Don't rock the HOA boat

I would very much like to reply to your article, "HOA rules come under attack" (March 8) by Sophia Fischer.

"Oak Park is known as a family oriented community"- where is this written in the law?

My wife and I moved to Oak Park in 1983. We chose a new development with similar CC&Rs as described in your article. We had a choice: agree to and sign the agreement regarding the CC&Rs and move in when the home was ready; reject the CC&Rs as written and buy somewhere else; or buy on a public street with no CC&Rs.

Being able to read and understand English and agree to the commitments of our mortgage, we were also able to read and fully understand the CC&Rs as written. We agreed to abide by both, bought a single-family home and moved in when it was ready.

After 25 years we have paid off our mortgage and have at all times followed the terms of the CC&Rs we signed and agreed to, following same to the letter of the law unless amended by the board of directors and a majority of the owners.

We moved from the East Coast where "quiet time" was restricted to between midnight and 4 a.m., and we were thus in full agreement with the CC&Rs. We had plenty of other choices if we couldn't comply. We looked forward to daily peace and quiet and freedom from accident lawsuits by abiding by the rules and fully expected our neighbors to do the same.

What, may I ask, gives these people in Country Vista III the right to sign and agree to the CC&Rs as written, move in and just decide thereafter that "the agreed upon rules and regulations to which they fully accepted" no longer apply to them? Sorry, no sympathy from me.

My suggestion is as follows. If you don't like the heat, don't buy in Phoenix. If you don't like the cold, don't buy in Nome. But please, stop disobeying the rules you originally agreed to, and stop expecting all your neighbors to do the same. Ray Stein Oak Park