My HOA wants to ban parking my car in my garage – neighbors said it was a ‘junker’ but can’t tell me what to do

A DRIVER posted angrily after neighbors complained to an HOA about garage parking.

In a Reddit post, a driver claimed he was not subject to HOA parking rules. Other residents said their “junk” car had to go.

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About five years ago, a recent college graduate posted on a social media forum asking his neighbors for guidance.

The Redditor said they lived with two other people – everyone claims they were “decent roommates and decent neighbors.”

However, neighbors complained about parking and friends eight different times, according to Reddit publish.

“They said we couldn’t have junk cars in the garage,” said the Redditor.

“I was like, ‘It’s not a junker. It works. I drive it every day.'”

Neighbors also complained about a roommate’s window shopping, social gatherings at the house and car maintenance projects in the garage.

The Redditor also stated that he didn’t need to follow HOA rules.

The three roommates were renting a house from a landlord. The lease did not mention anything about the HOA, according to the post.

Because there was no contractual agreement between the three roommates and the HOA, the poster claimed they were only subject to municipal highway laws.

“My roommate also asked a local lawyer to look into the rent and local laws,” the Redditor wrote in the post.

“We cannot approve fines unless they are for violation of our lease.”

The Redditor also said he wasn’t worried about receiving an eviction notice because of the city’s housing regulations.

Several commenters chimed in to defend the Redditor against the “junk” car claim.

“In case [the neighbor is] so upset about the junker car, [the original poster] I can ask them for a brand new Porsche,” one commenter added.

Another commenter added: “A rubbish car?!?! Sorry, I can’t buy something better.”

Can an HOA prohibit on-street parking?

According to a North Carolina lawyer, an HOA retains the legal right to park anywhere — even in a homeowner’s garage.

The trick, says HOA attorney Mike Hunter, is the deed that homeowners sign when they buy a home within a subdivision.

“If you buy a home in a deed-restricted community, you are required to comply with those restrictions,” he told Charlotte Observant.

“If restrictive covenants say you can’t park on the street, the council has a legal duty to enforce that.”

Many states are passing laws to limit the power of HOAs, although most states still grant HOAs to enforce their regulations, restrictive or otherwise, as they see fit.

Read more here.

HOA-RRIBLE

Several drivers have posted on Reddit complaining about parking situations in their HOA neighborhoods.

Some were able to take revenge.

A BMW owner was told his 1980s relic was a bad fit for the neighborhood.

Instead of parking the Beemer in the garage, they found a more prominent place to put the prohibited car.

“Unfortunately for the HOA, the stretch of public street closest to my rental home is directly in front of the beautiful front gate,” they wrote.

“Ironically, my old BMW has now become part of their image and there’s nothing they can do about it until I move out in a few months.”