A homeowner association (HOA) is an organization that governs a housing community, collects dues, and sets rules for its residents.
Depending on the neighborhood, it might: maintain common areas such as lobbies or street corners, remove snow from common roads and parking lots, look after local parks, and staff pools and gyms.
But some also test the very limits of your patience and sometimes even sanity, like issuing a warning because your garden gnome is two inches too tall or a fine because your mailbox is the wrong shade of beige.
So, Reddit user ScallionWarm7975 asked others on the platform to share their absolute worst HOA experiences and the fallout that followed. Turns out, there's no shortage of those!
#1
I had a larger corner lot with a gravel front yard (SW desert).
I would spend time every weekend pulling any new weeds that I saw.
I'd still get a letter every couple of weeks saying I had weeds in my yard. One of the HOA board members lived across the street from me. I'd go outside after receiving the letter and search and search for my alleged weeds.
He'd come outside with his wife and stare at me. Both were in their late 70's.
I just got to the point where I'd just go outside and pretend to pull weeds while they watched me.
I regularly went hiking in the desert and went to parks a lot. I started collecting seeds from wild weeds and would drop them in his yard every time I'd walk my dog past his yard. It quickly became covered in weeds.
I made a few complaints about the weeds in his yard to the HOA.
My letters about weeds stopped.
Image credits: psycho7d8
#2
My coworker lives in a condo complex. She lives in an end unit, that is a 2 story townhome. She decided to remodel her condo with professional contractors. She changed the layout of the kitchen and moved the outside sliding glass door to her side yard about 6 feet to accommodate her upgrades. The outside of the building where the door was, was re-stuccoed and painted and you could not tell this had been changed. They did a great job.
Her HOA found out she moved the door and told her she had to move it back.
She started a lawsuit against the HOA and it was taking months. Then she had an idea. The election for HOA president was coming up ... She got herself on the ballot.
She introduced herself to all her neighbors, and brought up several instances where condo owners were punished for dumb reasons. It seems her neighbors were fed up with the nonsense too.
She is now the HOA president, and no longer has to undo her construction.
Image credits: bodhiseppuku
#3
My adopted mom died suddenly & tragically. 4 days after she died I was at the house in the garage searching for her will. 2 HOA ladies, dressed in their Sunday finest come up to grief stricken me and say “I am so sorry for your loss, we all loved her. Please let us know how we can help. By the way- the fence is stained with the wrong color & you need to take care of that ASAP- the fine is $200 per day for non-compliance”.
I signed each of them up for every wacko email and phone solicitation list I could find.
Image credits: BeachMomILM
#4
I left my car in my driveway overnight. I had Covid and it came on very suddenly. I had to stop and take a break going from my bed into the bathroom, so I certainly didn’t feel up to moving the car into the garage. I got written up.
ETA: I sold the house but the neighbor came over to let the new owners know that they weren’t allowed to park in the driveway while they were unpacking a car as they were moving in.
The lady across the street also came storming over and got angry with my real estate agent because she felt that my listing price was too high. You could give me a free mansion in an HOA and I’d still turn it down.
Image credits: jhumph88
#5
My HOA sent me a letter telling me that I needed to have a background check on the person living in my condo with me.
I was single and living by myself. My current boyfriend brought me a mattress that he had in his guest room. He was turning into a workout area and didn't need the mattress anymore. He drove it over to my place and helped get it into my condo. I'm sure it didn't help that he drove a bright red Hummer. There were no boxes of stuff, just a mattress.
A week later the letter arrived. I called the condo association and asked why I had received this letter. I was told that someone had called and said I had someone move in. No one called me to ask. My next-door neighbor is on the condo board.
I went to the next condo association meeting and chewed them out. Asked them why we were paying for the association if they weren't going to do their due diligence. I know it's not much, but it made me feel better.
Image credits: 2013casper
#6
We tried painting the brick in front of our house, drafted a letter in compliance with the HOA rules, even told them we’d be using proper masonry painting, I went through all the engineering side of how it will be done properly, etc etc. We were denied because “nobody has ever asked to paint brick in this neighborhood before.” I told them well we’re asking. They denied our request again and reminded us that if we painted the brick a lien would be placed against the property. So we didn’t paint but we started maliciously complying. Any permanent outdoor changes have to be preapproved, so when I built a deck around a tree, I made very sure to not set it into the ground. It weighs about 500lbs so it’s not going anywhere but it’s not permanent. When they came by to b***h at us, I told them it wasn’t permanent. They said we still needed to get it approved and I asked if I would need to get approval for buying a lawn chair. They said no, and I told them that I built a custom lawn chair and would not be getting approval for anything else unless I absolutely needed to.
Image credits: SJdeGhozt
#7
My HOA in Texas sent me a letter that told me my child's toys had to be removed from sight at the end of each day. Keep in mind... this was a ranch style development... I had 3 acres of land. I said fine. I didn't put them away. I got another letter regarding the toys (bike and such) saying they had observed them in the driveway the previous day. I replied... yep... my daughter took them out to play with them again... I'll put them away at the end of the day. I didn't. Got yet another letter saying they saw them again. I said yep. My child plays with her toys every day. And after sundown you won't see them any more. There are NO lights on my exterior. There are NO street lamps. I then got ANOTHER letter with a NIGHT VISION PHOTOGRAPH of my child's bike 200 ft down my driveway near my garage. I s**t you not.
Image credits: PoohbirdNC71
#8
Live next to HOA constantly get letters about how my property is deplorable and bla bla bla. I have a farm. I run a sawmill also. So, I finally get fed up with them. As they start coming on property, they are trying to take pictures. Had them trespassed after confronting them and asking them to leave they did not. I had drawn my firearm as they continued towards me screaming. BIOSECURITY is a real thing. Needless to say around 70+ Tons of manure now sits within feet of that property line. Keeps the high dollar snobs that hate me away. Oh and I have implemented maintenance Monday. At 10pm I start all equipment to check and service it as needed. I am zoned Ag. Have a Farm number. They have kinda started backing down. I also installed air cannons for pest deterrent. It's amazing to hear them go off in the middle of the night. Yes I am very petty. No I will never live in an hoa.
#9
Not My Story.
A friend of mine rents a condo in an HOA community. From her bedroom window, she can view a vast open, undeveloped piece of land outside the community's jurisdiction. It's important to note that one has to go through the HOA community to access it. It attracts the homeless. Occasionally, there are disturbances among their community, and the police have to calm things down.
One night, she hears a scream, "I'm bleeding , help!" She looks, and all hell has broken loose. She calls 911. Dispatch sends the police, EMTs, ambulance, and fire. (there may have been a bonfire)
The HOA FINES HER $250 for calling 911. They said her call caused a disturbance with all the lights and sirens and with the emergency vehicles parking in the neighborhood.
She and her awesome landlord appealed it and won. But, it took over 8 months to resolve.
Image credits: oceanbreze
#10
My fake HOA believe themselves to be legitimate and once sent me a handwritten fee invoice for flying a drone, having off leash dogs, and not mowing the right of way. In reaponse I sent them a mock copy with a bunch of made up fees they owed me.
Image credits: voltato
#11
My condo's defacto HOA had banned pets in apartments since day one. My nosey neighbour reported me for having a dog because she could hear barking the previous evening.
I don't have a dog, my nephew and I were watching Marley and Me.
#12
My neighborhood president wants to be an absolute t**t about everything so we nominated and voted in the 2 people she hates the most.
Image credits: Emergency-Peanut5224
#13
I got fined $300 for my motorcycle being too loud. I’ve never owned a motorcycle.
Image credits: Status-Visit-918
#14
My neighborhood is a small cuál de sac community that was originally built by this one older couple that had hoped their kids and families would move into the other houses they’d built, but that never happened and all their kids live out of state. For years they were the head of the HOA for this little community. Then the wife of the couple started going around complaining about BS and claiming that we were violating this HOA rule or that regulation etc. I didn’t really give a d**n until I get a fine for letting my dog sunbathe on my front porch without a leash, with a note stating that she’s too big and violates the HOA bylaws and I have to get rid of her (dog is 40 lbs wet).
So at the next HOA meeting I requested a full copy of the HOA guidelines and rules to ensure compliance. Talked with everyone else in the block about the lady too. Came to the next meeting and I had about 4 pages of violations for her home based upon the rules and another 3 pages of “false violations” she’d tried to enforce. The meeting ended up with a vote of no confidence and we ended up voting to dissolve the HOA.
Now the lady goes around complaining about this and that but we all tell her she’s the reason there’s no HOA and she’s the only one that ever complains. Best part is when the couple living next to her asked her if she’s ever considered that her behavior is precisely why none of her kids moved back home after college. The look of defeat on her face let us know that she was fully aware that was the case.
#15
We replaced a cracked hardiplank board (note the singular BOARD) and painted it the same cream as the old board. Got a note from our HOA that we should have filed for a permit.
Image credits: KeyGovernment4188
#16
My neighbors, who have a son w special needs, had a small inflatable kids pool. Like a 30 Dollar wal mart pool. The hoa sent them a letter about how no above ground pools are allowed. I got into it the president who is on a power trip and let him know all of his violations. Which he then told me his were pre-approved? Anyway they ended up having a special meeting and allowed them to keep the pool.
Image credits: Designer-Clerk-499
#17
I received a letter that I had to remove a sign from my yard - not political - when other residents had posted political signs and left the up long after the election. So I put the sign in my truck window in the driveway instead, where it could be seen from the street.
#18
After my dad died the rest of the neighborhood voted to form an HOA and did so. They couldn't force my mom to be a member so they'd have their kids vandalize my mom's home and vehicles by egging the house. When my mom would try to speak to them before calling the cops they'd be all "Well if you were a member..." and when she did call the cops they were all "not s**t we can do"
She might have tried to do more but without my dad's income paying the mortgage was becoming impossible so she sold and moved.
Image credits: jackfaire
#19
During Covid lockdown, the local high school wanted to celebrate the seniors so they put congrats signs in the yards of the seniors Everyone who got one in ourneighborhood got a notice to take down it against hoa or face a fine!
Image credits: Mama_clg
#20
I have some friends, who live in Texas, sane people except they won’t leave.
For those, who don’t know, Texas has four seasons just like other places and those seasons are named Summer, Summer, Summer and Hell.
Well, one day my friends had a visit from the HOA telling them that their grass was longer than the allowed one inch and they’d be fined until that was remedied.
Knowing full well that it was politically motivated nonsense my friend agreed that it was indeed a disgrace and he’d accept the fine, provided he accompanied the deputation around so they could fine every single HOA member, who had grass that was not green, since that was the other requirement pertaining to grass in that list of rulles and regulations, they were waving about.
Wouldn’t you know it, suddenly it was no biggie that his grass was a little too long, it did look much niecer being green. There hasn’t been any more issues with the HOA since they found out he flights back.
#21
HOA president came to my front door and threatened to call the police if I came to the HOA meeting he invited me to, because he found out he spent an hour arguing with me and I wasn't even the homeowner (my folks are, and they were out of town, he assumed). We got into an argument because I called him a, what was it... Ah yes, a f*****g d*****s for paying the new ISP $500,000 when our old ISP bid $0 because they were about to upgrade their infrastructure in the entire state - including our neighborhood. I have had 3 mb/s for a decade and I was actually hopeful I would get at least 100, but no, new ISP had never done residential work and botched install. They then told everyone we would get our same base speed and would have to pay a minimum of $400 a month to get anything better. We also had $100 tacked onto our dues for it.
Guess who went to the HOA meeting that night? Granted, they didn't let me past the sign in desk with the management company, and the manager had a note about me already written down, but I made sure ol' president saw me. After I left and got into my car, the manager kicked over the potted plant holding the door open, slammed the door, and locked it.
We started getting letter after letter about violations. The president would personally drive by our house up to twice a day looking for things to ding us on. Trash cans out 10 minutes after the truck just picked it up? Letter. Bird s**t on the mailbox? Letter. Parents brought the RV home to repair in the driveway for a day or two? Letter each individual day it was there.
My folks shredded every single one. Then we got second letters for ignoring the first ones (they require email response to confirm you've received and understand), and those went in the shredder too. Eventually, my father threatened to have a talk with the president about how he acted on our private property (threatening me with the cops) via the management company, and lo and behold the letters ceased.
The president didn't re-apply for his position the next year.
Image credits: LinuxCharms
#22
Does "exist" count? the fact they EXIST is stupid.
#23
Landscapers aerated the grass around all the condos.
We get a letter a couple of days later about how we were in violation of letting our dog poop all over the grass.
Because cylinders of soil and grass are the same as dog poop.
Explained this to the management company and the violation was removed. The animal haters across the way continued to be awful.
Image credits: powerhikeit
#24
Someone left their pit bull outside all day. They had one of those short 1 foot fences around their patio so of course eventually the dog jumped over and bit someone.
Because of this, HOA mandated that nobody in the complex is allowed to have ANYTHING on their patio. Only thing allowed is the cement patio itself.
People got together and wrote a petition and went to the board meetings etc so the mandate was eventually scrapped. Success story for once.
Image credits: itseemyaccountee
#25
My roommate and I were the "young ones" in a mostly senior subdivision. As such, we drew the ire of everyone for things like "smoking meat after 9M", "laughter in general", and "having guests park...in the guest area." Fines occured on the regular.
We were often blamed for sound ordinance violations...at times we both were working night shift. The 90 y/o next to us was practically deaf and had an awesome audio system, but no one bothered to suspect him.
Anywho...
We eventually found out that the old couple across from is...the ones we constantly helped out...were the ones making all the compliants, and costing is almost of money.
A******s.
Well, in the middle of Covid they decided to sell. At the last minute their moving company pushed back the packup date. Well, they were in escrow, and this was going to cost them alot.
"Do you know anyone!?!?"
"I think I might..."
I set up a Google voice number, and had my buddy pretend to be a "mover".
And I gave these pricks said number.
My buddy set up their "move" for the last possible weekend before penalties occured.
A*****e couple canceled the other movers.
Well, the friday before said weekend, me and roomie wished them "goodbye", and went on a road trip for the weekend.
Wouldn't you know it? Those d**n movers never showed up. Weird.
Anywho they got hosed on escrow fees in the thousands.
F**k them.
#26
Not me, my parents when I was a teen. My car parked in overflow parking had “satanic insignia” on it. Not sure if the meant the Air Force sticker, the Marine Corps Sticker (my bestie is a Marine) or the Metallica name logo sticker. Hell, maybe it was just the Ford Emblem. 😕.
#27
I got a notice saying the stain on my fence was too dark. Made me redo my fence. Then the HOA decided to redo the park fences and used the same color stain and brand. I mailed a notice to them with a bill and stated they owed me and are in violation.
Image credits: Ski787
#28
My wife had a house built in a new HOA before we met. I've always been a country boy, so living in a HOA was new to me. I was a DOD Civilian and previously lived about forty-five min from work, married her, and my new drive was one hour and forty-five minutes. Anyway, I'd leave at 5am and return from work 6pm daily.
We had a wet spring the first year I moved here, and our lawn grew like crazy, as well as the dandelions. Even though I worked long hours, I still push mowed the lawn twice a week and did outside work till dark. Lawn looked nice, but we battled dandelions like crazy. I swear we used every chemical known to man that year, even going as far as to pull them individually.
We soon started getting letters about our yard, even started getting pics of our dandelions. Not a casual yard picture, but someone had actually laid in our driveway to take pics at eye level across the yard to show them. My wife would just chuckle and round file the notices, they'd make me so d**n livid I couldn't stand it. I mean, I knew more than anyone we had dandelions, and I had waged war on them, so the letters just added insult to injury.
We got about a letter a week for a little over a month, and my wife just started just tossing them and not saying a word about them to me until they stepped up their game.
Next, we got a threatening letter saying they were going to hire a landscaping crew to come landscape our yard, and we would be billed. We assumed it was over the dandelions, so we just sat on it while deciding what our next move would be. The next week, like clockwork, we received our next letter, and this time, it included a pic, not of our dandelions, but our shrubs. Seems they didn't like the few spots in the shrubs where we had had bag worms sometime before. It wasn't the whole shrub, just spots, and they weren't really that bad. We didn't care for the shrubs or how the builder had placed them, so long-term plans were to eventually replace them with what we wanted.
For me, this letter was my last straw. I backed into my yard, locked my truck into 4 low, and I proceeded to pull every d**n shrub out. Within the hour, we had a six foot pile of shrubs in the bed of my truck. We then filled in the holes and I made sure to leave my truck parked on the curb that night.
We have lots of walkers in our HOA. It's an evening past time here, it seems. I was asked a lot that spring from my neighbor about landscaping, and I explained the situation. I read our covenants several times, and there is no required landscaping besides green grass and lawn has to be maintained. There is one sentence about trees or shrubs needing to be pre-approved, but nothing stating we have to have shrubs. The overall response to my solution over the landscaping was positive...lol
It's been five years now, and even though I did level and landscape brick a spot for shrubs, I still don't have a single one. I'm pretty vocal at the meetings and have become a favorite neighbor to many. I think alot of them live vicariously thru me where my HOA antics are concerned.....lol.
#29
I often give my housekeeper clothes to donate at Mexican orphanages. One time I had two huge black garbage bags full, she took one out to her car and left it on the driveway while she went to get the other one. HOA came by and sent me a fine for leaving out garbage. Same housekeeper parked far over on my driveway to leave room for me to pull in and turn into my garage. She left half of her front and back tires off the edge of the driveway and the other half of the tires on the dirt/grass patch next to the driveway. Not a front lawn, just the edge of the driveway. Got a fine for that too. I fought it, they sent me pictures so I know what they saw and proceeded to send out flyers to all the homeowners showing the pictures and fines. Four of us got together and ran for the HOA and won.
#30
I lived in an HOA that was so poorly managed that 3 of my neighbors were “delinquent”.
I got divorced and was forced to sell my condo.
When an offer came in, the buyer’s bank refused to loan them money because they had a (common?) lending clause that said that they will not buy into any association that has more than 15% delinquency. My building had 3 delinquencies out of 17 units, meaning they had roughly 17% delinquency.
I could not move out. The HOA refused to forgive or restructure its delinquencies, but ALSO refused to send delinquencies to collections or even CONTACT THE DELINQUENT TENANTS about my issue. They told me “they’re your neighbors, take it up with them yourself.” I found out through this process that one of my neighbors owed almost $7,000 in delinquent HOA fees. My association was missing more than $11,000 in delinquent dues.
The only way I could solve the issue, after delaying my closing date TWICE, was to personally pay off the debt of my least delinquent neighbor (which was around $540) to get my own HOA’s solvency above 85%.
I was in an association that was so mismanaged that no one could join OR leave, without literally paying the price to the penny of their OWN mismanagement.
And they still charged me $900 some odd dollars in “document fees” to leave the association AFTER I paid off my deadbeat neighbors.
I hope my old condo complex is currently crumbling into the pavement.
#31
My HOA in Fort Wayne, IN prohibited LBGT+ flags so I put up 18 around my property and triggered a bunch of MAGA and Karens but I’m moving to just outside of Chicago for way more money and a lot less Indiana.
#32
Our neighbors asked to put in a basketball hoop and the board approved it. Now one of the board members did have an issue with it but after deliberation she ultimately approved it. 2 weeks later the homeowner had the city code enforcement officer at their house for a complaint about the hoop. Enforcement officer said it was someone who identified as a board member and calls all the time. The homeowner filed a foia request to get the complaint and sure as s**t the woman put her husband's name on it and filed the complaint. She constantly calls the city to try and get around things the board approves or blames it on other homeowners who "contact" her and complain. The city ultimately told the homeowner the hoop was fine and if the woman tried to escalate it the city would shut her down.
#33
Remodeled my bathroom.
HOA demands contractors haul away the waste.
HOA also states you can’t have a dumpster.
HOA angry contractor had a small trailer (smaller than my car) parked in my personal parking spot to haul away the waste from construction.
HOA demanded the trailer was removed immediately.
Kindly told the HOA I’d be happy to park the trailer on the grass if they didn’t want it in my spot.
HOA stopped complaining.
#34
Mine wanted to Sue a neighbor for running a senior foster care. They worried about some old mentally unstable person in their neighborhood. The irony that I brought up at the HOA meeting is that most of them would soon need some sort of care. These were the people who had bought when the neighborhood was built in the 60s. Needless to say, their concern was illigal as such a service is protected by law. They still funded her next door neighbor to sue her. The neighbor lost and moved shortly thereafter.
This was after they tried to sue the golf course (and the church) across the main road from the neighborhood entrance because they were worried their lights would shine towards the neighborhood. Why either would shine their lighting away from their own property no one could explain.
Turned out the actual hoa expired in 1968, but they were still running it. They couldn't get enough signatures to make it mandatory, so it was optional. When I reviewed their budget it was 90% legal fees.
#35
We applied for permission to build a fence exactly like every other fence in our community. It was not the fence I wanted, but the fence that was allowed. We had small children and our house was on a lake so we needed a fence.
For 4 months they "forgot to" discuss our application at their meetings. I finally just built it and was told that it needed to be taken down. I asked for a reason and they held a meeting in our backyard to discuss it, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. They then spent the next several months finding fault with everything we did. They counted plants in our yard, found fault with the way our garden was mulched...It really was ridiculous. Fortunately we moved that year. We never bought an HOA house again.
#36
I lived in an 7 story building with condominiums, and was HOA board president (don’t shoot me)! I got a call at my work at lunchtime from a new resident who purchased a unit on the bottom floor and who had a large patio. She demanded that the HOA pay a gardener to pick up the leaves that a magnolia tree was dropping on to her (private, but limited common element) patio. When I told her that leaf pickup for her private use patio was her responsibility, she threatened to have the NAACP sue me for racism. I told her I didn’t know what race she was and asked how it could be racism - she said I was lying because the condo newsletter had featured her recently and mentioned she was a graduate of Howard University, and *of course* I knew she was black because Howard was an HBCU. (Poor, stupid 25 year old white California native-me-had never heard that term before. OMG was I dumb!)
Also - got involved in a lawsuit between 2 unit owners. One (an unemployed lawyer) was suing his next door neighbor for ATTEMPTED MURDER because her cigarette smoke was infiltrating his unit.
I quit and sold the condo soon afterwards. People are weird, and although I loved the building and living “in community”, this was too much for me. Have not lived in an HOA community since.
#37
Posted this before. The f*****g ape that headed up the FORMER HoA theatened to put a lien on our home if we didn't pay the $15
for the maintenance of - as the now twice-divorced d*****t called
it - "our beautiful sign".
Said sign is located on the cornerr of a lot that is PRIVATELY OWNED. There are zero amenities in our tiny sub. We refused to
pay anything and then s******d got nasty with us. Many people
over the decades have grossly underestimated the childless
couple in the small house. Much to their own detriment.
We returned the favor. My WIFE printed out his email, along with
a number of relevant articles showing that these f*****g quasi- governmental m***********s have levied liens against people for absolute b******t, then executing a judicial foreclosure on their homes.
38 of 40 homes all got certified mail with this information, along with our letter saying we owed f*****g nothing. After that dropped, fat a*s was seen RUNNING down the street. There were 3 of these idiots involved in this. The HoA was summarily terminated.
The lesson of this little story? Be careful whose cornflakes you p**s in because you never know whose cornflakes you are pissing in. Many people have learned that after tangling with us.
#38
They complained about my lawn (3.5” not 3”), so I froze round up in an ice cube tray and threw them in the board members yards/flower beds for over a year before moving.
#39
We had a non funded hoa in my mom's neighborhood when she moved in. They would tell people the rules and I guess a lot of people listened. Not my mom.
There were no sheds and only wood roofs. Well when time came for a new roof. Asphalt shingles went up. She got a letter about they are not allowed and she needed to replace back to wood.
Letter in the trash.the next month she build a concrete poured shed about 14ft by 20ft. They came and complained during construction. Told them to het lost. She never signed anything joining a hop.
Not long after, multiple homes had sheds out back and Asphalt and metal or steel roofs.
People really don't like silverfish.
#40
We lived an hour outside of Chicago, so we got a lot of snow. We lived in a small culdesac of townhouses. After a big snow the plows made a couple of massive hills of snow that my >10 year old boys were thrilled to climb. The HOA president yelled at them to get off of and told me we shouldn't have bought our townhouse as it was not really an appropriate place for children. I proceeded to tell him to f**k off and there was nothing in the bylaws about it.
#41
Not my story but turns out the management company for my parents townhouse had been just pocketing the cash from the HOA fees for up to a year while the entire board just sat on their a*ses. We only found out when the company hightailed it outta there and the new company got a notice from the water company that water was going to be shut off in a week unless they paid the overdue bill of 11k. When people asked if the HOA was going to pursue the old company for embezzlement they just shrugged their shoulders. My parents just moved out because they can’t take it anymore.
#42
When I moved in to my neighborhood I quickly realized that the builder retained control of the HOA but hadn’t filed the proper paperwork in 19 years despite the 5 year legal requirement. I attempted to speak with them and they told me I was wrong so I asked to speak with the association’s attorney.
The lawyer never contacted me but we all got mailers about a week later informing us that the builder was turning the HOA over to the neighborhood.
I’m more impressed that there are around 600 houses in my neighborhood and no one figured it out for nearly 2 decades. I generally believe all my neighbors are idiots because of this.
#43
I work for a property management company. I once had to fine someone because they had a shopping cart or something hung up in their garage. Not a supermarket one. Like, the collapsible kind that you use to take the stuff from your car into your house. Also, I had to fine someone like $250 for repeated doordash deliveries right to their door. Apparently at that property, they have to meet any delivery in the lobby of the building.
Image credits: Samule310
#44
Every house in the neighborhood got a letter demanding all the yards have the wild onions picked within 2 weeks of the letter or be fined.
#45
One year in early spring we got a letter we had mowed our grass too short. It was self-rectifying.
#46
Not my experience, I was watching a house flipping show( zombie house flippers Florida) they got all the permits, started tearing out the old cabinets, when the HOA shut them down because the last owner left without paying fines. Held them up for a month.
#47
When my condo HOA was forced to spend $450K (twenty years ago) to repair a botched repair done by the s****y property management firm AND refused to sue the property management firm who had the owner's unemployed brother in-law do the repair, in spite of state laws requiring that all repairs must be done by a licensed and bonded construction company. Instead the HOA just billed residents $14K each, payable within one week.
#48
Hoa for 18 years , in the covenant the hoa is responsable for fix and repair roof , payed an extra 5k specially assessment for the neighborhood , most buildings got roof replacement mine has a hole in it … still waiting for fix ..
#49
My neighbor who is on the HOA board said that we weren’t cutting our grass to the right height and they mowed over the property line six inches. So he rang my doorbell at 9 AM on Saturday before he painted the property line and then hung up property diagram from his tree. He continued to paint the property line for weeks and so much more nonsense. It was wild!
#50
Where I live we had a voluntary HOA. Last year the name got changed to a Neighborhood Association because it was voluntary. The main thing it does is keep the common areas looking good and the entrance signs in good repair. We only had one problem person in the neighborhood. I got elected to the board and shut her down very quickly. Dues are $150/year. I've never heard about any fines or things like that in this neighborhood.
I guess it also helps if an elected state representative, county commissioner and state senator live in the neighborhood.
#51
My mother (who I’m estranged from now so idk if it’s still a problem) lives in an OLD a*s house, in an OLD a*s neighborhood. She’s lived there for the past decade or so. A few years back, she got a notice that the moss growing on the bricks at the front of the house was an HOA violation because it made the house look bad, and she’d be fined monthly if she didn’t clean it off. That moss was THICK, meaning it had been there for a long f*****g time, and this wasn’t something they sent when she first moved in, but years down the line. They also refused to hire a service to sort it out when she pointed this out to them, meaning she had to pay for it (it’s a lower class neighborhood). There was moss on all the house….
#52
Mine has a service that calls you if you get a fine, at least it sounds like a service because they had a foreign accent and I live in the South. The problem was parking of course. They said we were being fined for parking and too many cars. So I gave him a simple math problem. If there are three people on the lease of a three bedroom home with different jobs and needs how many cars are there? then I hung up on him. immediately get a message that they're talking to the homeowner and the HOA. They are currently expanding my driveway.
