Don’t paint your front door pink. Don’t park in front of anyone’s home except your own. Don’t adopt a pitbull. Don’t forget to bring in your bins within an hour of the trash being collected. And don’t even think about letting the grass in your yard grow taller than an inch and a half.

Ah, the joys of having a homeowners association! While purchasing a house means freedom for many people who have previously rented, for others, it means being tied to a host of new rules. And to find out just how extreme HOAs can be, we’ve gathered some of the most infuriating posts from the [Anti] Homeowners Associations and Just No HOA subreddits down below. Enjoy reading through these stories that might make you want to abandon the suburbs for good, and keep reading to find a conversation with Orchard‘s Housing Advisor Jason Hanson!

#1

I am a first-time home-owner, and I have an old car that does not start, and which I have been trying to fix. I have been parking it in front of my house. Today I saw an HOA warning notice on my car, saying that parking a car in front of my house overnight is prohibited and it will be towed at my own expense—which is seriously the dumbest thing I have heard in a while.

I called the HOA asking about this and the lady told me that they can’t have cars parked in front of the house as it damages the view of the community. Good God.

Image credits: vish122

#2

Admittedly, our HOA is pretty good. The fees aren’t that high for houses (less than $30 per month) and a little higher for the condos. Pool is pretty decent and not that far away. We decided to put solar panels on our house. The HOA told me that we were not allowed to do that. We asked why. They said it would ruin the aesthetic of the neighborhood. The solar panel company told us that that was illegal. They have a legal department that has to argue with HOAs all the time. It took two months before we finally got the OK to put the solar panels in. I just wonder, is it just a power trip for the HOAs that they have to make you jump through hoops to go a little greener. SMH.

Image credits: MomCat859

To learn more about HOAs and whether or not they’re a good thing for homeowners, we reached out to Jason Hanson, a Dallas-Fort Worth based Housing Advisor for Orchard. Orchard has served thousands of homeowners through its brokerage services and online home search tools, and Jason has 10 years of experience working real estate, so he was the perfect person to weigh in on HOAs.

“HOAs can be great if they’re run well,” he told Bored Panda. “But if they’re not, they can end up being a nightmare to deal with. That’s why it’s so important to research the HOA before buying a home in an association. Look into the board, their finances, and the seller’s history with the HOA, for starters, and don’t be afraid to ask the seller and neighbors questions.”

#3

On June 25th, after my son got a lumbar puncture with chemo, his doctor gave us paperwork to get an emotional support dog. We showed it to the HOA president, and apparently the rule is no dog over 20 lbs. However, my fiancé is worried that he may crush that small of a dog by accident, so we need a medium-sized dog. We let her see the paperwork the day we got it.

She said she had to talk to the HOA lawyers for paperwork that we would have to sign. Well, it’s been three weeks. I know we could get her in trouble and possibly disband this HOA if she tries to fight this. But this dragging their feet is making me mad. I want to get the dog now, but my fiancé wants to give them a three-month time limit. Honestly, I think that is too much time.

Image credits: Florida123love

#4

My HOA was doing some useless things like replacing asphalt with bricks, which was loud and took weeks and probably will cost a lot to repair, so they told us we could move our cars to the small plaza next to our homes. They assured us we had permission. Big mistake. Every car parked there got towed, and they had no choice but to pay roughly $300 for every car towed.

Image credits: __Kfish

When it comes to the pros of having an HOA, Jason says they can be helpful with exterior maintenance, increasing home value, offering amenities, lowering bills and assisting with conflict resolution. “Most HOAs handle a large portion of your home’s exterior upkeep so you don’t have to, like mowing the lawn and landscaping,” he explained. “Although, most HOA’s don’t handle the upkeep of the homes’ exterior, mowing, and landscaping in Texas.”

“[Homes with] HOAs sell for an average of 4% more than similar homes outside of HOAs, according to a 2019 UC-Irvine study,” Jason added. “Many HOAs offer amenities like swimming pools, tennis courts, golf courses, playgrounds, and gyms in the communities.”

#5

A hurricane was coming, so I put my boat on a trailer to bring it more inland, and put the trailer at the side of my house. I am not a part of the HOA in my community as my house precedes it. Within a week, I find a note saying if I don’t move my boat, it will be towed. I tried to call their bluff and left it—what came next infuriated me to no end.

Two days later, a truck came by and tried to tow it. I had to come out with my double-barrel and tell him to get off my property. He ran off without his truck….so I had it towed at his expense. The hurricane passed, and I put the boat back in the water. Just yesterday, I got a package from the HOA with fines for the boat at $5,000, plus the price of the truck being towed.

Like heck I’m paying for that.

Image credits: LastInfluence7046

#6

This was in the mid-90s, when I owned a condo in Las Vegas. I bought it new and lived in it. I do not recall how long I had lived there when I received a letter from the HOA asking me for my address. I just ignored it. A few weeks or so later, I received an infuriating package. It was a letter stating I had been fined $100 for not “returning” that other letter.

I went down to the office to visit the HOA president. And said exactly this to him: “The only way I will pay this fine is through judgment. Because I want to see you explain to a judge how you sending a letter to my address to verify my address and then fining me because you did not receive a response is going to fly with a judge”. The reaction was priceless.

He thought for a minute, then conversed with the other person there, then said to her “Could we have misplaced his letter? Ok, no fine”. He just was completely unwilling to admit he was in the wrong, but he obviously didn’t want to go to court, either.

Image credits: JonPokerclan

#7

Just happened to my girlfriends parents. Her father wanted to plant a vegetable garden. HOA rules state that garden can be no larger than 8’x8′. Plants can’t grow taller than 4′ so it limits what he could plant. He measured out an appropriately sized patch in the back yard. I came over with a few buckets of compost and my tiller to help him set it up.

Turns out that the old hag next door was pissed that the garden was bordering her property and complained to her friend on the HOA board. Two men from the HOA came by last night for an inspection and measured the garden as 8′-4″x8′-2″. We must have accidentally expanded it when tilling.

They fined her parents $350 and told that they have to buy sod and cover up the garden by end of the week because they “lost the privilege to have a garden this year” and will be fined again every week they don’t comply.

Image credits: FHOATAjmjh_297

“HOA fees cover different things, but one commonly included cost is utilities, like water and gas,” Jason continued. “Sometimes, HOAs resolve conflicts rather than incite them. If your neighbor plays loud music in the middle of the night or they fail to pick up after their dog, who just so happens to love your front lawn, an HOA can step in.”

#8

A number of years ago we moved into a subdivision with what seemed like a pretty laid back HOA. Now, the former owner was a first class a-hole who would never win the good neighbor award. Among the worst things he did was pave most of the front yard because he got tired of the neighbors b**ching at him to cut his grass. About 6 months later I got a letter from the HOA telling us the driveway was “out of compliance”. I called the number in the letter and asked what they meant and they said it was far too large and needed to be reduced in size. Me: “Okay, so just let me know when the contractors will be here so I can move my cars”. HOA: “No, you’re the one who needs to pay to have it reduced in size.” Me: “Sorry, there were no covenant violations listed in the settlement papers, so there was no problem then, which means there’s no problem now”. HOA: “But, but..” Me: “Let me know when they’ll be here and I’ll move my cars”. Never heard from them again, and that was 17 years ago.

Image credits: GetBusyLivin21

#9

Okay, so when we moved in to our condo, our HOA was actually pretty good. But ever since one crazy old bat got on the board, everything has gone downhill. It all started at the end of last summer. I’m disabled. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and fibromyalgia, and I use a cane to walk. As part of my physical therapy, I used to pool to do hydrotherapy routines. No one I had met minded this as I only took up a corner of the pool. But after being witnessed doing water therapy by this old bat, everything changed. She got the nastiest look on her face, and informed me that I was taking up to much space in the pool and was distracting and detracting from others’ enjoyment. It’s a huge pool, and I’m not a big person! Anyway, winter came and I thought that was the end of it, but I tried to go down to the pool a few weeks ago at the beginning of our vacation (my husband and I are teachers). Our pool fob had been turned off! And we called the HOA, and they sent us a BS form letter about us “violating pool rules” which we never have! It’s absolutely ridiculous that I know have to pay for a Y membership to do therapy when the pool is literally behind our condo all because one old b**ch hates disabled people!

Image credits: ReservoirKat

#10

I own a bunch of rentals in a bunch of communities. I’m no stranger to HOAs and court battles. In fact, I have a company attorney on retainer. I just moved into a community and finally bought myself a house I plan to stay in for a while. Well, a Karen recently got elected to the board and she immediately hated me. Why? Well it all started when I requested the following:

1: HOA financial documents—which two months in they have still not produced. 2: A temporary reasonable accommodation after a major surgery. Finally, I asked her husband not to change his oil in the parking lot. She hit back hard. So far I’ve received four notices for: speeding in the parking lot, a political sign (who was an opponent to her political sign in her front yard), a construction noise complaint, and destruction of community property for washing my car with a hose.

So my attorney goes to work on the upcoming fight. My attorney BCCs me on all emails to the association and the management company. I wish I was making the next part up. Karen is so stupid she replied all on an email meant for just the property manager: A few snippets: “I’m going to keep fining him and make his life horrible.” “He is a nightmare and a punk kid with too much money.”

“We are going to drown him in lawyers’ fees and send him the bill until he finally submits to me.” “This is now personal, I’m on a mission to show that punk kid with his parents’ money that I’m president, and he will do as I say.” My lawyer called me six times at 10:30 last night and said “check your email.” At 9 am, my attorney sent a cease and desist to the entire board and included a copy of the email.

Mine and his phone have been blowing up non-stop from the four other board members and their attorney trying to just talk. This woman may be the stupidest person on Earth. I honestly cannot wait to see the fallout from this.

Image credits: insurancethrowaway123

As far as the downsides of having an HOA go, Jason says some of the most common complaints are about the fees, the risk of lien or foreclosure, the lack of choice, the rules and the potential for mismanagement. “HOA fees (sometimes called HOA dues) are mandatory. The actual cost of these dues can range from $100 to $1,000 a month or more, depending on the services the HOA offers,” the expert explained.

“Those who can’t or don’t pay fine assessments or regular HOA fees can face a lien on their property from the HOA and risk losing their home to foreclosure — even if they’re up to date on their mortgage,” Jason added.

#11

About 25 years ago, my aunt and uncle moved into a new construction single-family home neighborhood on a half-acre. About six months after they moved in, my uncle was informed that his neighborhood was being taken over by an HOA. He disregarded his HOA application as he did not wish to join. Not long after this, random neighbors began complaining to him directly.

They whined about his boat and cars in his driveway violating HOA rules. He just informed the often rude people that he was not a member, and they would argue with him that everyone was a member. One of the major issues is that his driveway, garage, and front yard was on the main level of his home and the backyard dropped down a cliff to level with his basement and backyard.

So he had no way to back his boat around the side of the home into the backyard. It escalated quickly. Eventually, the HOA began harassing him with threats if he didn’t move his boat to the backyard. His backyard had been closed off by a vinyl fence the HOA installed and lined another road back there. So one day my uncle decided to compromise by trying to take down a section of his back fence so he could make a gate for boat parking access.

The HOA called the authorities on him for destruction of property. The officer left my uncle with a warning and said the fence needed to be returned to proper condition by the end of the day. My uncle put the fence back up and placed his boat back in his front driveway. Now the fines started coming. Week after week, month after month. When the fines reached $10k, the HOA filed a lawsuit against him.

He countersued for the harassment and street access to his backyard. In court, the HOA showed the HOA boundary and showed my uncle’s house was in the middle of the HOA, explained the violations, and the report filed over the back fence. My uncle explained that he never signed up for the HOA, moved into the neighborhood before the HOA existed, never gave them permission to fence in his back yard, provided all mortgage documentation, and a blank HOA application with the HOA’s security stamp and date.

The HOA argued that it didn’t matter if he didn’t turn in his application because he was within the HOA borders. It didn’t go well for them. The judge declared my uncle’s property was grandfathered as private property and not part of the HOA. The HOA was to immediately take down their fence on the back border of my uncle’s lot. Since the HOA had fined my uncle $10+k in fines, my uncle was owed $10+k in damages for the harassment.

Then he really got revenge. My uncle rebuilt his yard fence in see-through chain link with a gate where he parks all his toys in full view. He moved the boat from the driveway to his front lawn, let the lawn go to seed and then paved it over—all 10 feet from his front door to the sidewalk. HOA neighbors in the decades since still approach him to complain and he just tells them to take a walk knowing there is nothing they can do to him.

Image credits: Lilbitevil

#12

My HOA in the last neighborhood sent out a letter saying everyone needs to have their house painted this summer because the neighborhood is looking “a little dull”. The next letter that came was a petition from someone in the neighorhood that they wanted everyone to sign and tell the HOA that more than half of the neighborhood hasn’t fiscally recovered from Covid and that they can essentially go f**k themselves. I was renting so the paint wouldn’t have been my problem anyway. But it’s just ludicrous to me that people who run these s**thole Karen commissions think that they can just do this kind of s**t.

Image credits: InferiousX

#13

This happened about 3 years ago, I was living with my dad before moving out, this is in central Texas a little north of Austin on a county road, my family had lived there for almost 30 years long before any thought of a neighborhood even existed. We have our 2 gate posts painted purple, which means keep out, for anyone who doesn’t know. And we kept the gate dummy locked to avoid unwanted guests. The most recent neighborhood at that time had a rather strict HOA that luckily up until that point we had the pleasure of never dealing with as we lived 2 miles down the road from the back entrance to said neighborhood. One day on my day off while my dad was at work I heard a knock at the door and looked through the peephole to see a woman in her mid 40’s dressed like a business woman. I assumed it was someone offering to buy the property as we live on 20 acres. I opened the door and she said “I’m blah blah blah with the (neighborhood) HOA, I just wanted to speak to the property owner about the purple posts, it doesn’t really match the aesthetic of the neighborhood.” I was f**king lost, I started to talk and then was left speechless and this b**ch says “can you speak?” In the most c**ty tone I’d ever heard. And I said “lady, purple posts mean keep out and that gate was dummy locked, idk how long you’ve been in Texas but your actions in the past 5 minutes would’ve counted as a signed death wish to a lot of people on this county road, including my dad. We’re not apart of your stupid ass HOA, we live 2 F**KING MILES down the road from it and if we want to spray paint our trees red and grass blue, we can. So turn around, close the gate behind you and f**k off.” She started to talk so I slammed the door in her face and watched her leave from the window. Few months later a friend of mine moved into that neighborhood and told me that my dad and his property is regularly posted on their Facebook page as “unfriendly and dangerous”. Anyways, I hope someone gets a laugh, and I’m so glad I found this sub.

Image credits: SuccotashImportant

“Since HOAs handle so much of the community upkeep, they often have meticulous guidelines for individual homes, like pre-approved exterior paint colors and shutter styles,” the real estate expert shared. “HOAs often come with a litany of rules about things like fencing dimensions, how tall your grass can grow, or what fertilizer you’re allowed to use.”

“HOAs are made up of volunteers in the community. In other words: They’re human,” Jason noted. “A good board can be efficient and professional, a bad one can mismanage the community, misspend money, or abuse its power.”

#14

I live in a rural area, on a family farm. The farm next to ours was sold to a developer, who built a bunch of Mini Mansions that now have an HOA. Now the Mini Mansions back up to my family farm. This kick-started a chain of awful events. I get letters every week from the HOA complaining about the tractor sitting in the field at the front of my property.

Yes, it can be seen from the street; we’re working that field and the tractor is necessary. I’ve had them complain about my barns, outbuildings, the sound of the large tractor when I’m seeding, and once my grandfather saw some people he didn’t recognize checking out the barn and went out with his double-barrel to see what they were up to.

Yeah, they didn’t like that. Apparently, they were HOA “inspectors” who declared their “right” to inspect the building to make sure it met HOA rules. My grandfather is not politically correct and I was pleased he restrained himself from using his buckshot to register his opinion of the trespassers. Also, our property is fenced and posted, it was ridiculous. But it got MORE ridiculous.

I was then informed by the HOA that they were going to fine me $1,000 a day until the offending striations and machinery were removed. I informed them that I and my property are not part of the HOA and if their inspectors set foot on my property again, I would have them detained or let my grandfather loose with his double-barrel. They went nuts and called the County Sheriff’s Office.

But, having lived here for generations, I know the Sheriff. He came out and asked me what was going on and I told him. He also visited the HOA and heard their demands that he take immediate action to “protect” their inspectors. They were less than happy with his answer. He informed them that since my property is posted and fenced, I was well within my rights to not allow them on my land.

Also because of our livestock, my grandfather’s double-barrel is not unreasonable because of predators. He also informed them that as I am not a member of the HOA, I have no requirement to allow them on my land and if he gets another call he will arrest the “inspectors”. I have since been sent a letter from the HOA’s lawyer telling me to cease and desist all operations until they get a court date.

They are apparently suing me for “damaging the value of their property.” I forwarded it to my lawyer who, after he got done laughing, was amazed. First, because a court has to issue a cease-and-desist order, not the HOA, and secondly we’ve been here farming for four generations. I have spoken with the HOA board and told them to leave us alone or we’ll be more than happy to play “our lawyer is better than their lawyer”.

This is when I learned they are under the delusion that I’d be selling my land for development to an organization like theirs. They were more than a little surprised when I told them that we’re currently training the fifth generation to take over and we have no intention of selling our farm, period. Seems the developer left them with the impression that I was selling my property to be developed like my neighbors had been, only to make his money and run.

God have mercy on overzealous HOAs.

Image credits: VladVlad666

#15

My mom lives in a nice, newer home community with a voluntary HOA. My mother being the firecracker she is, she refused to formally join the HOA but agreed to do the things she would do anyway to upkeep her home. We paint for her, she has a gardener, she washes windows, etc. She never signed any documents, doesn’t pay fees, but told the board she would adhere to the standards that she didn’t find silly.

The volunteer president lives next to my mother and this guy has never liked our family. Since mom didn’t join, he would knock on her door for “friendly visits” to tell her what rules she was violating. It was all very silly and we continued to ignore him. His biggest pet peeve was her trashcans. Apparently they stayed out too long after trash pick-up and he said it was an “eye sore” for the rest of the neighborhood.

Now I have to explain a few things about mom. My mom is a double amputee, has a dysfunctional side from a stroke, is wheelchair-bound, and is still about 95% independent. There are a few things she can’t do, and bringing the trashcans in and out of the side gate is one of them. For that chore, my sister or I come over the night before trash day and put them out, and the following evening to put them back in.

He whined and complained, wrote letters, and called the city about her trash cans. This guy knew my mom is in a wheelchair, but he kept harassing her. It was after a winter storm that the trashcan blew over and sprayed the neighborhood with trash overnight. It wasn’t just her can by the way, it was several. My sister and I walked the neighborhood and picked up the trash as soon as we could.

Well, the president lost his mind. And this time, he went too far. He gathered up the other members of the board next trash day and stormed up to her house. He yelled at her through the screen door while the other sycophants nodded their heads. I happened to be there and was preparing to grab a broom and go after them. But, to my mother’s credit she didn’t yell back, she simply opened the door and rolled her wheelchair down the drive.

And then, my tiny mother struggled to pull the trash can back up the driveway with her one good arm. It was actually pretty sad, mom hammed it up. She has adapted to her weak side, but you wouldn’t know it from watching her that day. By the time she got the can halfway up the drive, the angry mob was glaring daggers at the president. I would find out later he never told them she was disabled.

He also painted her as lazy, and most of the meetings were the president complaining about my mom and telling lies about what a nightmare it was living next to her. After a round of muttered apologies, they scattered like roaches in the light. Once they left, I moved the trashcans in and we had a good laugh. The volunteer HOA ended soon after that.

Apparently, no one wanted to attend meetings that were little more than glorified whine sessions about my mom and other people in the neighborhood. The president had been harassing other homeowners and telling similar lies about them. He was proven a liar and we almost never see him now. I’d say the neighborhood has gotten better at this point.

This guy turned out to be the cause of all the strife, and without his influence people began to actually talk to each other. Nowadays people stop by to check on mom during storms and sometimes her trashcans will magically appear in the side-yard on windy days. And mom, in perfect fashion, sent out Christmas cards to all her neighbors.

You may have seen this card in the stores but it has a raccoon on it and says “Merry Trashmas”.

Image credits: Swifty2000

#16

Back in the ’90s, the wife and I bought a new home that was part of an HOA. We made sure to read the HOA rules in advance, and thought we understood them. We kept a snake as a pet, and wanted to be sure that there was no issues. The only pet restrictions stated were no livestock. Since we didn’t intend on owning chickens, cows, pigs or other farm animals, we thought we were safe. Wrong. After living in the home for a few years, we expanded our animals to include additional snakes and assorted reptiles. Since all were in locked cages, the neighbors never really knew about them. Eventually, the HOA board found out and sent us a letter demanding we get rid of them. Very stupid because this was in an area of north Phoenix, AZ, and wild snakes, lizards and other reptiles abounded. The people of the area were far more likely to run into a rattlesnake on their own front porches than to ever even see our ball python, or bearded dragon. The HOA board members viewed our reptiles as livestock. (Yee haw, let’s round up them corn snakes and herd them along!) Bottom line, we were facing a big fight with them, one of which we couldn’t financially afford. Not ready to back down and lose our pets, we decided to reread the HOA paperwork again. We discovered that, as HOA members, we were entitled to all financial records of the HOA. So we sent them a registered letter requesting ALL financial records. All of a sudden, the board backed down and let us keep our reptiles. Never saw a single financial record, but we took the win. Not too long after, we moved out of that house and into another that didn’t have an HOA. Will never, ever buy a home that is part of an HOA again.

Image credits: PHoenixNoMore

When it comes to what buyers should understand before purchasing a home in an HOA area, Jason says, “Depending on the HOA, owners may have to get approval for even the simplest of things, such as planting shrubs and flowers. For larger improvements such as pools and patio covers, a more extensive approval may be required.”

“The HOA board members are typically elected positions, and the HOA holds meetings on a regular basis,” he added. “Many homeowners don’t go to these meetings or cast a vote for the board members. If you want to make a change for the better, attend meetings and consider running for the board.”

If you’d like to gain more insight or guidance before purchasing your next home, be sure to consult the experts at Orchard!

#17

A few weeks ago we got a pitiful little snow that was barely really a frost. Just enough to cause a little trouble on the roads, because any sort of weather causes troubles on the roads here. But nothing severe. So my husband and I go out, get in our cars, and leave for the work day. A while later (I don’t remember if it was five days or a week), we get an email from the HOA saying we are being fined for something.

They aren’t very specific at first, but they are saying it’s about the snow and our cars. We are very confused. There is not enough snow to shovel. Finally, after a few back-and-forth emails, they simply send us a picture “describing the problem”. Y’all. Y’all. They were emailing because in this pitifully tiny layer of snow, the imprint our car left was in the shape of some twigs-and-berries, if you get my meaning, and somehow that’s our fault.

I cried laughing, y’all. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of being fined for, and we flat out told them we weren’t paying. Eventually, they realized we were serious about not paying, and since there were no by-laws on the books about something like this, they dropped it.

Image credits: ReservoirKat

#18

To set the stage: I just turned 30. I have a good job, spend my money wisely, save and invest. I grew up dirt poor and had nothing handed to me in life. In my late 20s, the software company I had been at went public and I cashed out and moved back home to Florida. With nothing to do, I started investing in rental properties with a good friend of mine.

This started about a year ago with the president of an HOA where I purchased two condos. This is a man in his late 60s, and he thinks he is the second coming of Jesus. From the get-go, he made comments about me being young and buying houses, why my parents weren’t co-signing. Or must be nice to have a trust fund. Both properties had existing tenants.

One still there, one left. My business model has been to completely remodel every property between tenants to get the maximum rental income. Construction was a nightmare. Literally everything was a problem. Dumpster smelled, contractors leaving at 5:05 pm and being accused of not pulling permits. I submitted six rental applications, and all got denied.

I was never given a reason but the board was happy to cash my application fees. I got my company’s attorney involved. It took six months and many days in a courtroom but we finally got the books. I had a family friend go through them—and they came to a disturbing realization. I’ll save the long story, but many thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours later, this idiot and his two other board members were taking from the bank account.

He was writing fake invoices to his own company. My magician attorney was able to get text logs of them discussing blocking my applications; mainly they wanted me to dump the property so they could buy it. We won a sizable judgment against him personally, and just today he put his house up for sale. The house he had been living in for 30 years.

To throw salt on the wound, I did put in an offer for 65% of what he is asking though I doubt I’ll get a response. The best part? We offered to settle for a fraction months ago, we even were willing to include a non-disclosure. The idiot told us to pound sand at every turn. So Mr. HOA president, screw you, I won. The “stupid trust fund baby” won and you lost!

Image credits: jmoney6

#19

Last month my wife and I (newly married) moved into a community that had no HOA listed. We are both the DIY types and take care of our own property. Part of the reason we picked our house is it had a large corner backyard with RV parking on the side, plus a fair amount of workspace. The community was also in great condition considering no HOA was involved.

One week in, we started redoing the kitchen cabinets. They were from the 70s and we wanted more hardwood instead of the cheap wood that was installed. I’d say the saw was on for five minutes when one of the neighbors came up to say it’s against HOA rules to do DIY improvements on my home…I obviously wondered what he was talking about.

I had made absolutely sure there was no HOA before signing and moving in. He replied that they have a community HOA and that it would be in our best interest to join. I obviously said NO and went back to my day. An hour later, the guy is back with a woman in business attire to hand me “THE RULES” and to have me sign the acknowledgment/entry papers.

Also to retain my $289/month fee. Once again, I explained I’m not interested nor do I care about their club. I see no reason to abide by their rules. I simply stated that I will keep my property maintained and that’s all they need to know. She gave me a few choice words and left. I thought all was done, but I was so wrong. Today I received a fine for a leaky sprinkler.

It leaks for all of five minutes past the timer…at 4 am…which means one of these prunes has been watching my house at 4 AM!! I’m up at all hours of the day for work so I was able to check. I know this is just the beginning. The HOA has not registered, at least from what I can find. The board members’ names and signatures are listed in the back of the Rules Book.

I’ve already started the paper trail just in case it gets worse.

#20

When we bought our house, the largest in the hood and the original showcase home for the development, there was a shed in the back yard. My Lady Lair, if you will. The home sale was approved by the HOA and a letter of “no violations” was issued. All good, right? The home unfortunately came with scads of “abandoned property.” Within 24 hours of taking possession of our home the former owners broke back in to remove what was now legally ours (a suitable story for entitled people.) I stopped at the security guard shack to inquire about ensuring that the former owner’s gate codes were inactivated and to keep an eye out for any attempt at continued entry into the gated hood. The guard assured me he would handle it and I went on my way. That evening the guard came to my home to give me additional info I might need and offered security cam footage for the police. I thanked him for taking the time to make me feel safe in my new home but before he left he said “Just to warn you, the HOA will go after you for your shed-they want it gone.” After a bit more discussion he informed the former owners were not only crazy but had gone toe to toe with the HOA over the shed. Three years and lawyers all around the HOA finally said eff it, this is costing us too much money and their lawyer is better than ours, and dropped the whole thing. Within two weeks I had two different neighbors tell me the HOA would give me problems over the shed. Fun! At the three week mark an inspector from the county showed up to tell me he was investigating an anonymous complaint about code violations and the shed, visible only if you stood on my property, was in violation with the county as there was no permit for it. I was livid and already considering what avenues I had to keep my shed or “win” compensation for the loss of property when the code enforcer smiled a devious smile at me, handed me a printout, and said “all you need to do is fill this out, pay $50 to the county, and you will be in code compliance.” He then said that “Mr. Little Man Syndrome…*oops coughcough…I mean the ‘anonymous complainant’ cannot touch your shed after that.” The key here is that 4y ago when they were battling the former residents the county did not permit sheds and the bylaws say all additional property structures require permits. If there is no permit the HOA can order the removal and fine the resident until it is gone. Two years ago the county started permitting sheds and HOA was unaware of the change. I paid my $50 and got the permit, making my lady lair code compliant and untouchable by the HOA. I also made a new friend in Code Enforcement and all is well in my 150 sq ft slice of heaven.

Image credits: freerangeferal

#21

Well over a decade ago, I was forced to move back in with my dad. Was only planning to stay a few months till I was financially stable enough to get my own place once again, but my dad insisted I stay rent-free while I got my car paid off and some serious dental work done. This lasted 4 years. My dad owns a really nice place in a subdivision that had an HOA. For about two of those four years, things went fine… until a woman who I shall aptly call Karen became head of the HOA. Me and Karen had many unfortunate run-ins in the past. She would constantly ask my dad how long until I move out. Then she would always report me and my dad to the HOA for the silliest things (which the HOA would usually ignore, or at best dismiss after getting our side of the story), but now that she was in control, she took direct action. The first was to declare me an “unauthorized boarder” after instituting a bylaw that all adults 21 and older in a household have to be registered with the HOA as a permanent resident with a minimum of five years they have to stay without penalizing the homeowner. My dad refused to do any such thing because I would eventually be getting my own place. But Karen insisted, even serving him two years of backdated penalties for having me there. My dad ended up having to spend money on a lawyer to send her a cease and desist order because I was legally grandfathered in since I was there before the bylaw. Of course the fines were begrudgingly dropped, but afterwards she would try to nickel and dime my dad with constant little things like me being out at all hours of the night (I worked late) or the way I dressed in public being inappropriate (Jeans and band t-shirts mostly), and other stupid c**p that most of which weren’t in the bylaws. She even took to using a selfie stick over the fence to see if there was anything in the backyard violating the rules. I since moved out of there and a year or so later, Karen was voted out of the HOA after pissing off the wrong people.

Image credits: Mote-of-Lobross

#22

I live in an HOA neighborhood, but my house is not in the HOA as my grandfather, the previous homeowner, did not join the HOA when the other neighbors created it. The HOA board constantly come to my house and tell me I need to join and try to manipulate me into joining the HOA, give me documents and all that. I usually slam the door in their face.

Last time they can for the third time in a week telling me how they can force me to join the HOA. I pulled out my double barrel at that point and told them they had 10 seconds to leave my property. They left and haven’t come back. However, I heard people say they’re going to press charges. I say give it all you got; they were trespassing, and my state allows this.

#23

My HOA is fining me for parking in the Visitor Parking area…but the car is not mine. They will not believe me, and refuse to remove the fine. In fact, they are now adding on late fees.

#24

My co-worker’s neighbor behind him has been reporting him to their HOA for months now and getting them fined for literally nothing. The latest issue was having a firepit on the back porch. The by-law mentions you can’t have an open fire or have firepits in use, but grills are allowed… but the issue here is that the firepit isn’t even in use and never has been.

Also, the picture presented to show the fireplace on the back porch comes from that neighbor’s security camera…that is directly pointed at my co-worker’s house. Like, the entire view of the camera is all of only his property and nothing else. The houses are separated by an alleyway, too. This neighbor spies on him regularly. He sees him looking out at them all the time, day and night.

He also trespasses on other people’s property to find reasons to report them. Ridiculous.

#25

Back when I was 18, I was helping my cousin, who is white, and his newlywed wife, who is Black, move into their new home that has an HOA. I was carrying boxes into the house and I was covered in sweat. As I was enjoying some rest with a bottle of water, one of the HOA members came up to me to introduce himself. We exchanged pleasantries and then he asked, “How long have you and your husband been married?”

I told him to please wait and brought in the actual married couple to meet the HOA member. They came out and the man’s face dropped. He then faked a phone call from the HOA and left. We didn’t know anything was wrong at the time. Not even a week after they moved in, I get a call on my cell phone from my cousin. He said that officers were raiding his house for possible substances.

I know my cousin. He has the record of a boy scout. Every time he gets a prescription for pain medication, he either shreds the note or dumps the unused pills in the toilet due to fear of addiction. The officers found nothing and left, though they did apologize. The very next day, his wife was stopped by officers in her own driveway. They said that she was suspected of selling her body!

This, even though she was wearing a pantsuit from her job as a cardiologist. They called her hospital to confirm her whereabouts and she was let go. They came back the day after that, after someone claimed that his wife was breaking into their own home. How can someone break into their home through the front door and with their OWN keys?

After a month, the HOA came up to them claiming that they are a nuisance and attempted to put a lien on the house for so many calls to the authorities. Luckily, my cousin’s brother is a lawyer and fought against the lien in court. At court, the HOA member that met the couple on Day One was revealed to be the one that sent the officers after them so they can be kicked out of the neighborhood. The whole story came out then.

As it turns out, that person testified that he didn’t want “their kind” in his perfect neighborhood. Everyone in that room was dumbstruck. The HOA lawyer immediately dropped the case and apologized to my cousin and his wife. That HOA member was kicked out of the neighborhood for his views. Apparently, he also called the authorities on every black and brown person that even passed by his house.

Since then, they moved out of the neighborhood after my cousin’s wife got a better job offer in her field.

#26

I do not live in an HOA but we still have a “neighborhood region” as designated by the city. Once a month anyone who wants to gets together with our local PD neighborhood relations officer, and usually our district city council rep. As you can imagine, we have a few people who are the type who would dream of being on an HOA board.

We had that monthly meeting a few days ago and one of my most “lovely” neighbors shows up with this guest in a bit of a suit. After the routine stuff, she points out that she filed to have time to speak. She gets up, introduces the guy, and starts talking about how she would like for us to listen to him explain the benefits of bonding our neighborhood together in an HOA.

I’m sitting up front as usual and could not help but blurt out “screw HOAs” while trying not to laugh. She looks surprised, stares at me, and says “excuse me?” So I popped to my feet “Okay”. I went off on her. “Most of us are fighting to make it month to month, and we will have to pay a few hundred extra to some suit for what might sound good but guess what?”

I took a deep breath here. “Trash can on curb past 7 am on pick up day or out before 11 pm the night before? Get a fine. Lawn over two inches high for more than 24 hours? Get a fine. House does not match the stipulated paint colors? Get a fine and fix it within 14 days. Feed the stray cats (looking at a lady who does so)? Get a fine.” I look to another neighbor.

“Put out winter protective boxes so the strays don’t freeze? Get a fine per box”. The neighbor kept trying to interrupt but I ignored her. “Working on your car in your own drive, yep another fine, per day. And guess what? You fall behind, they put a lien on your house, put you out and either rebuild it or tear it down and build something new to up-sale and eventually push as many people out as possible to replace us and ‘elevate’ the neighborhood, all while making themselves rich off stealing our properties”.

“I’ll never sign anything. Judy?” The room looked back at her like they were looking to hurt her. Needless to say, it went nowhere. The suit tried to talk up his points but I had counters to everything he threw out.

#27

My wife and I bought a house in an HOA back in May of 2020, we bought it from family and was told the HOA is very relaxed to say the least. Basically pay you’re dues and submit the proper documentation when doing major changes to the house/ landscaping. We received the rules and regulations when we bought the house, and it was very generic, nothing in it mentioning security cameras and motion lights.

Well this past Monday my father in law and I finally installed 2 security cameras/lights (had to run new electric lines due to the house not coming with a doorbell). Tuesday afternoon we received a warning about modifications to the house without prior approval (we already had 4 motion sensor lights up months prior to installing the camera).

I figured they just want a statement or something similar to explain why we put up the new system. I submit the statement, and don’t hear anything back for a couple of days. The response I finally got was that the cameras needed to be removed, paperwork submitted, then they can be re installed.

After spending 6 hours running wire and installing the system, I’m not pulling it down, and will not be changing anything until I get a response to my submission.

If it wasn’t mentioned in the rules and regulations, I figure they really don’t have a leg to stand on in general.

To summarize we have 4 motion sensor lights and 2 cameras.

#28

Disclaimer: I did not live in this HOA, but I did live down the street.

Ok, so, we’re gonna set the way-back machine to circa 2000 on this one…gas is cheap, cell phones were small, and my Ford Escort got amazing gas mileage. As the (now) ex-wife and I were struggling with our bills, she decided that the easiest thing (for her) was for me to get a 2nd job to try to catch up and then get something into savings. Having seen the sign in the window of the local pizza shop which was named after a popular game played with small rectangular pieces that was advertising $12-$16/hour for drivers (THAT was a lie…), she badgered me into applying.

Fast-forward a couple of months, and I have settled into my mind-numbing routine of working 60-70 hours a week at two jobs. On this particular day, I was scheduled to work on Saturday, which was hit-or-miss for tips. You see, our delivery area was very nouveau riche, combined with scattered groups of Florida rednecks. You would have a gated community with McMansions and BMWs right next to a trailer park. Oddly enough, the smaller the house and cheaper the car, the bigger the tip…which factors in to the story. On this particular Saturday, a local HOA was throwing a pizza party for the residents. I think they were celebrating the last house being sold, or moving the HOA from the developer to the board, or something. Anyway, they ordered a TON of pizza. So much so that the manager had scheduled extra kitchen staff and had them show up an hour early just for this one order. He even gave them a discount on the pizza, since they ordered so much. There were so many pies that it took myself and another driver two trips apiece to deliver it all. When we got the last boxes of pizza delivered, the manager wrote a check for the total. Couple hundred dollars and change…

…rounded up to the next dollar for our “tip”.

So, I left, and went back to the store. The manager asked me how much of a tip that I got, to which I replied “87 cents”. He didn’t believe me, so I showed him the check. He then asked me if I was messing with him, and if they had given me a cash tip. “Nope!” He. Went. OFF! He walked over to the phone, called the manager of the HOA, cussed her out for not tipping his drivers, AFTER he had discounted the order and scheduled extra staff just for her order, and told her that he was entering that entire subdivision into the computer as “Do Not Deliver”. He then hung up, opened the cash register, and gave each of us a $20 bill for a tip.

To this day, I have no idea if any of the residents were ever able to order from that store.

#29

In the time I’ve been working on this housing development as a construction worker, the HOA was constantly driving up costs and causing delays. Still, they kept stringing us along—until one day, after many meetings between my bosses and their representative, we straight-up lost the contract. I’m not going to lie, it hurt eating hours of hard work to get cut off the building, all because someone changed their minds.

#30

Date back to 2017. There is no way my HOA would have known but from Dec 2016 – March 2017 I got divorced, my Dad had a heart attack, while he was getting a stent put in my Mom was in the ER with a gastric ulcer and died 10 weeks later, and my 18 year old dog died the day after my divorce mediation. This was my Falling Down moment…

The HOA sent me a violation letter in March ’17 for not having enough mulch in my front yard flower beds. It wasn’t that I was missing mulch; I just didn’t have enough. However, the front entrance to the subdivision, beds along the community walls (about a mile long), common areas, gatehouse and clubhouse areas, etc., which the HOA maintains, were missing mulch. This is a large, gated community in South Florida where the entrances are big – it was an eyesore considering we pay $425/mo HOA dues. They had budget issues and were behind in that upkeep, but they thought they could ding a homeowner for the same thing.

I created a violation letter with the same font, logo, style, and used the exact same wording used in my violation letter and sent it back to the property management company with my information changed to their name/address. I added 10 more bags of mulch to my yard and waited. I went to the HOA meeting the next month and they brought up my letter. I had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing as these twats got riled up over it. By next month they hired a company to mulch the subdivision.

#31

Every few weekends my manager comes over my house to help work on a side project for the company. When he comes over he parks in front of my house.

The house across from mine just happens to be one of the worst karens I ever met HOA volunteers. She tends to take her job a bit too seriously. Anyways she complains to my wife and I every time she sees the car like clockwork. She will ether call or wait until she sees us outside. The first time she even took it upon herself to write a letter about how its better for everyone if we can keep up a certain image in the neighborhood.

I explained to her that he is my manager after the letter about a year ago. She accused me of lying since I drive a nice truck and have a nice house so she knows I bring in a decent salary. She assumed that my manager made more therefore he “needs to own a nice car.” I than explain that my manager makes 250k per year and drives a beater because he does not care about his image. She than goes on some rant about how she goes into massive debit to keep up the right image for the neighborhood and that its ignorant of my manger to save his money and buy a beater when people like her are pay check to paycheck to keep up with the Jones’s.

Lucky for me I can not get fined but I still find it quite annoying that she is worried about the cars that my guests drive. I told my manger about her constant complaining every time he is over. He joked that He will spray paint his car with chalk next time he comes over to make it look as trashy as possible. I told him to dress in his worst cloths as well and slowly get out of his car to make sure she notices.

#32

I’m in a condo with an HOA. This morning I found a nice lost pair of headphones in the gym. Too large to fit into the “lost and found” box slot.

Our president is a thief, so I was leery of just passing them off to her and walking away. So, I found our last newsletter that was accidentally emailed to everyone instead of BCC’d. (The board’s been ridiculously anal about not giving us a mailing list. So I just replied to this and asked if anyone lost a pair of headphones, to give a description to me by email, and I’d return it to the rightful owner.)

All hell breaks loose.

Since then, I’ve gotten a message from the president (the same one who has given me a threat from a lawyer never to speak to her again), DEMANDING I turn in the headphones to the very same lost and found box that they can’t fit in).

I’ve since gotten a message from the manager, telling me not to use the mailing list and to just email her, so she can send the information to the current residents, as several on the email list are not residents and prefer to not be bothered with emails.

Uh, whaaat?

I’m not making this up, and it’s probably going to get weirder.

#33

My in-laws live on a golf course that is private membership, weird thing is living on the course does not get you membership to it and you still have to pay HOA and membership fees do do both…well in-laws have an in ground pool that is right below one of the greens and a hole (Think a 10-12 foot hill up to the green from the pool level). So many entitled people will yell at my in-laws as well as us when we are over that we have to be quiet when they are putting and we just ignore them.

HOA and the club have sent letters as well as attempted to walk into the locked backyard while we were out in the pool to yell at us but were only to leave the property. Nowhere in the HOA laws does it say you need to accommodate golfers while on your private property.

They once had a Karen who was both on the HOA board and part of the golf club yell and fake choking on the green while my father in law was grilling.

#34

Our condo association is evil and power hungry. A few years ago they called DCF and tried to get my sister and I to go to foster care. I have a service dog for my disability. It was fine for the first year but then they started issuing fines. We are up to 6000 dollars. One of our neighbors are on the board and for the past year she has been taking photos and videos of me and my dog. Yesterday, I was leaving the car and I saw her in her window recording me. Someone put up a paper saying no dogs in our unit. I took it down and they fined us for destroying their property. They violated HIPPA and talked to my therapist without my consent. They send angry emails to us every day and send treats to foreclose. This association harass anyone who doesn’t fit their mold.

Edit: There has been a few people that have said things along the line that my dog is a ESA not a SD. 1. FHA gives housing rights to ESAs 2. My dog is task trained for my specific disability’s and we have provided a note to the association in which they ignore and still issue fines while encouraging neighbors to stalk us.

#35

Our friend was on our HOA board and told us this story.

Here’s the situation that happened to a household part of our HOA: Older couple. Husband passed away, and he always handled all the bills. Older lady (widow) got behind on her payments probably because she didn’t realize she owed them.

Our friend on the board suggested that someone go talk to her, and she probably would have written a check on the spot for her dues.

The board (gentlemen’s club it seems) said that’s not the way they operate and they instead place a lean on her house. She had to get a lawyer to get it paid off and sorted out.

Housing development is quite small and any board member (our friend offered) could have easily sorted it out by dropping by the house with 10 minutes of their time, but they prefer to take the hard (and honestly mean) route. Our friend resigned from the board after this and many other issues.

#36

I’ve said on here many times I would never ever buy in an HOA, I have almost 4 acres, metes&bounds in the county with chickens, sometimes goats and pigs or other livestock. So my back 2 acres have grown over (no goats right now) and while I love blackberries they’re taking over. So I rented a skid steer this weekend and started clearing to the back of my property, something I haven’t done in years. Well the back of my property there’s a creek (not quite within the property lines for me, so I don’t have access to it), and there is a typical planned subdivision, I’m sure with an HOA, dunno, don’t care, that butts up to my property. Well I’m happily knocking down trees and piling them up along my property line and one of the neighbors walks over through the woods “you can’t do that with the 200 foot easement” “excuse me? I have no f**king 200 foot easement, that’d be half my property I can’t use.” She insists there’s a 200 foot easement for the creek (rofl what? that’s usually 20 feet for creeks). So she brings over a copy of her deed, I’ve been here 16 almost 17 years now, I don’t actually have a copy of my deed handy because, why would I? Anyway, long story short, her property is 419 feet deep by about 120 feet wide and yep, there is, in fact, a 200 foot easement for U&D (utility and drainage) for HER, my sister is a real estate agent so I had her pull my deed up, nope, no such easement for me. Good job buying a house that you can’t use HALF your property because it’s all an easement, hahaha.

#37

FHOA It’s semi long, and sorry for any spelling/ grammatical errors. My bf works as a survey crew chief who has usual rotations: it’s either 3 weeks on, 1 off or 6 weeks on 2 off. He also has a big take home work truck with a trailer that hauls the work UTV that he parks in front of the condo. It takes up a lot of space but there’s still room for 3 other cars to park behind it. Usually this isn’t a problem, but with covid and whatnot, he’s been home a lot more. The company doesn’t have the security to store the equipment onsite, so they want their equipment stored elsewhere, if at all possible. Since we live in a nicer quiet area, it’s a no brained they’d prefer him to keep it here. It started with passive aggressive comments about how he’s home more and hinting about storing the truck somewhere else (it’s on a public street). Then there were notes from “concerned neighbors” about how it’s an eyesore and doesn’t belong in this neighborhood. At this point we were suspecting either our HOA Pres/VP or a really nosy rude lady across the street. We talked to our HOA and told them about the notes, cue “oh no, some people are so rude, blah blah blah.” One morning we came out side to find a parking warning on the truck. We called the city, they said someone called about the truck not moving so they wrote a warning, just make sure to move the truck a few inches or erase the chalk mark, nbd. So last week, we wake up to an actual ticket on the truck for “storing a trailer on a public street” or some c**p. It’s $40. He calls his boss and his boss tells him “eh, it’s cheaper than getting the equipment stolen” and told him to just expense all the tickets. Shortly after all this, we saw Pres/VP and another neighbor. Bf told them about the ticket and they started with “oh I’m so sorry, but it REALLY IS and eyesore so…” so my bf told them what his boss said. All three of them looked like they had been slapped in the face. They said “well won’t that get expensive?” His response: “well they’re a multi billion dollar company, and $40/day at MOST is a lot better that dealing with stolen equipment all the time”. Watching them die inside was the highlight of my quarantine. He hasn’t gotten another ticket since.

#38

FHOA

My son had turned 4 and wanted to build a birdhouse. I am thrilled any time he wants to make something and not sit glued to the TV or ipad, so we went out to get one of those birdhouse kits with the pre-cut pieces.

He loves being independent so aside from starting the nails and helping him figure out which piece goes where, I let him do his thing. He even painted it after, calling it the rainbow house (so you can guess what it looked like). This thing was barely staying together, but it was his and he was so proud of it.

We put it on our table on the back deck and when I got home from work the next day I had a letter from the HOA shoved in my door. It was a $50 fine for having an animal sanctuary on our property. I went down to the property management office to argue the fine and was told they would take me to court if I didnt pay.

Since technically it fell under the definition of an “animal sanctuary”, even though I doubt any birds would ever use it, I decided to save some money and just pay the fine instead of fighting it in court.

The worst part of this whole ordeal was explaining to my son why he couldn’t show off his birdhouse. I told him what the HOA said and he told me when we move next time, that we should make sure there aren’t any HOAs around.

#39

When my HOA said that I needed a “water catch basin” under all of my potted plants in front of my townhouse, I noticed that the official rules did not say plant saucer. Technically a water catch basin is an industrial water conduit. So I went out and bought a big ugly water conduit and a big PVC pipe to be attached to it. I then sat my plants on top of that (It is still there. It takes a majority of members to change the rules so they have to live with their demand).

They then said that the flowers in front of my townhouse needed to be dug up because only the landscaper could plant things there. The previous owner had planted them and I hadn’t any idea where they all were. So I bought a shovel and dug up every single plant and expensive bush in front of my place. It cost them much more than the $50 fine that they were charging me to fix my compliance.

In the past year they have stopped trying to fine me. Probably because I am too expensive to go after for their little things anymore.

There are lots of malicious compliance solutions you can pick. If an HOA requires a grass front lawn, see if you can get written permission to spray it regularly with color so that it won’t turn brown. You then go and get fluorescent pink. You simply make it so obnoxious and expensive that they stop trying to impose silly little things. There are lot of fun things you can do with following rules exactly or getting permission to do things that have unexpected results.

Brainstorm with friends. Have fun. But make sure it stays exactly within the rules. You can “train them” to look only at meaningful things instead. Especially with you. HOAs can actually be a good thing if they are reminded to stick to what is really important. More like a utility service than an enforcement authority.

#40

Neighbors/ Members of the HOA went door to door soliciting votes to ban rentals in the neighborhood. They got the required 2/3’s votes needed to change the CCR’s. They failed to mailing out any notifications ( I don’t live in the neighborhood). I had agreed to let my tenant out of his lease one month early since I was planning on selling and he already had purchased a new home, and I had the house under contract. The HOA President posted on the neighborhood FB page that everyone had received the proposed amendments. (Not the case). When I was 4 days from the closing they announced the new restrictions on the FB page. As a result the buyer backed out as it was an investor that would not be able to rent for the home for at least 24 months. I felt like I had good case based on the fact that I would have kept the tenant until the end of the lease if I had received notice of the upcoming CCR changes. I filed a case in small claims and the HOA’s insurer settled for the full amount of one month of rent. I posted a picture of the settlement check on the Fb page with a note to the HOA President, “up yours w/ red hot poker!” Needless to say it didn’t stay up long but the victory was very sweet indeed.

#41

So about 6 years ago my wife and I bought a townhouse in a small town. A condition of the purchase was to join the HOA, sure whatever it is a small town surrounded by farmland cheap dues not a big issue.

Living there for about a year no big issue, we have our first son. Two years later we are expecting our second son. We decide to switch places with my single sister who is living in my childhood home (5 bedrooms vs our 2) easy decision since we will have a newborn and a two year old.

So we make the switch, two months later. I get a call from Clar (husband) and Dorthy who live across the street from our town house. Clar built all the townhouses in the 80’s and still owns 4 off them which he rents (his buddy also owns&rents 4 one of which we share a wall with). Clar informs me that its against HOA rules to rent units unless you owned 4 (conviently the HOA was written by Clar). I told him I know and that I am letting my sister live there rent free (which I am). He says that that is highly irregular and insists I come to the HOA meeting. I am like sure, not breaking any rules.

At the HOA meeting he demands proof that I am not receiving payment for my sister. I have to inform him that I can’t prove something that doesn’t exist and that the burden of proof lies on him. I also may have told him in front of all his neighbors that I thought I moved to xburg not Soviet Russia.

He wanted to put it to a vote, I said go ahead and have the vote but if it didn’t go in my favor I wasn’t going to abide by it. The vote went my way the only desenting votes were him and his buddy trying to protect there Monopoly.

He insists I go to every meeting still to defend my case, I don’t but sometimes I lay awake thinking of ways I could make his life hard if I did.

#42

The HOA had these expensive custom-built wooden mailboxes installed in all the houses as they were built- the issue? They really don’t stand the test of time. Several of these mailboxes are rotting badly. Mine was unsteady and leaning for years until it finally gave out. I waited several days- expecting to be contacted but when I wasn’t I went to home depot and got a cheap one as a filler. I then spent the next two hours digging rotten wood chips out of a hole. I installed the mailbox and received a notice saying I must fix this or be fined. I contacting them telling them that I can’t just pop out to the store and buy a custom-built mailbox, they don’t sell them. They looked through their files and found the number of the man who installed them. I called him (I don’t see how this is my job) and he said that he hasn’t made a mailbox like that in years and that he doesn’t have the parts for them anymore and that- even if he did, he’s going out of business and won’t be able to install a new one. I told the HOA this and they said they would give me an extension of 1 month to figure this out and then we’d ‘reconvene’. Welp, it’s been a month and nothing has changed and they’re threatening to fine me again.

Maybe if you’re going to require a special custom mailbox- you should make sure they don’t rot in a matter of years. These things should be able to last for decades, mine got about 8 years.

I also think it’s funny that they didn’t fine me for having a rotted broken mailbox but for having a metal ‘non-matching’ one.

#43

So… I purchased my property in a quasi non-voluntary HOA in forced sale. I cleared the liens (Which were disclosed prior to my purchase) and have been fixing up the property. I’m currently “living” in an RV I have parked in the front yard. I have it up on concrete blocks. Totally in violation of the HOA but I’m not a member. The interior of the house is not livable (pretty bad hoarding situation) and I have a standing order with the trash company to have a 10 yard bin that gets swapped out every Friday. I predict another 2-3 months until that service can be canceled. The dumpster every week is on top of bags of clothing that goes to goodwill and all the c**p I put up on craigslist and ebay for sale. Plus I have enough shampoo and conditioner to keep my hair silky smooth and smelling of spring time for the next 50 years. The HOA has been harassing me to join, I thought we settled the argument but screw them. They also attempted to have my RV towed off my front yard, fortunately I had already made efforts to prevent it from being towed. Namely I called the towing company the HOA had a contract with and my lawyer explained the situation. They also started sending me fines in the mail and I’m adding them to the harassments file. Not being dumb enough to be sued the towing company agreed that they wouldn’t tow any vehicle from any space that could be defined as “123 oak street” without my direct authorization. Including but not limited to the driveway, garage, front yard, or street in front of 123 Oak street. We also saw a way for them to profit from the situation. This is my pro revenge on them. We have a standing deal that they can drive the tow truck to my house, then they knock on my door and ask if I called the tow. If I say no they charge the HOA for wasting their time, and If I don’t answer they can still charge the HOA for wasting their time. The towing company hit them for about $500 before they caught on to the deal they made with me. Some good news… i’ve successfully gotten into the bathroom and cleaned out all the children’s clothing and decades old pizza boxes and bags of onion peels. So after a great deal of elbow grease I might actually be able to shower in my house soon.

#44

The community manager emailed me a notice saying to remove the weeds from my front lawn, or that we would have to pay a fine in 14 days. She took the photo of the weeds at 10:29 a.m. The landscapers had arrived at 9:42 a.m. and were parked behind my car. She took or cropped the photo in a way so that you couldn’t see the landscaper truck behind my car. I sent her photos after the property had been cleaned up, as well as the invoice for today’s work. I also acknowledged that she took the photo when the landscapers were there. Haven’t heard back yet.

It’s not the first time she does something like this. In October, we got a notice to remove the weeds. We told her we would not be able to take care of them till the following weekend. She said ok. That following weekend, she sends another notice for the same thing. We complain and told her what we had agreed upon, and she basically says, “you’re lucky we didn’t fine you.”

I normally give people the benefit of a doubt, but what happened today gives me the impression that she’s harassing/targeting us.

Update: She said that if she would have seen the landscaper, she wouldn’t have sent the notice, and she is closing the violation.

It makes me wonder if the time stamps on their notices are incorrect/fake.

#45

I have not heard a peep from my ridiculous HOA in over three years.

Pre-covid, I was trying to install a shed in my backyard. It was not visible from anywhere other than my house, but I’m a rule follower, so I asked for permission.

I wanted something cheap and knew the HOA would be a hassle, so I started with three separate units in my request and told them to pick one. They were all pre-fab sheds, and the HOA wasn’t having it. They said it must be a Tuff Shed.

I sent a new request with the moderately priced shed kit from Lowe’s, and they came back and said it must be a Tuff Shed.

I drove around the neighborhood taking pictures of other non-Tuff Shed sheds. Then I attached it with a letter that asked why was I getting denied with others clearly had this allowed. I added, “Is this because I’m the only Mexican on the block and you are trying to drive me out of the neighborhood?”

I felt a little guilty because I’m only half Mexican and very white looking. I don’t have a Mexican name and I do not look Mexican at all.

TL;DR, I pulled the race card and never heard from them again.

#46

Back in June we were hit by a tornado. We lived in a condo with an association. Our building has roughly 20 units in the building, after the tornado our unit and about 6 others were damaged to the point it was uninhabitable. We moved in with my parents then eventually found a house. We still own the condo because we can’t sell it until the repairs are complete. The other day the association sent out an email to everyone in our building stating that they need to shut off the water before winter and due to the building age there is only one shut off and it shuts down the whole building. So now the other 13 units who had no damage from the tornado need to move out within two weeks so the association can shut off the water. Our friends and neighbors now have to find somewhere to live right before Christmas most likely needing to come up with first, last month’s rent and security deposit. I doubt this is illegal but it is definitely sh**ty.

#47

When I was two my dad bought the house I grew up in. It was a major fixer upper. In total he probably put 100,000$ fixing it up if not more. So this is where the story comes in. The city building inspector informed my dad that because it was documented that he spent over 50,000$ improving his property he would have to build a sidewalk. But only in front of his house. The experience would come out of his pocket. If anyone injured themselves on the sidewalk that abruptly started and abruptly ended. He’d be responsible for that as well. Along with upkeep. It would also cut about 3 feet into the front yard and would permanently lower the property value. Now at the time that this happened the city had completely renovated a park playground costing well over the 50,000$ and this was public knowledge. Also the park was within viewing distance of our house and had two historic trees within feet of the road. My dad wrote a letter to the mayor’s office. And worded the cover letter in a way such that they would have to publicly read the entire letter out loud during a public meeting. The letter basically said to lead by example, and put in a sidewalk at the newly renovated park meaning they’d have to cut down the two historic trees. The public was outraged. After that the building inspector basically let him renovate the house however he liked. And there is still no sidewalk.

#48

This story was shared with me years ago by a late family friend.

He was an avid ham radio operator and had numerous antennas scattered around both his front and back yards. His subdivision was older construction and did not have an HOA, so there were no issues with this. However, his lot backed up to another subdivision that was newer and did have an HOA. You can probably see where this is going…

One day he gets a knock on his door from one of these Karen types. She had just bought the house behind him, and needless to say, she was not a fan of all his antennas. She starts rattling off all these supposed HOA rules he’s violating along with the typical “They’re a safety hazard, eye sore, lowering my property value, hurting my feelings, etc.” arguments. He tried to politely explain that his house was in a different subdivision and was not part of their HOA, but she was having none of it.

After a few weeks and a few more interactions that went just like the first one, he got a threatening form letter in the mail from the HOA’s law firm. Coincidentally, his lawyer was a partner in that same firm. One phone call got that line of communication shut down instantly.

With that defeat, Karen finally gave up and he was able to go back to living in peace. Karen moved about a year later.

#49

This happened 30+ years ago, before I was born, to my mother’s family. My grandmother lived in a house in this one neighborhood that was meant to be for older people in Florida. They really didn’t want anyone under 16 to live there. However, my mother was living there with her, and she also had my older brother Jack. The committee did not like this.

They told my grandmother that while my mother could still live there, my brother couldn’t. Their methods got dark. They began completely harassing them, and the rest of the neighborhood joined in. My great aunt was also in the area and had sold my grandmother the house she was living in during this time. A guy actually threatened to shoot up my aunt’s office and someone threw a brick through one of the windows.

They were not the only ones that had kids living there and being harassed, either. An elderly couple who had their grandkid due to the fact the parents had died also got this mistreatment. After some time, everyone who was being harassed started up a lawsuit against the HOA clubhouse. It was a federal case and took five years to finally resolve—in favor of the kids and guardians.

#50

We have these “lovely” neighbors that like to try to assess and complain about everything on our property. Our grass is bad, our fascia is bad, our sprinklers are bad, our rocks are bad, our paint is bad. This has been going on for some time. But the best part is, we live next to the president. Joy of joy. Anyway, one day I signed a contract to get our house painted. Hopefully soon.

Then we receive a letter stating we have to get the above fixed in two weeks. There are two holidays that are occurring this week and I am going to do my darndest to get it completed. I added grass, but that’s not good enough. I added rocks—not good enough. The fascia board has been fixed for some time. Sprinklers work and have been working for some time.

Everything is a problem with our neighbors. We received in the most recent letter that if we do not get these items fixed in two weeks we will be fined $100 a day.

#51

We bought our place back in June 2021 and have since been trying to get past our “flooring violation”. The rules in the HOA say we must have rolled carpet or sheet vinyl. 15 years ago, someone installed ceramic tiles in the kitchen and living room. Anyways, we talked to many, many, many flooring companies and they told us vinyl planks were best with the attached padded underlay.

Our HOA immediately said no to the pricing, which was high. So we went back around to the flooring companies and most told us no, that sheet vinyl it really would cost 10k because it would be hard to get the floor that smooth again. Finally, Home Depot said they would do it at a lower price and the HOA finally agreed. Until it all went so wrong.

When Home Depot actually got here to do the work, the workers then refused, saying it was too much and we need licensed contractors—and again that vinyl planks are better. We took all this information back to the HOA. Mind you, all this time we have only spoken with our actual board members for no more than five minutes. We are only permitted to talk to the property management that ignores us half the time.

They actually forwarded us to their attorney simply because I think they were tired of talking to us. So the HOA attorney decided to make a waiver with the HOA board members that says our neighbors below us have to sign off saying that if our new floor bothers them, it’s up to them to legally come after us and the HOA will not help them. This is how cheap they are.

Our neighbors that also think this whole situation is weird signed off on the papers. We found the planks and sent all this to the HOA attorney. WELL, apparently we missed in the wording on the waiver that we had to re-send this neighbor approval back to the property management—basically an approval on an approval. We did not understand this—and we started the work.

Now we have a half-cement, half nice-looking floor. No baseboards and our washer and dryer cannot be plugged in. The property management has told us to cease all work and that they would update us later. They threatened fines if we attempted any more work. How long are we supposed to live like this? We cannot deal anymore with this stress.

The day when they told us to stop all work, I literally got home and burst into tears. Also, the attorney told us we were absolute idiots in so many words. I have never felt so belittled in my entire life.

#52

I’m in Canada and am working on an apartment. We have had multiple meetings with the local HOA to get approvals for how the material looks, the color, even how it all goes together. I work in architectural sheet metal. Anyways, we have been working on this building for about two months. We made it up to the 6th floor and are securing the cap metal with standing seams, wing clips, and smash pins.

That’s about when the HOA representative comes out onto the scaffolding. What he said left me dumbfounded. He promptly says “Take off all the cap flashing. I don’t like the standing seams because it ruins my view and the views of the residents. Don’t you know this is a ‘luxury’ apartment?” My boss and I were seriously at a loss for words, since what we were doing was LEGALLY REQUIRED.

All I could manage to say was, “If you didn’t like this, this should have been brought up during the meeting with the architect and the head contractor”. This building is as old as I am, clearly was not built to a standard, and if you are a construction worker like I am, you would clearly see all this just by looking at the building’s concrete. After the HOA representative left, we went to talk with the head contractor.

He proceeded to laugh his butt off. He told us not to worry about it since the HOA is already into it for a good million and it would cost them another $50,000 to remove the siding, take out our metal, pay for new metal, install it, then reinstall the siding to get it to the way HE wants it. Then came the surprise. A day later, we get a phone call from the owner saying that they are going to pay for it.

But the way they want it (absolutely no standing seams) is going to cost the building its 10-year warranty on the metal. Meaning that if anything happens after we leave the building, it’s not our problem. I don’t think it’s worth it at all, but hey, I’m not paying for it.

#53

My wife and I have been getting harassed by a new HOA to join, as my house is the lone holdout on a beach-front strip. With my highly evolved ape brain, I have spent the weekend scouring the laws and loopholes. I have now, through a series of quantum calculations that will only make sense to me, found the means to kill an HOA anywhere.

Step one: Organize your community and friends at the next meeting and have someone or yourself call for no-confidence and vote to remove all HOA board members. Then vote in new members. Step two: Have a new president. Vote to overturn all standing fines, then end the meeting with a vote to dissolve the HOA in it entirety. Any properties owned by the HOA are to be sold to pay off any debts owed by HOA.

Record everything. Then turn a copy of the video into the governing body of where you live. As proof. Ta-da.

#54

This happened years ago when I was in elementary school. I was living in Florida at the time. Anyone who lives in Florida knows how often new gated communities just pop up. So our neighborhood was established and had been before I even moved into the house. The house once belonged to my uncle. We had a neighborhood watch, but no HOA.

The gated community was finally built and people were moving in. Now, we don’t have a bad neighborhood, but we had some strange colored houses. Lime green and magenta with giant metal lizards hanging all over it, for example. Our house was simple, hand brick and half concrete painted white. It stood out compared to some of the other houses.

The new gated community is an HOA community, and they thought they ruled over ALL of us. Soon people in our neighborhood were receiving fines for their house color choices, their “unsightly” cars, not approved mailboxes, and other nit-picky things. My parents received some for my dad’s boat being in the driveway and even our unruly yard.

We had a bougainvillea, which grows like crazy, and we were constantly trimming it. We even got a fine for our fence. The old fence was chain-link and the new fence was a wooden privacy fence, don’t ask why we had two different fences, my uncle only fenced-in part of the house, it was still a good fence so my dad didn’t want to rip it out.

Well, my mom and dad would just pitch anything they saw coming from that gated community, as they had fancy stationary that was easy to spot. This went on for maybe four or five months, we would receive “fines” for not meeting HOA standards and other violations. We talked to our neighbors and they received them too. They tried to call and complain.

Still, they were given the run-around and decided to pitch the mail as well. Then it all came crashing down. My mom received a phone call from her bank, and they started to question her about the lien on the house that just appeared in the system. My parents had less than a year left on their payments for the house, and they always paid extra every month for the house loan and were always on time.

My mom was super confused and said there shouldn’t be a lien, we don’t have a reason for there to be a lien. Turns out the gated community filed liens on almost every house in my neighborhood. My mom told the bank the situation and called a lawyer. At that point, a lot of the members of that HOA faced charges and it was a just huge mess with a pretty big lawsuit against the HOA board.

We were able to pay off the house after the lawsuit. We even had a big celebration on one of the roads, a huge cookout, and we met people we didn’t know before. I even made new friends with some kids that I didn’t know existed. People moved out of the gated community due to bad press and a lot of the houses stood empty for a long time. When I moved away, there were still a lot of houses empty and it was like a ghost town.

Last I heard, the name of the community changed and the houses were being filled up. So I guess the lesson is, leave our bright houses alone and mind your own business.

#55

So earlier this month, I purchased a property in real estate lien auction. The property was in a voluntary HOA that had 100% membership, and they were RUTHLESS in trying to get me to join before I bought the house. But I knew what I had to do get them off my backs. My attorney looked into the situation and drafted a proposal and sent it to the HOA via registered mail.

He drafted up a proposal agreement with the HOA with the following conditions: 1. The property owner has unrestricted access to any community-owned roadways, gates, etc. necessary to access his property. 2. This does not constitute joining the HOA. 3. The property owner will pay a figure monthly to the HOA to contribute to the non-government owned infrastructure, at his discretion. The amount is non-negotiable and not legally required, merely an acknowledgement that the assets exist and have costs for their upkeep.

4. The property owner will not be held to any HOA standards. 5. The property owner does not and will not get any voting rights in the HOA. 6. Any further attempts to get the property owner to join will be considered harassment. 7: Cashing of the attached checks constitutes agreeing to these terms. 8. The HOA will provide any necessary access codes for the property owner to use for visitors, contractors, etc.

They received it and signed for it. That day the harassment from the HOA stopped. A week later their attorney sent back a response. When I read it, I had to shake my head. It read: The HOA board has met, and they do not appreciate your un-neighborly attitude and are not agreeing to your terms. However, they acknowledge that your claim to unrestricted access to your property may have legal merit if the issue is taken to court. I have been instructed to give you a gate access code, attached below. You will not be given a key fob to the gate as it would give you unrestricted access to their clubhouse.

Furthermore, they are notifying you of the following: The roadway and sidewalk are both HOA property and they reserve the right to remove any illegally parked vehicles or other property. This is however an acknowledgement that you will not be held to their community standards. They also are requesting some leeway regarding harassment as community notices may inadvertently be delivered.

Finally, they are returning the check uncashed. I’m not quite understanding how this doesn’t constitute them agreeing to my terms though. They are giving me everything I want and are turning down my gift towards the upkeep of the road/gate. I guess if they want to shoot themselves in the foot just to be spiteful, I’ll let them go ahead.