Arrested with small children

[Synaptoman]

A good friend of mine's wife was arrested last week, together with her two small children.  Her offence?  Renovating a swimming pool without proper planning approval.  The complainant?  The friendly Home Owners Association.  (Jack's favorite friends)  Three police vehicles, a Swat Team of 12 cops and local municipal officials swooped on her as she was putting the finishing touches to the landscaping around the pool with her kids.  She wasn't even the owner !!  She was actually the contractor.  They tried to force her and her hysterical kids into the back of a police van and only later reluctantly agreed to drop off the children at their home and then locked up the mother in the local police cells.

We are talking about South Africa here, the rape and murder capital of the world, and what are our brave police officers doing?  Arresting women and children for petty offences.  Trust me, you don't want to try and survive a night in one of our police cells.  It's Fight Club from the minute the door slams shut.

What would you ladies do if you found yourself in a similar arrest situation?

Here are some (bad) scans of the relevant article.

[sarahluker]

Wow, I was thinking about changing my front window trim to some nice shutters without checking with the HOA.  Our HOA is pretty laid back but who knows.  Poor lady and kids.  Are they ok?

[Synaptoman]

Thank goodness we don't stay in a complex with HOA.  Yeah, I gather that they're fine.  She has to make a court appearance soon.  The kids were quiet traumatized by the whole event and just don't see the cops as the "good guys"  anymore, which is a pity given the very high crime rates here.  They are at a very impressionable age and this sort of thing can scar them for life. I posted this story because I am very interested to find out how your average "lady survivor" would have dealt with this situation.

[TXChikk]

Wow. Getting arrested (in this manner) is food for thought. I really don't know what I would do, likely pray and find a good lawyer are what comes to mind. Aside from speeding tickets I've never been arrested. Never even seen the inside of a police station let alone a jail.  I'm not really smart enough to fight something like this otherwise. Thanks goodness I don't have children to fuss over.

[sarahluker]

You know, in most cases, the local law enforcement in the US has taken the plight of children accompaning the person being arrested seriously.  Most communities have people ready to deal with the situation and the officers have training themselves.  Some even carry teddy bears to give some comfort to the kids.  I realize that the kid's parents are usually involved in arrests for drugs, dwi, and domestic problems.   Being a contractor and being arrested for hoa violations is bizarre.   

[LvsChant]

Wow... that's a tough HOA... with the muscle to back it up. Around here, they can harass and send you letters and end up suing you... but I have never heard of anything quite that bizarre.

Under the circumstances, the lady did the only rational thing she could do. To resist would have been futile in that case.

[ubergeek]

That's just crazy. Glad I live in a neighborhood without a nazi HOA.

[ncjeeper]

That's just crazy. Glad I live in a neighborhood without a nazi HOA.

X2

[ebonearth]

I feel for people who have to deal with such aggressive HOAs. My goodness that is terrible!

[Cacinok]

i thought the OP was going to say this happened in kalifornia.  i guess i'll put south africa on my lists of places not to live as well.

what kind of crazy laws allow for an arrest based on breaking HOA rules?  seems rather heavy handed (and pelosi like) to me.

[eph2]

Could we make HOAs unconstitutional??

[Orionblade]

Nah, it's a contractual obligation that you sign when you purchase the property or move in.

There are certain things that they do that are unconstitutional, but agreeing to keep your house in the same aesthetic theme as the rest of the 'hood isn't really a restriction on free speech or anything like that. There are, however, some things that are superseded by federal and state law that you may be able to get away with. Flags, radio antennae, medical devices (yes, doctors can write prescriptions for lap pools - boo ya!) or handicapped access devices like ramps, elevators, etc. are protected by federal law and nobody would dare try and slap you down for it without getting their asses handed to them in a court of law.

However, since there's no amendment to the bill of rights that ensures that you'll be able to grow your own food on your own land, gardens and things can be restricted.

What a pile of bull.

HOA's only serve to piss people off, since most of the things they restrict as eyesores tend to be already covered by local zoning laws. There's an HOA that spells out that you can't have an eyesore vehicle in your front yard without it being covered. That's identical langauge to the local zoning regulation regarding inoperable vehicles.

WHY?!

Goes back to my argument about gun control, to an extent. If it's already illegal to kill people, then why make the devices used to accomplish the task illegal?

[Dylboz]

I wont buy a property that is deed restricted or part of an HOA.

[zackandjen2004]

I will never own a condo again...for many reasons.  During the time I owned it, a fellow in the community decided to sue the HOA and slapped a lis pendens on the deeds of all the other owners.  I put my place on the market, had a read, willing and able buyer, but could not close the deal because of this stupid encumbrance. 

When we bought our first place here in NC, the property used a neighbor's road to access the driveway.  No deeded access in the title.  I didn't want to close the deal without deeded access, and the lawyer we were using basically made me feel like the bad guy.  The neighbor came back with a "deal" that we would become part of the HOA and help pay for the road maintenance.  Wha??  Are you kidding me?  When the development has sold maybe 4 lots out of twenty and that "pool" is SO small?  Right. I said absolutely not.  No "deal."  Ok, said the neighbor, just please promise to not run a trucking business/constant heavy machinery on the road.  No problem, I said. 

[kc9eci]

Could we make HOAs unconstitutional??

The amateur radio community has tried on a few occasions to get the legislative branch to pass laws to exempt them from HOA's restrictive rules about antennas.  No joy.  The lesson here is don't buy a home that requires you to be part of a HOA.

[Orionblade]

I don't think HOA's are all that bad. I'm willing to bet that without them, we'd have alot more nosy neighbors distributed throughout non-HOA controlled areas. Sucks for those that are in them, but *dies in a fire* couldn't you see it coming before you moved in? REALLY sucks for those that wake up to prepping AFTER they've made half their house payments, though.


Not sure what happens when a community creates an HOA. THAT would suck donkey dick.

[OKGranny]

I would have had a total and complete fit about the kids had I been her. That is one very good thing about American police officers, they do tend to try and make sure children are not unduly traumatized. I've never lived in a neighborhood with a HOA and it's probably a good thing, I don't handle asinine rules well. I'd probably have to invest in a few dozen tacky pink plastic flamingos to dot my front lawn just because.