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What can I do when a Homeowner's Association pops up in my neighborhood? I purchased my home years ago and I specifically wanted somewhere that a HOA didn't exist. Is my only option to move? The rules have already been making an impact.The first thing you have to do is check that massive stack of paper you signed when you bought your house. Make sure that there is no covenants in it. Covenants that you signed when you bought your house would indicate that there was actually an HOA in place.As long as you did not sign anything when you bought your house that joins you to an HOA, and you did not sign anything while you owned your house that added you to an HOA, then you are not part of an HOA. The only time you don’t have to be part of an HOA is when it is formed after you have purchased your home.As long as you are 100% sure that you signed nothing to indicate that you are part of the HOA, then you are fine. Ignore the rules. Ignore the letters they send telling you they’re going to sue you. If they do sue, simply tell them you are not part of the HOA, and make it up to them to prove that you are. They won’t. If they say that 75% of the homeowners can make rules that affect 100% of homeowners, they are wrong, and the court will invalidate any rule or portion of the covenants that says so. See my bolded statement above. If you were not part of an HOA when you bought your home and the neighborhood decides to create one, you are under no obligation to join it unless you choose to do so.If you do sell your house, then the next buyer can join the HOA.*But not you.If you still feel uncomfortable ignoring the letters and the threats from the HOA, I would suggest retaining an attorney. You would be looking for a real estate attorney in your local area who specializes in homeowner’s association laws.Good luck!* Understand that there is a difference between a mandatory and a voluntary HOA. In order for the Association to be mandatory, you must have 100% participation from all the homeowners. If you do not have 100% participation, the Association cannot be mandatory; it can only be voluntary. A voluntary HOA cannot place liens on homes and cannot force compliance with rules. It also cannot force any members to join. It’s more like a voluntary community club than an association. A voluntary HOA can become mandatory, with 100% agreement and participation of all current homeowners.You cannot have a mixed association; you’re either 100% mandatory or you are voluntary; you cannot have both.You can have a voluntary HOA which only offers benefits to those who participate. So for instance, if you have a voluntary HOA which has a community pool, it can be a “members only” community pool which is only open to dues-paying members of the HOA. You can choose to join the HOA to access the pool. Some community pools run this way will have non-member rates available to those who do not join.New construction HOAs are set up by the developer before any of the lots are sold, so they are mandatory, as the developer has spoken for all lots. But for associations which are formed after the lots are sold, you either need 100% participation for a mandatory HOA, or you can implement a voluntary HOA.

One of considerations (not the main one, though) on the part of oligarchs who put Putin on the throne in 1999, was his image of a “KGB liberal”.Putin came into politics as a fixer for the liberal mayor of St. Petersburg. He worked superbly with Western investors in the city. He spent some time in Europe. He was a known Germanophile, and built a decent international business network in the 1990s. He had never been known for xenophobia, or anti-Semitism. Besides, KGB traditionally had an image of people who know how to see eye-to-eye with Western bourgeois guys, when necessary.Putin looked like a perfect man for building bridges from Russia westward.Therefore, his explicit mandate included finding a way to get Western recognition for Russian oligarchical fortunes, irrespective of their provenance (Project Londongrad). Oligarchs held in the 1990s their part of the bargain, preventing Communists from re-taking power and aligning with the West on global issues. Now, they wanted the West to acknowledge their effort. They required an equal place at the G-8 table of global power (not the “folding seat”).This is where Putin’s inquiry about the NATO membership in 2000 came from, as well as several hints from his aides at joining the EU. This is also why he was the first to call Bush and offered him help after 9/11. This is also why he agreed to the NATO military logistics bases not only in the Central Asia, but also in Ulyanovsk in Russia (“American military boots trampling the Russian soil!” was the line from our radical nationalists at the time).Then, the following happened:NATO accepted the Baltics as new membersUSA withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, and revealed an intent of deploying new ABM systems in Central EuropeUSA invaded Iraq, in spite of Putin’s vehement objectionsPro-Western Rose revolution happened in Georgia in 2003Orange Revolution happened in Ukraine in 2005 and prevented a pro-Russian president from taking officeOil price skyrocketed and filled the Russian state budget to a degree unprecedented in our history, see the graph belowFrom which Putin made the following conclusions:It doesn’t pay to be nice with the US and NATOThe US and NATO try to find a way to get rid of himHe needs to set up a watertight perimeter preventing outside forces from “color revolutions” against himEverything is happening because no one cared to formalize the terms of the Soviet surrender in 1991. The good news is that it opens for renegotiating the outcome of the Cold war!Russia has money to stand up against the West and push forward a revision of the Cold war’s outcome. The epic rise of China as a global power also gives him a unique opportunity to play the middle between them and the US.The West must accept a New Yalta deal with Putin—not in exchange for some new favors from Putin, but as a compensation for Russia’s past favors in 1990–2005.Before his reelection, when President Putin presented our new fabulous fantasy weapons, he said, very pointedly, “you didn’t listen to us before, so you better do now”. Looking back, the US and the rest of NATO had a really hard choice. Would you let a spy into your house under the threat that he would make life hard for you if you don’t?

“Because I don't like them.”This was a narcissistic family member, who had come to mine and my husbands (then boyfriend) new apartment to see it and visit for a bit.I had just moved across the country to be with him, and I was a package deal - me and my cats, my gorgeous Siamese Birman twin boys. They were 3 years old and I had spent ages training them. They were intelligent and would sit quietly when guests were over, until they were invited to have a lap sit or a scritch from a guest. Everyone absolutely adored my boys. People would show up just to see them.Except that day, I couldn't find them. Now, the bigger of the two was 26lbs on the vet's scale. Not so easy to hide in a little apartment. But where did they go? They were never out of my sight. Ever.I found my bedroom door shut. How odd, we never shut it. I opened it, and out came my boys, all wide eyed and fluffy. And probably very confused. I asked who had shut the door, and it was the family member. I asked why?“Because I don't like them.”Not an allergy. Not a fear. Not the fur. They just didn't like my boys, who they'd never met, and did not interact with at all.“So you decided to lock them in a room with no food, water, box, and the lights off? In someone else's home, without saying a word?” I asked, livid. This was THEIR home, we just paid the bills, but they were the owners. How dare he?Behind me, my husband said, “out. Get out. You've always been this way, but you won't be in my house. Do what you want in your house but in mine, we treat people and animals with equal respect. Get out.”Out he went, never to come back, invited or otherwise.