'Never give Karen an inch': Guy stands up to entitled neighbor Karen, then has to work with her to fight HOA

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
May 17, 2023 12:00 AM EDT

There's nothing like having to work with your enemy! This Redditor stood up to their entitled neighbor Karen after she made ridiculous requests and complaints, which led to a tense relationship as neighbors. He shared his story via this thread on Reddit's r/F***YouKaren subreddit. 
 

Essentially, Karen demanded that the Redditor split the cost of sealing the outlets in her apartment because she claimed that the smell of the Redditor's cooking had been stinking up her apartment. Honestly, the most that a neighbor can do in this kind of a situation, as one person in the comments suggested, is ask for the Redditor to make sure their stove fan was on high. What Karen demanded instead was absolutely ludicrous. However, little did she know, she met her match in the Redditor, who refused to give in. As time went on, it seemed like these two had a cordial, though still very much tense, dynamic. That is until they had to band together because their HOA was refusing to fix their pipes, proving that the only thing in this world that can unite a Karen and her enemy is their mutual hate of their HOA.

 

Keep scrolling below for the full story. For more HOA debacles, here's a story about someone who was almost tricked into paying his aunt's debt.

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  • 01
    Property - "Karen Welcomes Me to the HOA"
    via Lesía
  • 02
    Font - Karen Welcomes Me to the HOA In 2019, I bought a condo. I had not been moved in more than 10 days when I got a knock on the door. I live in a building that only has apts on the second floor (4), and a communal area below us. I like the location b/c I don't have to worry about being loud to people beneath me. Well, this Karen knocks on the door, and I open it. K: Hi, I'm Karen, and we share a wall. Me: I'm Me. Okay. Can I help you?
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 03
    Font - K: I have done the pricing on having my outlets sealed. You need to pay half because I can smell the food you are cooking since you moved in, and I do not like it. Me: Excuse me, what? K: I do not like the smells coming from your house. It makes me nauseous. Me: What smells are causing you to feel sick?
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 04
    Font - K: The cabbage and onion smells. And you cooked fish. It is unbearable. Me: Maybe you should hustle down to Bed Bath and Beyond and buy one of those fancy expensive scented candles. K: No. I need you to pay me half for having my outlets sealed.
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 05
    Font - Me: No. I will cook what I want to cook in my apartment that I bought. There is nothing in the CC&Rs that says I need to avoid cooking fish or cabbage. Also, onions are a primary ingredient in a lot world cuisine. I will continue to use all of these ingredients. K: Well, I paid for my apartment as well. So, I do not want to be subject to your nasty smells.
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 06
    Font - Me: Okay. Here is the deal. I am going to close the door. If you want to improve your home by sealing outlets that will not stop the smell, you are entirely within your right as a homeowner to do that. However, you will do it at your own expense. Moving forward, there is no reason for you to interact with me unless there is a legitimate issue with the wall or pipes that we share. K: Well, that is just rude.
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 07
    Font - Me: I am unconcerned with how you feel about me or the food I cook. There is no reason for you to ever talk to me again unless it has to do with our shared wall and pipes. Goodbye. I shut the door and went back to my business. A couple of days later, the HOA leader knocked on my door and asked me about the issue. I told her that I was not entertaining any of this bull The two could call the police and send them out to arrest me over the cabbage, onions, and fish. The HOA leader laughed ou
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 08
    Font - I've been here 3 years now, and I see Karen regularly. We do not interact unless necessary. We had a pipe burst during the 2021 Winter Storm, and we had to get together and threaten to sue the HOA when they said they would not fix the pipes (they own them and are responsible for them). There was no problem. Afterward, we went back to peacefully coexisting w/o having to be friends or interact with each other. I still cook cabbage, fish, and onions.
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 09
    Font - YourMomTheNurse 18 days ago I like that you've worked with Karen to accomplish mutual goals. You've modeled a decent person with boundaries for Karen. 734 Reply Share
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 10
    Font - TheChubbMartin OP. 18 days ago I'm sure I had a "disrespectful" or "combative" tone. 260 Reply
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 11
    Font - Bingo1dog 18 days ago Honestly I'm kinda disappointed by the story. I saw Karen and HOA and thought it would have been different. But congrats on coexisting with a Karen neighbor in an HOA 206 Reply Share TheChubbMartin OP. 18 days ago There is no big payoff - story-wise. But, in life, I'll take that. 105 Reply Share
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 12
    Font - socool111 18 days ago Well the only ask that is legitimate of a neighbor cooking - is asking to turn on the stove fan. We have powerful fans in above our stoves (into real vents, not just to no where). People below us keep cooking fish and we smell it everytime. Asked politely if they could remember to turn the fan on High, and havent had an issue since. So while I sympathize with Karen, its important to also realize what rights your neighbors I have and what is and isn't an acceptable re
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 13
    Smile - Aggressive-HeadDesk. 18 days ago Boundaries work. Never give Karen an inch.
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 14
    Font - Large-Seaworthiness6. 18 days ago She stopped because you stood up to her and didn't take her But some people do that and end up on that show (fear thy neighbor)
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 15
    Font - hornboggler People who cook pungent food and don't care that their neighbors have to smell it are no better than holes in public spaces playing their own bluetooth . 18 days ago speakers so everyone else has to listen. You could crack a window at the very least to keep YOUR activities (smoke, noise, smells) contained in YOUR apartment.
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 16
    Font - TheChubbMartin OP. 18 days ago You are entitled to a view on a situation, even it if has no bearing on how the world works.
    via u/TheChubbMartin
  • 17
    Font - secret_fashmonger. 18 days ago Can I come live with you? Your food sounds delicious! Please tell me you use garlic as well.
    via u/TheChubbMartin

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karens hoa neighborhood karens in the wild reddit thread Reddit karen apartment
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