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HOA aquarium policy

DurTBear

DurTBear

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So I get a letter today from the HOA of my condo with the following new rules: must be acrylic and must be no larger than 20 gallons. I already have a 40 gallon glass tank and just ordered a ~130g custom tank. What do you guys think I should do? I'm thinking of just continuing with the build and keeping it under wraps. The HOA thinks the fish tank is a huge liability and can leak and affect surrounding units. But personally, I don't see any additional risk compared to a water pipe bursting, somone accidentally leaving a bath tub faucet running or setting off fire sprinklers. I could also argue with these new rules but, worst case scenario, they won't even let me set up the new tank...
 
No, not a single floor unit. There are multiple units on the floor.

They didn't design the rules specifically for me although I did ask before I moved in if having an aquarium would be an issue. At the time, it wasn't. I was just told to increase my personal liability on my homeowners insurance. That was easy. Now I get this. So I don't think they really know what size aquarium I have or if I actually have one. They just probably know at least one resident has an aquarium. I have blinds so I just might continue the build and keep the blinds closed at night.
 
Is it an apartment complex or condo?
If it is a condo, I don't think they have no ruling what goes inside your home.
I can call my property manager tomorrow to confirm, if you want.
 
Hahaha!

Yeah, that's my initial plan. I can always play dumb. The alternative is that I have 30 days to comment on the new policies as they were sent out to the entire complex since there were other new amendments. I could try to get them to expand the volume limits. But I'm thinking it might be more trouble than it's worth.
 
bluevoodoo said:
Just build it, if they find out just tell them you didn't get the memo.
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This since you had purchased the tank well prior to the new rules :)

My sister has a 2 animal clause in her HOA, she has at times up to 20 cats she is caring for :lol:
 
newhobby said:
Is it an apartment complex or condo?
If it is a condo, I don't think they have no ruling what goes inside your home.
I can call my property manager tomorrow to confirm, if you want.
Click to expand...

It's a condo. Yeah, if you don't mind asking him I'd be curious to see what he says. I don't think they should have a ruling on what goes inside the home but I guess I can see their concern with water being able to damage adjacent units.
 
As far as I know, HOA can only govern what it is outside of the building, inside the walls of the building and what can be seen from outside such as drapes and blinds, but not what it inside your property. It's your property afterall...
I'm a member of the board of director in my HOA and I'm pretty sure of this, but just to confirm, I'll give him a call tomorrow.
 
They can rule on water beds, aquariums, etc... seen that one a million times when going to rent a place.
 
GreshamH said:
They can rule on water beds, aquariums, etc... seen that one a million times when going to rent a place.
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That's why I asked if it is a condo or an apartment. In an apartment, it's different.
He owns his condo... It's his property
 
My sister owns and they have explicit rules about stuff like aquariums and pets. A tank overflowing on a top unit can surely be damaging to the unit below so a rule on that seems perfectly legal. If it only effected your unit then I can see no basis for the rule.
 
newhobby said:
As far as I know, HOA can only govern what it is outside of the building, inside the walls of the building and what can be seen from outside such as drapes and blinds, but not what it inside your property. It's your property afterall...
I'm a member of the board of director in my HOA and I'm pretty sure of this, but just to confirm, I'll give him a call tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Thanks Roberto. That's kinda what I think as well. But guess I need to find out if I want to bring this up with the HOA.
 
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