And you are going to need a permit to change the windows, at least that's the case in my area. 

If you deny for any of those reasons be prepared to back up your case in court. 

First, Unless MN is different then 90% of the US, You do not 'own' the HOA, The HOA is a legal entity created at some point in time. you may have controlling votes in decisions when the HOA brings then to a vote, but unless the document created at the time of the formation of the HOA says something differently you are just a unit owner many times over.Second, Depending on how the HOA was set up, The HOA may be under the Direction of a Property ManagerThird, You must follow all Federal,State,Local laws regarding the HOAForth You must comply with all HOA rules  for each individual of your units regardless of how many you ownFifth while it might be enticing to go all Pirate King, remember you have to follow the HOA rules or you may be subject to fines and lawsuits or both (In MD there is a case in the courts where a renter had problems with the unit owner and the the owners of the unit are being sued separately by the tenant.

That is not the case in CT and the underwriters are concerned about the property going abandoned or the prior owners leaving the property during the redemption period and trashing the place. 

Case in point your $6k you had to put out of pocket already.

You probably can't sell it for substantially more in the short term, but can hold and rent for as long as you want as is the case in example 1.

A case in point is the OSBA foreclosure bill (HB 463).

Case in point: I bought a very nice boat straight out of college. 

Trustees will talk to another attorney, especially one who they know (our attorney worked at one of the largest trustee firms around before starting his own practice. ) Case in point... once we won a bid and for a few reasons wanted to delay getting the trustee's deed as long as possible.

Having said that, when you say "A California foreclosure which seeks a deficiency through a judicial process has a redemption period post sale of 12 months," is my case in any way related to this statement because a BK court is involved?