Episode 189 of The Two Way Radio Show Podcast is out! We discuss a bill Titled Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act that would allow ham radio operators to erect antennas in a deed restricted community, or HOA.
TWRS-189 - Ham Radio Antennas in an HOA?
Show Notes:
TWRS-189 - Ham Radio Antennas in an HOA? (buytwowayradios.com)
My wife and moved around seven years ago. We found several properties/houses that were exactly what we were looking for, BUT, they were in areas under HOA governance. That fact kept us from looking any closer at those properties. If you live in a HOA neighborhood then you knew or should have known what you were getting into. To me it is kind of like buying a house next to a busy airport and then complaining about the noise. I also agree with Danny that our federal government should not be involved in local issues. They don’t do their job as it is (protecting our country and supporting infrastructure ) so we don’t need them controlling our neighborhoods. If you don’t like the rules… move or work to get the rules changed at the HOA level. BTW, I don’t have a problem with antennas. Thanks for the podcast.
I agree with you on this to a point. The problem is that there are some situations in which finding a property without an HOA in an area you need to be isn’t always an option, so sometimes you have to go with what’s available. In our case, we moved to another city because of my wife’s job and we needed to be in a general location that provided access to it and to certain other facilities for our family. There weren’t many other options at the time, however we did manage to find an acceptable home with what was at the time an HOA that had minimal restrictions, oversight and fees.
The HOA changed over the years and is not the same as it was when we bought the house. The problem now is that the housing market is currently so tight here, it is extremely difficult to find anything else available, so we’re kind of stuck.
HOA regulations can sometimes be changed with much effort, but that works both ways. They can be changed in negative ways over time. It is all about the people that have the time and stomach to deal with it.
Forgive me for this comment, but as Brit, and watching TV and movies - does not every US home (or at least very high numbers) have flag poles as part of your historic rights? Could you not hide antennas inside fibreglass flagpoles, and fly the flag? I’ve always wondered why this isn’t done when on TV, everybody has a Stars and Stripes flag on their home? Clearly I’m wrong as people often have these HOA problems. We don’t have such things here, thank goodness.
There was a time when flag poles weren’t allowed in many HOAs, but the federal government enacted a law - I think it was in 2005, but don’t quote me on that - to allow it. Unfortunately, the HOAs still have authority to regulate where and how they can be placed on a property, which created a loophole for them to still keep them out of some neighborhoods, or at least to keep them so low profile that using a flagpole for an antenna or to hide one isn’t effective.