whoever they thought were vulnerable targets to run up "Fees" of which they probably got a certain cut. Total, 3rd world style corruption, but totally legal.

Brandon, really, do you feel better or smarter after insulting someone like this? Good for you for being able to read a 6" stack of paper in under an hour. I'd be bragging too.

Apparently you are thoroughly unfamiliar with the process! There probably isn't 6" of paperwork (especially related to property restrictions) even when buying some large commercial property. If you are ever confronted with such, I'd recommend you turn down the deal, period, because someone is trying to pull something over on you by burying detail in excessive paperwork. So, yes, I feel just great!

A typical condo HOA agreement (which is what the OP would have had to have read to understand what she could or could not do in this situation) is probably around 10 pages in length and can be scanned for general understanding in a matter of a few minutes. Let's say that the contract was double or triple that length (20 to 30 pages), are you saying that you are naive enough to sign a contract like that without reading it first? If so, buddy, I have a deal for you!

Sure, you have other papers (loan papers, inspection reports, etc) to review besides the contract, but many can be reviewed in a matter of seconds and others would require a few minutes per page to look through. Again, if you are naive enough to sign them without even knowing what you are signing, we should really get together so that I could make you a deal on a piece of land...or a bridge somewhere!

Brandon, from a semantic standpoint, it sounds like you didn't read every word either. "...would require a few minutes per page to look through." Not did require. That's all I was saying, nobody reads every word, not particular in reference to a HOA. There doesn't seem to be an actual disagreement, just a misunderstanding about the focus of what was said. On top of a 6" stack of paper, a HOA could seem like a very low priority, hardly concerning kind of thing unless you were expecting it to be restrictive and/or plan to take a more personal and perhaps unusual approach regarding landscaping in an "everything's about the same" neighborhood governed by the HOA. All Jbrad did was plant one little palm tree afterall. Not like he/she turned a front lawn into rows of squash vines.

Everyone's tastes and understanding grows and matures and they learn more about plants, and many people leave the 'burbs for garden reasons. A lot of the plants I yearned for as a newbie have lost status with me for whatever various reasons. Jbrad probably had no idea how much more would be learned about this tree by starting this discussion, not to mention the vast array of alternative suggestions offered from everything from pruning to replacements to legal and lifestyle advice. Amazing and quite entertaining.