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Homeowner Association Nightmares: People Are Sharing The Most Infuriating Encounters They’ve Had With HOAs (35 New Pics)
When moving into a new neighborhood, there are many factors to consider. How walkable is the area? How long will your commute to work be? Are there decent schools nearby? And perhaps, if you live in the United States, is there a homeowners association? A homeowners association (or HOA) is an organization that creates and enforces rules for a neighborhood or subdivision. When moving into an area with an HOA, residents automatically become members and are responsible for paying fees and abiding by the rules (or they'll be subjected to fines). In theory, an HOA just ensures the neighborhood is clean and takes care of shared amenities, such as community pools or fitness centers. In reality, however, many residents become incredibly frustrated with their power-hungry HOAs.
HOAs can implement rules about anything from the length of homeowners' grass to what days they're allowed to display holiday decorations. And when rules are broken, fines are swiftly posted on front doors, often accompanied by passive aggressive emails. We've compiled some of the most egregious HOA stories people have shared on r/AskReddit, and they'll make you want to never live in a residential neighborhood.
After you're fired up from reading these stories, be sure to check out Bored Panda's last publication on this same topic.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My old house's backyard bordered an HOA community. Our house was built 30 years before the community was built so we weren't part of it. We used to get notices about violations and fines if we didn't correct them. Never did correct them . They finally sent legal papers to repossess our house. Went to court with a tax map that showed our property NOT part of the HOA community. Judge dismissed their suit against us and found them guilty of harassment. We didn't get awarded much, but I made sure to break every rule of theirs I could untill we moved
Chucky Cheezburger 3 years ago
That's when you build a trebuchet and start launching flaming crap bags at them.
B-b-bird 3 years ago (edited)
reminds me smth. Has nothing to do with HOA (we dont have this system here). But we have been sent official letter from electricity company that one of our farm buildings roof is built dangerously hight to their cables (regular hanging cables which distribute electricity to other neighbors around us) and that building needs to be removed/demolished.... That's interesting, because our vintage brick building was build in 1928.... almost 100 years ago :D and their unsafe voltage line was installed running above our land in 1960s.... (yes they did maintenance over years but clearly they still deemed it not safe). I wrote back, sent all official copies from city archive proving this point. Offered them either to come over and fix their unsafe line, or remove it completely. They sent an answer: super long smart text, not admitting I'm right, not denying it either, pretty much in short meant "it's ok, let's leave it at that" :D It's been around 8 years now, no letters since then. They did come over few times for line maintenance through years, never said a word.
YinzerGhost 3 years ago
Oh I would paint my house polka dots and stripes and have a rusty car in the yard if they pulled that nonsense.
Laura Pantazis 3 years ago
They can't "repossess" the house since they didn't own the house. What they can do is fine a homeowner. When the homeowner doesn't pay the fines, the HOA can file a lien with the court. When the lien isn't paid, the HOA can file to have the house foreclosed upon - meaning a forced sale. The HOA would be paid for the lien from the foreclosure money.
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Kimberley McMillan 3 years ago
I would have stayed living in that house until I died... just out of spite to the HOA. lol
Now, I don't mean to vilify all HOAs. Some homeowners really do appreciate their presence. Access to amenities and increased community engagement are two possible perks of an HOA. Someone has to ensure that the neighborhood pool and playgrounds are up to safety standards, and it can be a lot of fun to have a community-wide barbeque with fireworks on the 4th of July.
Some residents also credit their HOA for maintaining their home's property value. That freshly manicured lawn speckled with bright flowers that greets you when you enter the neighborhood is the responsibility of the HOA. And if a calm, quiet neighborhood is important to you, rest assured that an HOA will shut down any rowdy parties. If you don't mind abiding by the rules and have no plans to paint your house hot pink any time soon, an HOA might be a plus for you.
RELATED:
#2
When my parents bought the house I grew up in during the early 90's, they got a letter in the mail saying that they hadn't paid their dues for the HOA. They took the letter into the office and asked what fees they were referring to.
The office lady was really rude and pulled out a piece of paper saying that my parents had signed a contract and they were legally obligated to pay their monthly dues and follow the rules blah blah Karen Karen blah.
Well, when my parents looked at the sheet they supposedly signed, it wasn't their signatures. Their names, not their signatures. Someone at the HOA had forged the paperwork, presumably bc they'd forgotten to get it signed. Needless to say, the contract was void and my parents refused to sign a new one. They were one of about 5 houses that they'd done this to in the neighborhood, one of which was our nextdoor neighbors. About 3 houses to this day still don't have signed contracts including theirs, and they get to do whatever the hell they want with their house, to the immense frustration of the HOA.
Jon Steensen 3 years ago
tell them to f**k off and be quiet, and happy that they will not be dragged into court for forgery. As the ability to trust a contract forms an elementary part of things to work, fraud and false signatures are not looked lightly upon.
Robert Thompson 3 years ago
God Bless America. I am not allowed to park in front of my own garage. (and when I did so, they had the area marked with red paint as a "FIRE LANE"
Cold Contagious 3 years ago
That's outlandish. I wouldn't be able to live there at all.
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The problem arises when HOAs extend their guidelines past the simple "mow your lawn, don't leave your trash bins out too long and don't make too much noise". It seems that some derive pleasure from creating restrictions and imposing them on residents who just want to live in a peaceful neighborhood. As many Reddit users have shared, HOAs can set extremely strict guidelines on parking, approved house colors, landscaping and more. There is a line between wanting to live in an aesthetically pleasing area and policing your neighbors unnecessarily. Unfortunately, many HOA presidents stomped right past that line on their way to slap a fine on your front door.
#3
My parents HOA is stupid strict. Can't have any holiday decorations up past the first week of Jan. My mom pulled a Clark Griswold and broke her ankle falling off a ladder putting up decorations before the holidays so a wreath was left on the front door longer than allowed. They got a letter with a picture and a threat of fine.
A few summers later they and some of their neighbors decided to stick it to the man. They got a flock of plastic lawn flamingos and planted them in one of their yards. Whenever the HOA would send a letter the flock migrated to another yard. Kept it up for about a month and a half.
oktopus 3 years ago
Maybe they should escape whatever authoritarian regime they live under and flee to a free country.
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
Or just a free neighborhood- lots of places in America aren't HOA regulated. There is no HOA where I live and the only time anybody can say anything about my property is if I'm creating a danger to the public.
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Bender Bending Rodríguez 3 years ago
I just don't understand why anyone agrees to live in a HOA. If I buy a house, it's my house, why should I let someone else dictate what I can and can not do on my property. If and big if I ever in a position to buy a house I will be looking for HOA free house. Rather live in a haunted house than a HOA house.
John Baker 3 years ago (edited)
I don't understand that mindset either, but the point is they do agree to it. It's a voluntary choice. These mentally challenged nimrods with their "oh, yeah, land of the free, nudge nudge wink wink" crap need to take a hike.
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CV Vir 3 years ago
Article Writer said “I don't mean to vilify all HOAs” — but you should, you really should. The structure of the thing ALLOWS for this banal evil. They are thoroughly corrupt. Just because a few aren’t horrible doesn't mean they aren't generally a force for stupidity and jerkishness.
Spikey boi 3 years ago
This is exactly why I'm not gonna move into an HOA neigborhood once I buy my own house (I rent rn). I want my spooky month decorations up 24/7 every day of the year!
Random Dog Owner 3 years ago
I have a Christmas wreath that is currently up right now as I type this comment.
#4
I’m being charged $400 because of a violation for a bush overhanging my walkway.
I don’t have a walkway. Or a bush. The picture isn’t even my house. They won’t back down.
cybermerlin2000 3 years ago (edited)
Offer them a compromise. They can either f*ck off or go to court
Nubis Knight 3 years ago
I wonder how this would end up if in court when they have to prove their point? In Germany you'd be able to sue them for falsely suing you.
Anthony Cerreta 3 years ago
Easy solution is to take a picture of f your house with the caption “done” to save a neighbor who is probably the one in “violation”.
SelkieBlackfysh 3 years ago
Easy to deal with. Take actual photos of your actual yard with you actually standing there and compare. Reality has a funny way of winning out when you don't let idiots make you pretend it's not applicable to them.
So how prevalent are HOAs? As of 2021, there were over 350,000 in the United States, regulating about 58% of homeowners. They vary greatly by state, however. Some states, such as Mississippi, have virtually no HOA presence. Meanwhile, in Florida about 45% of the population lives in HOA communities. Florida is even home to the nation's largest HOA, Poinciana Villages, which is located in Central Florida and contains 20,000 homes.
#5
The first month in our townhouse, we got a notice that we had not mowed our lawn and were in danger of being fined. We didn't have a lawn. The entire yard was covered in topsoil, seed, and straw. The "lawn" turned out to be a single weed that was growing up in the shade of a bay window.
I didn't pull it. I tied it to a stake and told them it was our garden.
#6
Everyone in my neighborhood was fined for having “dirty roofs.” Seriously, they claimed that everyones roofs were dirty and made the neighborhood look bad. It’s not like they were covered in mold or anything, hell idk how a roof is even dirty but 268 of the 284 houses in my neighborhood were fined $75 for it. We found out later that the HOA president started a power washing business and likely just wanted to drum up some business. He was impeached because of it and none of us even paid the fines
Chich 3 years ago (edited)
Only impeached? You folks need to build some stocks and get some rotten veggies.
Isidien Gudmundsdottir 3 years ago
That reminds me of when we weren't getting our deposit back because the office manager claimed our cats peed in a particular spot. Needless to say, my wife sent some pictures over to the owners of the complex showing that we must have had Hercules kitties because at that very spot stood our very heavy entertainment furniture. (2 McIntosh amplifiers were in there as well so, the cats had to lift those too!) Turns out that same office manager was fired for embezzlement for she had done this to other folks as well in the past.
Leodavinci 3 years ago
Follow the money. If you want to know what's going on about almost anything... follow the money.
StayClassy 3 years ago
Powerwashing roofs ruins shingles. You'll lose 5 years off the life of your roof.
Aside from being a nuisance to many homeowners, HOAs have a quite controversial past as well. They've been around since the mid-19th century but have spread rapidly since the 1960's. At that time, HOAs were a tool for white Americans to keep neighborhoods segregated. Jonathan Rothwell, author of "A Republic of Equals", explained a bit of the racist history of HOAs in an interview with Insider. "There is plenty of evidence from historic records and housing policy discussions that anti-Black racism motivated some of the strategies used by homeowner associations, such as deed restrictions and covenants that explicitly discriminated against Black people by compelling other owners to avoid selling to them."
#7
Moved to Florida where every neighborhood is an HOA. Upon moving in I felt like I had joined a sorority or fraternity and I had to endure the hazing from the HOA. The final straw was when they sent me a letter that my white mailbox was dirty. So I decided to walk down one street and took pics of mailboxes with no doors and mailboxes that were covered in mildew and I emailed them all to the HOA. I told them to not send me any more notices until these mailboxes were up to code. I haven’t received another notice in a year. I guess I passed my initiation...
Mihai Mara 3 years ago
Reading these stories makes me believe that most HOA are run by whinny, easily offended, rude and mallicious people who make it their life goal to piss other people off.
Lara Verne 3 years ago (edited)
Run by people who have too much time on their hands and nothing better to do.
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Dre Mosley 3 years ago
A bit of an exaggeration. I'm a native Floridian and have been here all my life. Never lived in an HOA community.
Mr Zipperface 3 years ago
You are in the majority, the article actually provides figures saying that about 45% of residents live in HOA's (it's in the blurb between posts).
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Lily Mae Kitty 3 years ago
everything is not in an HOA in FL. And there are also some that your dues are like $100 a year that pays for upkeep of any plantings in common areas, which we wouldn't mind. Most places with HOAs are those ugly new neighborhoods in gated communities with no soul that were built in the last 25 years. We live in a funky 60s neighborhood where there are a lot of different house styles and you can live however you want.
Joe Edwards 3 years ago
We don't have HOA around here, but we do have Heritage Societies. If you own a heritage house, they make your life a living hell. We had one for about 15 years, they did everything they could to drive us into debt and still not let us update anything on the house. They even set up tours of our house without our consent and tried to get us put in jail for kicking them out.
Kim Steffen 3 years ago
That and greed and power. They kept raising my monthly fee until it exceeded my mortgage payment. Say bye.
#8
Condo association technically, but you can't put plastic skeletons out on your balcony unless it's October.
I may be the reason that this rule exists.
phil blanque 3 years ago
You look happy, but I suggest a diet with more fiber. You look as if you have lost some weight.
Patty Cook-Northrop 3 years ago
I have neighbors that do this. Pose them all different ways. I love it!!
LynzCatastrophe 3 years ago
*me putting up Halloween decorations in August* BITE ME! IT BRINGS ME JOY!
Horatio Valentine 3 years ago
Try this... Wrap one in a trash bag and bury it about half an inch under the surface and then build a deck on top of it. Makes a nice surprise for whoever tears the deck down in 20 years... ;)
Bender Bending Rodríguez 3 years ago (edited)
NO. EDIT: Ok fine before you make an doctors appointment, You must know, I was kidding. It is weird 3D type picture.
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justmemorticia 3 years ago
Add Christmas lights around its neck! Seriously, I'm so glad there is no HOA in our country, otherwise I would have a designated space for skeleton tea parties.
#9
House in the neighborhood caught fire. Luckily everyone was okay (they had small children), but the fire burnt a hole in the side of the house.
While waiting for it to be repaired, the family covered the hole with a blue tarp to prevent rain from getting in and causing more damage.
HOA fined them because the tarp was an "eyesore."
LagoonaBlueColleen 3 years ago
Why don't the HOA make themselves actually useful and use some of the "fine" money they get and help them fix their house?
justmemorticia 3 years ago
I would politely write them a fine of my own, charges being insensitive a-holes and eyesore to me and my house.
Pamela Blue 3 years ago
My response to that would be "take me to court then." They would have to back down, because no judge would allow them to get away with that. How absolutely AWFUL of them!!!
Leodavinci 3 years ago
Given the way our courts are today and have been in the past, that's overly optimistic.
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Melanie Rose 3 years ago
HOA’s are started by the people in high school that weren’t popular and now they wanna make up for that by trying to have a sense of power and to make everyone else’s lives as miserable as theirs.
Leodavinci 3 years ago
Not at all... they're started by those who always seem to be the same ones to run student activities in every school event. The "take charge" types that appoint and direct who does what.
Load More Replies...Although this may sound like an issue of the past, it's no secret that racial injustice can still be found in the United States. In fact, in 2019 a woman in Florida found a "Caucasian-only" restriction in one neighborhood's HOA bylaws. It was no longer being enforced, but it is upsetting to know that those documents had not been updated to remove prejudiced restrictions. Even today, HOA neighborhoods tend to be more affluent and less racially diverse than non-HOA areas.
#10
Not allowed to put a welcome mat at my front door.
Deb Dedon 3 years ago
My thoughts exactly. Well, my thoughts-that-can-be-expressed-here exactly.
Load More Replies... leia's emotional cupcake 3 years ago
but welcome mats are like THE thing for a house to be a home. <3
#11
I'm the Treasurer of our HOA. We pay $250 a year to cover road maintenance. We make sure that is all we worry about. We get Karens at meetings all the time complaining. We politely tell them we maintin the road and that is it. We have 18 laid back neighbors and 2-3 Karens.
GirlFriday 3 years ago (edited)
This sounds like my HOA. They only care about maintenance and upkeep. Other than the woman that put the 20 foot inflatable santa in front of her Jewish neighbor's condo, or the people that threw the drunken party in the community pool that resulted in 20 arrests, they don't tell anyone how to live their lives.
Bunzilla 3 years ago
That's how it should be. All these silly little fines and being told 'you can't do this, you can't do that' is just ridiculous. HOAs should never be run by control freaks.
Load More Replies... Bob Standen 3 years ago
You know why there isn't a place 100% full of Karens? Because they'd all kill each other.
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
Yup, though in some places with bratty HOAs the city/ county/ state takes too long in their opinion so they take it upon themselves to complete repairs.
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Uber Mensch 3 years ago
For the love off God, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Cthulhu, Buddha, and any other holy deity - KEEP THE KARENS OFF THE COMMITTEE.
Ian Lord 3 years ago
the zigzag lines donate that there is a (Zebra) crossing in front where the pedestrian has right of way once they put their foot onto the crossing, also get hem at light controled crossing as well
Load More Replies... K Miller 3 years ago
Road maintenance? Isn't that something the local government should be doing?
Willsagain 3 years ago
Only if the road is privately and constructed and 'unadopted ' by the highway authority. This is almost certainly an adopted road.
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Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Someone said this looks like a road in Great Britain I think they're absolutely correct
#12
They told us we couldn't use hoses in our back yard. HAHAHAHAHAHAgof*ckuourselves
Mihai Mara 3 years ago
I wonder about the reasons behind this. I can't think of a logical one.
ZentheOgre 3 years ago
Often they contract with yard maintenance for an area and sprinkler installation. This way a person within the hoa can pocket more money without effort. It's basically an extension of the power washing story with the dirty roofs.
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Fransçois Ferreira 3 years ago
They look like snakes and snakes are from the devil and the devil makes bad neighbors and bad neighbors bring property prices down.......I think
DaveR38 3 years ago
These have been an eye opener for me. I had always thought that Americans were very protective of rights over property (eg being able to shoot trespassers legally?). In the UK we don't have a free for all, if I want to change something substantial on my property I need to get the local council (an elected body) to approve it under "planning permission" rules - but that's it. Perhaps (some) Americans might see that as "socialism" as no one is making a profit, or am I being cynical ;). The only people who do have to put up with charges/rules like this are people in flats (apartments), and there are some dodgy management companies about but it's quite heavily regulated.
Ki Li 3 years ago
We need to get permits to do most things. Even changing windows I would technically need a permit from the town. Not everyone follows all the rules and I'm sure it's different by state and county as well
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SPQRBob 3 years ago
Perhaps the water bill is paid in common by the HOA for all of the homes and an irrigation system is already in place. I'm in an HOA where that is the case currently, and while we don't have prohibitions on using hoses in our back yards, there is a rule that prohibits washing your car. Ironically, there is no rule prohibiting parents from filling up their 250 gallon kiddie pool a few times a week. I guess there were some parents of small kids on the Board when they were writing up the water use rules...
Robert Thompson 3 years ago
I live in one where the water/sewer/trash is all common. But we still have hoses and wash cars.
Load More Replies... Pamela Blue 3 years ago
Water conservation is one thing. Telling someone you can't have a hose in your own backyard is something else. Our house has a bracket attached to the back of the house and the hose is wrapped around that bracket, whether it is being used or not. I'd use my usual statement, "take me to court."
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Well when your lawn goes to hell just tell the HOA to fix your lawn because you wont allow hoses.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
I guess the thing to do is to let the lawn go to hell. If the HOA tries to find you for letting the lawn go to hell get together and sue them.
Rothwell went on to say that "HOAs perpetuate racial and economic segregation by blocking fair participation in housing markets, thus denying wealth-generating opportunities and upward mobility for many Black people and lower-income families". A recent study found that homes in HOA neighborhoods sell for about 4% more than similar homes without HOAs. This may sound insignificant, but homeowners then also have to budget for HOA fees, which are typically due monthly. The amount varies by location but can be up to $571 per month, in New York for example. And there is always a chance they'll rise the next year.
#13
My parents live in an HOA nneighborhood. It didn't have a ton of rules or restrictions so they moved in. One of their main rules is you can't have a camper visible from the street. In the county they live in you can't have a camper parked in front of the house (basically the front door is considered the front of the house). They knew this going into the house so first month they had poured a drive way addition that ran to the side of their house and into the back yard. Their house is at the end of the street so you can only see this camper I'd you walk into their side yard. One HOA sent my dad a pic that someone took standing in his yard. He copied the county's trespassing laws and gun defense laws to a letter and forward it to the HOA. He hasn't heard from them since then
#14
My HOA had a coup where half the board resigned on the spot, same day, and the three board members that were left handed management of our neighborhood over to some mega HOA corporation based out of LA. Before the handoff was complete, the chairman of the board fired everyone that worked for the HOA, including our incredibly talented accountant who due to his experience kept our finances so tip top that we had a surplus of money and have never had our monthly dues raised in almost 15 years.
When we, the residents, demanded an explanation, the chairman refused by quoting an article from our HOA charter which gives the board the explicit right to manage the community however they see fit and without needed approval from the residents. He basically told us "I don't owe any of you an explanation, so suck it."
Now we are trying to overturn his decision to essentially give our neighborhood over to some sh*tty HOA management group that treats its residents horribly like a sh*tty landlord would a tenant. Oh, and the management group that we were given to is run by a man who's only formal education is a degree in Opera. And the accountant who has been assigned to manage my neighborhoods finances, does not have a degree in finance or business. She has a degree in ballet.
It is my opinion that our board was bribed into selling us to that management firm. Our community hired a lawyer and we are in the process of reversing what our board has done. If successful, we are going to rehire everyone they terminated and change the bylaws to prevent anyone from ever being able to do this again.
So yeah... Thats my worst story and it's still going on right now.
KJ 3 years ago
But ballet and accountancy have so many interchangeable skills, can't think of any just now admittedly.
SPQRBob 3 years ago
If I were an owner in that community, I would argue that abrogating the board's management role entirely and turning it over to some external third party is in fact not "managing the community" at all. As such, it represents a fundamental change to how the HOA is managed and governed entirely, and the CC&Rs likely have a clause requiring that any such alterations must first obtain supermajority approval (usually 2/3's or 3/4's) from the entire association membership.
ZentheOgre 3 years ago
Don't give up til that fat lady sings (referencing the opera degree with an idiom and not body shaming)
Jon Steensen 3 years ago
Isn't it usually made so it is the inhabitants who deciedes which people form the board, and hence they can call for an extraordinary meeting where they elect someone else to run the Home owner association, if they are dissatisfied with how things are done?
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago (edited)
It sounds like a lot of you have not read your bylaws.Now no single person on a board, even the board president can make a decision like that without the approval of the full board or the homeowners. If they're selling the association Management to a different company. I think a lot of you did not read your bylaws because your bylaws would have protected this from happening. One of the things you need to do is to file a full-fledged lawsuit against this board president.
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
Basically what you need to do is you need to sue these couple of board members have the courts freeze all of their assets in an accountant see if any money has been legally taken to enrich them because I bet you will find that as the case. What I would say to do is obviously don't go this alone get together with other homeowners you're going to have to pay some money for this maybe $1,000 or so but if you have a lot of members you can tear this guy a new you know what.
John Dilligaf 3 years ago
Today I Learned that can actually get degrees in Opera and Ballet. Who knew?
Rebekah Conard 3 years ago
I mean, don't judge someone based on their degree, but if they also have zero relevant experience to point to... then yes, you may judge them.
#15
I got a HOA violation for my neighbor's vines growing into my yard.
Pamela Blue 3 years ago
LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!! Again - "take me to court." I'll be there isn't an HOA who would dare take someone to court over this. The judge would laugh them out of the neighbourhood.
Sharron Lindsay 3 years ago
In the UK we have the right to cut down what encroaches onto our garden so I'd prune it and return the cuttings to the neighbours. It's the plant's nature to wander
Kimberley McMillan 3 years ago
I don't like HOAs but I would have fined the neighbour for planting english ivy in the first place. It's horrific and invasive and next to impossible to get rid of.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Tell the HOA they are not your Vines through the neighbors Vines of the neighbors responsible for removing them. If they refuse to have the neighbor do it have a lawyer write a letter to the HOA threatening them with legal action for fraud.
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
Tell the HOA that you will sue them for the neighbors Vines bring pictures showing where the vines come from and tell them either they could take care of the problem or you will be suing them for harassment
When residents are dissatisfied with their HOAs, there are several ways they can attempt to resolve the issue. Ursula Burgess, an attorney with 18 years of community association legal work, warns that completely dissolving an HOA is a lengthy and expensive process. It's usually best to start small and attempt reform first. Burgess recommends residents become active members of their HOA to stay informed and have a platform to voice their concerns. Often, a problematic HOA can be fixed by removing a board member or two. “The good news is that there is generally a mechanism that allows for members to vote out board members,” says Burgess.
#16
They wanted me to switch the color of the lightbulbs I used outside.
Nah, I don't need someone who is that picky to have ANY power over my property.
At that point, it's no better than renting.
Milady Blue 3 years ago
You could always tell them that if they don't like the color of your lightbulbs, they are free to go ahead and buy you a whole new box, at their expense, and with no compensation to them for being such picky little whiners.
ZentheOgre 3 years ago (edited)
Till they put amendment to the hoa rules that bar multicolor or non full spectrum lights outside of Dec. Warn you once then st on the fees till they can place the house under a repossess order. It's a crappy move and people do end up forking out legal fees and can and do lose their house.not agreeing but shady hoa moves do happen and this is a primary one
Load More Replies... Pamela Blue 3 years ago
I hate to sound juvenile, but this would make me want to go over to their house and then send them a letter saying I didn't like the colour of something they did with their house. DAMN I HATE THESE PEOPLE!!!!
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
I would definitely have bought one of those new “smart” bulbs that can basically turn any color of the rainbow XD I’d have set a program to cycle/flash through a new color every second. And I’d promptly get kicked out of the HOA neighborhood XD
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Okay first off what was the color of your light bulbs? If you had something that was completely crazy yes they would have a right to say that that's unacceptable. Remember most associations want conformity and if everybody's got white lights and you decide to string up Christmas lights that's something exactly make you popular.
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
What you need to do in a situation like this is thoroughly research your bylaws to see if it has anything specific about lights. There's an instance about somebody that did exactly this and that there was nothing about the color of the lights so what he did is he put up these incredibly hideous pink lights and there was nothing the board could do about it because it was nothing mentioned in the bylaws. Remember these prick board members will always try to create rules but make sure the rules do not interfere with the bylaws because if they do that is illegal.
Anthony Czuczman 3 years ago
Did you not get a copy of the rules and regulations. It amazes me when people play the victim for breaking an HOA rule THEY agreed to when they closed on the property.
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
It’s so nice and easy to crap out such wise, sage advice to random strangers on the internet, isn’t it? If you took one second to have a thought before posting, it may have occurred to you that some people may not have an easy choice to “stay away” from HOA neighborhoods. Perhaps there was no other housing available in the area (especially true recently). Perhaps they moved in before HOA rules got so crazy. Perhaps they were deceived about the extent of the HOA’s rules before moving in and now it is financially impossible for them to move out.
Load More Replies... #17
My grandparents lived in a old folks community with a zealous hoa. My grandmother had to go to the hospital, cause of her many health problems. My grand father would go with her. This happened once when I was visiting. There was a knock on the door at about 10am. Two elderly women with clipboards immediately jump into a speech about how the trash cans hadn't be brought in. I explained the situation. One of them said she was in the hospital the previous week but still managed to bring in her trash can and handed me what looked like a ticket for $50. F*ck. That. Sh*t.
Khavrinen 3 years ago
Well, of course; they actually HAVE HOA regulations.
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Naj Kutait-Faulkner 3 years ago
Yeah - I had cancer and was quarantined for a week upstairs because I was literally radioactive having ingested 131mc of radioactive iodine in treatment. HOA sent an unsigned hate email because a tree limb extended past our yard into the street and they didn’t like how our yard looked. No call, no visit, just a sh***y email with no name - just HOA. Husband wrote back a great email and we never heard from them again.
Cold Contagious 3 years ago
That's insanely sad, but I'm glad he took care of it. I hope you're feeling better now.
Load More Replies... Uber Mensch 3 years ago
If it was THAT important, why didn't _one of them_ move the trash can?
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
“Your grandmother was in the hospital LAST week. Only one hospital trip per month allowed!!” Is probably what these witches were thinking!
justmemorticia 3 years ago
Well if she's that chipper, why doesn't she show her neighbourly spirit, shove that fine back to where the sun doesn't shine and take the trash can with her?
Pamela Blue 3 years ago
I would have asked them whatever happened to neighbourliness? Instead of handing out fines, why didn't she simply take the bins around to the side of the house? A$$holes!
#18
I was just learning to drive and parked my car too far away from the curb. Parents and neighbors didn't get along so neighbors measured the distance from the wheels to the curb and parents got fined. Now I live in the country with pretty much no rules. We have goats and emus in our front yard.
Jo Firth 3 years ago (edited)
Sounds like you are in Australia. Where was this as I've never heard of an HOA here and to avoid it like the plague.
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
Goats and emus are pretty common in America too especially in Texas
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Devil's Advocate 3 years ago
Sounds like the car was "abandoned" rather than parked, and likely in the way of free-flowing traffic, actually a fineable offence in several countries. Still picky though
Callie Ge 3 years ago (edited)
Australia Does not Have HOAs. We have Shire Councils. People pay annual council Rates & the council maintains Roads, footpaths, parks, libraries , water supply, Sewage& all other public places. It’s possible a random Council Parking Inspector saw it, you would have to be a long way from the kerb to get a fine But you may have been parked too close to a corner which would incur a small fine.
Elissa Gow 3 years ago
No HOA but body corporate for apartments and town house complexes in Aus. Definitely much more lenient though. Can have rules about paint colour, and about tidiness of what of the property is visible (front garden, balcony etc).Never heard of fines though, has always been pretty chill.
Jessany Trotter 3 years ago
Yikes. Emus aren’t native to the U.S by any stretch! They’re native of Australia! We’ll accept them back if you like!
Clan Leader 3 years ago
There aren’t any HOAs in Australia so it must have been a council fine.
Callie Ge 3 years ago
You're in Australia. We have shire councils that take care of all the services & stuff but they don’t care what colour your house is, how many Christmas lights you’ve got ( the more the better) & unless your front yard is a jungle they don’t care how long your grass is. HOAs have way too much petty power. There should be a charter that limits HOAs power to a few areas. Public & communal areas, they shouldn’t have power over what you do in your own house and yard.
Parmeisan 3 years ago
They're in California: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/jhz9bc/comment/ga4ooj4
Load More Replies...Burgess also encourages passionate members of HOA communities to join their own boards and change the system from the inside. After all, HOAs “really are meant to be there for good reasons,” she says. “If they’re not operating properly, then we’ve just got to go in and fix them.”
#19
Upscale beach neighborhood, Repeatedly refused my solar panel application, sighted the location of them as being an eye sore (top of the back side of the house....not visible from street) and fought me at four different meetings, delaying my installation, ultimately cited the state law and they immediately backed down and amended their covenants- ps, a clothes line is a "solar collection device" and they cannot deny you use of that either, so if you want to play dirty- hang a bunch of beach towels in your yard!
Adrienne Mcginley 3 years ago
If you want to play dirty, hang your sexy underwear or ragged old tighty whities on your clotheslines! Believe me, I've been tempted after I caught flack for having a clothesline in my carport!
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Yeah basically if you have the what I call dryer line law or the solar panel law you can tell the HOA to go pound sand. The same goes for satellite dishes. Now I will tell you you cannot Mount satellite dish on the side of your unit whether it's free-standing or a townhouse. They cannot however prevent you from say mounting it in a bucket of cement like a 5 gallon bucket. And have it on your back deck. Tell them that you will contact the federal government and you will have the federal government sue the association that will scare the c**p out of them.
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
This varies state by state here in New Hampshire there's no law covering this. We do have some residents who do want to put solar panels on their units we have townhouses and single detached family houses. We have this real prick of a board member named Lori. She's what I call a see you next Tuesday. She's been trying to prevent all of this and I told her I said before you sit there and try and do this you better make damn sure what the state laws are in this matter because if not you could be in for a whale of a lawsuit and I would more than willing to join it against you. Is she in a couple of the other board members are people who should have their brake lines cut.
#20
It's 6:30 AM, and my cats are going nuts, and I realize someone is in my backyard. At the time I worked as a bouncer and very frequently got the "I'm going to come to your house" type threats. I live in the same HOA (albeit a huge one) as a bunch of the assh*le customers. My sliding door starts jiggling. I grab a gun, and throw open the blinds. Outside, on my porch is a f*cking old man. I start screaming, make him get on his knees and call the cops. Low and behold, he's an "inspector" from my HOA, there because a neighbor reported me cutting down a half dead tree that was about to fall on my house. "town" cops show up. They are actual police, but only work in the HOA, they are not happy with me, but because I said the right words on the 911 call, the county sheriffs also show up. They basically have an argument with the local cops about the fact that being a HOA inspector doesn't allow you to come onto someone's enclosed deck and that since I didn't physically attack the inspector, I didn't commit a crime. We spend all morning going back and forth, finally, we basically agree to a "everyone go home" agreement. HOA sends me a strongly worded letter.
Kantami Blossom 3 years ago
If he's attempting to open your door then he's breaking the law, working for an HOA doesn't give him the right to enter your home unannounced/uninvited.at 6:30am that should come under Trespass laws.
Chucky Cheezburger 3 years ago
Hell, just being in the backyard is trespassing, much less trying to get...in...the ...house...Old guy is lucky his brains weren't painted on the deck.
Load More Replies... cybermerlin2000 3 years ago
Send a letter back with one sentence saying: Next time I pull the trigger
Kathy Pearlman 3 years ago
Again - you have to pay an HOA fee, WTF do they do with those fees?
Jeannette 3 years ago (edited)
Maintenance fees as in street lamps, roads, green spaces, playequipment, or if they have community pool, that kind of stuff
Load More Replies... Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Okay there's something similar to this happening number of years ago where you had to keep your garage door open to show that you weren't renting out the garage. Needless to say a lot of units got broken into obviously. At that point people began closing the garage doors and began getting fined. One of the guys that was head of this group heard some noise in his garage and came to find the board president had stuck in through a side door that was unlocked and was investigating inside his garage. It's amazing what a 2x4 smashed over a head can do. The board president wound up in the hospital. He and the HOA were sued because the homeowner it turned out was a retired lawyer. They sued and collected enough to basically Force every member on the board to sell and they then dissolved the HOA.
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
There's a situation I believe in California. Where everybody has to keep the garage open. This is to prove that there's nobody living in the garage. Of course theft and robberies and Sue because the HOA is not paying attention to the people coming and going in the association so a lot of people got robbed. One of the worst offenders in this whole thing was the board president. Most of the units had a side entrance by the garage and what this guy would do is he would actually sneak in and look at people's garages and then obviously cause trouble. Well he did this to this one guy who is basically a real adversary of his. The guy I just saw him coming went into the garage with a good old-fashioned Louisville slugger. What's the board president was inside the homeowner as you can imagine cracked his skull & put the guy in critical condition in the hospital. The homeowner immediately sued the board the HOA and the now critically injured board president. He won multiillion dollar suit.
#21
When I was a kid my parents had a house in a nice cul-de-sac, but it was a working class neighborhood. The transmission in my truck took a doo doo so I replaced it in our driveway. A few days later we got a letter citing a clause stating all improvements done on property must be done by a licensed contractor. It was a far reach but they stood by it as there was nothing in the CC&Rs against working on personal vehicles. My dad made me pay him back for the fine but for awhile afterwards I’d go put some oil or coolant under the HOA presidents cars and hope he wasting money chasing a nonexistent problem.
Megan O'Neill 3 years ago
How does work on a car count as a home improvement? Should have fought that, especially if there wasn't anything in the CC&R about it.
Chucky Cheezburger 3 years ago
Even more fun...get a valve core tool from any auto parts store. Unscrew the valve core on a tire to let the air out, tighten it back...How many times will they have the tire "fixed"? Who knows...
Nirdavo 3 years ago
What I don't understand: Why is membership in an HOA mandatory in certain "communities". Here in Europe, if I do not want the "services" of such private organisations, no one can force me to join and they can't do sh*t about it. Also, most of the ridiculous rules are simply unenforcible or plainly illegal here, and the HOA would get hefty fines for harassment if they tried to pull such stunts.
somegirlwho 3 years ago
If the house is part of an HOA development, you have to agree to the terms of the HOA in order to buy the house. My sister just bought a house, and one dealbreaker for her was it not being in an HOA community.
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Cameron Sunshine-Longway 3 years ago
great f*****g dad, make you pay him for the HOA being d***s
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
That's a nice devious little trick but the thing is that get backfire on you so be very careful and that sort of stunt you could end up costing your father his house if that ever got caught.
Even without an HOA in effect, nosy neighbors still find ways to monitor one another. Websites and apps such as "Nextdoor" have become increasingly popular in recent years, as they help neighbors stay informed about their area. Nextdoor is filled with posts of neighbors offering fruit from their gardens, alerting others of garage sales and asking for recommendations of where to find the best ramen nearby. At the same time, Nextdoor sometimes houses warnings about "suspicious individuals" spotted. Often these are accompanied by a grainy screenshot of security camera footage featuring an unsuspecting passerby. Rarely would there be any actual cause for suspicion. It's also not hard to find posts on Nextdoor complaining about the aesthetics of someone's home or demanding that everyone in the area mow their lawns.
#22
My dad was telling me a story about their HOA this week. A homeowner in their neighborhood passed away, and hadn't yet paid their HOA dues for the month. AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE, the HOA president approached the mourning family and asked what their plans were for paying the back dues, and for paying any dues until the house was sold. Simply amazing.
Andrew Betts 3 years ago
I would have told them that since the person that owes them the money is dead, most likely never.
Autumn Artemis 3 years ago
Ask them when THEIR funeral service is, and then you can pay them back then.
LynzCatastrophe 3 years ago
You'll get your fines at your own funeral, which might be sooner than you think.
Mr Zipperface 3 years ago
And what are your plans for paying your medical bills? Because when I'm finished with you they will be extensive.
John Baker 3 years ago
It will probably come as no surprise to find that 99.99% of HOA board members are Republicans.
#23
Can’t be parked in the same reserved parking space for more than 72 hours. Kinda F’ed up they enforce that during a pandemic.
Can’t park your vehicle with the front or rear bumper sticking over the curb.
Pick up trucks have to have a bed covering.
No kids toys, including bikes and scooters can be left outside when not being used.... got a fine for that one when my daughter took a break to eat lunch.
Can’t have interior lights on past 10pm without have curtains closed.
Trash has to be put out behind your car after 9pm the night before it’s picked up. It doesn’t get picked up until around 7am. No fun when you have to leave before 7. No guidance on where to put it if you don’t have a car or have to leave before 7. When asked, they tell me to just take it to the dump myself if I can’t follow the rules.
Pamela Blue 3 years ago
OMG this one made me laugh. You have your own parking space but can't park your car there for more than 72 hours? I'd love to know the reasoning behind that one. LOL! I think it's time that entire neighbourhoods get together and hold these mini-dictators to task for their idiocy. Either make reasonable rules or bugger off! That would be my answer, but then I'd never buy a home where I had no say in what I do with my own property.
Panda-riffic 3 years ago
Please advise where this community is located so I can be sure to stay far away!
LagoonaBlueColleen 3 years ago
Just sounds like made up reasons to scam money out of people. Why do homeowners put up with it?
Gloria Hafner 3 years ago
black out curtains in case you get bombed by Nazi fighter planes? War ended over 50 years ago.
Robert Thompson 3 years ago
And I thought my HOA was bad. We only have to move our cars every 5 days. (but I have real people for neighbors and if you don't report me, I won't report you.)
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Okay this is where you need to get off your a*s and go to board meetings. You need to properly read your bylaws you need to talk to your neighbors and find out what works. Run for the board and set things right
#24
My daughter was a lifeguard at the pool in our community and they weren’t allowed to give out certain equipment (it was for swimming lessons). One day the HOA president asks for equipment and my daughter says no as she was instructed. The HOA president actually says “Do you know who I am?” Then he proceeded to call her boss.
Puppeteer Saint 3 years ago
Agreed.. This story feels unfinished and the suspense is killing me.
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 3 years ago
This is the reason HOA's exist...to give otherwise unimportant people a false sense of power.
Justme 3 years ago (edited)
Please don’t ever do this to a kid. No, they don’t know who you are, nor do they care. Kid’s working their first job, doing what they’re told to do, don’t need to be berated by your pompous a**. (Using the term “kid” loosely as someone working one of their first jobs ~16-25)
Joe Edwards 3 years ago
Generally when they say that, they have no real power in life and are just bullies that try to use whatever tiny power they do have.
Nextdoor has become so popular for neighborhood gossip that Cathy Adams wrote an article for The Independent discussing how the app satiates our "desire to be nosy". She mentioned that one of the most exciting posts she had seen was a photo of "a dumped, skeletal-looking snake on the local common surrounded by blue bin bags like some kind of pagan ritual". That certainly caused some stir in the chat. Luckily for her, Cathy's experience on the app has been mostly positive. But every now and then, a post pops up from an individual proving they would make a well-hated HOA president.
#25
Not necessarily a rule, but my HOA has been having a never ending battle with pigeons since I bought my condo 5 years ago. Their latest plan was to leave trays of poison seeds all over the complex (on the ground, no less). This resulted in a pigeon corpses appearing all over the complex with no noticeable decrease in the amount of pigeons hanging around. After a huge storm blew the trays over, it also resulted in everyone being afraid to walk their dogs for fear of ingesting poison. A+ work HOA
Cold Contagious 3 years ago
Introducing poisons into the environment. Many animals will eat the seeds. Rain water will wash the poison seeds into the grass, or run off into more water, it's ridiculous. You can't just be throwing poisoned seeds that attract many small animals wîlly nîlly all over the grounds of a condo, townhouse, apartment, or any other community, it doesn't matter who you are. Pets could be exposed to the seeds also, as well as the carcasses of deceased animals and their feces and become ill. Seems dangerous and cruel on so many levels.
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Jon Steensen 3 years ago
I heard a tragic story about someone loosing their puppy due to it eating rat posion that someone had left out and them not realise that that was what was going on until it was too late. And in a nabohrhood it can be even worse if someone's baby end up eating the stuff it could cost a human life! So you have to really think things through before leaving poison around on exposed surfaces where someone might not know to look out for it.
Heather Menard 3 years ago
That's illegal. All birds will eat it including ones that are endangered.
Laura Pantazis 3 years ago
Plus scavengers eat the dead pigeons, poisoning them as well. The pigeons decompose, resulting in the poison going into the ground. It was a cruel, horrible idea.
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Amanda Nolting 3 years ago
Had a similar problem at the last apartment I rented. We had a huge cricket problem one year. They were in the air vents. There were so many outside that it literally left a black smear on the pavement from backing your car out over them. Just crazy. Well they set out poison bait traps. Problem was the birds had been feasting on so many crickets. Soon the apartments were littered with dead crickets AND dead birds everywhere.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
You should have contacted the EPA on this and reported the HOA for doing this. That was an absolute violation of federal law to put poison in that fashion
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
What should happen in a situation like that you'll love this is basically the environmental protection agency should have been notified about this and the HOA would have been fined tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for that. Now here's the reason you may not do it they could Levy the fines on the association now is this the management company who did this because of it was they are the ones to be liable in this situation. So research that a little bit before you go and do what I suggested
#26
Not my HOA, but when we were condo-hunting we looked at one community that had a changelog for their house rules. They'd been amended from no pets to allowing one cat per unit, and then two weeks later back to no pets. What did that cat do?
Rahul Pawa 3 years ago
Here's the story I'm making up about this: the HOA president (or equivalent) wanted a cat, so they changed the rules. Then got the cat and found out they were allergic, so they changed the rules back.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Not sure they could force somebody to give up the pets when they change rules like that that's kind of ridiculous
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
What you need to do is you need to check in a situation like this the bylaws see what it says about pets. There is nothing about pets in the bylaws one way or the other. This should be a rule that is unenforceable in court.
#27
Window washers hired by homeowners must be chosen from an approved list of window-cleaning businesses by the HOA.
Kantami Blossom 3 years ago
I'd search the list of approved businesses and look for connections to the HOA members, if I found any connection I'd make a formal complaint about corruption.
Brett Layton 3 years ago
Ddo people actually hire window washers for their houses? Just use a garden hose
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
But then the window will be SPOTTY with dried water spots! :O An eyesore!!!
Load More Replies... Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Check your bylaws at the window washers that could be in a league of move for the HOA to be pocketing money. In our association you can use any contract you want but if the contract does make a mess of things you are on the hook for that mess so that's one of the reasons why they may have an approved list. But again check your bylaws. If it doesn't say anything about that you tell them that you'll choose whoever you wish they cannot make a rule that goes against any bylaw that is illegal that need to have a 67% vote of an association to make any by law changes
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
Again check the bylaws. This is most likely illegal because it's going to be kickbacks to the HOA aka the management company. Also see if anybody on the board happens to own any of these companies because again that is a conflict of interest which is punishable by law
If you ever own a home, I hope that you have the freedom to paint a mural on your garage door and plant as many cactuses in your front yard as your heart desires. But if you do end up in a neighborhood with a strict HOA, there better at least be a nice pool and some tennis courts to make the fees worth it. Don't forget to check out our previous piece featuring awful HOAs, and let us know in the comments if you have ever experienced restrictions like these!
#28
My parents moved into an HOA a few years ago. I lived with them temporarily. One day, someone from the HOA went around to every house with a color palette of shades of white that were acceptable for mailboxes to be painted in. If the white paint on a mailbox didn't exactly match one of the shades of white on their color palette, the mailbox had to be repainted, at the expense of the homeowner. My parents had to repaint their white mailbox so its shade of white was acceptable.
Pamela Blue 3 years ago
I would have painted my mailbox a "tie dye" pattern with wild colours, just to piss them off.
Uber Mensch 3 years ago
Mailboxes only white, or other colors allowed? I'd be sorely tempted to go with fluorescent green, or lavender with yellow polkadots, or something equally eye-searing.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
This is where people need to become active in their association they need to elect and remove board members at will. Most cases if you get 30% signatures of the members of an association they can have a special meeting. At that special meeting you can remove any or all the board members check your bylaws it should be in there it won't say about removing board members they'll just say you can hold a special meeting. Now the other thing you need to remember cuz this is what happened with us is they removed the previous board I had resigned prior to that so I wasn't affected. Now however we've got a group of little Hitlers running the association. Out of 496 units only about 150 people vote and a lot of them are a suck asses to this board.
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
Okay I can accept this to a point it has to be close it does not have to match it exactly. The only way they could match it exactly is if there is a listing of paints that are acceptable and it has to name the paints and it has to name the color code.
#29
They charged me $500 for leaving a glass cup on the bbq.
Damn I was pissed. My blood boils just thinking about it. I have so many other horrible stories like my wall was flooded inside and they refused to fix it even though it was a HOA problem. I pay $617 monthly. F bastards
Downunderdude 3 years ago
These amaze me. In Australia, we have body corporates but only in apartment blocks - never for detached houses.
Ariom Dahl 3 years ago
Ditto. Some of these HOAs sound like excuses for petty minded fools to harass their neighbours. As for imposing enormous fines -- my mind boggles.
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Devil's Advocate 3 years ago
You were daft enough to move in there, that's rent for some people!
Jodi Von Seggern 3 years ago
Lawyer up baby! They went and messed up your asset. Their only real job is protecting everyone's in the entire HOA. Sue for the wall fix and any drainage damage that resulted from their fault. Or small claims court so the busy bodies get to defend themselves in front of what are usually very no nonsense judges :-)
Chich 3 years ago
Where is this? There would be some serious s**t go down if that happened here.
Robert Thompson 3 years ago
Are you managed by Accocia? Cause that is the kind of stuff they do to me.
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
OMG We pay $600/year and have a nice pool, community parties, and friendly neighbors.
#30
I have hedges in the front yard. There's dirt under them because you know, plants grow from dirt. HOA comes by and says we absolutely can't have any exposed dirt, including under the shrubs. I didn't even know what I was supposed to do about that?? I just poured mulch over the dirt under the shrubs. They haven't said anything so I think that was the right thing to do. It definitely looks sh*ttier than just the plain dirt.
Wildest thing is that it was just the dirt under the shrubs for a literal decade
Jon Steensen 3 years ago
Buy a lot of colourful ball pit balls and cover the dirt under the bushes with that. To top it off you can add some glitter and perhaps some flashing lights to make the dull dirt look at bit brigter and more colourful. When someone has so much time on their hands that they need to invent a problem in order to feel productive, give them a real problem to worry about and you will make their day.
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
I don’t even live in an HOA neighborhood and I am going to take this advice about the ball-pit balls! My mother has fake grass on our lawns (she owns 2 houses next to each other, I live alone in “exile” in one with my pets, lol) and she has palm trees planted in rando places on the lawn. The trees are in round dirt pits. I am ABSOLUTELY going to fill the pits with ball-pit balls, or bits of colored glass, or something colorful and awesome XD
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Pamela Blue 3 years ago
Again, I would have purchased a few dozen ugly garden gnomes and placed them under the bushes covering the dirt. If they complained, I'd just say "take your choice - dirt or gnomes?"
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
I'm really surprised that a lot of these things that I'm seeing that the association does not maintain the plantings. Association is responsible for maintaining all of the plants around The association along with trash collection plowing of the streets and the maintenance of the outside of the townhouse is not the detached the detached your responsible for most things with the exception of the roof
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
Mulch is sometimes randomly-sized assorted chunks of wood bits, twigs, and crap. It’s not a uniform color, size, or shape. It’s chaotic. OP does not like the look of it. OP likes dirt better. OP is entitled to their opinion and is not “crazy”.
Load More Replies... #31
Condo where I used to live forbade pickup trucks. In Georgia.
Pamela Blue 3 years ago
I need to know how this can even be legal? How can an HOA tell you what vehicle you can drive? Again - "take me to court."
Dre Mosley 3 years ago (edited)
Pickup trucks are so common and ubiquitous in the US, so that's kinda crazy, especially in the Southern states.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
I've seen some of the trucks at certain hoa's and I can understand trucks being banned some of them look like absolute c**p machines.
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
This is where well you used to live so it probably doesn't matter now. Again though this is where homeowners need to band together to fight a common enemy which in most cases is the board. Now if this rule was put into effect because there's a lot of really c**p trucks sitting in the area leaking gas and oil and stuff like that okay I can see the reason for having it.
Sonia Laxton 3 years ago
Georgia is considered country! Hope there were four wheeler tracks in yards and streets. They “ain’t” a pick up truck. Blahahaha
#32
We are only allowed to have chained link fences. No wooden or any other fencing. I’m sorry, but I want some privacy in my back yard. Our houses are so close together I can see everything the neighbors around me are doing.
Jenna 3 years ago
I've seen chain link with plastic slats in it for privacy, I wonder how the HOA would feel about that.
Insert Generic Username 3 years ago
The HOA at my brother's old house was so ridiculous that he wasn't allowed to make changes to his fully fenced in, private backyard. He also got fined when his van stuck out half an inch beyond his driveway's boundary. The straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was a strongly worded letter about the "undesirable" people they'd noticed in the neighborhood since he'd moved in. Apparently I was "undesirable" people. To clarify, I'm über goth, but don't have a criminal record or even any minor traffic tickets. I guess based on appearance alone I was deemed less than. He sold the house and moved to the woods where he can live how he likes and do what he wants to his own house and property.
Hrefna Frederiksen 3 years ago
Ligustrum vulgare or common privet is a really dense-growing plant which doesn´t spread much if given two cuttings a year. Technically not a fence.
Judo Flipped By Nobody 3 years ago
There was a house in the city where i live that wanted to put up a white tree fence like the one everyone else in the neighborhood has, and they weren't allowed to because it was "In the way of traffic", but nothing was done to the big ass house that makes it so that you can't se cars coming at all
Rahul Pawa 3 years ago
This is a weird one. Usually HOA rules are about keeping home values up...I don't think chain link fences do that. Leads me to think this rule was driven by greed. I wonder if a former board member (or their close friend) ran a chain link fencing business.
Uber Mensch 3 years ago (edited)
Hmmmm. Might be time to have a garden, and grow some blackberries RIGHT NEXT to the fence. Or mabe some ivy, or something similar.
#33
The fences on your property must all be the same color, and match the adjoining fences of the neighbors property. The community was planned single-family houses with fences between houses. Looking from the street it went House-fence-house-fence-house-.... I was in the middle of the row and had a shared fence with both neighbors, that each each had their own color. I got a violation notice the same week I moved it. If I painted my fences to match each other, at least one of my neighbors wouldn't have matched theirs on the other side. This would have sent a cascade of violations down the street.
cybermerlin2000 3 years ago
Strip the fence back to wood and give it a clear wood varnish finish. Can't be fined if you don't use any colours and besides, the natural wood look is rather nice
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Bring your stupid board president down and show him the problem if he's that dumb then you tell him fix it
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
Again numbers work get together with other homeowners and go after the board. This is Nationwide I'm going to tell you a few things that they have to allow one: you as an owner have a right to see all of the financials if they refuse that is illegal report this to your State attorney general's office. Again I cannot stress this more strongly you need to read verbatim your bylaws. Rules that these a****** board members like to put in place cannot conflict with the bylaws if they do go to a meeting and say this conflicts with by law number 6A. This is of course an example I'm giving you but if it does conflict with a bylaw the rule is invalid and if they refuse to change it you tell them you will be contacted legal authorities and you'll be suing. Again contact the state government officials because they have to be the ones to approve and disprove HOA is to begin with.
#34
We have a landscaping committee. If you want to plant flowers, they must be approved by the committee before you plant them.
ZentheOgre 3 years ago (edited)
Good ones are wanting to prevent invasive or otherwise damaginge species. The bad ones are just one woman saying the color of x flower clashes with the neighborhood
Willow Quinn 3 years ago
That's exactly why we didn't buy our dream house. The HOA rules made you pay a $200 application fee just to tell them what flowers you wanted to plant. If they didn't like that type of flower, you can't plant it and you're out $200. Instead we bought an old house in the middle of town built before HOAs, and the $50k in upgrades we had to spend was worth every penny just to avoid being treated like tenants.
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
I’d plant all fake flowers. The most obnoxiously-colored ones I could find (or I’d dye em myself!) I’m sure this would be a violation too, but… XD “I didn’t need to get them approved first as they’re not FLOWERS! They’re not real!”
Megan Curl 3 years ago
All of these stories bring back such awful memories of living in an HOA community. Never again! Power hungry nobodies with a license to harass. Hard pass.
Willow Quinn 3 years ago
Exactly. Our realtor told us that those insane HOA communities are because the head of some company retired, but still needs people to boss around.
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Pamela Blue 3 years ago
So I wouldn't "plant" my flowers. I'd have a Container Garden, which would look beautiful, but would probably drive them nuts.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
We don't need to be approved by the landscape committee the only thing would be if it's an invasive plan such as the what is referred to as burning bush which is an invasive plan.
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
One of the more dumb things is that we planted years back these plants known as burning bush they are very invasive. They turn a deep flaming red in the fall which is very attractive but then eventually they spread all over the local property. We as owners however in most cases can plant what we want. If you have say a real d**k for a board member or even a couple of them. Get poison ivy seed it's available. Then in the fall spread it all over their area.
#35
They sued me for thousands of dollars in late fees. The day after Christmas. I was told my dues date was the 15th when I bought the house. Paid the 13th for a year or more. It was actually the 1st of the month. Turns out the dipsh*t admin at the management co. input my previous address, an apartment, when setting up my account, so I never saw a late notice. Explained the situation, they said "No exceptions". I couldn't afford a lawyer to fight it.
Carol Emory 3 years ago
There are plenty of lawyers that would love to take this to court and make the HOA pay their legal fees. I'd start making phone calls. Most likely, the HOA will back down when they get a formal letter from a legitimate lawyer.
Laura Pantazis 3 years ago
In many states, the HOA likely wouldn't have to pay the homeowner attorney fees - but the homeowner may have to pay the HOA attorney fees. It's how the bylaws are often written.
Load More Replies... Milady Blue 3 years ago
Find a lawyer who will work pro bono. Also, report your HOA to the city, county, state and whomever else you can find.
Horatio Valentine 3 years ago
You don't need a lawyer to fight that kind of thing. That is small claims stuff. In Texas you can sue for $20,000 in small claims court with no lawyer required. In some states it is higher and others it is lower, but I would definitely have looked into that before rolling over. The loser gets to pay all the filing fees and everything too, so there is zero risk if you are in the right like that.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Everyone can afford a lawyer. What you need to do is find a lawyer who takes these on a contingency basis and this looks like one of those. They sue the association for hundreds of thousands of dollars they get their 33% and you get your mess straightened out
Tristan James Chandler 2 years ago
Everyone could afford a lawyer if you can buy in an association you can find a lawyer. There are attorneys who will take situations like this at a reduced fee especially if it looks like they could win a big lawsuit against the HOA look into it.
Nikki Angulo 3 years ago (edited)
A paralegal might be able to draft up a letter for you? For anyone else in such circumstances.
Robert Thompson 3 years ago
HOA's are bullies. Bullies pick on people who can't/don't defend themselves.
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While homeowners associations are designed to maintain communities and ensure everyone's adherence to shared standards, the execution often leads to frustrations among residents. Much like how some neighbors impose unofficial rules, such as collecting a 'tax' on Halloween candy, HOAs can get carried away with impositions.
These strict regulations remind me of a neighborhood confrontation involving a much-debated candy tax. It seems that power dynamics in communities can be a tricky business both during festive seasons and everyday life.
#36
We had a cookie-cutter house built. One of the color palettes we could choose from included an accent color for the door/shutters that was a dark purple. The hubs and I are a little kooky so we selected it. At our final walkthrough, our door and shutters are brown. I tell the general that it’s wrong and show him my contract. We were the only homeowners in the subdivision that selected that color, so the HOA decided to not offer it anymore. We said fine, that puts you in breach of contract and we want to be released. A few phone calls later, my door and shutters are purple and I’m happy. We purchase the house. At least once a year we got a nasty letter from the HOA about our “unapproved door color.” Every time I sent them a copy of my contract and their bylaws stating that the colors from the builder are allowed. Not my problem you guys discontinued it after I picked it.
#37
Obligatory “not me but”, a Texas HOA foreclosed on and sold the house of a soldier while he was serving in Iraq. Because he and his wife were behind $800 dollars in dues
#38
I live in a neighborhood that has a $1 / month HOA because we have a shared drive with an area drain. That money goes to emptying the area drain every couple of years. The CC&Rs are very laid back / there are no rules so I [wrongfully] assumed that would be the experience living here. The HOA president (the guy who schedules the area drains being emptied) is a Boomer on a power trip. He is in my business about everything. I got a new furnace and he threatened to sue me because the utility company had to use the driveway. I scheduled a specialty garbage pickup with my garbage company and he called me screaming that I put garbage out in front of my house that morning. I have a retaining wall in front of my house and he came by and yelled at me for cleaning it. The list goes on and on. Total nightmare experience and I will never live somewhere with an HOA of any kind ever again.
cybermerlin2000 3 years ago
$1 a month? I would refuse to pay and tell him to f*ck off and, if you have more people live in your houses than him, vote to disband the HOA
#39
My old boss lived in an HOA that demanded that trash cans couldn't be at the curb for more than THREE HOURS before or after trash collection. She got fined all the time because she was working during those hours and would have to bring it in late.
Arthur Waite 3 years ago
In my neighborhood, we have an unofficial 'Good Neighbor Policy', an someone will always pull the empty bins away from the street, if you can't, or the trucks come at an odd time.
Anna Tribe 3 years ago
I have a regular garbage bin and a smaller one for food trash and these are shared with the apartment next door to me. Little info. The apartments are 1 floor, side by side so nothing upstairs. As I'm disabled my neighbour who is a younger man pulls them out to the road for pick up. I've noticed they've been at the roadside for days so I'm guessing he is on vacation. I can't pull them myself so they'll be there until he is back or someone else is kind enough to move them. No hoa which means no fines thank goodness
#40
My parents modified the front porch, and now it was different from the other houses in the block. Once it was done, a middle aged lady comes out of nowhere (I had never seen her before, nor she ever talked to us before) to kindly warn us that we had just lost the right to vote on HOA or some sh*t like that since we did an "unauthorized modification". We replied with the equivalent of "K, thanks". And, once again, we haven't seen her ever since. It's like she crawled out of her lair to inform us that we lost a right we didn't even use, as if it were a huuuge major offense. F*ck that.
ZentheOgre 3 years ago
What's effed about that is how many people get screwed over wheel chair ramps. You think medical items would be protected but often have clauses that prohibit them such as any ramps must be made of concrete (professional installs only) or wood is only allowed from certain stained colors. The space underneath must be cleaned weekly. No dirt debris is allowed to collect and other such things that seem to ignore that the ramp is to help a person with mobility issues and not a decor item
#41
Not allowed to park pick up trucks in the drive way with two exceptions: the Cadillac EXT and the Lincoln Blackwood. These were described as luxury vehicles. The HOA president also drove an EXT so he basically exempted himself from the rules.
Seadog 3 years ago
So, pick ups aren't allowed in the driveway but I'm guessing cars are so go buy the worst looking POS you can find and park it in the driveway. When they complain, tell them because your truck is in the garage (per regulations) there's nowhere to park the car but in the driveway.
#42
We've only been part of an HOA for the last few months, and it's already living up to every stereotype I ever had in my head. They held our once-annual meeting with very little notice, and like 6 people showed up. They elected a new "association" and immediately decided to spend $700 on dog sh*t receptacles, even though like 4 people have dogs, and the whole neighborhood is one street. This sparked an incredible amount of drama. One guy on the HOA decided he was going to get super defensive when people started questioning this decision, and it quickly devolved into him just taunting people on Facebook because he was on the board and they weren't, and if they didn't like his authority, they should change the by-laws. Then someone left a bunch of dog sh*t in his driveway. Then he resigned from the HOA. No word on the dog sh*t receptacles. This has all happened in the past 3 days.
#43
HOA “lost” paperwork for change of ownership when we bought our house. They sent us letters saying there would be a lien placed on our home if we didn’t pay the overdue amounts plus over $200 of late fees. I had to call them 3 times to even get someone on the phone who knew how to help me. Then I contacted escrow who said they had already not only sent all the paperwork, but turns out we had already paid the fees. Called HOA again and they were insistent that we hadn’t paid or sent over paperwork. Called escrow again and requested they contact the HOA themselves to sort this out and HOA still insisted we owed a late fee. Started losing my sh*t until escrow said they would pay the late fee.
A month later we got a letter in the mail saying we were being fined for leaving our trash bins out longer than necessary. F*ck HOA.
#44
Other way around, my mom was the president of the HOA for her backwoods little neighborhood. Maybe 30 people lived there. Everyone used one well. The well had a problem once so no one had water. It was 800 dollars for a temporary fix or 2000 for a permanent fix... My mom had a meeting where out of the 30 ppl 5 showed up. No big deal, those 5 people funded the 800 dollars to get it fixed since they’ve been without water for almost a week. No one would spilt the cost and dues were so low it didn’t cover them so those 5 people paid for everyone’s well. Well in preparation for the actual fix she tried to raise money but only got half away there when it broke. My mom went door to door asking for everyone’s share before they’d fix it. It was like 50 dollars. It was another week without water. No one would pay for the well they all used. Finally around half of the neighborhood raised the money to fix it. Later they all had a huge BBQ at my parents house but the people who didn’t pay weren’t invited
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
It still gets too me seeing "HOA" and "backwoods town" in the same sentence. Usually when you get to hicksville people are so anti HOA I'd be afraid to even utter the words. I could just picture one of my neighbors if anybody tried to tell him to get the 8 broken down cars off his yard or my other neighbor if you told her she can't have her bright pink and purple barn 🤣. I'm wondering if the other half of this argument is the people that paid to have their own personal wells put in wondering why the heck they should be responsible for paying for everyone else's water.
april jenkins 3 years ago
how about not allowed to use the well if you did not help out?? then again... some may be not financially capable??
#45
my Friend lives in a neighborhood with an HOA and it doesn't let you paint your room any colors except white or light grey, because it can "attract attention" if seen through a window
oktopus 3 years ago
Thank goodness this kind of authoritarian meddling never happens in the USA, Land of Freedom! Oh,, wait...
Snorkeldorf 3 years ago (edited)
I do not live in a/an HOA neighborhood and we can all do what we want with our small one-story houses. A while back a couple moved in a few doors down. Painted their house avocado green with a burnt orange accent wall in the living room facing the large picture window in the front. They always kept their curtains open. We all questioned their taste. Now we have an inherited house up the street that they are remodeling to flip. They had the siding on the outside look like a red barn. Uhh....doesn't fit in and sticks out like a sore thumb. Again, we are all laughing our behinds off and guessing who will buy it Why would anyone sacrifice this kind of fun for a Home Owner's Association? Honestly, people have the right to do what they want with their own property. Short of something like raising a herd of cattle in an urban area, I will always support people to do their own thing with their own home.
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
The opposite side of this is the people that see their homes as investments in a financial sense and do not want their property values to go down. I wouldn't ever dream of living in an HOA controlled home. I'm 100% with you, my house= MY house but I can appreciate the fact that if my neighbors and I decided to clean up our properties and subdivided our unused plots (we all have farms that cover 750 acres) we could have multimillion dollar homes. 😉 I'm perfectly happy with my farm not being worth that much for space and the freedom for my neighbor to have a pink and purple barn.
Load More Replies... Anna Tribe 3 years ago
Couldn't live there. For me white is cold and sterile and grey is depressing.
#46
HOA lost my quarterly check. Sent a notice that I didn't pay an October quarter. Showed them the receipt from when I dropped it off. Then started naming each quarter before until I didn't have receipt proof they received it and then it was "that is the one you didn't pay". Tried to charge an extra $5 for something, sold the house and moved far away.
#47
I've never lived in one, but I remember a story where a guy wanted to build something like an 8 ft privacy fence. The HOA said the fence couldn't be higher than 5 ft. The wording only said fence, so he built a 5ft concrete partition, and stuck a 5ft fence on top of it.
#48
Friend of mine lived in a building that didn’t allow vacuuming between the hours of 1-3pm; the time of the HOA president’s child’s nap time.
Hermien Greeff 3 years ago (edited)
I am sure I can find other noise making equipment, not listed in their rules. Malicious compliance 101.
OMGhonestly 3 years ago
Yup. 1-3pm would become my daily drum practice time.
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#49
You can't leave your trash cans anywhere visible unless it's trash day. For reasons too difficult to explain, it's almost impossible to get the cans in the back yard, so we had them at the side of the house (in the shade, practically invisible unless you were standing in our driveway). Fast forward to a letter from the HOA reminding us of that rule and helpfully including a photo of our cans. My dad's/stepmom's condo association told them they had to get rid of a potted plant on their front porch because it clashed with their front door. Their WHITE front door. No colors clash with white!
Amanda Nolting 3 years ago
No trash cans visible unless it's trash day is pretty common. It sucks. But it's common.
#50
The HOA I'm in currently is controlled 100% by the building company that developed the neighborhood. That control moves to elections once 100% of the plots are developed within the development for residential purposes. The literal last plot currently has a nice looking storage garage for landscaping equipment for the communal areas that the builder maintains. They've maintained control of the HOA for the last ten years. They don't pester anyone. The only rules for appearances are that the property must comply with state/county/town codes for appearance, building, and fire code.
cybermerlin2000 3 years ago
Sounds like they planned a HOA blocker just to keep the corrupt away from power. Good for them
Jon Steensen 3 years ago
Sounds a bit like Greece, where you only pay property tax once a building is completed. Henc you see buildings with people living in them with rebars poking out the top of the walls due a first floor project that never get completed because no one has any intention of ever building it.
James016 3 years ago
Been to Greece many times and there is a lot of that.
Load More Replies... Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
I guess you're kind of lucky there. It could be much different if a neighborhood control freak gets president status.
#51
I was putting on new siding... very obviously too, had ladders up and everything. But there was just plywood up one morning on part of my house, facing the street. I got a knock on the door at 7:30 AM, a code enforcement officer (in uniform, looking vaguely like a cop) was visibly upset and acting like I'd taken a dump on the front sidewalk or something. Told me if I didn't have the siding up by the end of the day I'd start getting fined every day.
#52
My gf parks in the garage and I park in the driveway. I was getting quotes to get a little roof to go over my driveway to protect my car from our crazy weather. Block charter states that the house cannot be modified from its ORIGINAL design that was built in 1986 to include a roof extension either permanent or temporary. We get a severe hailstorm at least once every 2-3 years that causes billions in damage to homes and vehicles. But F*CK THAT we gotta make sure all our houses look similar.
Hopefulhippo 3 years ago
Dude, we just listened to that song in my class because we are going over the 1950s again. For the third year in a row
Load More Replies... cybermerlin2000 3 years ago
Send the bill for the damages to the HOA saying it could have been avoided, but they stopped you from taking measures
OMGhonestly 3 years ago
I am getting a sense of just how important conformity seems to be in America.
Jon Steensen 3 years ago
but it is so boring. I like houses reflecting the personalities of the people living in the, and some interesting quirks to explore much better than "if you have seen one, you have seen them all". Living your life to the fullest will create a litle mess now and then, and if you focus all your effort in making things always looking their best, you are wasting the limited amount of time you are given on something that is not the most important issues, and those resources could have been spend on something way more productive.
Load More Replies... #53
My HOA and their management company had a scam where they would not cash any dues check you sent them, no matter when you sent it, until after it was due, so they could add late fees. I would send the checks via Certified Mail, with delivery confirmation and return receipts, received with days to spare, and they still wouldn't cash them. Payment via their website never worked. I would call and try to pay by credit card over the phone, and they would just hang up. I handed the check to them in person... They still waited and charged a late fee. Then they refused to sign the closing paperwork when I sold my house. The delay almost cost me the sale. I'm honestly not sure if they were scumbags or just criminally lazy. Both are infuriating.
Mr Zipperface 3 years ago
That is fraud and needs to be reported to the police, sounds like the OP had plenty of evidence.
#54
We can't install solar panels on our roofs because they're an eyesore
cybermerlin2000 3 years ago
Check your state laws under energy conservation/green energy. State law overrules HOA rules
Carol Emory 3 years ago
Check your state laws and regulations. Many states have laws stating that HOA's and local municipalities cannot deny a home owner from putting up solar panels or any device that draws energy from solar sources.
#55
We rented a condo from the people who owned it and it was associated with a HOA. We like to grow things but there was no balcony so we just had two large pots, one on either side of our door. We got a notice one day that we had to get rid of our only plants because they didn’t fit the aesthetic of the building, or something. Basically, they were too ugly.
They also didn’t have a room to discuss whatever it is they discuss at meetings, so they would do it in the gym for some reason. They’d move all of the equipment to the side and set up their tables and chairs and then never moved anything back. One time I accidentally barged in on them in my workout gear and I actually had the nerve to ask them if there was a boardroom I could work out in. I said it on my way out, so I don’t know what their response was. But yeah, we didn’t renew our lease there.
#56
My dad lived on a golf course in St Augustine, FL that had a very relaxed, hands-off HOA. Unless someone filed a complaint. Then they had to act. Some retired jackass walked the neighborhood daily and reported anything he didn't like, and the HOA had to sort through his complaints to address those that were actually a violation of a rule. Most of his bullsh*t was just something he didn't like and he thought ought to be different. My dad had a small boat on a small trailer (like a bass boat with just enough trailer under it that it wasn't sitting on the ground) in his back yard. It belonged to a friend and we had use of it in exchange for storing it. You had to go into the yard and look over the fence to see it. But somehow, this jackass saw it and he reported it. Anyways, we had to comply because it WAS a rule and he WAS breaking it. But I always wanted to get revenge on that miserable old bastard. I wish he'd snapped a leg trying to climb the fence... But like most of these stories, it was an individual abusing the system that made it a pain in the d*ck. There's always at least one...
Carol Emory 3 years ago
According to St. Augustine's Ordinances, if you put up a "No Trespassing" Sign and they get another photo from this old man, he can be arrested and jailed for up to 60 days. Maybe that will teach him to mind his own business.
#57
There were 366 units spread out on over 200+ acres of land. One of the residents got fined $1,250 for putting outdoor Christmas lights on 2 trees in front of their unit (outdoor decorations being prohibited beyond residents' front door entryway).
#58
My grandparents once told me someone from the HOA came around one time to measure their grass with a ruler to see if it was over the allowed length.
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
All of these people who have too much time and not enough to do should take up painting or swimming
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
There's a neighborhood I drive through on my way to the nearest town to me where every Wednesday on my way to the pet store during the summer I get the joys of watching a sassy looking senior lady with a school ruler measuring her neighbors grass 🤣 poor neighbors, I can only imagine the BS she puts them through.
#59
This isn’t quite a traditional HOA story but I still think it is interesting. So at my school they closed off a fence letting kids go out one way, to walk home. Because of this my walk home was extended like 5 minutes, but it was still annoying. However one old dude named Frank let me walk through his yard to dramatically slow down the time of my walk home. Then he died (RIP) and his son liked me and gave me cookies, and then said the HOA said I couldn’t do it anymore. I’m still a bit bitter but the cookies were very good so it all evens out.
Jon Steensen 3 years ago
Well I guess the HOA cannot prevent him from having guest over, so pay him a short "visit" on the way home every day (basically just spend a few seconds saying hello and goodby in rapid suggesion. I also guess that they cannot disallow unplanned drop bys so you could just say that you went there to supprice him, but unfortunately it turned out that he was not a home. When you make stupid rules, you can be sure that someone will start looking for the loopholes to prevent them from having any effect. Silly rules will only cause silly actions.
#60
I recently started renting a house in an HOA community. One of the first pieces of mail I received was from the HOA telling me that my fence had not been approved by the board and the house is in violation of the HOA rules. That was a fun note to get in the first week after uprooting and moving across the country with no money.
#61
My wifes aunt and uncle live in an HOA neighborhood. Their current problem is that the ground is higher than their 1st level and it's slopped towards a group of condos. Every time is rains bad, their condos flood. They don't have basements. HOA won't do anything and it seems a few of their residents are lawyering up. This has happened since they put in a storm drain and for some reason it backs up into their common area which is behind the group of condos.
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
Sometimes buyers do need to look at the environment and either accept that nature is going to do its thing OR find somewhere else that doesn't have natural risks.
Anna Tribe 3 years ago
The school I went to in the 80's in the UK was built on land that had formerly been a swamp which had been drained. Even just a few years later it was already sinking and they've had to spend millions to raise it up all the time. Not sure how they ever got planning permission to build there..
Load More Replies... #62
In my neighborhood, we are not allowed to have blue trampoline covers. They must be green or black.
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
Blue tarps aren't allowed in many HOA neighborhoods. Blue cloth covers look too much like tarps so they ban them. Yea, it's dumb but I'm kind of glad, they're finding out a lot of things about tarps and forever plastics/ chemicals that aren't too good.
Load More Replies... #63
No oil derricks in front or behind the houses (inside your enclosed side yard is fine). Also, no gem mining anywhere on the property
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
Could be state ordinances. State laws sometimes regulate what can and cannot be mined/ collected and how it's collected.
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Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
BUT what about if you FIND gems while you are digging a tunnel to China?
Jon Steensen 3 years ago
Sounds like there is some really interesting story to dig out here. Such specific rules are normally the result of some sort of very peculiar incidences. It could e.g. be a lunatic redneck who thought they had had the million dollar idea and started digging for oil in their backyard without realising that there lot was in the wrong kind of area for such activities.
#64
No member of HOA here, but my landlord included a rule in my rental contract that I have to put up white curtains at all windows.
Carol Emory 3 years ago
Mine did too...to make the whole place look the same. Problem is, it gets very bright early in the morning sometimes, so we've taken to putting up blackout curtains over the existing blinds.
Dre Mosley 3 years ago
Glad I don't have one. I can do whatever I want with my property as long as I don't violate some city ordinance. If I want to paint my home bright orange with gargoyles on my roof, I can.
Hermien Greeff 3 years ago
This is a common law with rental buildings in nice areas when I lived in Cape Town. Curtains could be any colour inside, as long as the backing was white. It did make a huge difference in the appearance of the building as a whole from the outside. I love this rule!!
What do you think ?
Zedrapazia 3 years ago
I don't live in the USA and right now I'm just wondering why those HOAs even exist. They seem to be nothing but a bullshitty power tool for narcissists to bully around people.
Rahul Pawa 3 years ago
Well, historically HOAs were created to enforce segregation. The early HOAs had official rules preventing homeowners from re-selling their own homes to non-white families. I believe the motivation behind HOA policies is primarily protecting home values. 100 years ago, non-white families moving into the neighborhood was seen as a threat to home values for the entire neighborhood. Today the threat is anything out of place (visible trash cans, inadequate lawn care, clashing colors). They're driven by fear of declining home values to force everyone in the neighborhood to meet their particular standards.
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Michelle Bratt 3 years ago
My HOA told me I wasn't allowed to have my 12 inch x 12 inch "In this house we believe" sign (typical rainbow sign, science is real, women's rights are human rights, love is love). They said that it went against the "no signs" rule. So I asked them if everyone who had a "welcome" or "go team" or "my kid is" sign on their porch got a notice/fine and they said that "welcoming porch decor" was fine. They also volunteered that there's no restriction on flags. So I went to Etsy and custom-ordered a farmhouse plank style WELCOME sign but all the letters are different rainbow colors, and the sign actually reads, "All Are WELCOME Here". I placed it front-and-center on my porch and then I went and bought 5 different huge inclusivity flags and allyship flags (including one that says the same thing my sign said). So now instead of a small 12 x 12 sign I have 3 x 5 foot flags and a 6 inch by 5 foot plank.
Cherries and Lace 3 years ago
So "we love and welcome all" isn't welcoming decor but a sports team or kid brag is?
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Beth S 3 years ago
I feel that HOAs should have a check and balance system... This is what happens when an organization has become entirely too power hungry and it should be very illegal.
Carol Emory 3 years ago
Now repeat that sentence, just put American Government in place of HOA.
Load More Replies... Nubmaeme 3 years ago
When looking for a house, the first question I ask a realtor is "is there an HOA?" If there is, I don't even want to look at it, not even if it meets everything on my list. That's my No. 1 deal breaker. As long as I'm the one paying the mortgage and all the bills associated with owning the property, I'm the one making the decisions. I'm not paying some Karen to tell me what I can or can't do on my own property. Thankfully all my neighbors feel the same way.
The Deez 3 years ago
I read these lists and thank the good Lord Almighty that I don't live in a neighborhood with an HOA! And I think the first question I would ask, were I to move, would be if the house I was looking at was in a neighborhood with an HOA. If the answer was yes? There would be no sale. I refuse to put myself in a situation like this!!
Pamda Panda 3 years ago
At a condo I rented once: got a notice to remove the table from my balcony because it wasn't "outdoor furniture." As in, it was an "indoor table" and could not be outside. They even said it looked nice, but it was against the rules. I also got a text from the HOA queen bee at 6:30 one morning asking if I was ok because she noticed the living room light was on all night. (I forgot to turn it off before going over to my boyfriend's house for the night.) Invasive much?
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Because you are a renter the HOA can't do anything about you but they can find your landlord who owns the unit
Load More Replies...
GenericPanda09 3 years ago
When I imagine the kind of person that puts themselves forward for something like president of a homeowners association, I imagine some gossipy, insecure, petty tyrant who likes to play the big fish in an infinitesimally small pond. Most of these reinforce that view.
John Carr 3 years ago
These (and others like medical cost) stories really show just how messed up the US actually is. So much for the "land of the free".
Justme 3 years ago
Lived on an island and each neighborhood had to form an HOA. So we did - every member is automatically on the board. We had only a handful of meetings to create the charter which basically says we will not be holding any further meetings. When told we had to have rules - we made up a bunch like - homes must have a whole door, yards must be contained either by a fence or any other means, yards must be made up of any combination of living and non-living plants and or ornaments, … a bunch of dude… just enjoy your day kinds of rules. Can’t say we don’t have an HOA you island snobs.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
I can't figure how they can force a neighborhood to have an HOA if they don't own the property check into your local laws about that one in contact your State attorney general's office.
Load More Replies... Zedrapazia 3 years ago
I don't live in the USA and right now I'm just wondering why those HOAs even exist. They seem to be nothing but a bullshitty power tool for narcissists to bully around people.
Rahul Pawa 3 years ago
Well, historically HOAs were created to enforce segregation. The early HOAs had official rules preventing homeowners from re-selling their own homes to non-white families. I believe the motivation behind HOA policies is primarily protecting home values. 100 years ago, non-white families moving into the neighborhood was seen as a threat to home values for the entire neighborhood. Today the threat is anything out of place (visible trash cans, inadequate lawn care, clashing colors). They're driven by fear of declining home values to force everyone in the neighborhood to meet their particular standards.
Load More Replies... Michelle Bratt 3 years ago
My HOA told me I wasn't allowed to have my 12 inch x 12 inch "In this house we believe" sign (typical rainbow sign, science is real, women's rights are human rights, love is love). They said that it went against the "no signs" rule. So I asked them if everyone who had a "welcome" or "go team" or "my kid is" sign on their porch got a notice/fine and they said that "welcoming porch decor" was fine. They also volunteered that there's no restriction on flags. So I went to Etsy and custom-ordered a farmhouse plank style WELCOME sign but all the letters are different rainbow colors, and the sign actually reads, "All Are WELCOME Here". I placed it front-and-center on my porch and then I went and bought 5 different huge inclusivity flags and allyship flags (including one that says the same thing my sign said). So now instead of a small 12 x 12 sign I have 3 x 5 foot flags and a 6 inch by 5 foot plank.
Cherries and Lace 3 years ago
So "we love and welcome all" isn't welcoming decor but a sports team or kid brag is?
Load More Replies... Beth S 3 years ago
I feel that HOAs should have a check and balance system... This is what happens when an organization has become entirely too power hungry and it should be very illegal.
Carol Emory 3 years ago
Now repeat that sentence, just put American Government in place of HOA.
Load More Replies... Nubmaeme 3 years ago
When looking for a house, the first question I ask a realtor is "is there an HOA?" If there is, I don't even want to look at it, not even if it meets everything on my list. That's my No. 1 deal breaker. As long as I'm the one paying the mortgage and all the bills associated with owning the property, I'm the one making the decisions. I'm not paying some Karen to tell me what I can or can't do on my own property. Thankfully all my neighbors feel the same way.
The Deez 3 years ago
I read these lists and thank the good Lord Almighty that I don't live in a neighborhood with an HOA! And I think the first question I would ask, were I to move, would be if the house I was looking at was in a neighborhood with an HOA. If the answer was yes? There would be no sale. I refuse to put myself in a situation like this!!
Pamda Panda 3 years ago
At a condo I rented once: got a notice to remove the table from my balcony because it wasn't "outdoor furniture." As in, it was an "indoor table" and could not be outside. They even said it looked nice, but it was against the rules. I also got a text from the HOA queen bee at 6:30 one morning asking if I was ok because she noticed the living room light was on all night. (I forgot to turn it off before going over to my boyfriend's house for the night.) Invasive much?
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
Because you are a renter the HOA can't do anything about you but they can find your landlord who owns the unit
Load More Replies... GenericPanda09 3 years ago
When I imagine the kind of person that puts themselves forward for something like president of a homeowners association, I imagine some gossipy, insecure, petty tyrant who likes to play the big fish in an infinitesimally small pond. Most of these reinforce that view.
John Carr 3 years ago
These (and others like medical cost) stories really show just how messed up the US actually is. So much for the "land of the free".
Justme 3 years ago
Lived on an island and each neighborhood had to form an HOA. So we did - every member is automatically on the board. We had only a handful of meetings to create the charter which basically says we will not be holding any further meetings. When told we had to have rules - we made up a bunch like - homes must have a whole door, yards must be contained either by a fence or any other means, yards must be made up of any combination of living and non-living plants and or ornaments, … a bunch of dude… just enjoy your day kinds of rules. Can’t say we don’t have an HOA you island snobs.
Tristan James Chandler 1 year ago
I can't figure how they can force a neighborhood to have an HOA if they don't own the property check into your local laws about that one in contact your State attorney general's office.
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