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#hoa

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The HOA is about $60/month/unit short of meeting current expenses. Nobody wants a $60/month HOA dues increase.

Prior boards kept the fees low. We're not as accomplished at it.

The old painter worked for just over the cost of materials because he was technically retired, and enjoyed working here.

The new painter is the son of the guy who did all of the siding repair for the old painter. His father passed away. The kid's an excellent painter.

The old roofer sold his business. The new owners were across town & didn't work well with us. So we found another.

The new roofer came highly recommended by a former owner who is an electrician impressed with their work. No discounts, but excellent work and no complaints.

And then there was the insurance company wanting concrete work done on the sidewalks and a driveway street-to-sidewalk ramp. Including a corner, which had to have an accessibility ramp, of course. It looks nice.

And then there is the lender who won't close on a sale unless that concrete work is finished, even though it was paid for and the work started. Did I mention it's a block away from the unit for sale?

And then the tenants of the owner who punted control to a management company and took off, in violation of the rules, after sticking us with a sewer job because she was allegedly selling the place and the selling agent requested it. That was so much fun because the place next door kept leaking water into their job.

So it was a fun meeting. Supposed to be an annual meeting, but we were one (1) proxy or in-person person from holding one for the 5th year in a row.

We moved the dues decision until next month. It gives everyone a chance to worry. Who doesn't like worrying?

In the midst of all of this, the painters and the landscape people (reasonably priced and extremely good at their jobs) wished to let everyone know we have a lot of rotten-looking decks here and they'd love to make more money.

Because a board member had trouble with jitsi-meet this month, another frequently does, and I've had annoyances keeping it updated, I'm seriously considering using Unreal Engine and driving myself insane in the process. All who'd like to join me, hop in my ride! You are welcome to sit next to my new friends, Thelma and Louise.

Whee!

Today’s #HOA entrant: “Stop promoting #Lemmy because it’s made by Stalinist trash.”

I’m not “promoting” Lemmy. I don’t even use it—I prefer and recommend #Mbin.

But Lemmy is already popular, and I would be a fool if I didn’t acknowledge this. For better or worse, this is the #Reddit alternative that has the biggest userbase. It is what it is.

For what it’s worth, the biggest Lemmy server is lemmy.world, and it’s not run by Lemmy devs. And no, I’m not going to defederate it just because it runs Lemmy.

Whatever your grief with Lemmy devs, they still made software that’s objectively better than Reddit, and better is still better—even if it’s not perfect.

So no, I’m not going to stop talking about Lemmy—even if the devs aren’t saints.

RE: https://social.doma.dev/users/jonn/statuses/113956232265278233

lemmy.worldLemmy.World - A generic Lemmy server for everyone to use.
Hey, folks coming into my mentions and demanding evidence (what exactly do you mean by “evidence”? 🙃) of a Homeowner’s Association on the #Fediverse

Your insistence on being “convinced” is the evidence that there’s an #HOA. And you’re likely part of it.

So congrats on demonstrating that the HOA is self-evident.

The #HOA of the Fediverse never changes!

Not only are they talking about defederating all #Pixelfed servers, but defederating anyone who talks about Pixelfed in a positive manner.

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Whatever qualms you may have with Pixelfed, it is a vast improvement over #Instagram—which has moved moderation services over to Texas, and is therefore subject to laws over there.

In contrast, you can run a Pixelfed server wherever you like, in your own country if you choose, or at least in a place with demonstrable better laws than Texas.

But more than that, we don’t get to choose which Fediverse services prove to be popular. Folks from #TikTok and #Instagram are coming to Pixelfed, not #Mastodon, and we should be welcoming them with open arms.

RE: https://spanner.works/users/bouncinglime/statuses/113856316093137340

spanner.works🇵🇸 Mari :nb_crossbow: (@bouncinglime@spanner.works)with all the folks lauding the move to #Pixelfed I'm gonna have to set a hard limit - the creator is anti-Black and a gaslighter, and demonstrably gives zero shits about safety and ethics. I'm gonna give folks a week to sort this out, and after that if I see promotion of pixelfed or loops on my feed I'll block you. if I see it again from someone else on your server, I'll defederate entirely. I understand there isn't a great system for letting new folks know about bad actors here but... 1/2

I don't know why #HOA's get such a bad rap. Just got back from a neighborhood party with a magician, DJ, bounce houses for the kids, and lots of food and drinks.

it was really nice to pull everyone out of their homes and socialize. gladly pay a few dollars each month so this continues.

Hello! I'm your friendly neighbourhood Fedizen dropping in with a wee suggestion to use your account the way I want you to or I'm afraid me and my friends are going to have to leave a little reminder beneath your post shaming you into it by telling you we're "unable" to boost your post until you comply.

If I'm really bothered by your post -grrr!
😄- I may even helpfully do the work I expect you to do for you, like correcting your homework.

I get to police the way you use your account because it's for a really good cause
I believe in so I'll be upset if you get angry with me. Just please modify your behaviour as I tell you to. No, it's not bullying because I'm in the right here.

And don't worry, my friends and I will be watching to help you if you slip up again! Thanks so much, and
you're welcome!

#AltText #IsGenuinelyFabulousBut #DontBeThisPerson #HOA

It doesn't help matters that most users of Masto are merely followers of instances where the mods and owners aren't aware of the tools they can use against Nazi/KKK/fascist invaders in order to keep their instances disinfected and clean. At least, those mods and instance owners not already consumed by personal vendettas and exploiting the presence of open Nazis and fascists to play divide-and-conquer games.

#NotNamingNames
#TheyKnowWhoTheyAre #HOA

367 #ClimateSolutions #RooftopSolar #HOA's #Michigan

When something doesn't want to move sometimes you'll have to make it move.
It's a pity that when HOA's perceive something as a 'problem' their only reaction seems to be to shut the gates ! It's a pity that HOA's don't see the increase of property value in a few years.

"Homeowners associations in Michigan now have to allow rooftop solar"
by Izzy Ross for Grist [Audio available]

grist.org/buildings/in-michiga

Quotes:
"A new law makes it difficult for HOAs to say no to sun power."

"People who want to install solar panels on their roofs have to consider a lot: sunlight, cost, and coordinating with contractors and utilities. Tens of millions of people across the country also have to think about their homeowners association.
In Michigan, a new law aims to remove that barrier by telling homeowners associations, or HOAs, they have to allow rooftop solar."

"The Homeowners’ Energy Policy Act was signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Monday.
“We wanted to find a way to … empower homeowners to make those decisions themselves,” said Ranjeev Puri, a Democratic state representative"

"The law gives many HOA members the power to install rooftop solar and an array of other energy-saving measures, from clotheslines to heat pumps. HOAs also have to adopt a solar energy policy within a year, and they can’t enforce standards that increase the cost of installation by more than $1,000 or decrease energy output by more than 10 percent."

“We thought that this was a very important bill, because there are thousands of homeowners associations across the state,” said John Freeman, the executive director of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association. “From our point of view, it was completely absurd that … by moving into a neighborhood which is governed by a homeowners association’s agreement, that homeowners would not be able to install solar on the roof in order to generate their own electricity and to help reduce carbon pollution.”

"HOAs generally seek to maintain a neighborhood’s property value by enacting and enforcing rules, called codes, covenants and restrictions../\..And their rules can prevent people from pursuing climate friendly practices, like planting native species and switching to more sustainable energy systems, adding to the logistical and financial barriers to residential solar."

"Kramer [a biology professor at Michigan State University JdeB] started researching HOAs because he had wanted to build a house in mid-Michigan, something small and energy efficient with renewable energy and no big, turfgrass-covered lawn.“I kept running into this problem that my house is too small, or my plan to use solar panels or my plan to do the landscaping that I wanted was unacceptable to the HOA, and so I would just have to keep looking,” he said. “This happened repeatedly in my own kind of personal search for land to build a home.”

"Some HOAs do support sustainability efforts. For instance, associations in Arizona have promoted desert-friendly landscaping and regulated water use. But Kramer said the cases they reviewed in mid-Michigan were rare. “I don’t think that HOAs have any kind of anti-environmental or anti-sustainability agenda,” he said. “I think it really is more tied to the idea of a neat and tidy neighborhood. And that’s related to home value.”

"Attorney Matt Heron, a co-chair of the institute’s Michigan branch, said the law could also complicate maintenance and repair of roofs.“You’re going to have communities that may lose their insurance because they’re not going to have the ability to insure everything,” he said. He thinks it would have been better to encourage rather than mandate energy efficiency measures."

"Michigan is “playing a lot of catch up” in solar power, said Allan O’Shea, the CEO of CBS Solar, a solar installation company based in the northern Michigan village of Copemish. He has worked in the solar industry for decades, and while he’s had some good experiences with associations, there have also been problems."

"For O’Shea, this law is part of that change; some of the customers unable to install solar because of HOA restrictions are planning to take up their projects again. “It’s going to continue to normalize solar energy as another form, another power source that needs to be let into the mix,” he said."

Grist · Homeowners associations in Michigan now have to allow rooftop solarBy Izzy Ross

I have had a #stalker for about 5 years. They sent me a note much like this while I was with friends at a restaurant. The management let me stay after closing with my friends until the stalker left as they are very aggressive and like to use weapons. The stalker eventually would attempt to join and divide all my social circles, I would move to another state, and change employment twice. My last place, the stalker made friends with my flatmates and would message and talk with them every day, attempting to move in.

Yesterday, I got a letter in the mail from my #HOA. Guess who's the new VP of my HOA? My ex flatmate... who's now very close to my stalker. This may be a whole new level of hell.

In all this time, I have avoided contact, deleted #facebook and put up a tall privacy fence and gate around my new house. What can I do