'I had to literally pick up my 3,000 pound redwood gazebo and move it': Neighbor bombards HOA with requests after HOA says they're 'out of compliance'

Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor

Sep 12, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

This person's "dirt cheap" home came with a catch — an unceasing HOA.

U/useless_skin shared this story of HOA madness to r/MaliciousCompliance. As they tell it, they lucked out by getting their house super cheap around 2010. But more than a decade later, they decided to embark on some home improvement projects. You'd think a neighborhood HOA would be thrilled to hear that, since they're all about keeping neighborhoods nice (supposedly). But as the OP soon found out, their HOA didn't care if they got the right permissions before building a gazebo. Instead, they decided the OP's gazebo was not in compliance… after the OP had already built the gazebo in place.

HOAs seem exhausting. This HOA also decided to fine the OP for not removing their trash fast enough. The HOA was literally faster with their noncompliance letters than the garbage collector! The trash guy shows up once a week, which is pretty standard for most cities. As we know, HOAs are just trying to collect money any way they can. The fact that they can get away with such arbitrary rules is a bane on homeowners who are subject to their rule.

Next up, these workers are tired of people who think they know better than them — they're not experts, they're just wrong.