why I’ll never choose to buy a home governed by a homeowners’ association

This afternoon I was greeted by an email from the manager of the local homeowners’ association in the neighborhood where we are renting our townhome.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx Xxxx X - Antenna
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 14:41:51 -0500
From: Xxx Xxxxxxx <xxx@xxxxxxx.org>

Hi Xxxxxxxx and John and Board,

John, I'm not sure if you are still the resident at Xxxx X but we've had complaints regarding the large antenna and two green posts that are in the backyard. These items should be removed immediately, as they are in violation of the Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx Declarations attached, page 14, section 8.4. Also, the bikes should be stored on your back patio area or on a bike rack provided in the front of the units. If the screens are yours, please remove them, or I will contact your neighbor in Xxxx X to see if the screens belong to them.

Attached is a picture of the large items in question, please contact me or the Board if you have any questions.

/Xxx Xxxxxxx, Association Manager/

Here’s a copy of the photo which followed the email.

rear view of our townhome

I’ll admit that the bicycles probably shouldn’t be there. The window screens in question don’t belong to us and are actually behind our next-door neighbors. The television antenna on the 20′ mast can be taken down now that we have cable television; however, if I had not decided to pay for cable television and wanted to receive OTA broadcasts it seems quite ridiculous that I should have to obtain written permission to erect such an antenna. For example, we cannot receive the local NBC station as well as a few other “major networks” without the use of this external antenna due to the distance of our home from the transmitter.

The two fiberglass telescoping poles are 32′ long and hold the edges of my delta loop (the other edge is attached to an eye-bolt below the roof line of the house). I’m not sure who would see these poles unless they were walking in the back yard area of the townhomes. Given the fact that the green space behind our home is less than 20′ from the fence which borders the property, I can’t imagine why anyone would walk back there.

It completely infuriates me that these rules may cause me decreased quality of life and decreased enjoyment of my hobby. I don’t mind using some ham ingenuity to determine an alternate solution to this problem, but the rules still make me reaffirm my vow to never purchase a home which is governed by a CC&R or HOA rule-making board.

For those of you who are wondering how the folks living in the far field of the photo got away with the erection of their DirecTV antenna, here’s the reply from the property manager:

Hi John,

Xxxx X was approved by the Board on August 12th, 2009 with a formal request from the renters at Xxxx X.

Xxx Xxxxxxx, Association Manager

Anyone have any suggestions on my next actions? My only idea now is to figure out a way to make the 20m delta loop temporary–which will require me to erect it each time I want to operate. I could always move to another antenna situation; however, my investment in this one seems too great already (expensive 32′ fiberglass poles, time/energy spent building the loop, etc.). This loop helped me make QRP PSK31 contacts with Poland, Italy, Spain, and the Caribbean. <sigh>