Question on HOA Having us Clean Out Garage to Park Cars that are on our driveway

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kitkat01

New member
We live in an area where we have HOA and I completely understand HOAs and their rules (up to some extent) but this one I don't understand why. I think it's ridiculous.

We received a letter from HOA asking us to clean out our garage so we can park our cars that are parked on OUR driveway. They asked that we do this within 15 days and I'm sure they will have me take a picture to prove we have cleaned it out.  There is something in our garage that is very heavy that we will not have a place for (at the moment) so we would need a lot more time to complete what they are asking us. But what I don't get is we have a driveway and our cars are parked on the driveway so I don't know why we have to park the cars in the garage. We do not live in a condo where there is a garage but no driveway but we live in a single family home, with a driveway and with lots of parking out on the street. Are they allowed to do this by law or is it just enforced rule but not necessarily legal by law if fought in court? please advise.

AND one of our cars is a full size SUV that will barely fit in the garage. :(
 
kitkat01 said:
We live in an area where we have HOA and I completely understand HOAs and their rules (up to some extent) but this one I don't understand why. I think it's ridiculous.

We received a letter from HOA asking us to clean out our garage so we can park our cars that are parked on OUR driveway. They asked that we do this within 15 days and I'm sure they will have me take a picture to prove we have cleaned it out.  There is something in our garage that is very heavy that we will not have a place for (at the moment) so we would need a lot more time to complete what they are asking us. But what I don't get is we have a driveway and our cars are parked on the driveway so I don't know why we have to park the cars in the garage. We do not live in a condo where there is a garage but no driveway but we live in a single family home, with a driveway and with lots of parking out on the street. Are they allowed to do this by law or is it just enforced rule but not necessarily legal by law if fought in court? please advise.

AND one of our cars is a full size SUV that will barely fit in the garage. :(
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Have you tried asking them through a letter?

A lot of HOAs say you should be parking your cars in the garage. 

I agree with them as well.  Everyone should at least park one car in the garage. 
 
Read your CC&Rs. There will be a rule that 2-car garages must be used to park two cars, rather than the driveway or street. If you have a long SUV, it probably extends into the sidewalk when parked in the driveway.

These rules exist, because a street, and the curb appeal of the homes on the street, is improved when cars aren't filling the driveways and street.
 
It's not the extended SUV but just the FULL size SUV and it does NOT extend to the sidewalk at all.

We do have something very heavy in the garage at the moment that we recently purchased so we cannot move that now to park the cars. after moving that, which is probably in a few months, we can try to park the one car but not the big SUV. Also, with all the issues that the neighborhood is having with theft and break ins and robbery, I would really feel much safer having the cars or at least one car on the driveway so robbers will think twice and let them know someone is home.
 
HOAs tend to attempt to enforce CC&Rs, but don't seem to follow through too much in fining violators. e.g. We lived in a townhouse community years ago, and people would complain that owners weren't using their garages for one car, much less two. This was an issue there, because the street parking was so impacted. The HOA would routinely send letters reminding owners of the CC&Rs requiring two cars be parked in the garage, but I didn't see anyone change their garage usage.

 
kitkat01 said:
It's not the extended SUV but just the FULL size SUV and it does NOT extend to the sidewalk at all.

We do have something very heavy in the garage at the moment that we recently purchased so we cannot move that now to park the cars. after moving that, which is probably in a few months, we can try to park the one car but not the big SUV. Also, with all the issues that the neighborhood is having with theft and break ins and robbery, I would really feel much safer having the cars or at least one car on the driveway so robbers will think twice and let them know someone is home.
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I'm not sure I follow the logic that parking your vehicles exposed on the driveway in any way makes thieves think twice.  You should be watching the video that someone posted from West Park where thieves unlocked a Range Rover in the driveway to get at the garage opener, which allowed them to then take some personal belongings and 3 bikes that were inside the garage.  And unless that something heavy is a boat, I can't imagine that it is that hard to park at least one car inside.  I agree with the HOA we don't want every neighborhood looking like the streets of El Camino. 
 
Burn That Belly said:
I've gotten HOA notices before for pulling the trash can out too early before trash pick up days!!!!!
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The trash day enforcement is so people in the neighborhood don't go down the slippery slope of leaving their trash bins out the whole year round.  I know my neighborhood had some idiots doing this for months due to laziness, idiocy, etc. and we all got the memo because the HOA was hoping to give those houses a clue.  It looks ghetto as hell having the damn green WM bins littering the entire street. 
 
This is interesting.  Most of HOA regulation for a traditional SFR requires garage be clutter free and have space available to park cars but does not require homeowners actually park their car in the garage.

It would be interesting to see the actual wording in OP's CC&R. 
 
this is what I found so far on the HOA website...  I haven't gotten an exact copy of the CC&R but this should be the same.

 

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I own a rental property in a Temecula cul-de-sac that has one of the board members living in it.  He is retired and spend his time looking for CC&R violations.  I've received violation letters for weeds on sidewalk, lawn not being mowed, trees that need trimming, mail box that needed repair/repaint, paint peeling on wood, etc.

Ironically, the tenant likes to leave half repaired cars on the drive way with all the crap laying about and I've never received a CC&R violation letter for that.

Yes HOA's can be annoying.  But nobody forced you to buy into a HOA, and the HOA rules tend to keep the neighborhood well maintained (at least in appearance from the street).  It means your neighbors can't pile a bunch of broken down cars on their front lawns and have weeds growing everywhere.

I moved to a SFR without HOA few years ago and, of the 6 homes in our cul-de-sac only 3 has decent looking front lawns.  2 are basically a dirt patch and another is a weed patch that gets mowed maybe once a month.  On the up side, when my gardener went back to Mexico and disappeared, my lawn was not mowed for over a month and nobody said anything.

Specific to your situation, I would park one car inside the garage and another on the street somewhere.  Or, buy 2 clunkers and park them in the driveway -- make sure they look like crap with paint peeling.  If HOA complains send them copies of 4 car registrations, then stick a pink flamingo on your lawn.
 
I don't mind living in an area with HOA.. In fact I like having an HOA because of the fact that they do make our homes/streets look clean, nice and appealing to others... up to some extent. I know it's their rule but like what someone said above, I don't know why I am not allowed to park on my own driveway and instead, they want me to park our cars inside the garage. I know we have stuff in the garage and even if I have stuff in my garage, I am not a hoarder that has boxes and boxes piled up in the garage, from bottom to roof that you can't even see anything inside. We have kids and they all play sports. We have their bags, bikes, etc inside and we have something in the garage that is heavy and we cannot move it at the moment. But the point is, I dont know why it's against their rule to park on OUR driveway. We are not blocking anything, and we do not live in a condo or townhomes where they have garages but  no driveway and have to utilize street parking. I'm parking on our own driveway.

I'm not using my driveway to fix cars, or garage to fix cars or anything like that.. my cars are just simply parked on my driveway. What's wrong with that? I don't get it. Why give me a driveway that I can't use.
 
kitkat01 said:
I don't mind living in an area with HOA.. In fact I like having an HOA because of the fact that they do make our homes/streets look clean, nice and appealing to others... up to some extent. I know it's their rule but like what someone said above, I don't know why I am not allowed to park on my own driveway and instead, they want me to park our cars inside the garage. I know we have stuff in the garage and even if I have stuff in my garage, I am not a hoarder that has boxes and boxes piled up in the garage, from bottom to roof that you can't even see anything inside. We have kids and they all play sports. We have their bags, bikes, etc inside and we have something in the garage that is heavy and we cannot move it at the moment. But the point is, I dont know why it's against their rule to park on OUR driveway. We are not blocking anything, and we do not live in a condo or townhomes where they have garages but  no driveway and have to utilize street parking. I'm parking on our own driveway.

I'm not using my driveway to fix cars, or garage to fix cars or anything like that.. my cars are just simply parked on my driveway. What's wrong with that? I don't get it. Why give me a driveway that I can't use.
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Not sure what else can be said.  The rules say you have two cars.. put two cars in the garage.  The neighborhood wants to look clean and have less cars parking in front of homes and sidewalks. 
 
How can they enforce it if instead of parking in your driveway you park on the street in front of your house?

My HOA only conducts inspection during the day where everybody is at work, this way they don't have to worry about parking problem in the community (condos).
 
Burn That Belly said:
marmott said:
How can they enforce it if instead of parking in your driveway you park on the street in front of your house?

My HOA only conducts inspection during the day where everybody is at work, this way they don't have to worry about parking problem in the community (condos).
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You can park on the street. The street is owned by the city of Irvine and is city property line. The HOA has no business with the curb and can't write parking citations. However, motorcourts are enforced by the HOA since motorcourts typically aren't city property.
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The HOA can still insist you clean out your garage.
 
Burn That Belly said:
kitkat -

it's spelled out perfectly clear in your CC&R.

Here it is:

Garages or other parking areas must be used only for parking vehicles, and may not be used for storage, living, recreational, business or other purposes.

Driveways may not be used for parking purposes if the Owner's garage is not being utilized to the maximum designated capacity for the parking of vehicles.


In layman's terms, unless you have 2 cars already in the garage, you may not park another car on the driveway. You must park a minimum of 2 cars into the garage first, before you can park a 3rd or 4th on your driveway. You cannot substitute the use of garage for boxes, storage, shelves, etc. and park the vehicles.  Vehicles have the highest priority when it comes to storage per your CC&R and needs to be moved into the garage.

You do have an option here. You can buy 2 clunker cars and park them in the garage. Maybe 2 cheap Fiat's? That way you can still get space for storage, then park the big SUV on the drive way.  ;D

These rules exist for aesthetic reasons and nobody wants to see their neighbors park cars like this on their driveways:
free-candy-van-2.jpg
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I'm happy to see that you've become a productive member of TI, YellowFever! We can be friends now!  8)
 
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