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America’s Homeowners’ Associations, or HOAs, are designed to promote community well-being and keep neighborhoods orderly and enjoyable. But in practice, their overly strict rules often go to absurd extremes, earning them a reputation so notorious it’s recognized far beyond the U.S.
Tired of dealing with the nonsense, some residents decided to strike back and share their revenge stories online. Scroll down to read some of the most spiteful ones and share your thoughts in the comments!
More info: Reddit | Quora
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#1
My mother in-law's HOA was run by a retiree who had nothing to do but get in everyone's business all day. He fined people for leaving their trash can out 10 minutes too long and other rediculous things.
The community became so irate they staged a coup. They showed up and forced a vote for a new HOA president (selected before hand). The moment he was voted in, he raised a proposition to abolish the HOA. Everyone voted yes and the HOA was no more.
Amelia Jade 12 months ago
Where I live it isn't that simple to dissolve an HOA. There are strict legal requirements to make it happen. What is described here would never work. Voting requires actual ballots. If the abolishment works, then debts have to be settled, assets distributed, and if the HOA owns common areas like parks--ownership has to be transferred. Then legal filing has to be done. People seem to have this idea that HOAs are just groups of neighbors getting together to start an association, and then somehow forcing the rest of their neighbors to comply. It's all done under a legal framework governed by state laws.
Papa 12 months ago
Perhaps OP just left out a few details that she or he thought weren't pertinent.
Load More Replies... HurlWurk 12 months ago
Dude lost his job and his wife in short order (she cheated, then took the kids and left when he lost his job). HOA complained his lawn not being mowed, he responded that he was out of work and didn't have a lawn mower, but would remedy as soon as he could. HOA chair was his neighbor, decided that wasn't good enough. Reported his job status too his bank to get his loan recalled and get him evicted. About a week later, he blew up the house after setting up the inside to direct the damage into the HOA chairs house as much as he could (gas main break rigged explosion). Luckily no one was hurt as the house blew up mid day with almost everyone at work, but did shatter a lot of windows, and tore a giant hole into the house he aimed at.
Tabitha 12 months ago (edited)
What the f**k did they expect, after continually kicking someone who was already down and had been severely beaten several times before the Chair started their horseshit? A nice fruit basket with a real sweet thank you note attached? FFS?
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Carilyn Beverly 12 months ago
My aunt lived in an HOA while going though cancer, her husband was working full time, she was working alongside treatments, and they had 2 kids. HOA would complain about trash cans being out too long (at worst they would be taken in by the next day after pick up) and the front lawn being "unkept" (they mowed at least twice a month and weeded as necessary) all while giving their "well wishes" and "get well soon"
Kendall 12 months ago
This is like the 3rd time in one single day that I've seen someone spell it with an "E". So weird that it keeps popping up
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RELATED:
#2
The story as I was told by someone personally involved:
A piece of land was purchased by developers next to a farm and houses were built. When the houses were sold, an HOA was formed. The HOA started harassing the farmer demanding he join the HOA and follow the HOA’s rules. They even attempted to fine the farmer for violating the rules of the HOA, even though the farmer never joined the HOA.
The HOA decided to install an in-ground swimming pool and a playground/picnic area for the use of the HOA’s residents next to the farmer’s land. Annoyed by the constant harassment from the HOA, the farmer moved the pens where he kept his pigs right to the edge of his property, directly on the border with the HOA’s recreation area. So when the HOA’s residents wanted to use their brand new swimming pool and the wind shifted, they had to deal with the smell of approximately 100 pigs.
SheamusFanFrom1987 12 months ago
HOAs hog the fun out of everything so great that the farmer cooked their respective bacons... I'll see myself out but it's been a hectic day and I need to get the hogwash out of my system XP
Robert Trebor 12 months ago
I feel for the residents of the housing developments south of the US Navy's Dam Neck Base in Virginia Beach. Prior to this building up, there was a huge pig farm there. We'd leave the barracks in the morning only after taking a series of deep breaths, then try to get to the chow hall without breathing. Same thing to go to the training buildings. It was awful. A broken water main in those developments will bring back fond memories.
tori Ohno 12 months ago
Similar story in my area, except it was rich horse owners trying to force an HOA Jean Claude Van Damme was one of the owners. Nasty, nasty man. A new pig ranch sign was posted "Pig Sh!t Flats". The pig owner was offered 3 times as much as his property was worth to move. He took it and retired. I hate the 1%, that's how stupid rich these horse people are.
#3
HOA in California tried to limit lights and decorations to December 1st through December 31st. Our multi-ethnic, multi-religious complex went balls to the wall - Hanukkah, Halloween/Dia de los Muertos, Eid, Easter, Holi, Solstice...lights everywhere, people were getting inflatables, I put a light-up tinsel polar bear on my roof. It was really awesome. I've never been so proud to be part of the melting pot.
Julia Mckinney 12 months ago
I'd have loved to see something for the Scandinavian Santa Lucia festival.
Ansi 12 months ago
HOA would probably have a field day if a group of people showed up in white robes and candles on their heads. (I know traditionally it's only the first one that has that, but these are kindergarden rules god dammit)
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Teresa Timmons 11 months ago
Our old HOA gave us a ticket for Christmas lights up the first week of January. The president was a had. She adopted a pure bred Labrador that was too big for her to handle. That dog loved our dog. My husband would see them and say hi to the dog from afar. It dragged that woman off her feet a few times
#4
I read of a fam who was mad the HOA would not approve their preferred color of house paint. Apparently there were 5 or 6 approved colors. Period. So they painted the house striped in all the approved colors.
Nitka Tsar 12 months ago
Imagine someone saying you cannot paint your own propperty whatever color you want. Madness
Fire Singer 12 months ago
My brother recently dealt with this. Wanted to pain his house but had to get approval from the HOA. I don't remember the specific rules but it was like, they have to use 4 different colors, all from the pre-approved list of colors of course, and they cannot have a similar color scheme to at least two houses on each side. It was INSANE to me. I live in a neighborhood with no HOA and my neighbor has a purple house. I love looking at it every day, and no that not sarcasm! :)
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Janissary35680 12 months ago
Nice. I would have opted for a camo pattern of some sort. (I know the pic isn't the actual photo.)
Bob Brooce 12 months ago
You can also use one color and then paint specific geometric shapes with other colors if you want to. Maybe shapes like F*****K Y O U R R U L E S for example. You can probably also plant very different kinds of grass as long as you don't let it get too long.
Teresa Timmons 11 months ago
My parents house in a retirement community was delayed because there were only 5 or 6 different briefs allowed, but you couldn't have the same color as either of your neighbors. They couldn't get in touch with either owner (both in rental properties while waiting for the build and both on vacation, pre- cell phones), so they delayed it until the painters were almost done and then just let it go through. All the houses were beige but those 2 were the only same beige next to each other.
#5
I’m single and own two vehicles. The per unit limit. The one I drive the most I keep parked in my reserved space and the other in a remote lot. I work nights and one day shortly after going to bed there was a persistent knocking on my door. (I had disabled the doorbell) finally when it was obvious they where not going away I went to the door and the property manager was there holding a clipboard and wanted me to sign over my proxy for the upcoming election. Instead he got an earful and that is when the harassment began.
Several months go by and my brother asked to borrow my pickup truck, the vehicle parked in the remote lot. When I got home that morning I went to the lot an my truck had a towing sticker on the window. I removed the sticker, drove to the corner to gas it up and ran the truck through the wash. Returned it to the lot and went to bed.
A few hours later my phone rings and it’s my brother asking where the truck is.
the rule is a vehicle not moved in 12 days is considered inoperative and subject to being towed. I honestly do not remember how long it had been since I last moved it to warrant the sticker in the first place but it had been moved that day and he towed it anyway.
So after recovering my truck and paying the fees I no longer parked in the remote lot. I parked next to the property manager’s reserved spot. And everyday I would turn it around in the space and take a picture. after 11 days of this he towed it again.
The association paid me back for both tows plus $1000 and we got a new property manager.
Nikole 12 months ago
I just hate that these measures even need to be taken. Makes me feel punchy.
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Ross Shaw 12 months ago
I had something similar. I parked my old, rusty, inherited pickup way out back of my apartment complex, and kept my new truck out front since I drove it every day. The property manager (a fellow good guy in this story) came to me and said someone had been complaining about the "abandoned truck" out in the east bufu lot, and apologetically asked if I would just move it every couple of days to a different spot. Well, my work schedule happened to have me home while everyone else was gone, so guess whose 30 year old rust bucket rotated through the three best parking spaces in front of our complex every day for the duration of my lease?
Funhog 12 months ago
From what I've heard, the adhesive from a towing sticker is pretty difficult to remove. 😡
Tabitha 12 months ago
Guess that’s why he then ran it through a car wash. Just spitballin’ here.
Load More Replies... Verena 12 months ago
Why on earth would somebody let a property manager vote in their place? Voting in the US gets stranger and stranger
Papa 12 months ago
I believe we can safely assume the voting proxy was only for elections in the HOA. I'm fairly certain there are no voting proxies in political elections.
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#6
I pressed trespassing charges. I had a compost bin against the house. The only way the Karen in charge of the HOA could have see it was to go onto my property. She said something about having an unauthorized structure. What are you talking about, Karen? Against the back of your house. You mean the 4 pallets I screwed together? Yes, take it down immediately. Eff of, Karen. She sent me an “official” letter which I took to a lawyer. So we sent a cop to her place to give her a citation for trespassing. Got her name in the local paper (back when local newspapers were a thing) for being anti environment because she was against compost bins, she rather see it all in landfills. Things like that. She ended up backing off.
GreyWolfGirl 12 months ago
I didn’t realize there were places when there wasn’t one. (In the USA. Not sure about other countries.) In my town, they still have one in the local paper
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Bob Brooce 12 months ago
I find it hard to believe that the long list of rules you agree to doesn't include granting access for reasonable inspections to enforce the long list of rules you agree to.
#7
Not exactly revenge, but we got a dinger notice about a few bald spots in our lawn. The spots we get always fill themselves in once the summer temps go up enough so I didn’t worry about it. What I did do, because it was such a petty complaint, was to go to the HOA-maintained clubhouse and took pictures of its many bald spots….the kind that don’t fill themselves in (different grass, different lighting, etc). I sent the photos in an email telling them that I’d fix mine when they fix theirs (knowing full well that my grass would be all filled in within a month). All HOAs need to have a petty meter. Sigh.
#8
I joined it. I owned a townhome from 2003 until 2018 and lived in it until 2009, renting it out after that. The dues were increasing every year, and the old biddies on the board were in the habit of sending violations to those they didnt like for things that werent even mentioned in the cc&r's. Around 2007 i was approached by a few other owners who were as fed up as i was when the dues suddenly increased 20% with no justification. The board of directors in that association was comprised of seven people, 3 of whom had been on the board since the construction of the coomplex in 1972. Four of us canvassed all the owners and promised if we were voted in to change things for the better. We agreed that no matter what when the sh*t hit the fan that we would bind together in solidarity. The three originals were in the middle of their terms so the board became 4 against 3 in every situation that mattered. Finally there was a special meeting called to choose exterior paint colors. Four of us steered the meeting to the annual budget approval and cut the spending and dues substantially. We fired the property management company also. One of our little group had a real head for mumbers and fine print. She became the treasurer. We stuck together. Ultimately we found a few others that shared our vision. I eventually was chosen president, a position i held until i sold the unit. Our owners were much happier as a whole after those changes. We managed to avoud any increase in dues for four more years, and then they were small, cost of living amounts.
If you dont like the way things are being run, get involved and change it. Finding a good manager is key. We found on we liked and when she left her company for a better job, we hired the new company with the stipulation that if for any reason she was no longer to be our manager, we could option out of our contract with no penalty.
It's a task that is not enjoyable. You own your property. If it's not to your liking, change it until it is.
Bob Brooce 12 months ago
This should be at the top. HOAs are a necessity if a development wants to own and maintain common areas, which can include the roads as well as a pool, tennis courts, etc. Some of them are run well and have relatively few rules and others are taken over by the idiots because the people whining about the rules can't be bothered to fix the problems.
Roberta Surprenant 12 months ago
Better yet, never pay thousands of dollars to let others tell you what to do by buying in an HOA community.
David Morgan 12 months ago (edited)
Are you actually bragging about being illiterate, or having a tiny attention span? You realise no-one is impressed by your limitations?
Load More Replies... #9
Not me but a friend. They lived in an HOA where the people on the board had their own little clique that could do anything they wanted but, they would threaten and sue anyone else who tried to do the same thing. One day, while in the process of trying to have some work done on their home, one of the HOA board members came by and put a stop work order on the property (in this particular instance the work was inside of the home so the HOA had no say in the matter but this board member decided that they didn’t like the construction noise and they wanted to stop it). By this time my friend had been collecting evidence of harassment and proof of inequitable behaviors (do as we say, not as we do) by the board. So they took them to court and sued the HOA. When they won the order, my friend requested that as part of the settlement, that the board members should be required to pay the fines out of their own pocket and not be allowed to use the HOA funds or HOA insurance to cover the costs and restitution that was won and that the board members must recuse themselves from their positions. Because my friend proved that the Board Members were acting outside of the HOA bylaws and had been abusing their position of power, the judge agreed and enforced in the ruling that the board members must pay out of their own pockets. Needless to say, all of them ended up selling their homes and moving out of the neighborhood after judgement was issued. The new HOA board voted to disband the HOA.
#10
I was told I couldn't store my sawhorses on my balcony. I bought a used coffee table, used said sawhorses when cutting off the legs, and placed the legless table on top of the sawhorses. Now they're a "table" that doesn't look aesthetically pleasing and draws more attention than two stacked sawhorses. Best $10 I've spent in a while.
#11
Not me, but my friend lives in an HOA and they have all kinds of weird rules. All cars must be in the garage unless being loaded or unloaded and no cars in the yard or parked in the street which means that if you have two cars you can't have anymore visitors than can park in the driveway. Forget big family holidays or Super Bowl parties. She is a biker with her husband and her having their own Goldwing motorcycle. She decided to put their rules to a challenge and invited everyone she knew from their riding club to come over for a cook out pool party and advised them all to ride their bikes for parking space. The HOA rules specifically said cars, not pickup trucks or motorcycles or vans or motorhomes for that matter. It was always assumed that the intent was to include all types of motorized vehicles, but not specifically ever defined as such. Sure enough, 20 motorcycles ended up parked in the driveway and in the yard and the HOA had a fricken fit. They tried to send her a citation and a fine. The whole thing ended up in court and dismissed. Apparently the judge said something to the effect that the language is specific about cars and not ambiguous enough or broadly defined as motorized vehicles to be a violation. I don't know if the rules were ever changed, but the HOA ended up paying for her lawyer and any fees associated.
BarfyCat 12 months ago
It's totally ridiculous to have a rule that prevents people from having guests!!!
tori Ohno 12 months ago
One HOA tried to ban the vehicle that a friend drove because it was "scary". It was a simple black SUV. I guess they watch too many d**g cartel shows
Load More Replies... #12
My parents lived in an HOA area. The HOA was called the Art Jury then, and had a lot of power respecting things like roofing materials, exterior finishes, paint colours and the like. The area was a sort of “Spanish colonial” looking area (red clay tiled roofs and stucco'd houses painted white, cream, pale gold, pale tan and the like).
A neighbour of theirs wanted to paint the exterior of his house a pale blue. He submitted his colour and was turned down. He had a careful read of the rules and discovered that he could resubmit up to three colour chips, but the Art Jury, having refused him once, was legally obliged to select one of the three resubmitted colours. So he submitted a black and a vivid purple chip, along with a pale blue chip almost identical to the one the jury had rejected. The jury had little choice but to okay the pale blue.
#13
A friend of mine was forced to purchase a $200 mailbox from the HOA president despite having built an exact duplicate.
So he poked around and learned that he could legally paint his house any color he wanted. He chose Blue and Orange (the colors of the rival football team)
It was such an eyesore it tanked housing prices by 10% for everyone on the street.
#14
A group of us ran as a slate of officers and got ourselves elected to the board.
Our board had three officers and all were elected annually and the same group had been on the board for several years. They had a sweetheart deal with a management company and too much money was being spent on management fees and the amenity infrastructure was not being maintained properly. For three months prior to our January meeting we very quietly canvassed the neighborhood gathering support as well as proxies and at the January meeting well over 100 homeowners showed up and we took over the board. We immediately initiated an audit and we were able to secure the return of some funds from the management company and then terminated their contract for cause.
People often forget that the HOA is the homeowners and not some foreign entity. If taking control back into the citizens hands is revenge then I suppose we got revenge.
#15
Our hoa “Karen” kept b***hing about me parking in a firelane. No one else cares and in no way was it blocking access to a fire hydrant or any houses.
I rented a used fire truck and parked in said fire lane.
“Karen” lost her mind. Even the police laughed…where else does a fire truck park!
RedBadgerCan'tSwim 12 months ago
It's illegal to park in fire lane. I'd have called the police and had them towed every time. I also call BS on parking the used truck. If it's no longer an official vehicle it's not allowed to park there either. I can buy a used police car, but that doesn't mean I can use the emergency vehicle only turn arounds on the freeway.
Bob Brooce 12 months ago
Surely we can trust anything we see on Reddit? Reddit-Lie...e7dfea.jpg 
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 12 months ago
Nice Checkmate with the gire apparatus, and I definitely hate HOA's & "Karen's" But, as a retired firefighter, if it was a clearly marked and officially approved Fire Lane, and you were choosing to ignore the signage and park your personally owned vehicle there, then we would have had your vehicle towed. The Fire Lane is not just a demarcation for hydrant, andstand pipe locations, it is also a designation of optimal placement for Fire & EMS apparatuses, when positioning for responding to and then exiting the scene of an emergency..
Lost Penny 11 months ago
The police laughed, and everyone clapped, and then OP was knighted, and 'Karen' was publicly shamed & humiliated, and... 🙄
kaycee14 12 months ago
A lane in front of public buildings or complexes reserved for emergency vehicles, so they can get close to the building in an emergency. It's actually illegal to park there, so OP was the one in the wrong in this story.
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Brian Droste 12 months ago
What would have happened if there was a real emergency and a real fire truck needed to park there? You would be blocking there progress to a real emergency. You probably could have been fined big time.
Katie Barnes 12 months ago
It's illegal to park in a fire lane for good reasons, even if in your opinion you "aren't blocking anything important". This person is an a$s. Also, their story doesn't check out.
Tonyah Mcanelly 12 months ago
I do understand your revenge is kind of funny but the HOA could get fined by the city if an unauthorized vehicle is in a marked spot for fire and emergency . But I have to say I wish at times I would have thought about renting a fire truck lol
SheamusFanFrom1987 12 months ago
You can rent a used fire truck??? Dang, I need to start saving some money XP XD
#16
Not really savage, but entertaining, to me at least.
Got into an argument with the HOA president over some flowers my wife and I had planted - they said I needed the board’s permission to plant flowers, per the CC&Rs. I got my copy of the CC&Rs and showed them where it said I had to secure their permission to plant trees or large shrubs. I asked if annuals were trees? No? How about large shrubs? No? Get off my 1/114th undivided interest in the lawn.
Then, I studied the CC&Rs, and noticed that, per the rules, people were not permitted to ride bicycles, tricycles, skates, skateboards or scooters around the grounds.
Nothing about unicycles. So I went to my folks place, and got my old unicycle out of the garage and rode it all over the common areas for a couple of months until we sold/moved. I believe this could be categorized as malicious compliance.
Next place, no HOA - mostly good, but…there were a couple of things where an HOA would’ve been nice there. But that’s another story.
#17
My parents got a nasty letter one year about how chickens couldn't live in our yard. We keep it trimmed, it’s a nice suburban lawn. My parents bought plastic chicken and stuck them in the lawn
#18
a friend owned a landscaping company and after a number of problems with his HOA he got mad when they told him the verity of grass in his lawn was the wrong type.
he did lawns for a living and knew he had seeded his lawn with the right type of grass and the HOA board knew nothing about grass and he was the only person with the right type of grass listed in the HOA rules. he got mad and one dark and foggy night drove to each HOA board members homes and sprayed herbicide across their lawns. they went nuts and had to hire a landscaper to fix their yards.
They told the landscaper what type of grass they needed to plant by the HOA RULES and he did. Only to find there lawns did not match the rest of the HOA and they had no idea why.
the HOA board looked like fools when they found out they were wrong.
René Sauer 12 months ago
It´s... it´s grass. Green stuff lying on the ground. how many different types can there possibly be? Only things I know are is sturdier grass for sport places or grass that can grow well in shady places.
Shark Lady 12 months ago
Your comment inspired me to Google how many types of grass there are, apparently, there are 11400.
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Heras buddy 12 months ago
In most areas they should ban grass lawns. They use to much water in the current situation in most states. And all the treatment they use because they are not native.
#19
My HOA had sent me a few complaints about a brick tree well I have on my property that had a few bricks fall out, 4 or 5. I don't check my physical mail often because I opt for most everything digital and wasn't getting email notifications of the violations, so it escalated to the point where a lawsuit action was FedExed to my door with signature requirements.
They hassle me quite often for ridiculously small things and I was already in a state of displeasure with them.
So, to assuage the complaints, I went out and bought some mortar, slapped as much as I could on with my hands, and just put the bricks on well enough that they wouldn't fall out of place. It looks like melted ice cream.
This stopped the lawsuit action and I now have something that makes me giggle everytime I come home and see it.
#20
Not exactly an HOA, but our small town city council had functionally become the same thing as one of the nightmare HOAs you hear about all the time today.
We were at war with the council for about 18 different conflicts our family were having with the town council in an official capacity and interpersonal drama with the councilmen themselves.
We owned a historically protected 100 year old automobile service station in the center of town. We took a wooden fence panel, cut and painted it to look like SpongeBob, gave him some arms and hands, positioned the arms and hands to be flying double middle fingers and planted him on the roof of the old gas station. We told the town council that our beautiful modern art piece would only come down of they repealed the subjective "lawn beauty" ordinance they had passed to selectively run people out of town who they didn't like.
Javelina Poppers 12 months ago
I have lived under an HOA only once in my life and it was for a small weekend cabin I had in northern Arizona. It was an HOA but only for the purpose of maintaining the community well and each lot owner whether occupied or vacant ground paid $10 a month and this also covered your water usage. Our treasurer dutifully invested all funds and when more people built in the area we needed a bigger well to keep up with demand and thanks to our treasurer we had more than enough money on hand to sink a bigger and deeper well and yet our monthly fees still remained at $10. If you wonder why we needed an HOA for a well, by law if we didn't have one then we'd be declared a water company and that would bring the county, state and federal regulators smothering us with their ridiculously expensive rules and regulations. We dutifully have our well water tested each week by an independent lab so we're not skirting on safety.
Andrew Keir 11 months ago
Let me get this straight - if you DID have a well you WEREN'T a water company, but if you DIDN'T have a well you WERE? Sorry about the shouting but ... even for an HOA this sounds crazy.
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#21
Our fence contractor accidentally built our fence 6 inches over an electrical easement for 4 feet of a length of our fence. Utility company approved it. HOA denied it. I had the fence company come out and move the fence the next week, but since the HOA was such a pain about a small 6 inches, I strung them along in a fake legal battle for 14 months (too many details to explain but it's funny) then eventually sent them a letter with the date of the fence construction and they were piiiiiissed to find out they were looped into 14 months of me just wasting their time.
Funhog 12 months ago
OP had the fence moved into compliance before the legal battle ensued. OP then revealed after the 14 month-long legal battle that the fence had been in compliance since it had been moved a week following its initial build. The legal battle wasn't actually a fake one; instead, it had no basis because the HOA had submitted measurements based on the initial build of the fence.
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#22
Not pay my $20 (yes only $20) a year dues because the HOA board leader was rude. We never signed a contract, same as about half our neighbors. So they can't force any of us. It's "requested." I got the notice, filled out a check, and was going to mail it that following Monday.
Well, I joined a social page for our neighborhood over the weekend, and posted a welcome message telling everyone a bit about us, because we are the newest neighbors. Within the hour, the HOA leader commented, introduced herself with one sentence, then wrote half a paragraph asking if we received the request for the annual dues (8 weeks after we moved in) and asking for my address to send us a request, since she didn't recognize my name, and she fills out all envelopes personally, so she's sure we didn't get the request. So please, PM the address so she can send it ASAP.
I thought asking for money was a pretty s**t welcome. So I tore up the check I had written out.
David 12 months ago (edited)
In my state the existence of an HOA is part of the purchase and sale agreement and the buyer is acknowledging they know it exists and are subject to it. So it isn't just an optional thing. I've been involved with the purchase of one house with an HOA, about 15 years ago, and it's been fine. I read the terms before signing. They were reasonable then and still are. People love to hate HOAs but they are not all bad. The one I'm referring to charges a modest yearly fee to cover replacing street lights and an annual cleaning of the storm drains. There are some other terms but they are reasonable. Like not having broken down cars in your yard.
tameson 12 months ago
Same with our HOA. We read the HOA rules and agreed they were sensible. The dues are modest and pay for a lot of amenities, such as a pool, hiking and biking trails, and a preserve owned by the HOA.
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#23
The best revenge I heard of was about a guy who was forced out of a neighborhood for keeping homing pigeons. He sold, but didn’t take the pigeons with him. So the pigeons’ descendants continue to torment the neighborhood to this day.
Mjskywalk 12 months ago
So he abandoned/set loose his domesticated pets? Something tells me people would be up in arms if he had let loose is family dogs…
Pony Lauricella 12 months ago
I'm with you on this- abandoning animals is not cool, no matter the species.
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Regina Holt 12 months ago
Homing pigeons, by definition, would keep returning to that home anyway.
Chris the Bobcat 12 months ago
It wouldn't matter if he had taken the birds. They're homing pigeons. They are very good at finding their way back to the point of origin.
#24
Nothing direct or intentional, but when I sold a condo because I was fed up with the HOA, I ended up selling to a man from Albania who was one of the biggest jerks I have even met. In any setting, he strove to be the Alpha Male and treated women like servants. I was delighted to close the sale knowing that he would never give in to HOA rules and would drive them crazy.
Brian Droste 12 months ago
I would have like to hear from the buyer of whar happened with him and the HOA.
#25
Our apartment building had a Body Corp which employed a Building Manager. Half of the apartments were Serviced Appts and the BM was the SA franchisee.
The lazy sh*t told his staff not to deal with the residents and so it was hard to get him to do anything. Worse, he was a voting member of the BC via the proxy votes for the SAs.
One day, I went down to work and found he’d stashed beds in the fire escape. He was on duty at reception and I asked him to get them shifted as it was a fire hazard. He asked what I was going to do about it and I told him he could be done for Manslaughter if there was a fire and people got trapped.
As the saying goes, “if you talk to a pig, it just makes the pig angry”, so I decided to fix via the back door. I went to the office where I was working for the Council’s internal property department at the time. As I walked in, I saw one of the property managers, so I hit him up for advice. He said to ring the Fire Service and file a complaint; my colleague would call his colleagues at Building Control and someone would be round ASAP to “deal” to the BM.
When I got back in the evening, he’d had a visit from both the Fire Service and Building Control and the mattresses were gone! He kept the common areas much tidier afterwards .. though he was still a lazy, rude sh*t. Unfortunately, we didn’t get him purged from BC committees despite them being told and getting a warning from both Building Control and the Red Boys.
Tanya Battistini 11 months ago
I swear it's just me and then I come here and am pleased to find out I'm not just being b****y...no one knows what the heck that article means
#26
The officers on the HOA in my neighborhood changed several times over the years I lived there. At first, they were sneaky - dropping letters in my mailbox saying I was in violation for having kids’ toys in my driveway or some other such rubbish. I taped a notice on my mailbox advising them that it was a federal offense for anyone but the mail delivery person or the box owner to put in or take out anything; after that, they started mailing the notices. The next round of officers was more compassionate and helped me out when I couldn’t afford to remove the dead tree by hiring a crew to handle it. Then another round of compassionless nits who were determined to get literal with the original HOA rules. When I moved in, the previous owner of my house had planted several roses by the fence on the side which faced the street, this being a corner house. On a nearby street, the owner had a beautiful climbing rose that covered the fence on the road side of their home. Well, this new bunch decided that there should be nothing planted outside the fences and ordered everything of the kind to be cut down. I complied but I also put up posters on my fence declaring that the HOA was against beauty. They never gave up on their petty demands and it wore me down. I was planning to leave anyway, and on my last day, as I drove out of the neighborhood, I taped a poster over the face of the marquee at the entrance to the neighborhood. It said, “If you live here, you’re already in hell”. I drove away laughing.
#27
I wouldn't call it tyranical HOA actions but in my old neighborhood a guy refused to cut his lawn. It got so bad the city got involved and between the hoa and the city they told the guy that if he didn't cut it they would do it and bill him.
Mowers showed up with a couple of cops for protection. Guy took a shot at the mowers and the cops.
Guy ended up [taking his own life] and burning down his house.
LB 12 months ago
Yeah seems weird the first course of action is forced lawn mowing, not... social services or something
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JinxBox 12 months ago
American lawn culture is crazy. If it's Your Home you should be allowed to plant a meadow or a jungle of trees or whatever, and nature would benefit also if there was more wild plants and stuff for bees and butterflies and birds. I mean why would others care if someone likes their grass more natural?!
OpheliaPoe 12 months ago
I'm in the US in a rural area on 10 acres and all but a few small patches around the house (where we added some lilacs and lilies and such) is all wild. We're in the high desert and the wild grass, juniper, and cactus grow as they please. I think it's absolutely beautiful. Especially during the sunset when the grass is glowing golden in the fading light. It makes me think of those old songs like "America the Beautiful" and I realize it's wild land like this that moved people to music. No one is inspired to write songs over lawns and suburbia.
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Moë 12 months ago
Whoa that is not how I saw that ending. How did no one realize he need mental health help?
Tom Brincefield 12 months ago
I've gotten notices about high grass from the town. Which means one of my neighbors complained because the town doesn't go around inspecting lawn height. They gave me a date to have it done, or they would do it for me at $200 an hour. I got it done myself. No guns involved.
#28
I was respectful at all times, and paid my dues ahead of the due date - every time.
Hahaha those fkin idiots will never figure out how much I hate them.
What do you think ?
Mike F 12 months ago
5a: don't purchase a home in a neighborhood with an HOA!
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Nils Skirnir 12 months ago
In US they exist, at least in part, because they promise to fill a lot of the functions that were once done by towns, counties, etc. They have the advantage of doing those things outside of local budgets. Many do road maintenance, snow removal, gardening, security, etc, etc. But, power corrupts and many of them became power mad. I actually blame city and state governments for defaulting on basic services as much as I blame the asshat hoa
Hey hey hey 12 months ago
But why does HOA power is not limited? The HOA Boards wielding do much power without limitations is the cause of the problems. Foreclosure a house because of unpaid fees of less than $1000 is something should not allowed.
Load More Replies... Papa 12 months ago (edited)
I gave never been involved in one, but it's my understanding that most of them are okay, but of course we don't hear about those because no one is complaining about them.
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David 12 months ago
because they are voluntary covenants when formed, and if you move into one later, by default you agreed to it. Florida has been passing laws restricting their authority and power. Originally they were to maintain public areas and keep streets clean and pay for private security patrols. Then in the 60s and 70s many became used to keep out Blacks, Jews, and Catholics. Today HOA's are more of a hit or miss. Some people love theirs because they do what they are supposed to do, and some have become mini dictatorships.
Load More Replies...
Janissary35680 12 months ago
Apparently they exist in the UK too based on some of the responses. I would suppose that they have them in Canada as well.
Load More Replies... Tonyah Mcanelly 12 months ago
these are reasons i refuse to live in an HOA . I am not going to pay 100's of 1000's of dollars for some one to tell me how to live . In our town the planning commission is trying to pass an ordinance that you cant hae recreational vehicle e or trailers in view of the street. and fences cant be over 8ft high. my husband has a racing ]Porche the trailer does not fit in my garage so it sits in the driveway there is no garbage around it its very clean not an eye sore . This is the case with alot of people . even during the early stages of Covid alor of healthcare workers in our town used their RV;s to live in and quarrentine. we got sweet justice when several residents parked their boats in the cul- desac where one of the members of the planning commission lived .
The Short Lady 12 months ago
Read the rules carefully. They have to be disclosed, but often the board members make them up as they go.
sweet emotion 12 months ago
Someday I would like to see a poll of real estate agents : Do you warn your clients ahead of time that a home is in an HOA and how much the annual fees are? How many sales have you lost when the client discovered there was an HOA? How many clients told you up front that they are not interested in even looking at home in an HOA.
Nils Skirnir 12 months ago
It’s a law that they have to disclose it. In advanced states the agents and sellers have been successfully sued for large amounts for non disclosure.
Load More Replies... Mike F 12 months ago
5a: don't purchase a home in a neighborhood with an HOA!
Load More Replies... Nils Skirnir 12 months ago
In US they exist, at least in part, because they promise to fill a lot of the functions that were once done by towns, counties, etc. They have the advantage of doing those things outside of local budgets. Many do road maintenance, snow removal, gardening, security, etc, etc. But, power corrupts and many of them became power mad. I actually blame city and state governments for defaulting on basic services as much as I blame the asshat hoa
Hey hey hey 12 months ago
But why does HOA power is not limited? The HOA Boards wielding do much power without limitations is the cause of the problems. Foreclosure a house because of unpaid fees of less than $1000 is something should not allowed.
Load More Replies... Papa 12 months ago (edited)
I gave never been involved in one, but it's my understanding that most of them are okay, but of course we don't hear about those because no one is complaining about them.
Load More Replies... David 12 months ago
because they are voluntary covenants when formed, and if you move into one later, by default you agreed to it. Florida has been passing laws restricting their authority and power. Originally they were to maintain public areas and keep streets clean and pay for private security patrols. Then in the 60s and 70s many became used to keep out Blacks, Jews, and Catholics. Today HOA's are more of a hit or miss. Some people love theirs because they do what they are supposed to do, and some have become mini dictatorships.
Load More Replies... Janissary35680 12 months ago
Apparently they exist in the UK too based on some of the responses. I would suppose that they have them in Canada as well.
Load More Replies... Tonyah Mcanelly 12 months ago
these are reasons i refuse to live in an HOA . I am not going to pay 100's of 1000's of dollars for some one to tell me how to live . In our town the planning commission is trying to pass an ordinance that you cant hae recreational vehicle e or trailers in view of the street. and fences cant be over 8ft high. my husband has a racing ]Porche the trailer does not fit in my garage so it sits in the driveway there is no garbage around it its very clean not an eye sore . This is the case with alot of people . even during the early stages of Covid alor of healthcare workers in our town used their RV;s to live in and quarrentine. we got sweet justice when several residents parked their boats in the cul- desac where one of the members of the planning commission lived .
The Short Lady 12 months ago
Read the rules carefully. They have to be disclosed, but often the board members make them up as they go.
sweet emotion 12 months ago
Someday I would like to see a poll of real estate agents : Do you warn your clients ahead of time that a home is in an HOA and how much the annual fees are? How many sales have you lost when the client discovered there was an HOA? How many clients told you up front that they are not interested in even looking at home in an HOA.
Nils Skirnir 12 months ago
It’s a law that they have to disclose it. In advanced states the agents and sellers have been successfully sued for large amounts for non disclosure.
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