Florida Homeowners Association Terror

I have been slowly acclimating myself to the idea of leaving Florida. What once existed either is no longer here and/or what I once considered valuable is no longer so. What ruined it for me? My Homeowners Association—The Vista Palms Community Association located in Wimauma, Florida which borders the senior citizen area of Sun City Center, all located in Hillsborough County outside of the greater city of Tampa.

I have previously recounted on this site that I got a consultation from an attorney about my HOA terrorizing me. As a recap, that attorney advised me to move. They said the real fight was to get someone to investigate the racket that is being run by Homeowners Associations in Florida. They aren’t lying.

All the research that I have done on Homeowners Associations state that HOAs tend to change the rules in the middle of the game. HOAs will make up new rules because they run unchecked. Look no further than the current state of affairs in U.S. politics to understand that rules are for poor people who lack power. The HOA is taking your money and they will use your money against you because they have been given the power to do so.

My neighborhood is stank. When I say “stank” in this context, I’m not referring to the HOA Board, the HOA Property Manager, or the neighbors. Yes, my HOA-governed neighborhood’s HOA, including the property manager, are stank. And surely some people believe that their neighbors are stank (stank in this context means attitude). But I am talking about odor in the neighborhood. It smells bad, intermittently.

When your Homeowners Association reigns their terror upon you, maintaining employment may become [more] difficult. Once your HOA chooses you, you become a never ending target for various community violations (the same violations you see throughout the neighborhood so you know you’re not alone in that aspect). Email threats. Attorney threats through the mail. Then, judicial threats. All of these wreak havoc on the stability you once had. And losing your job is the last thing you need when most of your problems are monetary. Poverty is punishing…and so is your HOA.

Previously, I asked if homeowners do research about HOAs before they move into an HOA community. This research is going to be difficult because there is no database for HOA complaints. And there should be at least one, especially for Florida.

You move into your new house. You buy some new things that better suit your space. This means some of your old stuff must go. Houses in Florida do not seem to have storage areas or enough closets, so it’s time for a garage sale. But wait! You cannot do that.

I never expected to get a letter about fines in my email. My “HOA e-mail address” is not for official business purposes. It is for miscellaneous bullshit that I don’t care to know about on a regular basis. This is why I don’t frequently check this email address.

Once again, we are reviewing HOA Community Standards for my neighborhood in Wimauma, Florida, which is located outside of Tampa in the South Shore area of Hillsborough County. Let’s see what they say about pets (emphasis mine):

Please watch this YouTube Video from Jared Jones if you are considering purchasing an HOA-governed house in Florida: