People Share 35 Ridiculous And Infuriating Experiences They Had With Homeowner Associations

I think they show up for things like this in the hopes the person wasting their time is doing something like golf cart lady was

Probably a neighbor heard the noise (before 8.a.m.) and called them.

People tend to get bored during night shift so they rather come out for nothing than keep sitting at their desk for another hour.

They have to. An argument, no matter how silly it sounds can end up with someone getting stabbed or shot in this country.

Karens lie to get the cops to come, or are purposefully vague

Same. But NYC, vs random suburbia… 🤷🏽‍♀️

it very much depends on location and size of the town and police dept and how busy they are. Small/medium size departments in small/medium sized towns are generally more responsive. Also (in my town at least) patrol cops are job-rated on the number of "contacts with citizens" they have each month and the outcomes. So if a cop wants to boost his numbers answering a call like this would be a way to do it

In the US there's always a chance one or both of the people involved will be armed. Better to turn up and defuse it before you're being called back for something worse.

Gives you an idea of the tax bracket the neighbourhood is in..... Im in west Btimore and the response would be "They have a gun? No?" *click*

Me to

Depends what she told them..

As it should be. People really need to mind their business.

I feed the birds and squirrels put peanuts out for squirrels - was told to shell peanuts because the occasional squirrel was leaving shells on the lawns. Talk about "squirrel's". Shelled 10 lbs peanuts and distributed to offending neighbors! No more problems!

Depends on where you are. Many places cops won't even show up if there was a drive by and no casualties. They claim no point to go if the shooter is now gone.

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I'm more surprised anyone actually believes this story.

Yeah, I really liked that book.

Amen

Why does everybody think hoas are the devil? They are usually just there so that people don't have their yard filled with garbage like a damn redneck.

Long live the king

Now that's something to live for!!!!!!!!

The HOA thinks very differently.

People on HOA boards seem to like to use whatever little power they have, just because they have it.

HOA are really just a whole group of control freaks who have no idea what beauty or fun is

Apparently, being saddled with an HOA means you do not have private property rights, the HOA gets those. You just get to pay the bills.

The local HOA tried to cite a woman for having "excess" leaves on her BACK roof. They did so much of that type of thing, the residents threatened to sue.

It's supposed to do things like protect home value and most of them will have other amenities like agym or swimming pool or something similar. Most of the cases of hoa horror stories are because the hoa board is bad, not necessarily the hoa itself. I'd never live in one though because even if it was good when I moved in it can always change if the wrong person makes it into the board

It’s a Karen institution.

They're supposed to protect property values and generally ensure it's a nice place to live for everyone there, but I have a fundamental philosophical problem with anyone telling me what I can do on my own property. This is of course, with exceptions that I hope would be obvious to anyone, but since I know it won't be, and there are bound to some extreme libertarian types screaming from the sidelines, I'll just say I fully recognize the governments right to regulate my actions when it physically harms other people, animals, or the environment. I'm not going to be pouring out lead acid batteries on my property, and if I did, I would be rightly fined and/or jailed. But HOAs? Nah.

Homeowner's Associations are supposed to be like unions - the owners in a neighborhood band together and collectively agree on what kinds of living standards will be expected in order to increase or maintain property values for the neighborhood as a whole. Frequently the owners pay some monthly dues for upkeep of communal areas like swimming pools and club houses or little parks. Most are mildly annoying at their worst, but occasionally a group of weirdos get some kind of control and they mismanage or get tyrannical.

Directly from an HOA manager .." We are here to enforce conformity." True, perhaps, but very cult-ish sounding.

It was supposed to make sure communities were kept in good condition, but has become a gathering place for self important a-hats with nothing better to do and love to make everyone’s life difficult, that doesn’t fall on their feet to praise them.

There's zero point of entering a HOA. Even renting in one. Nobody needs an additional unwanted boss at home on top of the one they have at work.

It a corrupt racket, to make money by charging ridiculous fines. It's organized Karenism.

The only positive thing I've seen is that roads are plowed quickly and regularly when there's snow.

Ideally the HOA is supposed to keep houses from looking awful - like, two foot high grass (which can attract rats), rusty cars in the side yard that are clearly not being used or restored, people throwing parties with 50 guests every weekend. Unfortunately they mostly turn into power trips for middle aged people with no joy in their lives.

Technically they want things to be tidy and presentable to maintain property values. I have lived in a couple. The one on the board always fancy themselves as well educated knowledgeable. Not so. They have "power" and love to intimidate people into submission. Nine times out of ten they are dead wrong and many times illegal. I always laugh and tell them to go talk to their attorneys.

It's basically a union that fights with itself

They were originally formed to keep minorities out of white neighborhoods. Now they just exist to administer fines and annoyances.

Norah Reilly

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To be fair, an HOA can be a helpful organization for its residents (at least, mine is). Still, I have heard some horror stories.

The original idea was to ensure that no property lowers the value of neighboring properties. But as per usual, they became overwhelmed with suburban moms with too much time on their hands who go power crazy.

It seems that it is when protecting the value of your property is more important than creating a supportive community

Hell hath no fury like Grandpa

Make sure you're not parking cars on the lawn, or up on blocks. Make sure property values stay up. Technically in some cindo/townhouse neighborhoods, they own the outside of the building, you own the inside. Need a new roof they pay,

The point is for a group of people that want to live in an area with the same views on how it’s upkeep and image should look like , nobody wants to live near a dirtbag who can’t be bothered or doesn’t have the time to keep the neighborhood pleasant,,,,,,,, and , I have dealt with how and don’t like them for work, but I understand the group idea of it

Racism

They can be helpful by making sure everyone takes care of their property so theres no horror movie looking home in the neighborhood. The neighborhood I live in has a POA which is similar to HOA but they aren't insane about lawn maintenance or neighborhood ordinances. The monthly cost goes to road repair and snow/ice removal and that's about it

There are good and bad ones. I live in a city where the houses were built prior to WWII, so we don't have one. However, I lived in a townhouse for a while, and our HOA stayed out of our way. I could do anything i wanted, except raise livestock. I could plant what I wanted provided it didn't hang over the power lines, or block the view of street signs. There were some rules about not having debris in your yard, but nothing intrusive.

Is this just a US thing? Here in the UK, they'd have no legal power over properties on public roads. There are an increasing number of developments which have shared resources (access roads or parking) which have a "management company" which are a bit like these HOA's, but in practice the residents often don't get involved and they're run (sometimes badly) by whoever the original builder had to set them up.