HOA fines new homeowners for violations from the previous owner: 'The guy we bought the house from had been fighting the HOA for YEARS'

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    Our HOA decided to take out its anger about its past residents on us
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    Hello all, my husband and I moved into our first home with the help of a VA loan in Illinois. We saw a paid assessment letter signed by the HOA saying the house was free and clear of all violations.
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    This apparently was not the case as 3 months after owning the home we received a notice of violation that our "addition" to our driveway was not approved.
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    This came as a shock to us as we never did any construction on the driveway as we had only owned the house for 3 months, and had done zero additions to anything.
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    Turns out the guy we bought the house from had been fighting the HOA for YEARS regarding his addition of walkways to the driveway.
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    The HOA signed paperwork that said the house was not violating any of its guidelines. Our HOA is headed by some corporation and the point
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    of contact for them was shocked that the house was ever allowed to be sold and had put a freeze on any fines.
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    Our lawyer called the corporation that speaks. for the HOA and found out that it was the actual board pushing this and not them.
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    All of this is over 8 inches of brick that doesn't infringe on anyone's property. We are in contact with a few law firms but we don't want to have to deal with years
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    of litigation and bulls for the original seller to not even be able to foot the bill.
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    This right here is what myself and the courts like to call 'their problem'. They signed off on it, they can't retroactively fine you and say it's violating HoA rules now.
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    Unfortunately you only have two options, avoid a court case and bow to the HOA's whims
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    (I do not suggest this option), or take it to court and watch your lawyer and Judge beat the living. snot out of the HOA's
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    lawyer and board of directors (it's more costly and will be a headache but I highly suggest you pick this option. It will save you a ton of hassle in the long run).
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    Pleasa... Pay a lawyer to send the HOA a letter, including the letter signed by the HOA saying the house was free and clear,
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    and explaining that the time for raising this issue was prior to the completion of the sale. The HOA
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    had their chance to force the seller to resolve the problem but chose not to. That's their right but they can't give you a signed letter of release then come back later.

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