I expect she did consider the rule, but had absolutely no reason to think it would ever affect her. Anticipating the death of ones children and having to take care of their child is not likely something most people plan on when moving into senior housing.
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In addition to all the other facts in this thread, let me throw this in, from first- and second-hand experience.
I live in an intentional community in central Texas. The former played-out cattle ranch (about 1000 acres) was sold in the 1980s to land developers to create several subdivisions or neighborhoods. One of those neighborhoods is the intentional community my partner helped create, from the ground up.
The original plan was to do a co-housing project and was designed [while the land was being cleared, and community well drilled, and roads planned] to accommodate all walks of life, income levels, ages, etc. Duplexes, row houses, community kitchen, community laundromat, meditation hall, etc.
Once the site development plan and business plan were submitted to the usual very conventionally-minded Texas mortgage lenders–again, this was all in the 1980s, when many people couldn’t even spell co-housing, much less intentional community, and there was no cell phone, no internet, the earth had just cooled, dinosaurs were only made extinct the year before–this project was dead dead dead.
How to repossess a co-housing structure? Too weird. No bank was going to lend the money for any aspect of this project… unless:
- All the lot lines were redrawn to show one-acre and half-acre lots; no more community commons
- All houses were to look conventional, be conventionally built, be fully repossessable and resalable in the event of a default on the mortgage
- All houses were to be “single-family residential” units but for a handful of duplexes (aka “semi-detached homes” for anyone reading this in the U.K.)
- and… the banks demanded there be a Homeowners Association to ride herd on all this development. The mortgage lender, btw, had final edit and final approval of the covenants and bylaws for the HOA.
So to get the development loan, the people who built my community caved in to the lender’s demands. These people were not independently wealthy. They did not have leverage, or connections. They wanted to finish their project, and then they wanted to live in what they built.
It is well known that loans come with conditions. It may not be so well known that in some cases, those conditions call for creating and maintaining some dang HOA, with covenants that are typically unresponsive if not antithetical to the climate or land the HOA “governs.” The language in the bylaws and covenants is boilerplate language cooked up by some real estate lawyer somewhere, endlessly recycled, and far removed from the realities and vagaries of, in my case, living in central Texas.
ETA: typos 
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In my immediate area we have a lot of farm land around. But much of what remains has its development rights locked up in a state program meant to preserve agriculture. We’re not very population dense, year round anyway. But we’re a beach town, on an island in the NYC metro area. So property values are very high and the thrust is more for luxury developments. 5 acre lots, and golf course developments (which also increasingly sit vacant).
But what little affordable housing gets built tends to be smaller condo developments for retirees. Since we’re a big seasonal retirement community. Average age here is in the 60’s.
Westward, where things are much, much denser population wise they seem to have been built mixed in with nearly identical normal condo and apartment developments, the suburban row homes in gated cul de sac far from the main drag style. On the assumption that the same folks retiring to free standing homes in beach towns, or those who couldn’t afford it, would be interested in retiring to a cheaper over 55 development over by the highway.
Problem is those that can afford it buy the stand alones or condos in the village down towns and beach areas. Those who can’t, do the same in cheaper Southern states.
The exact pressures are a bit different, if only because housing is so insanely expensive here. But it’s a lot closer to the stock story. So there’s a lot more going on with the glut. But your developers wouldn’t be building them if they hadn’t expected to have a market. Though I suppose you could exploit the situation to get building permission early, and convert it when infrastructure catches up.
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FYP 
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https://www.goodreads.com/series/40806-sammy-keyes
Sammy’s mom more-or-less abandoned her, and her dad disappeared, so she’s living illegally with her Grams in a senior living condo. A good chunk of the series concerns Sammy sneaking in and out of Grams’ apartment without tipping off the neighbors or HOA, which could get Grams evicted.
We lived for 8 years in a condo complex with a not terribly restrictive HOA covenant, but when the chance came to sell, we couldn’t leave fast enough, and swore mighty oaths that we would never be part of a HOA again.
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Correction: An earlier version of this post misplaced the community in Florida. It is in Arizona.
“Arizona: Florida of the West!”
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We have those too. They typically display a “Forever Farmland” plaque out front somewhere.
Also an area with expensive housing. We only moved here recently, and people told us how expensive housing was. Little did they know, we came from someplace even more expensive, so it all feels kind of normal. We’re super jaded on housing costs now.
I’m assuming they are able to sell them. I haven’t looked at the 55+ housing prices, but I always assumed they were cheaper than unrestricted housing. Guessing they are targeting seniors trying to get money out of their current housing. But, really I’ve got no idea how they’re selling or not. Out realtor is where I heard about the school size issues slowing the approval of new developments. There’s definitely been new schools opened, and more about to open in even the short time we’ve been here. Plus, plans for more. Definitely a growing population.
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There seems to be some sort of distinction between coop or condo boards and HOAs here, don’t own a home and I’m only minimally involved with the HOA that covers the house I live in so I don’t really know.
But the coops and condos seem to have significantly more control over residents. And their most common and most agressive in and around NYC. If you try to buy or rent in a coop building in the five boroughs you often have to interview with the board. As they have final say over whether you’re allowed to. They have final say on alterations to the unit. And the can charge exorbitant maintenance and member fees. So that often enough you’re buying a home only to pay above market rare rent on top of your mortgage. It’s been a big part of the soft segregation in NY and other cities, and there have been a lot, like a lot, of discrimination law suits involving coop.and condo boards. It used to be something that only really existed in Manhattan and certain post war (often Trump built) buildings in Queens and Brooklyn. But they spread and proliferate along with gentrification.
So far as I recall this shit proliferated with the end of segregation, in tandem with religious and private schools and other privately enforced segregation. And basically followed white flight out of the cities. So it makes a lot of sense that they’re most common and most powerful in the places where that was a big thing. Former Jim Crow states, wealthier/whiter areas of large Northern cities, post 60’s suburbs.
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Yes, that is cold. Why is “keeping the riff raff out” and “maintaining property values” more important than keeping a literal orphan from being literally homeless?
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… dominated by slaveowners. Which might suggest to you that their definition of “liberty” was somewhat idiosyncratic.
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Works for me. I’m one of those retired Boomers and as noted above am currently in New Mexico pursuing several degrees. I didn’t really anticipate how much I enjoy all of the brilliant, energetic people here who are so much younger than I am (including students young enough to be my grandchildren in an alternate history,)
It won’t last forever, which is why I (again, above) bought a house in Montana close to my grandchildren. I grew up near Sun City (the original over-55 ghetto) and saw what it did to the area around it, not at all least being the destruction of the schools nearby. Not for lack of students, but for lack of funds when the school board was exclusively consisting of “I paid for my children back in ____” predecessors of Grover Norquist.
I will enjoy living long enough to see them die, probably horribly.
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Worked out well for Hong Kong, eh?
Seems like the other residents in this community could at least be HUMAN and make a specific exception (in writing?) for the grandmother/grandson, for a few years at least (until he’s 18-20?). His effing family has died and he has nowhere else to go.
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Isn’t this related to the entire ownership structure and what you’re really buying?
With a coop, aren’t you really buying a share in a legal entity that still owns the building? While it may be contracted for the apartment, you don’t really own it and there’s lots of shared infrastructure that has to be maintained. Kind of like buying into a business partnership.
For a condo, the exterior of the structure and grounds, are maintained by the condo associations not the the unit owner typically. It’s another example of lots of shared infrastructure, some that’s directly part of the unit.
For an HOA, there may be community infrastructure that’s maintained, but it’s typically not part of the housing directly. Things like parks, road maintenance, storm water management, other neighborhood infrastructure.
That difference in responsibility is a large factor. It’s no excuse for some of the rules that have no relation to those things. In the one house we had with an HOA, it was limited to only storm water management with no ability to change to other rules. We specifically bought a new house with a neighborhood association instead of an HOA in the middle of tons of HOA neighborhoods. Neighborhood association is voluntary, has no responsibilities, no rule enforcement, maintains the neighborhood sign, has a directory, and holds a picnic. Fencing in the backyard to let the dog run loose was a big deal for us, tons of HOA around here restrict fence options or don’t allow at all, trying to maintain an open space look.
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I’m in PA, where this is a huge issue. There have been several attempts in the past 5-10 years to stop using property taxes for school funding. A increasing number of seniors have lost their homes due to inability to pay because even at the senior/discounted rate, those taxes keep increasing faster than their COLAs (for those on fixed incomes). I’ve got relatives who are retired teachers and they want to stop paying because it’s become the highest expense in their budget.
The state’s insistence on allowing corporate tax breaks/exemptions, diverting public funds to private schools, and reducing programs to assist the homeless undermines the argument that their primary concern is for the good of society. I say this as a person who votes, went to public school, never had kids, and agree that we should all pay our fair share. We need reform because they’ve gone way past fair share and turned the tax into a license to steal. School districts have been sued for spending surpluses instead of returning excess funds, lying about budgetary needs to keep increasing funds year over year, and making staffing or equipment decisions that turn into huge financial drains on the districts. If property owners sell their homes (assuming there is a buyer for an older house with a $4,000-$8,000 annual tax bill) and move into an apartment (one bedroom units start at $1800 per month) then the landlord is responsible for paying the tax. That’s not an option for most people.
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The devil with that. I believe in keeping schools well funded (along with all my other public utilities) because they are a fucking public good. I don’t have kids and unless I adopt never will, but that doesn’t mean they should get shortchanged because ‘not my circus, not my monkeys’.
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I’d assume that’s the case. Cul de sac style developments, especially those on golf courses seem to have the same sort of control. The country club community dictates what sort of grass you have and what the outside of your house looks like and such.
But the x factor there is that those boards are controlled and run by the development companies that own the golf courses and any unsold or rented properties. Seems very similar to the condo boards, the company owns the complex. You just own a lot and a house within it. So the company is in control.
The HOAs here seem to run kinda the opposite, by owning the house you own part of the HOA. With the Coop being kinda a combo, the coop owns your house but you own part of the coop.
But what I mean legal distinction wise is the HOAs don’t have anywhere the same rights. If an HOA took you to court for planting the wrong grass. They would lose, and have to give you a bunch of money. If the board of a country club development did that they would win. And you’d have to replant the grass and give them a whole lot of money.
In other states it seems like all types get an equal chance at policing your grass, whether they can’t or they can steel your fucking children.
I wish the folks tanking public schools by moving funding to the private schools they prefer didn’t believe in shortchanging others. While most of us are trying to keep the Ringling Brothers’ tent from collapsing, their kids are enjoying Cirque du Soleil®.
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There is a big difference between condo and coop boards.
Since condos are legally owned property, Condo boards don’t have any control over who lives in a building. They can be bought by speculators or investors and never actually lived in. Maintenance fees typically reflect operating costs of the building only. Restrictions are typically done to prevent common nuisance or harming the interests of neighbors. (Essentially to keep residents from suing each other)
Coops, one owns shares of an organization and technically rents at the behest of the board. Your characterization of them is on the mark. Coops have fallen out of favor in NYC and newer buildings are typically either rental only or condo. Condo builders seeking to attract foreign oligarchs laundering their money. Because of the necessity of board approval to move into a coop, they fell out of favor with the rise of the “investor class” owner.
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Like a number of features of American Life; HOAs are basically an object lesson in the internal contradictions of going peak 'Murika.
You normally get them in places where municipal(“council” in foreign, I’m given to understand) government is new, weak, or nonexistent enough that the fascist crushing despotism of ‘zoning’ isn’t really a thing.
This pocket of freedom leads to concern about what the wrong sort of people might do; and so contractual restrictions and developers are left to do what city planners and zoning boards might otherwise do.
Keeps things nice and small government; but has the delightful effect of leaving you at the mercy of the property-values neuroses of the busiest busybodies in a very small pond.
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