One Maryland homeowner was frustrated when their homeowners association set what seemed like an unreasonable restriction on their installation of an electric vehicle charger.
"When we first bought the home (new build), we were told by the selling agents from the builders that setting up charging would be no issue," the original poster said in a post on r/evcharging. "Come to find it is an issue."
Their townhouse had no garage but two parking spaces in front. They did their due diligence to ensure that they would be able to install an EV charger. However, the particulars presented a problem for their HOA.
"We are not allowed to have a cable running over the sidewalk," the original poster said. "We proposed an idea we saw here on Reddit to put a pedestal in the ground in our parking spot with a charger that would run under the sidewalk."
Sensing reluctance from their HOA, the original poster backed up their idea with a legal argument. "We live in Maryland, which is a 'right to charge' state, so we hit them with the whole 'you can't deny us accessibility to charging,'" they said.
"HOA is now saying we need to get up an ESCROW account holding $3k at all times before we can do this installation. If they ever see any 'damage' inflicted on the concrete/parking area 'due to the charging station,' they are allowed to remove funds from the escrow account to repair the damages, and we would have to refill the account back up to the $3k."
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According to the original poster, this would be an unfair burden. "I feel like that directly violates the whole 'While an HOA may not be able to prohibit EV charging stations altogether, it can set reasonable restrictions that do not significantly decrease the efficiency of the station or significantly increase its cost of it,'" they said.
This is not the first time an HOA has stood in the way of eco-friendly and money-saving home upgrades. One association dragged its feet over installing chargers in common area parking spaces, and another demanded that a homeowner acquire expensive insurance for the upgrade. Luckily, residents can often change the rules when this happens.
One commenter suggested a way to put pressure on the HOA. "Well that's evil," they said. "Assuming it's allowed, just nab an extension cord and charge off a 12V outlet inside your home. Make it look as janky as possible. Most days this should be enough to top off your battery, and might make 'em reconsider how a level II charger would look?"
Another commenter had a more straightforward approach. "The law says you're responsible for damage. Not that you have to post escrow," they said. "Who are you dealing with that's telling you this? If you haven't, go to their lawyers."
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