If you have a Homeowners’ Association in your neighborhood, you would likely expect a community with harmony and peace. But not all the time, because sometimes, HOA can be the reason why you lose your peace of mind or they will constantly badger you with petty rules that will get on your nerves.
These horror stories will make you think twice about living in a neighborhood with an HOA. Be ready to get crazed as we read into these stories of annoying HOA troubles.
1. Give it Black!
I had just moved into my house a few months prior when I got a letter threatening to be fined $200 stating that my mailbox wasn’t black. I thought surely they had the wrong house because my mailbox was black. So I contacted them and they gave me a run around arguing that it wasn’t.
I told them to come look and of course, they said it was on me to prove to them it was black. So I snapped a photo and emailed it to them. I hear nothing back for well over a month, then get another letter giving me a “courtesy” week extension before I’m fined.
I’m livid at this point, so I contact the HOA again asking for an explanation as to what exactly the problem is. I’m finally told that the “neighbors” felt my mailbox was rather worn and needed to be painted or replaced. So basically it wasn’t black enough for them. So I painted it.
Now for the part that set me over the edge. After a few months or so I learned that the HOA will replace a mailbox, as it’s covered under our terms. So I called them asking about why they threatened to fine me when they were the ones that should replace it if not to standard. They stated it was because they had no open work orders for my mailbox and that it was my responsibility to notify them if it needed maintenance, not theirs.
Miggitiemac
2. Karma’s Payback
Back when I was about 16 or 17 my friends and I used to hang around the neighborhood. We weren't the bad kids though, but for whatever reason the head of the HOA hated us. Maybe all teens I'm not sure.
The one time that I'll never forget is when I got home from school and it was a normal day. My mom said to me as soon as I walked in the door, "So the Deputy Fire Chief called me this morning." Well apparently some kids had thrown Molotov Cocktails all over the neighborhood and Miss High and Mighty HOA had called 911 and reported it as me and my friends.
Well, that was impossible because I was playing video games all night that night. So long story short, we got called into the Fire Chief’s office one by one to explain our whereabouts that night and he would just not let up. We all had proof of where we were and what we did but no that wasn't good enough because we're just dumb teenagers it had to be our fault. He even had a satellite image of the crime scene with a red line leading back to my house saying that he had police dogs sniff out our trail.
Eventually, that finally ended and no one was charged. But after a couple of years, guess who gets caught selling majorly overpriced pool passes to out-of-neighborhood guests to use our pool? That's right Miss High and Mighty herself. I was so happy when I read that email and even more happy that she had to pay back the thousands of dollars she swindled. So that's why I believe in Karma.
TheThickness12
3. Outsmarting HOA
My good friend had a story.
She and her husband moved into this gated community. She loves having a birdbath in her backyard and she gardens a lot, so the decoration makes sense. Turns out her HOA figured out that she had said birdbath in her backyard.
Birdbaths or any lawn ornament were forbidden. She told them she would remove it. A week later she gets another message saying that it hasn't been removed, yes it wasn’t. She and her husband put it together and the HOA is snooping in her backyard.
For a week, she spends her time outside sunbathing in the nude setting her trap. Sure enough, an HOA narc opens the gate to their backyard and sees her in the nude. They instantly called the police for privacy violations. The HOA gave up and let her have a birdbath.
She is now on the board of the HOA and they leave her alone.
Flynn_lives
4. Fence Face-Off
When we first moved in I asked the neighbor across the street how “serious” the HOA was here. He said, “Bad.” Then he told me a story where he got a notice with a photo of his recycle bin being left on the street for too long. The photo was of him walking the recycling bin back to his garage.
I had the HOA come out to “approve” a fence I was going to install. The lady at the HOA office was very nice and said my plans were within the covenant by-laws. We just need to have the “inspector” check it out himself to sign off.
When he gets to my house he says he doesn’t understand what I wanted to do. I explained the type of fence I wanted to install and he said that wasn’t, from his knowledge, “allowed.” I walk him out to the street point two houses down and say “That house, right there has the fence I want to install.” He scoffs at this, walks down to look and sure enough it was EXACTLY as I described it.
He tells me “Well we don’t like to have a bunch of different “types” of fences in the neighborhood.” I reply “I don’t care what you prefer, the covenant says I can have that fence and that’s what I’m going to install because it’s within the specifications of the covenant.”
The old fella didn’t have much to say after that. I got a letter the next week with “approved for fence installation.”
DoSeedoh
5. HOA Terror Couple
My ex-boyfriend’s father was part of the homeowner's board for their townhouse community. His wife would walk their dog around the entire neighborhood every day and carry a notebook to write infractions to report back to her husband. It was a ridiculous stuff.
If neighbors have a window aircon unit, it will be reported and they will be fined. If they have a garden that's a square foot too big, it will be reported and they will be fined. Some people have absolutely no lives.
Bastet418
6. Decked by the HOA
Not my story, but my dad's. He moved into a new townhouse in the summer of 2013. It was a foreclosure property, as the previous tenants were kicked out for not paying their mortgage and for not paying their HOA dues.
They gave everyone in the HOA new patios and decks the summer prior. It was required, and you had to get a new deck or patio. But the tenants had to pay for them in monthly installments for the next three years along with their HOA dues.
As I said, the previous tenants foreclosed on their homes. However, there was one rule placed when they got the decks, which was that you couldn't move out without paying off your deck first. He was told by HOA that he would not have to pay off the deck because it was foreclosed and he was not responsible at all for paying it off. Sweet, free deck! He signed off on that.
He moved in, but then he started getting assessments from the HOA for the deck. He wasn’t supposed to pay for the deck. He fought it with the board. Even with the signed thing saying we didn't have to pay for the deck, the board went against him.
He ended up having to pay off the remaining balance on the deck. To this day, he refuses to speak about this topic. It's a trigger for him.
easy_dub
7. Condo Pool Wars
My father-in-law’s condo corp has a shared pool. The old folks don’t like to share, so they have all kinds of silly rules, like no more than one guest per resident, residents only times alternating every hour, etc. My father-in-law can’t even take his two grandkids for a swim because he’d exceed the number of allowed guests. So many rules the damn pool is usually empty.
Because the residents were still breaking the rules, they passed a new rule that if any resident was caught breaking the pool rules, they would close the pool to everyone for a week and post the offender’s name and reason for the closure on the community bulletin board.
Effing children.
DrunkenGolfer
8. Oak Tree Obsession
There is this one silly rule to “Only plant oak trees.” They still enforced this even after multiple arborists & botanists informed the board that doing so would give all of them various diseases and all would need to be cut down. 10 years later?
All have been cut down because they have diseases and mites.
SonofByford
9. Survey Shenanigans
HOA said there was a surplus of funds and sent out a survey to find out what people want the money spent on. If they would like a swimming pool, basketball court, etc.
A few months later we got a notice that they’re raising the dues because they need more money to afford all the new amenities we requested. The entire board was voted out the following year.
Transgander
10. Landlord’s Dumpster Deception
When we were privately renting in a townhome community. The dumpster had video surveillance so that the HOA could fine anyone breaking the rules as far as what we were allowed to dump. One day we got an awful call from our property manager alerting us that the HOA had fined us $250 for illegal dumping, the property owner would have to pay it and we would have to reimburse him.
After racking our brains about what we could have possibly thrown out that wasn't allowed, we decided to call up the HOA to see if we could see the video. They would either transfer us to someone else who would hang up, or their hours would change to where no one would answer the phone, or they'd promise to get the video to us the next day, etc. This went on for about 2 weeks.
Finally, my partner got to see the video while I was at work. I texted him to find out what was on it and he said the video was of a middle-aged Asian lady throwing out a bunch of furniture. It was the horrible property owner's freaking wife.
Silver_fawn
11. Turning Tables on HOA
Our HOA hired a management company to run the day-to-day business. What that meant was a guy would ride around taking pictures of petty issues and mailing violations to homeowners. I had so many quarrels over nothing.
Well, it turns out the HOA didn’t have any teeth behind the violations since the bylaws didn’t allow fines. Somebody came up with the bright idea to start imposing fines to ensure compliance. That is when I ran for and won the vice presidency of the board.
Another gentleman who was fed up with this crap ran and won as well. We didn’t have the power to dissolve the HOA, but we decided the next best thing was to paralyze it. Without us in attendance, the board could never reach a quorum to conduct business. And they never did.
Top_Chef
12. Navigationg HOA Nuisances
When we rented, the HOA would report to our property manager and then the property manager would call us to let us know what we'd done wrong. We were reported for so many things that had nothing to do with us.
We got a call that we can't have a grill on our front porch. We didn't even own a grill. We were told that we were only permitted one car parked on the street. Our other two cars need to be parked in the garage. We only owned one car at that time.
We got a call that neighbors were complaining that our dogs were barking all hours of the night. We didn't have dogs, this house didn't even have a yard. The weirdest is when our property manager calls and says, "You need to move the doormat that you have leaning against your house." My husband goes outside and finds a doormat leaning against the neighbor's house. But whoever reported it, it would have been easier to just knock on the door and say something.
The entire three years we lived in this house, the neighbors across the street used their porch as storage. As homeowners (in a different neighborhood) we were written up for not taking Christmas lights down on time. It was mid-January and we'd been gone for my grandpa's funeral. So, we took them down right away as soon as we got the write-up.
I alerted them lights were removed. They got back to me saying we didn't remove all decorations. I had a snowman on the door that said "Let it Snow" and snowflakes in the window. Winter decorations, not Christmas. They were super snotty about it until I pointed out they'd broken their procedure by not giving us warnings and that we felt targeted. They dropped it.
A year and a half ago we redid our landscaping. The landscaper had pavers sitting in the front of the house, so it was obvious something was up. We got a letter in the mail telling us to cease as we hadn't gotten HOA approval to landscape our backyard. The letter included a photo.
The angle of the photo clearly showed that whoever had taken it had gone into our backyard to take it. They are not allowed to do that. I emailed them, pointing this out. They dropped it.
Not necessarily horror stories, but shows what a pain in the butt an HOA can be.
BoromirBean
13. Grass Confrontation
I was fined multiple times and threatened with a lien by the HOA because we would not water our grass during a major drought season. .
It was cheaper and easier to fight the HOA since the City and State passed regulations banning constant watering and green grass. The City had Google-like vans with cameras that’d be driving neighborhoods to catch violators and fine them
Poisonivvy13
14. Decibel Dictator
When my brother first moved into his condo, quiet hours were from 10 pm to 6 am, from Sunday to Thursday. But this was never really enforced. A couple of years later two board members sold, and two new came on board. One is a 60-year-old man.
Quiet hours are now 8 pm to 6 am, from Sunday to Thursday, and on Friday - Saturday, it was from 10 am to 6 pm. The 60-year-old guy will knock on your door if he thinks you are too loud. It's a very young metro neighborhood, a loft complex.
The old guy came to his door to complain a couple of weeks ago because he thought the pizza delivery guy was too loud.
Comtrailer
15. Frozen Fines
My HOA decided that my trim needed to be painted right now. He threatened a $100-a-month fine if it wasn't. The trouble is that it was January, and I live near Chicago.
As I was buying the paint, the salesperson kept telling me that the paint won't dry, it will just freeze, and fall off within 6 months. I was selling in the spring anyway, so I didn't care. Painted the trim at a temperature of 7 degrees Fahrenheit.
Allthenamesareregone
16. Flooded Fiasco
I went away for a long weekend and left after work on Thursday. Late Friday afternoon, my water heater burst. It was in the attic of a three-story home and it flooded my entire townhouse.
When my neighbor got home from work he saw gallons of water running from underneath my garage door. When he realized I wasn’t home, he tried to find my phone number and when he couldn’t, he called the HOA to notify me.
The lady who answered said that since it was after business hours, it was 5:01 at this point, the matter would have to wait until Monday. My wonderful neighbor ended up calling the non-emergent police line and they came and shut my water off from the street.
When I got home Sunday morning, my entire house was damaged and I could see my attic from my basement. After a massive panic attack and a frantic call to my insurance company, we started the process of repairs.
The cherry on top was that I needed to have a dumpster placed in my driveway and a moving pod to remove what was left of my furniture while they began drying out the house and I got a visit from the HOA. They didn’t like how “unsightly” my home had become and wanted these items removed from my driveway. I essentially told them that they could take their complaints because I didn’t care.
I got a little revenge too because I stopped paying their stupid fee since they couldn’t make me pay the fine for six months and I was moving in less than five months. I’ll never own another home with a HOA ever again.
Dr_Bogart
17. Fake HOA and Unwelcome Rules
There was a fake HOA in our neighborhood! It started as a neighborly gesture, $75 a year. Cleared the roads, some Spring dumpsters, and a Summer BBQ.
Then the bored housewife who had nothing better to do became President of the HOA. They had elections and meetings, and of course, raised the HOA fee by 200%. She talked about new street signs, new roads, sidewalls, and gates into the entrance of the neighborhood.
Our home was the original property back in the 1940s. I assume the owners sold off land for the homes around us. No common areas, neighborhood pool, park, trails, NOTHING. I refused to pay or be any part of the little HOA club.
She called as I was "past due" on my HOA fees. I politely told her there was no HOA here which is why we bought this home. She asked if we use the roads and I said yes of course. Her response was well you need to pay to use my roads. I told her I do, it's called Property Tax. I asked her to NEVER contact me again.
Funny that some participated in the HOA. They just put in $15,000 worth of Stop signs. We have 5 intersections! She wants to resurface the over 1-mile road now, good luck with that. I'll gladly be the one they hate who hangs her laundry out to dry. Do NOT buy in an HOA!
Conniedew
18. Heartless HOA
My mother passed away in September of 2016. My disabled father went into the hospital and then long-term rehab until the present. The house was in my mom’s name and their neighbor across the street is the treasurer of the HOA.
He knew my mom passed away from cancer within a year of her diagnosis and that my dad was in the hospital. He billed my deceased mother for a year and when the bills were unpaid, he took it to court to begin foreclosure proceedings.
At this point, I received a certified letter and contacted a lawyer to help. It was originally $1700 but increased to $4200 with late fees and attorney fees. Our lawyer is confident we can settle for far less than $4200.
BrownsFanJCU
19. HOA Blame Games
My sister’s front door broke because some delivery people messed up and she had it replaced. It was the wrong color according to the HOA and she would be fined $500 a week unless it's corrected or removed because it's fine to not have a front door in LA.
Another is from a sweet old lady who invited me in for tea and cookies when I was house hunting. The HOA there was $285 a month and she told me that while she didn't mind the committee so much. She wasn't happy when 2 of her potted plants were shattered by kids playing ball around her house and the HOA wanted to fine her $65 a day until she had them removed from her front yard.
Unfeelingzeal
20. Towed Away
I was watching a friend's house and her cat while she was away. I left my car at her house, in her deeded spot, with a visitor tag on it. I dropped her off at the airport, then went home to my house, slept, and went to work. Then I returned after work the next day to feed the cat, check the mail, and get my car back.
NO CAR. I called her on vacation, she found the property management's phone number. I called, and they told me it was towed as it had a flat tire. $290 later, for a tow, overnight storage, and a flat fix I had my car back. The car wasn't even there for 24 hours, and it wasn't flat when I parked it.
Mini4x
21. King Fence Sniffer
When we moved in we got permission to build a fence. They said cedar-treated pine was fine. Well, a neighbor didn't like that and called HOA. We got an email shortly thereafter from the HOA President that there were some concerns about our wood.
He came by real quick to give it a good sniff to see if it was, in fact, not cedar.
He is now King Fence Sniffer.
PadaWINE
22. Foreclosure Fallout
A friend of mine was in the middle of potential foreclosure and the only way to prevent was to lease their house and rent a room from me for a discount. HOA denied it since the complex was at lease capacity. They ended up foreclosing.
Pretty sure the foreclosure lowered the property values, not sure I understand the HOA’s decision. My friend stopped paying their dues when the denial was made.
UsedToBCool
23. Inflatable Rebellion
This is something that is an ongoing battle between my friend's mom and her HOA, or more specifically one member.
She lives inside this circular complex full of townhouses with a roundabout in the center that used to have a lot of trees and looked nice, almost like a minipark. The HOA decided to cut down all of the trees without giving notice and my friend's mom was pissed. She went to complain about it and they said, "Sorry, too late."
In protest of them doing that she decided to buy this big inflatable palm tree that she stuck on her balcony for all to see. One of the neighbors, who was in the HOA decided to file a complaint because it looked gawdy. She knew exactly who it was and it upset her more that this person did that instead of coming to talk to her after years of living near each other.
She was able to keep her tree and when Christmas came around she even decorated it. She decided she would wage this war against the HOA and this neighbor by having annoying inflatable decorations on her balcony. When it started warming up she bought a flamingo, which she likes to dress in Chicago Cubs or Blackhawks gear depending on the season.
I told my friend he should get her a 6ft wacky waving inflatable tube man to put on there next, which I think would be hilarious, but I don't know if she wants to take it that far.
-eDgAR-
24. Retirement Rebellion
My dad retired and decided that he wanted to buy a camper and travel. Mom was all about it, and both of them were very excited. So Dad runs off and trades his F-150 truck for a F-250 with a bigass diesel V8, buys a gooseneck camper, and waits for spring. Camper in the back yard, truck in the garage, no big deal.
Not long after he gets a visit from a lady. She's got a list of rules from the HOA that was established long after my parents had built their house, something like 15 years later when the subdivision took off. She was saying that Dad couldn't have the camper on his property because it was an "eyesore." Mind you this camper is in the backyard, behind a 6 inches privacy fence. You could still see it, sure, but it's not like it was old and in disrepair either.
So here's my retired parents, living in a subdivision that has an HOA that was established long after they built their home, and the HOA is expecting them to abide by rules they didn't agree to.
He never moved the camper.
Tired040
25. Cooling Injustice
When I was a kid I lived in one of the two front rooms of the house, which were the hottest in the summer and the coldest in the winter. My dad didn't like to use the AC so we all just had fans. One summer it got so unbearably hot in my room that fans just weren't cutting it and I was miserable. My dad then put an AC unit in my window and it was awesome.
It was short-lived because the HOA told us to take it down. After all, it was an "eyesore." My parents told them it was for their child but they didn't care, so my parents had to take it down.
The kicker is that, just down the street, a guy who had the same model house as we had an AC unit installed in the same window as the one we had it in, and the HOA never said a word to him.
ZenMacros
26. August Heatwave
Let me paint you a scene: a young married couple finds their first apartment and although it is far from perfect, it is spacious and 2 minutes away from work. Mind you this is the beginning of August in South Florida.
On the day we moved in we saw a letter posted for the HOA stating that someone has to be present in our unit while the workers are there to work on the central cooling unit. Okay, no big deal, I can work from home sometimes, so I did. Well, at the end of those two days, workers had to be there from 8 am to 5 pm, and we were told that the project “was bigger than expected.”
We found out what exactly was happening. They were replacing the piping of all 22 units in our complex, and we were lucky enough to have 1 of 2 points of access to the roof (in our bedroom closet).
That roof access was utilized for 24 days out of August anywhere from 1 to 14 hours a day.
OverlordCommander
27. Boat Battle
When we moved in, someone stopped by to say hi but more like to tell us our boat couldn't be parked on our lot. My wife told her we read all of the rules and it doesn't say that. She replied well I wrote the rules so I should know. My wife told her to go read them.
I haven't heard anything for months. When we get our annual dues packet there is a newsletter saying our lot is in violation and that we stated plans to modify our garage to fit the boat in the spring. We never said that. They suggested setting a deadline for us and setting a vote to add boats to the list they already had including campers, fifth wheels, motor homes, and travel trailers.
We bought the house intending to build a detached garage but to comply with the design rules it would cost us $90k so I'm waiting until I get an official anything in the mail then I'll get a storage unit.
My neighbor has been here 6 months longer than us and they have a boat in their driveway too.
Freezer41
28. HOA Troll Chronicles
We were the first house in Phase 2 of our subdivision. The developer got lazy and didn’t file covenants for our phase until 2 months after we closed, technically we are not subject to any restrictions. I troll them mercilessly.
There was a social media post that went out about no burning trash, and time to light a fire. The 2nd post went out with the Vice President threatening that “he will come put out a fire at your house.” Luckily, it was cold, so I lit a fire and reported myself at about 10 pm, suggested he come put it out. I could go on and on and on. I hate HOAs.
ichliebekohlmeisen
29. Battle over the Perfect Playhouse
My family moved to a new neighborhood when I was in kindergarten. My dad had built an amazing playhouse for me and my siblings. It had miniature windows, a miniature door, working lights, and even an AC.
It was a tiny house before tiny houses were a thing. It was beautiful. He had built it on cinderblocks so that we could move it to the backyard of our new house once we moved. It was perfect.
We were wrong. The homeowner's association refused to let us bring it, citing that the neighborhood doesn't allow "toolsheds" because apparently, they are an eyesore. Backyard playgrounds are fine, but somehow our playhouse didn't qualify as a playground.
Me and my younger sisters were devastated. I remember crying and crying because I couldn't keep the playhouse that my dad worked so hard on. Hell, I'm 24 years old and I still tear up when I think about it. Why did anyone care so badly that they'd deny some kids their playhouse?
I still drive by our old house once a year or so. The new owners haven't taken care of it and it's fallen into disrepair.
Crackersoncrackers
30. Poolside Showdown
My mom had HOAs that were a bunch of pain in the ass.
The average age of the HOA was about 60 years old. At the time, I was 16. We had a community pool and my mom got HOA violation letters because I wore a bikini to a swimming pool. That was odd I thought.
So I wore a one-piece. Another letter saying the bathing suit was risque. They dropped it when my mom told them it was our high school swim team uniform and to please explain how it was sexually provocative.
Next summer they had new rules that made it impossible for any kids to enjoy the pool. It soon became an old folks pool. Long story short, police did an undercover sting and half the HOA were arrested for using it as a launching platform with their swingers club.
They were arrested for lewd and lascivious actions in a swimming pool. Karma was nice that year. The pool rules were rescinded and we got to use the pool again.
As I got older, I learned a valuable lesson: never buy a home that has an HOA. I never had an HOA and I never intend to. Most of the time it's run by old people with a superiority complex issue.
Annahsbananas
31. Fines First Amidts Tragedy
My brother lives in a neighborhood with a very strict HOA. His neighbor, a 27-year-old woman, passed away in a tragic accident leaving behind her husband and three children.
HOA fined the family because the people visiting the family for the funeral couldn't all fit in the driveway so some parked on the side of the street.
MidTwentiesSurprise
32. HOA Grinch
The most recent one was this year. They sent a letter saying no Christmas decorations until December 1, and they all had to come down before January 3. They also sent a whole list of forbidden ornaments, including anything inflated or "not in keeping with the spirit of the season." So basically all the lighthearted funny ornaments. Look out the window kids, it's the Grinch's sad cave!
Anyway, we had beautiful weather on black Friday but had to wait until things got cold again before we could get out there and put up lights. Then, after New Year's Day, we had exactly 1 day to take down all our lights, and the wind chill was -25 degrees Celsius. Naturally, we decided "Screw that, there's no way they bill anybody for this," and opted to just leave the lights unplugged. We got a bill before 10 AM on the 3rd.
Rhodie114
33. Rule-Bound Hurdles Galore
A friend of mine who had a diseased, rotting, falling-over tree in his front yard had to request the association's approval to have the tree removed. His request was initially denied and stalled for several weeks because the association wanted professional verification that the tree was diseased. A cursory glance at a tree that was practically horizontal in the guy's yard wasn't enough.
The church I'm a member of owns a house next door to the church. The house has some historical significance and is architecturally interesting, but at this point, it's been abandoned for years. The family who built the house no longer has any interest in it, they sold it to the church and have no relatives in the city anymore.
Because of the architecture and the length of the abandonment, doing anything productive with the house is likely a million-dollar project. But the association has flatly refused to approve any reno plans and simultaneously has refused any notion at all to tear the house down.
So, the church is stuck with a house that is in increasingly bad shape, empty, and can't be sold because of its condition, The association will not approve any plan to do anything with the house except leave it alone.
LobsterWiggle
34. Feral Cat Fiascos
Ours is terrible. Our ceiling has been leaking for ages and that's their problem as it's an outside thing. So they continue to not hire a professional to fix it and are baffled when we're leaking again every 6 months. There's a family across the street who gets to sue to cause their roof finally caved in. I'm getting their lawyer's number.
The biggest problem is the feral cat colony in the woods by our house. Our house is the closest to the woods. We'd be less close if they maintained the lawns properly and pushed it back as it was 30 years ago. We also have two, mostly indoor, cats. Therefore all the cats are ours.
We get complaints and fines about them constantly. They threaten to put up traps, and we always respond with "Please! They keep breaking into our trash and harassing our cats." But they don't, because blaming us is easier than just taking care of it themselves.
We've had to replace screens and doors because the males will break in for the ladies, or a female will have kittens in our yard, because of shelter, and now they're breaking in. It's terrible, and they keep sending us fines over it!
Suffer-cait
35. Petty Warnings
I was written up for having my hose on the ground. I was in the process of installing the thing to hang the hose on. They came by when I stepped inside.
My neighbor was also written up for having a box on his porch. It was a package that had been delivered that day while he was at work. Our board was old women who had too much time on their hands
mr_Puffin
36. HOA’s Car Absurdity
My HOA story doesn't involve my own home but one of which I was a frequent guest. My partner lived across the street from the president of the association and he didn't like my car very much. I wasn't allowed to park in the driveway because it's unsightly. I wasn’t allowed on the street either (because it's a fire hazard.
I either had to park my car on a different block and walk to his house or he had to pick me up. A couple of times I got off work late and didn't want to walk. I just took the risk and parked in the driveway. He received texts first thing in the morning and a letter threatening a fine. The most ridiculous part was HE WAS RENTING. The landlord was the person who joined the HOA. He just had the misfortune of dealing with Mr. President.
I would say HOAs only exist because the Nazi party isn't readily available, but that just makes Nazis look bad.
05141992
37. Flag vs. HOA restrictions
A guy across town put up a flag pole. The HOA told him the only flag pole allowed was a small flag hanging at an angle on your porch.
He took the pole down. He did some research on his contract and painted his garage door in an American flag pattern.
Printnamehere3
38. Nightmare Condo Collapse
In October 2016, my condo started to collapse. We were forced to leave, and officially homeless for a year, with a card from the Red Cross and everything! The HOA did NOTHING.
No one would admit to anything, explain anything, or contact us at all. For a year we waited. When we were finally told the building was structurally sound again, we moved back in. Then we got told a week ago that we have to get out and get everything we own out for a month while they do repairs, sometime this spring.
Worst of all, we were required to keep paying our HOA fees through the entire thing. The only way owners were offered nonpayment was if we signed a document promising not to sue anyone. NEVER AGAIN with a condo and NEVER AGAIN with an HOA, and NEVER AGAIN.
Skaqua
39. Explosive Neglect
My horror story is that my HOA didn’t do anything when they should have. Neighbors decided to set off commercial-grade fireworks for about three weeks straight. My neighborhood had a “no fireworks” policy.
I’m not a total prick, so the entire week of the 4th I let it go. However, by about mid-July, I was sick of living in what sounded like a war zone. Started emailing the president. “There’s nothing we can do. Call the police.” It lasted well into August.
Kellyclarkdaughter
40. The Silent Rebellion
It was a new community and my family just bought a house. So once all the other houses got built this lady said she is going to start the HOA as per our agreement in the contract. They called for a block party; no one showed up
A month later another gathering at their home; no one showed up. Then after 6 months, they called for a meet and greet at the community mailboxes; no one showed up. 2 months later we got a letter asking for dues.
We and our neighbors next door and across the street talk about no one paying and we spread the word to our other 30 neighbors and the HOA died down. I haven't heard from them in a few years.
Txmade41
41. Unyielding Fence
It didn't happen to my family but this incident happened with a neighbor. We had specific guidelines about how high our fences could be built. You could have a fence no higher than 6 feet tall on all sides.
Our neighbor, Ed, put up a fence during the fall. The fence was up for almost 6 months when the association decided to perform their neighborhood walk. They noticed my neighbor had a new fence so they decided to measure it. Unfortunately, the fence was 6 foot 2 inches tall so the HOA sent a letter to my neighbor explaining that he had to tear it down or be constantly fined until done so.
Our HOA was run by this one nosy woman and her husband. They started arguments for the smallest infractions. What the HOA leaders didn't know was that my neighbor's wife had just passed away from cancer. So his wife just died and now the HOA is telling him he needs to rip his entire fence down.
My father was a police officer at the time and my neighbor, Ed, called my father in a rage about the fence issue. I remember hearing Ed's voice clearly through the phone. We had assumed he was calling my father to vent to him about it but all I remember my father saying was "Ed, calm down, don't do anything stupid. We'll figure this out."
Too late. Ed hung up the phone with my father and marched down to the HOA leader's house. My father and I got there just in time to see Ed, who was quite a big man, grab the HOA leader's husband, drag him out of his front door, and hurt the guy on his front lawn.
My father and I just watched. The police showed up within minutes after that. Needless to say, the husband and wife HOA team stepped down from their position. I'm sure they attempted to sue Ed and I'm not sure what the outcome of that was. But I do know one thing, Ed never took down that fence.
PIG20
42. Towed From Home
They towed my car from my driveway. The tags were legit. This was an HOA that had a limited allotment of parking spaces that were nowhere near the actual homes.
The homes themselves had mini driveways. So after a long day, there were no parking spaces available so I temporarily parked in the driveway. I went into the house. Came back out 30 minutes later to try to find a parking spot. I walked outside and thought my car had been stolen. Nope. My horrible neighbor plus the towing company plus California did me wrong.
ellafonte
43. Tales from Nazi Town
I used to call my neighborhood "Nazi Town" because they were so strict about EVERYTHING. My garage door was broken and wouldn't close all the way. It probably was only 1 inch off the ground and was barely noticeable.
I contacted someone right away to get it repaired and they would be over in 3 days. I got threats and fines every day from my HOA about my garage "not being closed all the way.” They knew it was broken.
We also had some awful rent-a-cop security guard who would single me out in the pool every single time. You had to have a fingerprint to get in the pool area. Whenever I was in the spa with other people, I was the only one he would single out and ask to get out of the spa and verify that I had access. I was like "Do you think I chopped someone's thumb off to get in here? Or do you just like perving on me and watching me walk in the bathing suit?".
It's not like I could've gotten in there with someone else's key. You had to scan your thumb to get in. He did like about 6 times and by the 3rd time, I was like okay dude you recognize me by this point. He would sometimes ask for my address to verify that I lived there.
If our holiday decorations were out the day after a holiday had passed, we got harassed. If our trash cans were left out for more than 24 hours, including putting them out the night before trash day, we would get fines. They would also warn families if their kids were splashing too loud in the pool.
Needless to say, I don't live there anymore.
Shay_716
44. Heartstrings Tied in Knots
They made us take down our Valentine's Day decorations in February. My purpose for making Valentine's Day decorations was that my significant other did not want to take down his white Christmas lights.
I interweaved a pink heart Garland between the white Christmas lights and called it Valentine's Day decor. That was our compromise. But HOA would have none of it.
WhichWayzUp
45. The Driveway Dilemma
The president of our HOA was the typical retired military guy who loved to order people around. He would walk the neighborhood with a video camera and harass people who would be too scared of the video to defend themselves. Every possible violation no matter how small was a huge personal affront to him.
They took UPS to court over the trucks being over the line of the designated parking space for guest vehicles. Well yeah, genius, the delivery trucks are larger than the car-fit-sized parking spots. And the HOA WON!
Our condo had a ridiculously small driveway. I'm talking like 3 feet. The rules said you could not wash your car in the street. If I angled my small car just right, I could have some of it outside to keep the water off the stuff in the garage. Well, the bumper was like 1/2" over the curb.
The lady across the street ratted me out to the president who promptly showed up, camera in hand, to chide me for this egregious act and ordered me to pull my car further into the garage. I was so happy to get out of that place.
ToBlayyyve