HOA Tries To Impose Christmas Light Rules On This Guy Who Doesn’t Belong To The Association, He Isn’t Putting Up With It
As much as some of us love to prepare for Christmas and spend quite some time decorating our home, not everyone might feel the same enthusiasm when it comes to waiting for the holidays. One such situation was shared by Reddit user @Alternate_chaos5150. The man lives in a neighborhood that has a homeowners’ association (HOA). The reason why he decided to share his story is that he finds it fun to decorate his property for the holidays by putting up Christmas lights. However, this wasn’t liked or appreciated by some of the members of the HOA.
More Info: Reddit
A lot of people love Christmas time as it gives them an opportunity to express their creativity through decorating
Image credits: chas B (not the actual photo)
The Reddit user started his story by stating that it wasn’t the first time he has experienced confrontation with the HOA, since he is not a part of it and so he doesn’t have to comply with their rules. The narrator revealed that he’s been living in this neighborhood since before this group was even formed. However, this didn’t stop one of the members from complaining about him putting up his lights too early and putting up too many of them.
A Reddit user decided to share the situation he encountered with one of his neighbors, who is a HOA member
Image credits: Alternate_chaos5150
A homeowners’ association is created to provide residents with the opportunity to become a part of the community, help them with various problems, and keep an eye on common properties. Usually, there is a set of rules the members of the association have to follow. In this particular case, the narrator mentions that this HOA has rules on how many lights its residents can have as well as when they can put their lights up.
Image credits: Alternate_chaos5150
The man who isn’t an HOA member was asked not to put his Christmas lights up so early and also decorate his property according to the HOA rules
Image credits: Alternate_chaos5150
Since the man isn’t an HOA member, he declined to comply with the association’s rules
Image credits: Alternate_chaos5150
Despite the HOA being “upset” with their neighbor, the user said he didn’t agree with minimizing the number of his Christmas decorations as his nieces and nephews love it. Their conversation ended with him asking her to leave his property and assuring her that he has no intention to follow their HOA rules. However, this situation made him ask people on the internet to share their thoughts on whether it was right of him to act this way.
Image credits: Alternate_chaos5150
However, this situation got him thinking that maybe he went too far, so he asked people online if he was right to stand his ground
Image credits: Alternate_chaos5150
A lot of people online were saying that his reaction was valid and that he has all the rights to decorate his property the way he wants to because he doesn’t belong to this association. Some of the users tried to explain the member’s behavior by saying that maybe she acted this way because she understands that for her, it’s necessary to comply with these rules, whereas her neighbor has complete freedom.
What is your opinion on this matter? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
Users were quick to agree with the man, stating that these rules don’t apply to him
257Kviews
Share on Facebook
F**k HOAs. They're just a bunch of busybodies who think they have the right to impose their personal taste on others.
WTF is up with people who think the decorations should all be similar? What the hell is attractive about that degree of conformity?
What a bunch of Scrooges over there! My family put up our decorations on the 20th of November. Sometimes you just need colourful lights to raise your spirits after a long, grueling year.
Yup! If I pay for a home, pay taxes on the land, I will do what ever, when ever I want.
Load More Replies...
Not a Christian and I can do without lights going up weeks in advance, but screw H.O.A.'s on general principle. Always a bunch entitled Karens and Todds looking to impose their petty close-minded will on what they perceive as their own little fiefdom . "I was here first, this is my piece of dirt, and your ramblin' don't rattle me" -Montgomery Gentry.
HOA's are the stupidest thing ever, never heard of them til i moved to America. Why spend thousands on a property just to have someone else tell you what you can/cannot do with it?
I just moved into a condo with an HOA. It's my first HOA. I filled out the application and under "pets," I wrote, "Cat, Name: Inigo Montoya, aka "Monkey"). And then spent a week gathering records and photos to prove to them that Inigo Montoya, aka Monkey, is a CAT and not a MONKEY. Seriously. This is how they spend their time??? Unreal.
About the responder within the post who wrote that anything before the first of December was disgusting, (harsh,) OP had the lights on November 30th. That's one day's difference. So it's not only the HOA Sheriff who is petty, but reddit readers as well. So NTA. Or to be less crude, NTT, Not The Tushy.
Just because she doesn't like it, doesn't mean that I don't. People really need to realize that them being offended means nothing. Nobody cares.
Load More Replies...
F**k HOAs, they’re just ways for bored Karens to control how others live
I would LOVE if all these abbreviations would be explained. A lot of BP users aren't engkisg/american and it annoys me. AITA, HOA, DUY etc. At least start the article with an explanation
AITA= am I the asshole? YTA= you’re the asshole NTA= not the asshole ESH= everyone sucks here HOA= homeowners’ association DUY= not a clue. Did you mean DIY? DIY= do it yourself
Load More Replies...
i think HOA is just a reason for some nosey buggers to know others business and to feel like they have some kind of power over others
I’d put up my decorations right after or just before Halloween to spite the HOA
Is HOA just an american thing and why do they excist? We don't have those kind of things in here and what I've been reading, HOA basicly excist so some Karens can complain about grass being few millimeters too long etc. And how come they have power to tell you how to live in your own property
We have them in South African suburbs generally. They will put up a security gate on the edge of the suburb, block most of the previous egresses, and you have to get permission to enter. They then establish a HOA to collect money to pay the security guards etc. But then what happens is the HOA starts getting bossy and wanting to enforce things like house colours, pavement lawn quality, etc. Fortunately I've managed to mostly avoid this scenario. You also get them in blocks of flats ("apartments") and townhouses or "condos" as the americans seem to call them. Same story. Uniform building appearance, rules etc. Some rules are reasonable e.g. in blocks of flats the HOA enforces noise rules and laundry on balcony rules, parties after 10pm, etc. That's reasonable. But in suburbs they're basically busybody karen-nazis.
Load More Replies...
I hate my HOA. I did not realize what I was getting into, I guess. I've never lived in one, and I love my house, and for the most part, the neighbors are okay; no problems at all! Some like to have neighborhood block parties and they don't bother me in the slightest. Even the fireworks going off are cool with me. But I have someone on my ass right now about my VW Karman Ghia. We're rebuilding it from the frame up. We do NOT take it outside the garage (bc it's an "eyesore" to work on vehicles there) and it's a carburetor engine, so yeah, there's some noise, but we don't start it up after 730 at night nor before 8 am. One of the HOA'ers has decided that this is noise pollution and put it out on Facebook, with people saying all kinds of horrible stuff. My brother is an officer in this county and I know the rules. I just politely told them to call the sheriffs office if they felt the need to. I can't wait to move
I'm so sorry, that truly sucks!!! I've only dealt with 1 HOA in my entire life and that was as a researcher testing water from a stream that ran through their neighborhood for fertilizer run off.... The woman that claimed to be in charge of the HOA objected to my ratty old car being parked in the cul-de-sac and wanted my bosses number to complain. I was an unpaid intern living in my car. I was only parked there for 15 minutes. My boss told me it happens from time to time. I'm so glad I live too far away from anything to worry about HOAs. They sound aweful!!
Load More Replies...
The entire concept of a home owner's asociation baffles me. Who would sign up to not being allowed to do what you want to your own property?
Depends on context. In a building where you have adjoining walls like townhouses, flats and condos, you want to make sure your neighbour doesn't make a noise, let his gran die and rot in her room and attract flies, hoarders storing piles of garbage, neighbour's dog barks all night, neighbour plays music till 2am, etc etc. People are quite often trashy and need rules otherwise they make peoples' lives miserable around them just because they can. However, HOAs in suburbs really are overkill and nosy busybodies.
Load More Replies...
Leaving them on 24/7 makes the OP TA. That is simply inconsiderate of everyone around them and has nothing to do with the HOA.
Yes. Plus it sounds like there's one Karen who keeps knocking on his door. The rest of his neighbors may have nothing to do with her harassing him. Heck, she might not even be associated with the HOA. She may just be a self-appointed enforcer. After all, the HOA knows he's not a member. Leaving the lights on all the time punishes everyone around him when they may be just as sick of that busybody as he is.
Load More Replies...
I once was looking at a house and the HOA fees were $400 a month. Instantly marked it off my list. I live in a quiet neighborhood with no HOA and people take care of their homes well enough without a bunch of nasty, power-tripping busy bodies looming over them. Never will live under a HOA and have no idea how Christmas lights can be considered so triggering for someone. Think they just want to have something to do that makes them feel important. Should be using that personality flaw for the community benefit. Tell her to spend that type of energy and time advocating for school funding and safe housing and to leave you alone.
wow that is a lot. Most I've heard of here for HOA fees was about $180.
Load More Replies...
I had a job managing a HOA. It had GREAT pay, nice office, had a gym and showers on the other side of the building....QUIT after 3 months. I would have this busy body complain about 4 blades of grass growing between the bricks in her neighbors driveway or someone left their newspaper outside until 11am. The company had such a hard time keeping managers there that they turned it over to the residents after the last house was built out and sold.
Everyone sucks here. The content comes from a reddit and that reddit has specific abbreviations. You can't expect people on reddit to format their answers for a website they have nothing to do with. They're using abbreviations everyone on the forum they're posting on understands.
Load More Replies...
Love the person who said that the home owner telling the lady to get off his property is entitlement. A) it's his property he's allowed to decide who's on it. If I come to your house and you tell me to leave I'm sure you wouldn't consider yourself an entitled AH. B) OP said this isn't the first time th lady has come into his property to tell him what to do without having authority to do so. If she's done this multiple times it's not even a question if entitlement it's a matter of harassment.
You know that thing that Americans love about the UK- how quaint all our little towns and villages are? The quaintness comes from lots of different buildings in different styles all higgle piggled together over time. Even new housing estates try at least in a token way to make the houses look different. Uniformity is boring.
NTA. If you are not a member of the HOA then you do NOT have to even acknowledge their rules. As long as you are within city ordinances and zoning rules you are good and that is ALL you have to follow. File a restraining order against the HOA itself and any individual members that bother you. Use the LAW against them.
Screw the HOA of which you are not a member. If It were me, I'd erect a 6-foot naked Santa complete with spotlights!
The HOA seems symbolic in a way. People telling other people how to live their lives, what to think, what is and isn't appropriate at least according to them or their particular group. None for me thanks.
HOAs are yet another ridiculous American invention, but on the flip side or that wtf is wrong with some people putting up loads of Christmas lights in November (even if it is the 30th), and then having them on 24/7 while others are trying to sleep, especially the ones with loads of really bright, flashing lights? People seem to get more ridiculous each year with no consideration for others at a time of year when consideration for others is supposed to be top of the list. No wonder we're failing as a species when all we can do is deliberately try to annoy one another.
No we have them in South Africa as well, in suburbs they're just as described here, but in flats they make sense because you always have the stoner, the party animal, the brothel owner, the pet hoarder, the dumpster hoarder, etc., living next door, and someone needs to kick their a$s.
Load More Replies... 
I'm glad there are no HOA's in my country. I am not religious and I don't celebrate christmas, and I wouldn't want some organisation to have the legal power to force me to celebrate their favorite holiday
Light up the landing strip! They shouldn't have moved into your neighborhood and expected you to follow their rules. Make sure you have lots of colorful lights too! I hate going to places where they insist that only white lights be used. Hey, I am not into reading out in the yard I want color.
this lady should get her own life! Who does she think she is to tell others what to do?
HOA? if i were in the same situation, id tell them to get off the lawn and stop harassing me as well, with a clear threat of litigation if they continue any of that BS. they can keep their rules to their turf, and i'll keep my rules on mine. HOA's and similar are just busybodies that want to control others, and often, they start out fine, until the rule creep starts....
HOAs are fine for the pitiful creatures that 'Like' them. For the rest of the population, the HOAs themselves are just pitiful. I lived in a HOA neighborhood for almost a year ONCE!! & will NEVER even look at a home in one of them again. (If a neighborhood has CCRs, look them over carefully too. They can be as bad as a HOA)
Good thing they aren't dealing with a Curmudgeon such as me. I'd be putting up a spotlight illuminated, chase light ornamented sign reading "Deal With It!", surrounded by Christmas Trees and shiny wrapped presents.
Most of the times all those lights are an abomination so I'd rather not have them because Christmas is such a fake consume-even-more thing... Just see some friends for a good meal and a talk but all this excessive and useless stuff sucks ass.
I don't think there's a HOA where I live. Actually don't know if they exist here either (Ireland). I know in some housing estates you're not allowed to change the exterior of the house, if they're all red brick for example. Garden, windows, door etc are fine. There are two houses near me who go nuts at Christmas. Lights, projectors, huge inflatable things.
They are not legally beholden to the HOA, but... if he starts abiding by their rules, he may open a can of worms in the future. There is a possibility that years later, if he stops, they may take him to court and successfully make a case that since he did abide by them in the past, he is obligated to continue to do so. Think of so-called public use laws that force property owners to continue to allow others access across their property simply because people had already been doing it for years.
Don't give a f**k, but stay polite. One of the big learnings of Sarah Knight's "The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck"
Personally, I find the colored lights and decorations garish, so I don't put them up. The HOA has no rights here and should be ignored. I do like white twinkling lights all winter if anybody cares.
Having the right to have gross lights is one thing, actually exercising it is another. Children love the lights whether they are beautiful or ugly. Yours are way over top imo. As your neighbor, I'd accept all of them on during hours that kids might be driven by and then turning off most of them, leaving maybe just the icicles around the eaves and the lamplight. ok, maybe the little blue tree. It's clearly a compromise that let's you stick in the eye of the neighbors while catering to the kids. Then being nice to the neighbors so they will stay away. It really doesn't hurt being nice to people, even HOA busy bodies.
Until a few years ago I had never heard of HOA. Now I wonder if there are any good ones? Or do they exist just to make ridiculous rules that householders have no chance of keeping up with if they are not full time SAH.
Stupid HOA. I LOVE lights. Like obsessed. They're calming to me and I enjoy the variety and different scenes created. Kinda stupid how there's a group dedicated to conformity in every house. Sounds like something out of a history book lol. Let people do what they want with their property dammit! They pay for it. Nobody else. As long as its not offensive or hazardous, let them be. Why is this so hard?
Unfair_Tonight_9797's comment was exactly what I was thinking
HOA's are nice to have, as the neighborhood stays neat & clean, safe for testing children. However, when they begin to rule that every landscape look alike, right down to the shape of the bushes, & you begin to get harsh letters because your back patio decor is not allowed, - HELLO !? We will never live under HOA dictatorship again .
And for some reason the HOA is ALWAYS a karen. And this is in South Africa. Literally. Every single time I've dealt with one (ok, it's only been like 4 times), the head of the HOA was a middle-aged white woman with THAT haircut.
Load More Replies...
Put up all the lights you care to, and then push for rules changes anyway. Liberate your neighbors from the HOA Nazis!
If you are a member of an HOA, you should adhere to the rules of the HOA. If you don’t like it, don’t live in a neighborhood with an HOA. This guy is not in an HOA so he can tell them to go pound sand as he would to any busybody who tells him what to do.
I would be a good idea to explain a short cut before using it excessive and in capital letters like "HOA (homeowner's association)"! Looks like in this century people like to use short cuts everywhere without explaining themselfes or - let's say: without giving other a clue about its meaning. So HOA is quiet used a bit too often here to my mind.
It's simple. He's not part of the HOA. No rules apply to them. They don't like it? Move.
I dislike the fact that people use too much light and pollute the common space. I also dislike holiday decorations. But it's his house, and it's outrageous someone wants all houses to look the same. I don't think there should be such rules. But also please, allow people to sleep in the darkness...
Funny how during his supposedly honest conversation with the HOA representative that he didn't mention to her that the HOA bylaws had actually grandfathered him and his home outside the restrictions put in place by the HOA. I'd say he didn't mention this because the entirety of his story is patently false.
100 corporations produce 70% of all waste. This guy sacrificing his holiday lights for a month won't make one bit of difference until the real problem is addressed.
Load More Replies...
F**k HOAs. They're just a bunch of busybodies who think they have the right to impose their personal taste on others.
WTF is up with people who think the decorations should all be similar? What the hell is attractive about that degree of conformity?
What a bunch of Scrooges over there! My family put up our decorations on the 20th of November. Sometimes you just need colourful lights to raise your spirits after a long, grueling year.
Yup! If I pay for a home, pay taxes on the land, I will do what ever, when ever I want.
Load More Replies... Not a Christian and I can do without lights going up weeks in advance, but screw H.O.A.'s on general principle. Always a bunch entitled Karens and Todds looking to impose their petty close-minded will on what they perceive as their own little fiefdom . "I was here first, this is my piece of dirt, and your ramblin' don't rattle me" -Montgomery Gentry.
HOA's are the stupidest thing ever, never heard of them til i moved to America. Why spend thousands on a property just to have someone else tell you what you can/cannot do with it?
I just moved into a condo with an HOA. It's my first HOA. I filled out the application and under "pets," I wrote, "Cat, Name: Inigo Montoya, aka "Monkey"). And then spent a week gathering records and photos to prove to them that Inigo Montoya, aka Monkey, is a CAT and not a MONKEY. Seriously. This is how they spend their time??? Unreal.
About the responder within the post who wrote that anything before the first of December was disgusting, (harsh,) OP had the lights on November 30th. That's one day's difference. So it's not only the HOA Sheriff who is petty, but reddit readers as well. So NTA. Or to be less crude, NTT, Not The Tushy.
Just because she doesn't like it, doesn't mean that I don't. People really need to realize that them being offended means nothing. Nobody cares.
Load More Replies... F**k HOAs, they’re just ways for bored Karens to control how others live
I would LOVE if all these abbreviations would be explained. A lot of BP users aren't engkisg/american and it annoys me. AITA, HOA, DUY etc. At least start the article with an explanation
AITA= am I the asshole? YTA= you’re the asshole NTA= not the asshole ESH= everyone sucks here HOA= homeowners’ association DUY= not a clue. Did you mean DIY? DIY= do it yourself
Load More Replies... i think HOA is just a reason for some nosey buggers to know others business and to feel like they have some kind of power over others
I’d put up my decorations right after or just before Halloween to spite the HOA
Is HOA just an american thing and why do they excist? We don't have those kind of things in here and what I've been reading, HOA basicly excist so some Karens can complain about grass being few millimeters too long etc. And how come they have power to tell you how to live in your own property
We have them in South African suburbs generally. They will put up a security gate on the edge of the suburb, block most of the previous egresses, and you have to get permission to enter. They then establish a HOA to collect money to pay the security guards etc. But then what happens is the HOA starts getting bossy and wanting to enforce things like house colours, pavement lawn quality, etc. Fortunately I've managed to mostly avoid this scenario. You also get them in blocks of flats ("apartments") and townhouses or "condos" as the americans seem to call them. Same story. Uniform building appearance, rules etc. Some rules are reasonable e.g. in blocks of flats the HOA enforces noise rules and laundry on balcony rules, parties after 10pm, etc. That's reasonable. But in suburbs they're basically busybody karen-nazis.
Load More Replies... I hate my HOA. I did not realize what I was getting into, I guess. I've never lived in one, and I love my house, and for the most part, the neighbors are okay; no problems at all! Some like to have neighborhood block parties and they don't bother me in the slightest. Even the fireworks going off are cool with me. But I have someone on my ass right now about my VW Karman Ghia. We're rebuilding it from the frame up. We do NOT take it outside the garage (bc it's an "eyesore" to work on vehicles there) and it's a carburetor engine, so yeah, there's some noise, but we don't start it up after 730 at night nor before 8 am. One of the HOA'ers has decided that this is noise pollution and put it out on Facebook, with people saying all kinds of horrible stuff. My brother is an officer in this county and I know the rules. I just politely told them to call the sheriffs office if they felt the need to. I can't wait to move
I'm so sorry, that truly sucks!!! I've only dealt with 1 HOA in my entire life and that was as a researcher testing water from a stream that ran through their neighborhood for fertilizer run off.... The woman that claimed to be in charge of the HOA objected to my ratty old car being parked in the cul-de-sac and wanted my bosses number to complain. I was an unpaid intern living in my car. I was only parked there for 15 minutes. My boss told me it happens from time to time. I'm so glad I live too far away from anything to worry about HOAs. They sound aweful!!
Load More Replies... The entire concept of a home owner's asociation baffles me. Who would sign up to not being allowed to do what you want to your own property?
Depends on context. In a building where you have adjoining walls like townhouses, flats and condos, you want to make sure your neighbour doesn't make a noise, let his gran die and rot in her room and attract flies, hoarders storing piles of garbage, neighbour's dog barks all night, neighbour plays music till 2am, etc etc. People are quite often trashy and need rules otherwise they make peoples' lives miserable around them just because they can. However, HOAs in suburbs really are overkill and nosy busybodies.
Load More Replies... Leaving them on 24/7 makes the OP TA. That is simply inconsiderate of everyone around them and has nothing to do with the HOA.
Yes. Plus it sounds like there's one Karen who keeps knocking on his door. The rest of his neighbors may have nothing to do with her harassing him. Heck, she might not even be associated with the HOA. She may just be a self-appointed enforcer. After all, the HOA knows he's not a member. Leaving the lights on all the time punishes everyone around him when they may be just as sick of that busybody as he is.
Load More Replies... I once was looking at a house and the HOA fees were $400 a month. Instantly marked it off my list. I live in a quiet neighborhood with no HOA and people take care of their homes well enough without a bunch of nasty, power-tripping busy bodies looming over them. Never will live under a HOA and have no idea how Christmas lights can be considered so triggering for someone. Think they just want to have something to do that makes them feel important. Should be using that personality flaw for the community benefit. Tell her to spend that type of energy and time advocating for school funding and safe housing and to leave you alone.
wow that is a lot. Most I've heard of here for HOA fees was about $180.
Load More Replies... I had a job managing a HOA. It had GREAT pay, nice office, had a gym and showers on the other side of the building....QUIT after 3 months. I would have this busy body complain about 4 blades of grass growing between the bricks in her neighbors driveway or someone left their newspaper outside until 11am. The company had such a hard time keeping managers there that they turned it over to the residents after the last house was built out and sold.
Everyone sucks here. The content comes from a reddit and that reddit has specific abbreviations. You can't expect people on reddit to format their answers for a website they have nothing to do with. They're using abbreviations everyone on the forum they're posting on understands.
Load More Replies... Love the person who said that the home owner telling the lady to get off his property is entitlement. A) it's his property he's allowed to decide who's on it. If I come to your house and you tell me to leave I'm sure you wouldn't consider yourself an entitled AH. B) OP said this isn't the first time th lady has come into his property to tell him what to do without having authority to do so. If she's done this multiple times it's not even a question if entitlement it's a matter of harassment.
You know that thing that Americans love about the UK- how quaint all our little towns and villages are? The quaintness comes from lots of different buildings in different styles all higgle piggled together over time. Even new housing estates try at least in a token way to make the houses look different. Uniformity is boring.
NTA. If you are not a member of the HOA then you do NOT have to even acknowledge their rules. As long as you are within city ordinances and zoning rules you are good and that is ALL you have to follow. File a restraining order against the HOA itself and any individual members that bother you. Use the LAW against them.
Screw the HOA of which you are not a member. If It were me, I'd erect a 6-foot naked Santa complete with spotlights!
The HOA seems symbolic in a way. People telling other people how to live their lives, what to think, what is and isn't appropriate at least according to them or their particular group. None for me thanks.
HOAs are yet another ridiculous American invention, but on the flip side or that wtf is wrong with some people putting up loads of Christmas lights in November (even if it is the 30th), and then having them on 24/7 while others are trying to sleep, especially the ones with loads of really bright, flashing lights? People seem to get more ridiculous each year with no consideration for others at a time of year when consideration for others is supposed to be top of the list. No wonder we're failing as a species when all we can do is deliberately try to annoy one another.
No we have them in South Africa as well, in suburbs they're just as described here, but in flats they make sense because you always have the stoner, the party animal, the brothel owner, the pet hoarder, the dumpster hoarder, etc., living next door, and someone needs to kick their a$s.
Load More Replies... I'm glad there are no HOA's in my country. I am not religious and I don't celebrate christmas, and I wouldn't want some organisation to have the legal power to force me to celebrate their favorite holiday
Light up the landing strip! They shouldn't have moved into your neighborhood and expected you to follow their rules. Make sure you have lots of colorful lights too! I hate going to places where they insist that only white lights be used. Hey, I am not into reading out in the yard I want color.
this lady should get her own life! Who does she think she is to tell others what to do?
HOA? if i were in the same situation, id tell them to get off the lawn and stop harassing me as well, with a clear threat of litigation if they continue any of that BS. they can keep their rules to their turf, and i'll keep my rules on mine. HOA's and similar are just busybodies that want to control others, and often, they start out fine, until the rule creep starts....
HOAs are fine for the pitiful creatures that 'Like' them. For the rest of the population, the HOAs themselves are just pitiful. I lived in a HOA neighborhood for almost a year ONCE!! & will NEVER even look at a home in one of them again. (If a neighborhood has CCRs, look them over carefully too. They can be as bad as a HOA)
Good thing they aren't dealing with a Curmudgeon such as me. I'd be putting up a spotlight illuminated, chase light ornamented sign reading "Deal With It!", surrounded by Christmas Trees and shiny wrapped presents.
Most of the times all those lights are an abomination so I'd rather not have them because Christmas is such a fake consume-even-more thing... Just see some friends for a good meal and a talk but all this excessive and useless stuff sucks ass.
I don't think there's a HOA where I live. Actually don't know if they exist here either (Ireland). I know in some housing estates you're not allowed to change the exterior of the house, if they're all red brick for example. Garden, windows, door etc are fine. There are two houses near me who go nuts at Christmas. Lights, projectors, huge inflatable things.
They are not legally beholden to the HOA, but... if he starts abiding by their rules, he may open a can of worms in the future. There is a possibility that years later, if he stops, they may take him to court and successfully make a case that since he did abide by them in the past, he is obligated to continue to do so. Think of so-called public use laws that force property owners to continue to allow others access across their property simply because people had already been doing it for years.
Don't give a f**k, but stay polite. One of the big learnings of Sarah Knight's "The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck"
Personally, I find the colored lights and decorations garish, so I don't put them up. The HOA has no rights here and should be ignored. I do like white twinkling lights all winter if anybody cares.
Having the right to have gross lights is one thing, actually exercising it is another. Children love the lights whether they are beautiful or ugly. Yours are way over top imo. As your neighbor, I'd accept all of them on during hours that kids might be driven by and then turning off most of them, leaving maybe just the icicles around the eaves and the lamplight. ok, maybe the little blue tree. It's clearly a compromise that let's you stick in the eye of the neighbors while catering to the kids. Then being nice to the neighbors so they will stay away. It really doesn't hurt being nice to people, even HOA busy bodies.
Until a few years ago I had never heard of HOA. Now I wonder if there are any good ones? Or do they exist just to make ridiculous rules that householders have no chance of keeping up with if they are not full time SAH.
Stupid HOA. I LOVE lights. Like obsessed. They're calming to me and I enjoy the variety and different scenes created. Kinda stupid how there's a group dedicated to conformity in every house. Sounds like something out of a history book lol. Let people do what they want with their property dammit! They pay for it. Nobody else. As long as its not offensive or hazardous, let them be. Why is this so hard?
Unfair_Tonight_9797's comment was exactly what I was thinking
HOA's are nice to have, as the neighborhood stays neat & clean, safe for testing children. However, when they begin to rule that every landscape look alike, right down to the shape of the bushes, & you begin to get harsh letters because your back patio decor is not allowed, - HELLO !? We will never live under HOA dictatorship again .
And for some reason the HOA is ALWAYS a karen. And this is in South Africa. Literally. Every single time I've dealt with one (ok, it's only been like 4 times), the head of the HOA was a middle-aged white woman with THAT haircut.
Load More Replies... Put up all the lights you care to, and then push for rules changes anyway. Liberate your neighbors from the HOA Nazis!
If you are a member of an HOA, you should adhere to the rules of the HOA. If you don’t like it, don’t live in a neighborhood with an HOA. This guy is not in an HOA so he can tell them to go pound sand as he would to any busybody who tells him what to do.
I would be a good idea to explain a short cut before using it excessive and in capital letters like "HOA (homeowner's association)"! Looks like in this century people like to use short cuts everywhere without explaining themselfes or - let's say: without giving other a clue about its meaning. So HOA is quiet used a bit too often here to my mind.
It's simple. He's not part of the HOA. No rules apply to them. They don't like it? Move.
I dislike the fact that people use too much light and pollute the common space. I also dislike holiday decorations. But it's his house, and it's outrageous someone wants all houses to look the same. I don't think there should be such rules. But also please, allow people to sleep in the darkness...
Funny how during his supposedly honest conversation with the HOA representative that he didn't mention to her that the HOA bylaws had actually grandfathered him and his home outside the restrictions put in place by the HOA. I'd say he didn't mention this because the entirety of his story is patently false.
100 corporations produce 70% of all waste. This guy sacrificing his holiday lights for a month won't make one bit of difference until the real problem is addressed.
Load More Replies...
121
106