I SO feel for you! We live in a community that has an "association"...that is, they are a country club that thinks they are HOA. Legally they are not. According to their "by-laws" you cannot have a business run out of your home, and they actually have no say so in the matter.

If you were issued the permits and dept of ag gave you the go ahead, I don't see what they can do. Wouldn't the dept of ag be the one to shut you down? Some HOAs are a good thing, but sometimes the people involved in running them just get on a power trip.

Good luck!

Did you know that once apon a time (at least here in Texas) a HOA could sell your home out from under you if you failed to pay them. THEY COULD SELL YOUR HOUSE, like a bank could if you didnt make your payments. I cant stand HOA's they are just regular people who live in your subdivision yet sometimes power can go to their heads.

I'll play devil's advocate too. I "understand" why there are these rules. They are there for when people abuse things and then the association has something they can pull out and say, "uh-uh not allowed". It keeps home properties up, safety better, and provides an "understanding" of what's acceptable...

But, like most things that STARTED out as a good thing, they can be abused or misused. In my townhome association, we can't paint our trim of the house (the rest is brick) without getting permission on the color first, same goes for any outdoor changes - including changing house numbers, roofing, and patio/deck stuff. I know they are trying to prevent the situation of someone painting their trim neon orange, but to have to fill out a gazillion forms and waiting a few weeks just to paint my door a different shade - like from slate gray/blue to dark green, is overkill.

I understand the hanging the clothes out though. In some cultures, hanging clothes from any and all opening is the norm. Would you want to live next door (in a townhouse) to the family that has underwear and bras and socks hanging from the front windows on a string spanning one window to another? So, if they can't allow "that" they can't allow ANY laundry outside to be unbiased, so as a concession, I can't hang my sheets out in my fenced backyard.

I'm glad there are rules about what's allowed on property and lawn maintenance/landscaping is controlled because KIDS don't stay in their own yard and some people are just stupid and would leave dangerous things in their yard like an old fridge or freezer...

Where I think this "no business" rule came about was to discourage maybe some "dirty" business -literally and figuratively. Some businesses draw "critters" (I know, lived above an apt. where they would bring things in and out all the time - food? not sure) and we could NEVER keep the cockroaches away for long. All our neighbors said in our 3 flat and the one next door that the bug problem started when the "business" started.

And, would you want a tattoo artist next door that might bring in some unseemly clientele?

But, if people are reasonable, things can be worked around. I tend to be with the camp of, kill them with kindness, because if you cause a ruckus, they WILL find other things to nag you about.

Melissa

They didn't seem to care when someone broke into our truck 3 days after we moved in and trashed it. Didn't steal anything out of it but some nickels & quarters. All of my other valuables were left there untouched. AND I had some goodies for them to take and run with. I have to inform them when I have an extra car over for more than a few days or they will "warn" us. We can't have any extra cars outside of our garage unless we put it on the list. But since I've been here (for almost 2yrs) my neighbor has parked outside every single day and he has only 1 car. I once saw someone riding down our street, stop in front of our house and started taking pictures....TWICE. Same car. Is that the HOA police??

I used to travel a lot for my job. I'd be gone sometimes 10 days at a time. Husband had to go drive my car around the block so it would be considered "moved" or the lady across the street would complain because it was "sitting". Her brother worked for the local police dept so she thought she was the local Barney Fife. A lot of our problems disappeared when she and a couple of other "busy bodies" moved away.

The reason we couldn't put it in the garage is because our garage was being used for storage because the HOA didn't allowed storage barns, either!!

I had cousins in Florida who were really into the customized 4-wheel drives. Their truck took ribbons at national customized truck shows. They had to sell it because it wouldn't fit in their garage and "no trucks" were allowed to sit in the driveways. They said they lived in FOP Town (Fu**ing Old People), because it was ok to have the rustiest, ugliest, black-smoke blowing RV in the world in your driveway .... but not a customized, ribbon winning multi-thousand dollar truck.

Indydebi, NOW that's funny! The audacity....do you think those busy bodies moved on my street??? LOL Did one happen to have a dog that liked to take a poop in your yard...and yours only?

Thanks for all of the feedback! I especially like the hiring strippers idea!!!
I went out and got a PO Box, hoping that this might help. I am going to let it ride and wait till they say something again...I am sure they will, its just a matter of time. I know I am being watched!!!
I think that one of my biggest mistakes was getting my car lettered. It brought attention to what I do. They even went as far to look through my trash and tell me that I have commercial size containers in my trash!! Don't these people have anything better to do?
I am not doing anything bad here-I am not selling drugs, I am not having mounds of customers at my door all of the time...I am a stay at home mom and we are on a one income salary. Since I have started this business, it has been a HUGE blessing to us.
I'll keep you all posted when they make their next move!!!

Oh man can I relate to the stories ya'll are telling about your "House Na*i Associations".. Ours absolutely SUCKS... We cannot do ANYthing here and I refuse for our next house that it be in any form of association.

Our HNA controls EVERYTHING outside, but the inside is our responsibility (as are any busted pipes, and the fact that the drainage for the surrounding homes lands in our basement every spring we're expected to pay the $10,000 to put tiling in). OTOH, we pay for lawn mowing and snow removal with our dues... Well, let me show you last winter's snow removal for our driveway (every other house in the entire association was plowed EXCEPT ours - and DH REFUSED to call...) Our snow removal was a barn shovel... I shoveled every flip'n inch of snow we got last winter (two dumper snowstorms that had a total of 18 inches one week and 13 inches the next week in March..)..

We also cannot build on or improve anything on the exterior of our house, put flowers into the ground, planters on the front need to be a certain type. We have to get approval if we want to change our basement windows that leak the above mentioned water... It's a NIGHTMARE. HOWEVER they cannot regulate what we do inside our own homes otherwise I'd be in trouble a long time ago because both DH & I have home based businesses (but my licensed kitchen is in another location)...