'I've decided to park it legally': Home owner singled out by HOA for their old car, parks car right at neighborhood entrance

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 4, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

This neighborhood HOA must really regret picking a fight with this driver. As u/wra**ehole writes in this great malicious compliance story, their HOA was seemingly targeting their car. Why? Because it's a bit old, about 30 years old to be exact, though the OP claims it's not an eyesore. Clearly, their HOA thinks differently. 

HOAs are supposed to improve the communities they surveil, but they've garnered a reputation for being nit-picky about every little detail of a person's property. You might think of an HOA as an organization that ensures that trash won't pile up on the street or that weeds aren't growing ten feet high on someone's front lawn. In reality, HOAs can make up basically any rules they want, depending on the members of their board, and then they can enforce these on everyone in their jurisdiction. This HOA tried to go after this person just because they didn't like their older car. At least the OP found a really incredible workaround. I'm sure the HOA is already plotting how to get around the OP's creative malicious compliance, but it might be entirely out of their control in the end. 

Next up, these employees made their boss regret enforcing a "no mobile phones at work" policy. 

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  • 01
    Tire - 'They've singled me out because my car is 30 years old' HVK849C
    via Theodor Vasile on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - The HOA doesn't like my project car, so I've decided to park it legally in front of the neighborhood's grand entrance. S For context, my family and I recently moved into a rental house while our new house is being built. The rental is in the back of a gated community on a mostly undeveloped street.
    via u/wra**ehole
  • 03
    Font - Yesterday, I received a letter from the home owner's association informing me that I'm not in compliance of the "strictly enforced by towing" restriction stating that vehicles may not be parked on the street overnight. In the letter was a picture of my project car (old BMW) parked beside our house on the street. I decided to look up the HOA's restrictions (which I haven't seen before since I'm a renter) and discovered I'm living in HOA h The street parking rule is just the beginning of a
    via u/wrassehole
  • 04
    Font - This came as a huge surprise since several of my neighbors have parked their cars on the street without problem since I've lived here, so I assumed it was okay. I can only imagine that they've singled me out because my car is 30 years old, however, in my defense, it's very presentable and by no means junky. Being singled out made me incredibly frustrated to the point where I started doing legal research. It turns out my HOA has every right to tow my project car since it's parked on a priv
    via u/wra**ehole
  • 05
    Font - Unfortunately for the HOA, the closest section of public street to my rental house is right in front of their nice gated entrance. Ironically, my old BMW has now become part of their image, and there's nothing they can do about it until I move out in a few months. TL:DR: my new HOA threatened to tow my project car. My compliance was to legally park it just outside of the neighborhood directly in front of the main gated entrance.
    via u/wra**ehole
  • 06
    Font - HauschkasFoot Your classic BMW is too nice to grace their sign with man. I think it's worth investing $200 in a barely drivable hooptie with different color doors missing windows, on three of those undersized, temporary tires/wheels, and one normal one.
    via u/HauschkasFoot
  • 07
    Font - [deleted] Friend of mine had a project car that was all bondo and primer at the time. His HOA didn't care for it and sent a nasty- gram "All cars must be painted". So he bought a cheap can of white house paint and a roller, along with some tape for the windows and got to work. It looked a million times worse after that. But he was now within the rules. The best party of the story he painted it right in the parking lot.
    via u/deleted
  • 08
    Product - toobroketobake Would love to see a photo with the car parked.
    via u/toobroketobake
  • 09
    Font - unknownpoltroon Might want to get a sunblock windhield thing that says "Parked here by order of the HOA"
    via u/unknownpoltroon
  • 10
    Font - anomalous_cowherd. "Parked here by request of the HOA" makes it sound even more like they did it on purpose.
    via u/anomalous_cowherd
  • 11
    Font - drone42 HOAs are one of those ideas that I feel was a really good one when they first got started, then they were perverted and twisted into the ridiculous h they are now. I hope they don't try to make a workaround or amend the rules and keep giving you h.
    via u/drone42
  • 12
    Font - MrRabinowitz Unrelated: but what model? I've owned 10+ old BMWs and have a major soft spot for them. Reply Share 37 wrassehole OP It's an '88 325is. One h of a car, and it's a shame I don't have garage space for her.
    via u/MrRabinowitz
  • 13
    Human body - [deleted] HOAS, the embodiment of petty power tripping.
    via u/deleted
  • 14
    Font - [deleted] I don't live in a house with a HOA, but I've had some really b neighbors who imagine that we have one and they police me. Boggles my mind. If people want to be and imaginary bosses of what is think is "right", they'll make your life miserable. My (expensive, professional) landscaping is designed for wildlife. Theirs is manicured and toxic with fertilizers and pesticides. They hate it and tell me about it. I guess that's my malicious compliance. I ignore them and stay.
    via u/deleted
  • 15
    Font - trex005 I totally get the point of an HOA, and I think people should have the choice to be in one if they wish. I also think they can be pure h. I very much wish there was some defacto standard way to rate specific HOAs so that if there are evil neighbors or evil HOAs that they can just as easily decrease the property value as an HOA can increase it.
    via u/trex005
  • 16
    Font - mwproductions The trouble is, how horrible or chill an HOA is can change depending on who is on the board. So that makes it hard to have a tidy standard for rating.
    via u/mwproductions
  • 17
    Font - HappyHighwayman. I'd have also just started reporting the other cars
    via u/HappyHighwayman

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malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit hoa neighbors vehicle fine letters house neighborhood car cars project
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