Guy spends 200k fighting HOA to park truck in his driveway

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/hillsborough/homeown...

ODESSA, Fla. - It's hard to believe that A.J. Vizzi spent nearly $200,000 defending his right to park his own pickup truck in his own driveway.

When he first moved in back in 1997, Vizzi was told that parking his large truck in the driveway wasn't against the subdivision's rules. But years later, the Eagles Masters Association, which governs the entire community, said it did violate their rules and therefore, the truck had to go.

It didn't end there. Knowing the truck did not fit in his garage, Vizzi decided to stand his ground.

The homeowners association sued Vizzi, and for two exhausting years, the two parties battled in court.

"They just didn't care," Vizzi told FOX 13. "It was like, 'our rules overrule what your community says because we're a master association and, you know, we're right and you're wrong.' I couldn't believe I had to go hire an attorney just to defend myself against this, what was a meritless lawsuit."

In December of 2008, Vizzi and his family got an early Christmas present: A judge ruled in their favor. It was finally over, they thought. But the homeowners association appealed the decision, and off to court they went once again.

Finally, in March of this year, A.J. won again and a judge awarded him more than $187,000 in legal fees just this week.

"I think what people should take away from this is that homeowners should be left alone unless it’s a very serious issue," Vizzi's attorney, Dan Anderson said. "And, certainly, requiring a homeowner to spend over two hundred thousand dollars to defend themselves simply to park a vehicle in the driveway just doesn't make any sense at all."

Despite the cash, it's Vizzi parking his truck in his own driveway that remains the biggest victory of all.

"I think that maybe I was just being bullied by this group," said Vizzi, "and maybe now they'll think twice."

In a news release from his law firm, Anderson said the association will have incurred more than $300,000 in legal fees and costs after paying the Vizzis. He said the Vizzis regret the fact that the homeowners will end up paying the bill, but had no other choice aside from giving in to the association's demands.

Good! Hopefully power hungry peeps will think twice although I'm sure it's going to take more than this guy, the flagpole guy in Florida, and Congress saying you can fly the US flag and the gold star flags!

The HOA where my home is located once said a home couldnt have ramps for disabled access (this was in the 70s/80s before ADA). Of course the homeowners wanting the ramp sued and won a huge judgment. Our HOA dues had been $10/year. The HOA then levied a special assessment of $200 to pay the judgment and then dissolved.

Now we can do WTF we want.

I am sure there are good ones --- on the other hand you might have a den full of nutcases with too much time on their hands

the lesson here is that DUE DILIGENCE involves investigating the HOA before you buy --- because a bad set of these folks could be much more of a nuisance than some hidden defective plumbing or some peeling paint

and if they are rotten --- let the seller know that you aren't interested because you don't want to deal with the jacked up HOA

Mr Vizzo won and everyone in the HOA loses. Wont the HOA just pass on the legal fees to the residents of this community?

SUCKISSTAPLES said: The HOA where my home is located once said a home couldnt have ramps for disabled access (this was in the 70s/80s before ADA). Of course the homeowners wanting the ramp sued and won a huge judgment. Our HOA dues had been $10/year. The HOA then levied a special assessment of $200 to pay the judgment and then dissolved.

Now we can do WTF we want.

You should have dissolved the HOA before it paid the claim. Then the claimant would have to go after the individuals responsible if he wanted to be paid.

Where can I get a copy of the judgement, just want to refer if any such &^^it is pulled in our HOA...

This is just another "HOA beats up on poor little 'ol homeowner" story that is missing a lot of details. Based on THIS article, it souunds like the guy was picking a fight from the beginning. He relied on a builder's verbal statement that he was exempt from a rule about which he was well aware?

The case involved a dispute over what he was told when, the definition of a "truck," conflicting documents governing the development, etc. Instead of getting involved in the HOA and trying to effect some change, this bonehead picked a fight. Stupid waste of money, and a waste of the judicial system's time.

You can read the court's ruling here.

Wouldn't it have been cheaper to campaign and replace the HOA members with more reasonable people? An HOA is a democracy, not a dictatorship. If you don't like your HOA, get your neighbors to vote.

Wouldn't it make more sense to have to bylaws require a vote by the homeowners prior to filing any lawsuits?

This way, the HOA would not piss away legal fees without a majority agreement.

Karma.

Quikboy4 said: gotsmack said:

The only people who want to run for HOA are either people who are fed up or are people with nothing better to do than try to run your life.

So true! The president of my parent's HOA has been trying to step down for almost 10 years. No one wants to take over.

So true. I was a member of my HOA as after the 1st three years of the association there was no one willing to serve. A neighbor of mine talked me into serving. I served for 8 years before resigning. If you don't have a board then in CA some state agency takes over if I remember correctly. Not sure that wouldn't be better but they would still probably appoint a company to manage the association's affairs as is the norm. You cannot just dissolve an association in some cases as there is community property that must be maintained, pools, landscaping, etc. All these HOAs are just cities dumping responsibility on a group of homeowners IMO. We own our streets in my HOA and are required to pay to maintain them. It isn't cheap to reasphalt. And this is not a gated community. We pay for our own street sweepers as well.

I just couldn't imagine paying monthly dues so neighbors with nothing better to do can have illimitable power over what you do at your house.

Poetic justice would be for this dude to now pack up and move...claiming that he does want to pay the HOA fees that are being levied to pay for his court costs.

Glitch99 said: It sounds like the issue was with some master association, overseeing a number of local HOAs; the neighborhood HOA apparently didnt care.
That was certainly the impression I got reading the article. I was waiting for the two HOA's to sue each other.

I heard that they had the same thing in Bay Tree in Melboure, FL. Didn't matter if it was a Lincoln truck. I heard that people that wanted to fight it would buy the shittist car they can find and park it in the driveway since it was not against the HOA rules.

dcwilbur said: This is just another "HOA beats up on poor little 'ol homeowner" story that is missing a lot of details. Based on THIS article, it souunds like the guy was picking a fight from the beginning. He relied on a builder's verbal statement that he was exempt from a rule about which he was well aware?

The case involved a dispute over what he was told when, the definition of a "truck," conflicting documents governing the development, etc. Instead of getting involved in the HOA and trying to effect some change, this bonehead picked a fight. Stupid waste of money, and a waste of the judicial system's time.

You can read the court's ruling here.

the guy is brilliant then, he wanted a fight so badly that he moved into a place with an HOA that he knew would be willing to SUE HIM and then appeal. Move over Leo, we have someone better than you at planting ideas.

OMG, spoilers please.

Since it is often more than one person, I think you want:

Herd
Of
A-holes.

bigdinkel said: Head
Of
A$$holes

taxmantoo said: The Realtor explained that some people want those restrictions on their neighbors' property, and I told him that those people were exactly the sort of assholes I didn't want to live within ten miles of.Wow - that's a lot of hate. I'm guessing the feeling would be mutual.

So you exercised free will, looked at the restrictions, and moved on. Ever figure that the restrictions are meant to do just that? That is, scare off prospective buyers that don't want to abide by the restrictions? Not everyone wants boats and RV's parked in side yards and houses painted purple. If there weren't people who were willing to conform to the restrictions, you wouldn't see so many communities with them in place.

BTW - In the interest of full disclosure, I live in a rural area WITHOUT an HOA. Free will at work.

platinumcigarman said: Crazytree said: Top 7 Insane HOA Rules

I love the one about the signs.

We have the same, but the builder can.

No grass seed, but the builder can.

No 2 houses in a row the same color, but the builder can.

The people paying have no choice, but the person making the profit can do what ever they like.

Truly messed up.

Which are exactly the reasons I decided not to buy a house in a deed-restricted community with stupid HOA rules, cookie-cutter or no cookie-cutter homes.

And HOAs in Florida are freaking absurd. My dad joined the HOA board as treasurer to stop the committee members from giving contracts to their buddies, instead of receiving 3 to 5 bids and evaluating the top pick.