Payback Time
Linda had put up with his disregard for long enough. But this time, the HOA President took things too far, and he ended up paying the price.
When Linda and Derek Foster moved to Tiger Point, the place was a dream. But a year after they moved in, a new HOA President was announced.
And not long after that, everything started to crumble. The man needed to be taught a lesson, and Linda was going to do it.
Happy Days
The day Linda and her husband, Derek, decided to buy that condo was one of the happiest days of her life.
She had just discovered that she was pregnant with their first child. So, the condo came at the perfect time.
But the life that started as the perfect fairy tale wasn’t meant to last.
Normal At First
After Linda and Derek moved in, everything seemed perfect. They had wonderful neighbors who they got along with, and the complex seemed like the perfect place for a little family.
Everything was taken care of by the housing association, and all of the residents were happy.
However, that changed a year later when a new president was announced.
Over Time
It was a difficult situation since the president bought nearly half of the condos without anyone realizing it. And when he was done, the man turned into a tyrant.
He stopped all repairs in the complex, and things quickly started falling apart. The public pool had been empty for months, and the elevators stopped working a few weeks after he took over.
But those weren’t even the worst of the problems.
Disappointed
Everyone who saw the place as a dream was sorely disappointed by what it had become. Many of the people who lived on the top floor were experiencing leaks. Burst pipes weren’t being taken care of, leaving residents without water for days on end.
And to make matters worse, they had to start contributing to the repairs that needed to be done.
It made things very difficult, especially for the people who didn’t have space for the extra costs in their budget.
Determined To See It Through
But Linda and Derek adored the first house they ever bought as a couple. The place their young son had grown up in. They couldn’t abandon it over a few unforeseen mishaps.
They were determined to continue the dream, even if they had to invest more of their own funds.
But unfortunately, not everyone could say the same.
Things Were Getting Strange
About six months after the new president took over, things started getting really strange. On top of demanding a monthly fee to cover the costs of the damages, he demanded more money for service and administration fees.
Linda didn’t even blink at the low fees, but a few of her neighbors were starting to complain. Some of the older residents couldn’t fork out more than they already had.
And since the younger residents felt the need to look after them, the brunt of the costs was falling on them.
The Special Assessment
Then, the president came by and ordered all the residents to pay a $1000 fee for a special assessment he wanted to conduct on the property. He even went as far as to threaten the residents.
He told them that if the fee wasn’t paid, he would put a lien on their houses. Linda was stunned.
She knew that the majority of the residents couldn’t afford that.
Time To Fight Back
This was madness. After everything they had to put up with, they now had to scrape money together to avoid having a debt put on their properties.
Linda wouldn’t stand for that. She called all her neighbors over, and they discussed ways to deal with the situation.
In the end, every single one of them refused to pay the $1000.
Success
Seeing as the majority went against him, the president decided to back down without a fight. But as he walked away, he gave Linda a look to let her know that this was far from over.
Linda brushed it off. She knew he disliked her from the moment he met her. He thought she was just a spoiled brat with a rich daddy.
But he would learn the truth soon enough.
It Wasn’t Over
Linda already knew that the president would come back in a fit of rage, so she did everything in her power to ensure that he had nothing to use against her. Because she knew he’d use anything he could.
What she couldn’t control was what would happen on her 28th birthday.
And that’s where everything became a million times worse.
A Special Gift
When Linda turned 28, Derek surprised her with the one thing she had always wanted. Somehow he managed to get his hands on a restored 1949 Dodge Pick Up.
It was the car of her dreams, and the sight of it standing in their parking spot brought tears to her eyes.
She had no idea that the truck would be a reason for concern.
The Claws Come Out
Linda and Derek took the truck out for a drive, and when they returned, the president was waiting for them.
He told Linda that he would not allow such a hideous monstrosity on his property and demanded that she get rid of it immediately or face the consequences.
At this point, Linda had reached her limit.
A Heated Argument
Linda got into an argument with the president, and things got really serious very quickly. The president kept making demands and insulting the young family. But Linda didn’t back down.
The more he raised his voice, the louder she became. With each demand, he got a refusal.
And with each insult, she threw back a few of her own. But then the president did something that crossed a line.
Drastic Response
The president told Linda she had 24 hours to get rid of the truck. Being as angry as she was, she dared him to go up against her.
But she had no idea what he meant.
It was only hours later that her lawyer got in touch with her and told her how far the president had gone.
She Was Stunned
Linda read the email over and over again. She couldn’t believe that the president had put a lien on her house for the $1000 that was meant to go toward the special assessment.
It wasn’t like Linda planned on selling her condo any time soon, but this was going too far. The president seemed to think that he owned the place and that he could make everyone do what he wanted them to.
But he was running into a brick wall when it came to Linda.
Things Had Gone Too Far
At this point, Linda wanted nothing more than to take revenge and put the president in his place. He didn’t own them. He couldn’t tell them what they could and couldn’t own. And he certainly couldn’t keep taking their money.
And the best part was that Linda didn’t even need to wait for him to do anything wrong to go against him.
He’d been doing things wrong since he took over.
They Were Prepared
What the president didn’t know was that the residents had been keeping tabs on everything that had happened since he took over.
All the bills they had to pay from their own pocket but should’ve been paid by the association. All the money they had given him.
All the damage done to their properties. They had evidence of it all.
The Last Year And A Half
Since Linda became friends with all her neighbors a year and a half ago, all of them started taking pictures of their houses in case anything had to happen.
They also started keeping their receipts and taking pictures of the damages they were forced to pay for. And those pictures piled up after Linda’s son fell down the stairs a couple of months ago.
It happened because the stairway was so damaged it wasn’t meeting safety regulations.
Everyone Was Against Him
Since that day, everyone who owned a condo in the complex has been against the president. Many had even considered selling.
But just like with Linda and Derek, it had become their home, and they would rather get rid of the president than lose half the money they put into their condos.
However, they all agreed that the man had gone too far and that the time had come for them to take their first step.
It Was Time For The Next Step
The president’s latest stunt had gone too far, and the rest of the residents were afraid that he would place a lien on their houses if they didn’t bend to his will.
But none of them would stoop that low. What he was asking for was ridiculous. And in the six months, he had done nothing but steal their money.
Not a single repair had been done for all they had put in.
He Would Never See It Coming
After a community meeting where they all presented their evidence, they were ready to proceed. They had all agreed on the best way to deal with the president and the situations they were put in.
And Linda offered to take charge, so she could get the best lawyers available to deal with the man.
What was on its way was a slap he would never see coming.
First Step
What the president didn’t know was that Linda was not just a spoiled rich kid as he thought she was. She was an heiress with a line of lawyers behind her back that would ensure she came out on top no matter what.
Linda approached those lawyers, and in a matter of weeks, each and every resident had their day in court.
And they weren’t suing the association.
They Won
Every resident went up against the president himself, and every single one of them won their case. At the end of the trials, the president was not only ordered to pay them all the money they had given him.
He also had to reimburse them for the private repairs they were forced to pay for.
And that was when the case against the association started.
Second Step
The association was taken to court for neglecting the complex, failing safety procedures, and the damage their neglect did to the residents’ properties.
They received a hefty fine and were ordered to fix the damages immediately. An inspection would be conducted in a few months, and if they failed again, they would be forced to pay every single condo owner the amounts they had put into buying it.
But that wasn’t all.
A Drastic Reshuffle
The president was pulled from the HOA board, and the board itself was reshuffled.
A new procedure was implemented where the residents voted on who the members of the board and the president would be.
The votes would be conducted on a yearly basis, meaning that the board would have new members and a new president every year.
It Wasn’t Enough
Linda was happy with the new structure that was put in place and with the fact that her neighbors got what they deserved. But she wasn’t completely happy with the punishment the president received.
After everything they’ve had to put up with, she felt that he deserved to suffer more.
If he didn’t, he would never learn his lesson, and more people would fall victim to his antics.
He Had To Pay
Linda had a few possible acts of revenge in mind, but she would start by doing to him what he had done to her.
She put a lien on the penthouse he owned in the complex.
And she had every right to do so since her son’s medical bills, which amounted to thousands, still hadn’t been paid by him.
A Real Estate Agent
After that, she contacted the real estate agent who sold her the condo and inquired about more condos that were for sale in the same complex.
The real estate agent informed her that all the condos that were owned by the former president had been put on sale.
Linda agreed to buy them all at their current worthless value.
Picture Worthy
According to the lawyers who processed the deal, the former president was so happy that all his condos were sold that he didn’t even care about who bought them.
Then he was issued with a hefty fine for the lien Linda put on the penthouse, and his expression changed.
But nothing could beat the look he had on his face when he found out that it was Linda who bought his prized $10 million penthouse. And took his place as president of the HOA.
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.
