Imagine yourself finally settling in your dream country and house. Suddenly, someone knocks on your door, handing you a letter.
Upon opening it, it showed a penalty from your HOA, stating that your mailbox was ugly and that you got fined.
Well, it might be infuriating to experience. Sadly, these people from the Reddit Community experienced the same nightmare from their HOAs. Hang on! You are about to dive into the most dumbfounding HOA moments.
1. Educated Consumers
In the former neighborhood, the HOA board wanted to replace the fence that surrounded the entire neighborhood...just the perimeter fence so that the neighborhood would look friendly to the outside.
Of course, 2 board members' houses also sat on the perimeter, so their fences would have been upgraded (which is fine...). The cost was only a couple hundred bucks per household (one-time fee), but they held a meeting in a little 20-person local library room to pass the fee.
Hundreds of community members flooded in to demand an explanation or at least hear it out. One community member had researched: per HOA bylaws, they were supposed to have obtained 3 quotes...they only got one.
The same member also dove a little further and discovered that the quote had come from a brother-in-law of one of the HOA board members.
Very sketchy.
So the community demanded 2 more quotes, which both came in at about half of what the brother-in-law's contracting service had quoted.
SeaSlainCoxswain
2. Not Just Us
The coworker lived in a very expensive and very high monthly HOA neighborhood. They were born in the Netherlands and had a Dutch flag sticker on their front window, maybe 3 inches tall.
They got a $75 fine in the mail.
Her dad read the rules over extremely well, went out and photographed over 75 US flags, went to the head officer, and said he wouldn't be writing a $75 check until the person writes up all 75 of the following addresses as there's no exception for an American flag.
They dismissed his fine.
somedude456
3. The Paint
Or neighbors are Italian. They painted their mailbox with the colors of the Italian flag. It looks acceptable to me. No one in the neighborhood would have complained.
They got a letter from the HOA asking them to remove the "Mexican flag" colors from their mailbox.
The HOA got an earful from the homeowners and neighbors.
Inigomntoya
4. Mysterious Guy
A guy with the name "Bill Champion" rose to the ranks of the local board for a few years, became the president, and suddenly skipped town one night.
He left his place empty without telling anyone he was leaving. Months later, a large deficit in funds was discovered that was fudged on the books.
So all of the homeowners who had been paying into this large fund that is supposed to be there when roofs and fences need replacement were bamboozled by this guy with a (now) clearly fake name.
He probably does this as a long con across the country while profiting off of other shady dealings as well.
_Terrapin_
5. The Pet Drama
We got a letter from our association telling us they would fine us because our dog caused turf damage in our yard.
One of the bylaws was that you had to register your pets with the association. We didn't own a dog, and they knew it.
I told them to take their fine and shove it.
The $50 we had to pay the association for a PDF of the bylaws when we sold the place was also ridiculous.
I will never live in a community with an HOA again.
Golytely_Sprint
6. Constructing Grass
They tried to fine me $3,000 for cutting the top two inches off my lawn and re-seeding it.
The problem was that I had written approval from them from weeks before for the project, and all of a sudden, they were labeling my lawn "a construction zone."
707RiverRat
7. Grass Drama
I had an argument when on the committee, and someone wanted to lay artificial grass.
Some insisted it was not a listed species of grass.
I asked if that meant they would also be expected to comply with the rule that grass must be mown every 2 weeks in spring/summer and 4 weeks in autumn/winter.
Artificial turf met every criterion as a paving, but they wouldn't have it.
tubbyx7
8. No Removal Here
Our neighborhood HOA tried to make us remove the ivy from our house. After combing through the bylaws, there was nothing stating we couldn’t have ivy.
I put my foot down hard and told them if they made me remove my beloved ivy, then I would put 50 pink flamingos in my yard because there was no rule about it.
They left us alone after that.
bewenched
9. Dad Ways
When I was about 10, a new neighborhood that had an HOA came up across the street from us. The houses were very nice and were probably worth ~200K more than the average house in my town.
My parents had owned our house for about 15 years at that point, and man, did my dad like to piss them off. One story that sticks out is when I was a freshman in high school, and my dad bought a large windmill meant for power.
It wasn’t one of the big ones you see, but it was smaller in size: probably a good 20 or so feet tall. The HOA in the neighborhood tried to get him to take it down since they deemed it an “eyesore.”
My Dad pretty much told them to get lost since they couldn’t do anything. They ended up trying to sue us, and the judge dismissed the case after my dad explained that the city planning committee approved the windmill, that he had permits, and that we weren’t a part of the HOA.
He still has it up and decorates it with lights for Christmas.
Tlr321
10. The Police Car
I bought a house in an HOA community and was a police officer in a large agency at the time.
This meant I got a take-home car.
So, a police car was in my driveway whenever I wasn't at work (or it wasn't in for service). Well, the HOA was fine if it was in my driveway, but not if it was in the street.
I was sent several letters stating they would tow the car if it wasn’t moved, even though there was no rule stating no street park unless it was a commercial vehicle.
I guess a cop car is a commercial vehicle in their mind.
So I replied, “Go ahead and tow it. It's not my car; you can fight with the city about it.” Well, the day came to tow it, and the tow truck company (who just happened to be on the towing rotation list for the city) refused to tow it as they were worried it might get them in trouble with the city and tossed off the rotation list costing them thousands.
The letters stopped, and from then on, I only got dirty looks from the HOA board.
randazz18
11. No Permission
We had our lot repaved over the course of a week or so, and we were required to park on the street while it happened. No biggie. Well, some guy late at night "swerved to miss a cat" with his Ford Expedition work truck.
It killed my Ford Fusion in the front and pushed me enough to hop on the curb and backward into my wife's car.
My car was totaled, my wife had to have repairs, and he went to jail for two months cause he ran. Ultimately, I got a new car, so it worked out.
Fast forward 2 months after I got my new car, which was my first. I go to leave for work, and as I walk down the steps and look in the parking lot, I don't see my new car. I usually park it in the same space every time. I finally found my car on the other side and not in a spot I would ever park in.
I figured my wife moved it or something for a weird reason. I texted her, and she said she didn't.
I then found out that the HOA decided just to TOW AND MOVE my car because they had to fix a part of the lot, and my car was in the way. I also found out that they moved about 5 cars without asking.
What irritated me the most was I was home when they did it. I never got a call. An email. A knock. Nothing. They just decided to tow and move it.
I went back to check on my car, and would you guess what? The plastic parts under my bumpers were scratched from being dragged on the pavement and the towing rig. I know it's just plastic, and people can't really see it, but this was my first new car.
I own it for two months and just wanted to take care of it and keep it nice looking.
In the end, I had the HOA pay for the parts but not the work. To this day, I'm still mad.
ohitsmark
12. Turn All Down
This is not my story; and I got it from a regular customer.
It happened 15 or so years ago now. He used to live in an old stone farmhouse, and when he bought the place, most of the farmland had been sold to a developer, leaving him with a 20-acre plot with the house in one corner.
The developer put in a housing development next door. A few years later, he got a letter in the mail saying that his house was not following the HOA guidelines, and was behind on his dues, and he owed them a "Buttload of money" (direct quote from the storyteller) that they'll foreclose on his house if he didn't pay.
He called them and pointed out that he's not a member of the HOA, and they're welcome to try. So they filed a lien on his house, and it was denied. They then tried to get him to sign up with the HOA, and when he said no, they filed a lawsuit and tried to force him into the HOA, which failed.
The whole thing was so ridiculous that it ended on local news.
He then started getting reported for supposed code violations, and after a couple of dozen in a few months' time, he discovered that the person reporting him was a neighbor.
The neighbor's backyard butted up against his yard, and apparently, both hated how his house looked and was on the HOA board. It took 2 more years, another lawsuit, and many police visits for this whole mess to run its course.
The funniest part is that 4 years before I was told that story, an electrical fire gutted the old farmhouse, and the guy rebuilt on the other side of his property just to get away from the butthurt HOA guy.
And since he didn't have to remove the old building, he left it. All gutted, fire-blackened, and half-collapsed right where the butthurt guy could see it from his bedroom window.
psycospaz
13. Naughty One
Had a Board member tell me that he would write people up personally for political signs if our site manager refused to do it. I sent him the exact law that forbids him from doing that.
Word for word that he cannot do it, plain as day.
He still did it, and the person he wrote up called me directly, asking what the f*ck was wrong with me. I told her it was closed out and destroyed from the record, then called the Board member with the attorney on the other line.
The attorney literally told him to resign and move if he couldn't comprehend the massive lawsuit he very nearly got the HOA into.
jfsindel
14. Got Gaslighted
Happened to a neighbor. One of the water lines broke, so he wasn't getting water for his sprinklers.
He contacted them to fix it, but they hemmed, hawed, and dragged their feet.
Then they mailed him a complaint about his lawn dying.
emberkit
15. Wannabe God
My neighbor built a Pergola in his backyard. It took him 2 weekends, but it seemed he and his son had a lot of fun. It looked great, he was incredibly skilled, and it was 100% cedar.
So, the HOA sends him a note saying he has to take it down and ask for permission to put it up.
He sent a letter to “ask for permission.” They denied it and said they wouldn’t consider it unless he first took down the Pergola.
So, he took the whole thing down. Disassembled the whole thing.
Then, he sent a letter asking for “permission.” 2 months later, after “review,” they granted the request. Then he put the whole thing back up again.
A similar thing happened to another neighbor, but he painted his garage... he had to paint his garage three times.
smashew
16. Blame On Me
I live in a condo with my dad and stepmom. My car at the time was, admittedly, a beater. The back end was duct-taped up pretty severely, and it had a lot of bumper stickers.
My parents have really nice new Buicks, so my 90s Oldsmobile parked outside, and they parked in the garage. I went on Spring Break with my sister and returned to my car in the garage.
The neighbors were selling their condo and my car in another driveway and having nothing to do with their property, "lowered their property value." They complained to the condo association, and until I sold that car, I wasn't allowed to park it in the driveway or on the street (parking on the street isn't allowed here anyway).
By the time I sold my car, they still hadn't sold their condo.
It wasn't my old mobile, and it was the ugly white carpet in the bathroom.
blue_jeans_and_bacon
17. Not The Kid
In the state where I live, ages ago, a hoa tried to force an elderly couple to give up their granddaughter who had been recently orphaned.
All of it was because the community was elders only.
The kid wasn't a nuisance or anything. She was just a little girl who had lost her parents, and the hoa decided her life was worth less than their peace.
[deleted]
18. Imaginary Kid
My old HOA complained not once but twice that I needed to keep the noise levels in my house down because my screaming toddler was disrupting the neighborhood.
I don't have kids.
Our neighborhood has been a target for thieves, and we would always hear about a house being robbed almost weekly. The HOA's response? Lock all doors and install a security system.
I now live in a non-HOA neighborhood. There are no complaints from the neighborhoods, and it's rare to hear anyone talk about their home being robbed and such.
I will never live in an HOA ever again.
MADDOGCA
19. Long Process
We lived in a city with a military base. The HOA was composed of retired military officers. They treated the homeowners like general enlisted and expected us to follow their every edict without question.
I once went to an HOA meeting (I was one of the only people there). They immediately ended the public meeting, reconvened it as private, and kicked us out.
We had to submit landscaping plans for approval. They had something like 4 months to approve them. Mine were returned after four months - denied because I did not have enough lawn in the design (it was a native plant, drought tolerant design).
The landscaping specifications did not specify that any lawn was required. When I pointed this out, they never responded and never approved my plans. I did what I wanted but was always looking over my shoulder, waiting for them to find me or order me to remove and redo my landscaping.
They never did.
[deleted]
20. Insensitive People
So, my dad was the king of lawn care. Had the best-looking yard in the neighborhood, no contest. It might as well have been a five-star golf course. My stepmom loved flowers and had many different types growing everywhere, and it looked like a palace garden.
Then, my dad got in a car accident with my stepmom and their dog. My dad and the dog died. My stepmom goes into a coma for a month and wakes up with most of her lower body broken and paralyzed.
A year later, she moves back into the house (which has been generally taken care of but not well-maintained like it used to be). Virtually every immediate neighbor shows support and helps in any way they can.
Then, the HOA, whose president lives 4 houses away, sends her a letter saying the mailbox needs to be painted, the grass needs to be taken care of better, and the gardens need to be pruned/weeded.
This wrecked my stepmom, and her mother took the letter to the HOA president and had some words for them. It's good that I live out of state, or I might have gone for a walk with a baseball bat...
whosline07
21. Extra Mile
Not mine, but my friend’s law firm represented someone who litigated—for years—his ability to park his RV in his backyard for free instead of paying a fine of something like $100/mo.
This guy was a multimillionaire and spent almost $200k on his attorney just to make a point that he was allowed to do it without getting fined.
Spicyshrimpburrito
22. Wrong Number
I don't think I got a call from the real "Home Owner's Association," but I got a call from one during work.
Me: Thank you for calling Jimmy's Burger. This is Tim. How can I he-
HOA: This is Bob from the Home Owner's Association. There seems to be a problem with your home! I need some information immediately. Am I speaking to the homeowner?"
Me: Sir... This is a restaurant...
He hangs up immediately.
Grifter56
23. The Building Is Sinking
Waterfront condo with about 50 units with incredible views, with about half of the condos actually "on the water" and half not.
Homeowners voted to keep dues low and kept a modest reserve.
Come to find out that the pilings supporting the water-facing buildings were sinking, and every homeowner got a $125k assessment, whether theirs were sinking or not.
Pay or lose your home.
Commie_EntSniper
24. Their Drama
When we moved here, our HOA was run by "us" (actual homeowners) and was a fairly low-key affair. The pool and tennis courts were available year-round, and we had yearly social gatherings.
Then, the President resigned to deal with other work/life stuff and formed a new HOA group.
The current president has added her husband as a consultant to the board (the bylaws say no couples on the board), and the online open forums and exchange of ideas were shut down because "Complaints were being made against the president" and the current board just keeps re-electing themselves.
The pool has been closed for half the year now, and homeowners are being issued fines and tickets for landscaping issues and tree removal.
The husband/consultant drives around the neighborhood, spying on homeowners to see if they are cutting tree branches without permission.
It got weird fast.
imhoots
25. Pool of Issues
My grandfather's story is kinda nuts.
Neighbors complained they could see his pool house over the fence and through the trees. I guess if you stood in the right part and looked closely, she was right. She discovered the pool house was too close to the property line, 8 feet instead of 10.
She reported it, and it led to a year-long battle that ultimately resulted in him spending a ton of money to knock down a pool house, tear up the foundation, and build a new one a few feet further away. (Keep in mind, they approved the initial plan, and it was there for a decade before she complained.)
He was pissed, decided to screw the neighbor in the process.
We had to remove some trees for the demolition/construction and accidentally removed them all. Oops. The neighbor has no trees, so now there's nothing to block her view.
We built the new pool house as tall as possible, as far from the fence as possible, adding a second shed. Put big, ugly, duly approved garage doors on it. Left all the stickers on the windows.
You wouldn't notice the old one unless it was pointed out. This new arrangement is one hell of an eyesore.
MyNameIsRay
26. Just Innocent Folks
My folks live in a strata. Had jerkwards for neighbors who kept tattling on them for ridiculous things. Their truck was parked a few inches too much onto the street. Their dog barked all hours of the night(he didn't; they’re all in bed by 9), etc.
Ended up costing them hundreds in fines. But the strata management never let my folks argue their side. Just kept slapping fines on innocent pensioners.
Luckily, they moved out, and the new neighbors are great! Phew!
desbunny33
27. Double Bill
Oh, I got one, not me, but a client of mine. He owns a rental unit in his HOA and rents to a lovely couple in their 20s. They called and said that the AC had died, so he called an HVAC company to come out to fix it, and upon inspection, they decided it needed a full replacement.
This is a gated community, so the HOA has to let people in the gate and approve all work being done. Once the new A/C unit was picked up, another contractor showed up to install it and was guided to the rooftop units by the HOA guide person, and the work began.
It turns out the HOA person pointed out the wrong unit, and when my client went to test the new AC, it still ddidn'twork. My client figured out that the AC was put in the wrong place, but the other unit owner refused to comply with removing it, and the HOA claimed that they were not to blame even though their guy screwed up the two units.
My client had to buy another unit and use a different HOA-appointed contractor because they banned the other contractors from the property.
The best part of the whole ordeal was they sent him a written warning about his conduct with the HOA after he let them have it in the main office.
a_bingo_goose
28. The Knocker
I live in a condo, and the board is mainly manned by retirees. I moved in and bought my place from the original owners, who installed a tasteful knocker of a fox's head, and it's kind of cool.
I got a letter basically saying, "I don't know who told you, you could put that up, but you have to take it down and repair the door as it's against the rules of the building" from the board of directors.
I wrote back saying not only has the knocker been in place since I moved in, but it's the management's duty to police that and the board's to police management, so I can't be held responsible for oversight.
I told them I would gladly take it down, but they would have to foot the cost of repairing the door. I still have the knocker up 3 years later.
It matches my corgi.
athanathios
29. Bunch of Karens
Hooboy, where to begin? So, when my family moved into our neighborhood, everyone told us that there was no HOA — except that there actually was one. It didn't seem so bad at first: the fees were reasonable enough, and nobody seemed to be acting like a douche-nozzle, so my folks shrugged their shoulders and figured we'd deal with it. Not long after this, though, things started to go nuts.
First, it was blatant favoritism for friends of officers; then, it was a bullshit management company that literally would do things like send people out with rulers to measure lawn height.
Things were quickly turning sour, so my folks, a woman named K and a man named P decided to go up for (and eventually were elected to) officer positions to try to wrangle some sense out of the situation. Eventually, they hit upon the idea to dissolve the HOA, and started campaigning for votes to that effect.
This is where the "fun" really begins.
K was president and started receiving death threats after she started the campaign to dissolve — eventually, she resigned and gave the position to my mom.
My family had the county we lived in called on us with a phony claim that we kids weren't being sent to school (we were homeschooled, jerkwards!); it forced my family to get all kinds of expensive means of legal defense to make sure charges like that wouldn't stick.
P had one of the worst offenders literally barge into P's house and accuse P of embezzlement — and demand all of the HOS's financial records. There are plenty more stories, but the end result was that we managed to shut that down.
GameSnark
30. Stopped Escalation
Almost a horror story: after my grandma died, my dad and I fixed up her condo so we could sell it. I painted every wall, and we redid the kitchen floor. Previously, it was literally a sheet of fabric glued to a cement board subfloor. We scraped it off and put in a nice, cheap, laminated wood floor.
Just before the place finally sold, the realtor called me in a tizzy. Apparently, wood floors are not allowed on the second floor, as they're too loud for the people below!
Luckily, I was able to convince the association that I had used expensive sound-deadening padding under the floorboards so they didn't make me rip it out. I'm so glad that place has finally sold, and I don't have to work on it anymore!
Veritas3333
31. Bill Horror
Well, this one is my greatest nightmare.
Had contacted my HOA to send all correspondence to my parents as I was deploying.
They failed to do this and sent me to collections for missing a payment. I was sued for thousands of dollars for missing my annual payment of 49$.
dexdaflex
32. Huge Fool
Not a big one, and not me, but my friend.
He wanted to install solar panels on his roof, but upon application, they turned him down, stating they would 'look ugly.' Now, most houses in the complex had a chunky 90s solar hot water system on the roof, which was, for some reason, fine.
My friend installed his solar panels anyway and just told them it was a shiny new hot water system.
They approved.
MeltingDog
33. New Lawn
A little late to the party, but I remember when I was a kid, my father and our neighbors got into many arguments with the HOA.
One particularly dumb argument stated that we were not allowed to have "eyesores" in our front yard (I can't remember what this pertained to exactly). My father and neighbors started combing through the rules and noticed that the terminology used to define the ditches differed from the rest of the lawn.
So my dad did what any sane man would do-- got a scarecrow, dressed it as the HOA president's wife, glued it to an old toilet, and sat it in the ditch between houses with a sign in front of it proclaiming it "the Queen's Throne."
My favorite part was the stilettos.
RainbowCatastrophe
34. Like a Hurricane
Not really horror, other than really bad timing. In 1 week, I lost my job, had the State Franchise Tax Board zero all my bank accounts, and then got a letter from my HOA that I needed to paint my house in the next 60 days or face a home levy.
That being the third thing that happened, was pretty freaking horrifying.
Browdown25
35. Police Involved
I live in a very old neighborhood, so our charter hasn’t changed in a long time. We had a lady move in from one of the wealthier neighborhoods in our town, and she was elected president (no one really wanted the job).
Now, our dues were $200 a year, and they weren’t required. Our neighborhood had two lakes, and this money was used to maintain them. If you didn’t use the lakes, you weren’t required to pay the dues, and we had a few older couples in the neighborhood that only spent if their grandkids were coming to visit for an extended period that year.
Well, this new president started stealing patio furniture and then sending them ‘collection’ notices saying they would receive their property back when they paid the dues. Needless to say, she was president for about two months until there was a mutiny, and someone else took over.
And yes, the police did have to get involved.
pokethehippo
36. Unwritten Rule
Two years ago, I was in the process of buying a townhouse that faced a lake. The part of the fence that faced the Lake was owned up like a double door so you could chill in your yard and look at the lake.
Well, it was falling apart and the realtor told us that the HOA will cover it as the fence is part of their duties to fix. My realtor double-checked and found that to be true, so we went ahead with buying the property.
I contacted the HOA to fix it once I bought the property, and they told me, “Oh yeah, the double door type part of the fence isn't included in their responsibilities.” I told them that's not what the pdf states and he's like yeah it's sort of an unwritten rule that they do so sorry and hangs up.
We tried speaking to a couple more people, and they all said the same.
I kept the fence all freaked up for about a year until a bad storm knocked some of the panels down completely, and I got a letter saying I had to fix the fence. I said heh, okay, I added an extra post in the center and put normal wood panels to make it one long fence instead of doors, and that was it.
Wasted about a hundred bucks or so but got rid of a headache.
I sold the property a couple of months later when I pulled a double shift at work. I couldn't put in my garbage cans before midnight and got fined because of it.
Never again will I buy a property with an HOA.
Phiring
37. All Hate
Our HOA fined us 300$ for parking on our own driveway with one warning for a rule they made earlier that year. Also, it might have to do with us being the only nonwhite family in a neighborhood of mostly crotchety white retirees, but we get written up for everything.
Every time our trash can is left out one day late, we get written up every time we leave Christmas up past the 29th. We even got written up for blocking the windows of our garage because we wanted to insulate our garage better.
Apparently, we can't even keep these HOA looky-loos from looking inside our garage?!
It's a really nice neighborhood, but seriously, what the fudge?
thelateralbox
38. Just A Display
They did NOTHING for the community, and the lawn care business was a friend/family of someone on the board. At one yearly meeting, I brought up how there was now new pine straw in the rotunda all year.
As if on cue, a woman exclaimed that I was lying... probably related to lawn care bums.
In that same meeting, they bragged about maintaining the playground. What did that mean? They tore it down because they had never maintained it, and it was a safety hazard.
[deleted]
39. The Raider Banner
This happened very recently. I live in Washington state, so everyone here is pretty much a Hawks fan...
I’ve lived in my house for nearly 6 years now, and on day one, when I moved in, I put up a raider banner on my window. Everything is fine, but last month, we got a letter stating we’d be charged $50 if we didn’t take it down.
When my dad called to ask why we were getting charged, they said it was because of the raider banner... the thing is, a tiger blanket covers up my other window, and they didn’t care. They specifically mentioned the raider banner.
JamianX
40. Payment First
My mom replaced dead plants in the front yard with live ones off the pre-approved list.
Then, she was fined $100 for replacing said plants.
Turns out that you first have to pay $25 to ask for approval to use plants on the pre-approved list.
Icearstorm
41. Trash Can Drama
Our HOA insisted that trash cans had to be placed behind houses for whatever reason - I think the reason given was tidiness. Whatever, I can see how we want the neighborhood to look smart.
My husband fashioned a holding area that totally hid the trash cans behind landscaping. You had to practically walk to the back of the property to see the trash cans (through a gate, around a corner). We got a visit from the president of the HOA, telling us this wasn’t acceptable.
It was then that I brought up the lady down the street who had a 6-foot plastic gargoyle statue festooned with fairy lights in her front yard. He sheepishly told me it was religious and the HOA could do nothing about it.
I told the president of the HOA that I would then go ahead and move my trash cans to the front yard and decorate them with pool noodles in a tribute to the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
He walked away, only to return a few months later to ask for our vote in his bid for re-election.
deadest_of_parrots
42. Damaged Properties
My neighborhood had a bit of a battle over the beavers that had taken up residence in our lake. They were doing their beaver thing, chewing down trees and damaging stuff all along people’s property that lined the lake. They also had dammed up the creek that fed the lake and flooded the area, so most people wanted them gone.
However, the people whose property the beavers’ lodge was next to were serious animal rights people. They’d come running out screaming at you to leave if you kayaked near the lodge at all. And the HOA president was also on their side.
It was an ongoing discussion for like 3 years, and then the beavers disappeared. I'm not sure what actually became of them, but I think someone finally got fed up and hired trappers to come in and get them.
I didn’t like the damage they caused, but the beavers were actually pretty cool, and I had a good time checking out their lodge up close.
dapperpony
43. Bunch of Mean People
Wouldn't allow us to keep the playhouse that my dad had built us. They said it didn't qualify as a playset (which is allowed,) it qualified as a garden shed. It was the coolest little playhouse with cedar shingles and it's still at our old house, rotting away because the new owners don't care.
They once fined us $50 per day until we repainted our house. As if you can just get the first warning and be like "yep, I'll knock that out right now!"
We were treated like second class citizens for having a "non-traditional house color." It's gray.
A horrible woman used to walk around the neighborhood with a clipboard and write people up for having visible trash cans. She wasn't even an HOA board member. She just sucked. Her house was foreclosed on. And no one misses her.
Endless letters about "overgrowth in our yard." That one's true, though, and we don't weed enough.
We had our vindication, though! My baby brother was obsessed with planting seeds as a kid. If he had an apple or an orange, he'd save the seeds and try to plant them outside.
My mom got him some of those crappy little paper cups with dirt and seeds from the dollar section at Target. He planted both by our front door. One of the plants (birdhouse gourd vine) was incredibly prolific and actually swallowed our entire front porch! Little bro was so excited.
We had over 30 gigantic gourds when it was at its peak. It was so big that you couldn't go through the front door anymore. We waited every day for the HOA letter and peed ourselves laughing when we got it. It just said, "There is some overgrowth in your yard."
The HOA was so hated that it finally kind of fell apart. They haven't bothered anyone in years.
crackersoncrackers
44. Unli Scam
My HOA keeps hiring management companies that steal from us.
Our first management company replaced our roofs. The brother of the management company owned the roofing company. Within 5 years, the roofs needed to be replaced again - they cut so many corners.
The FBI raided another management company for stealing money from condo complexes. The owners were convicted and charged.
And now my current management company wants to replace 70 small decks for 1 million dollars. These decks are smaller than a beach towel. For executing the world, the primary bidder is the management company.
TheMothHour
45. No Other Way
My Gma's HOA got on her because her driveway was cracked(home purchased this way) due to a tree's roots growing under it.
She had the tree cut down(approved by HOA), and then we removed the driveway and got rid of the roots and the tree stump.
Laid out a new driveway.
She received a fine for REMOVING THE STUMP…
akujiki87