'I'll never live in an HOA again': 20+ homeowners who were completely manipulated by their HOAs

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 25, 2024 8:00 AM EST

There are some institutions in this world whose sole purpose in life is to be a nuisance to you. A few types of organizations come to mind when rounding out this list. The Department of Motor Vehicles is one. Whoever processes or doesn't properly process your insurance claims also qualifies as a worthy contender. But nine times out of ten, the most common organization people take issue with is their local homeowners association.

According to these folks who shared their memorable HOA horror stories via this r/AskReddit thread, each homeowner goes through some egregious process with their HOA. Hopefully, none of them get as bad as $400 fines for a bush hanging a bit too low. It's like these institutions are run by your middle school class president who just wants attention no matter what. Keep scrolling below for the full stories. When you're done, check out this post about an employee's malicious compliance after their per diem was denied during a work trip.

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  • 01
    I'll add No HOA to my search filter"
    via Jimmy Conover
  • 02
    r/AskReddit Posted by u/Crotch Wolf Current and former residents of an HOA, what's your "I'll never live in an HOA again" story?
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 03
    jay_mee_d. I'm being charged $400 because of a violation for a bush overhanging my walkway. I don't have a walkway. Or a bush. The picture isn't even my house. They won't back down. 26.5k Share ...
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 04
    Uncle_Lazlo My old house's backyard bordered an HOA community. Our house was built 30 years before the community was built so we weren't part of it. We used to get notices about violations and fines if we didn't correct them. Never did correct them. They finally sent legal papers to repossess our house. Went to court with a tax map that showed our property NOT part of the HOA community. Judge dismissed their suit against us and found them guilty of We didn't get awarded much, but I made sure to
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 05
    TPhoard. My daughter was a lifeguard at the pool in our community and they weren't allowed to give out certain equipment (it was for swimming lessons). One day the HOA president asks for equipment and my daughter says no as she was instructed. The HOA president actually says "Do you know who I am?" Then he proceeded to call her boss. ↑ 15.5k ↓ Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 06
    o cantuseasingleone. When I was a kid my parents had a house in a nice cul-de- sac, but it was a working class neighborhood. The transmission in my truck took a doo doo so I replaced it in our driveway. A few days later we got a letter citing a clause stating all improvements done on property must be done by a licensed contractor. It was a far reach but they stood by it as there was nothing in the CC&Rs against working on personal vehicles. My dad made me pay him back for the fine but for awhile
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 07
    sneakypandas. HOA "lost" paperwork for change of ownership when we bought our house. They sent us letters saying there would be a lien placed on our home if we didn't pay the overdue amounts plus over $200 of late fees. I had to call them 3 times to even get someone on the phone who knew how to help me. Then I contacted escrow who said they had already not only sent all the paperwork, but turns out we had already paid the fees. Called HOA again and they were insistent that we hadn't paid or sent
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 08
    littleblue0111. Moved to Florida where every neighborhood is an HOA. Upon moving in I felt like I had joined a sorority or fraternity and I had to endure the hazing from the HOA. The final straw was when they sent me a letter that my white mailbox was dirty. So I decided to walk down one street and took pics of mailboxes with no doors and mailboxes that were covered in mildew and I emailed them all to the HOA. I told them to not send me any more notices until these mailboxes were up to code. I h
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 09
    WombatWithFedora I was just learning to drive and parked my car too far away from the curb. Parents and neighbors didn't get along so neighbors measured the distance from the wheels to the curb and parents got fined. Now I live in the country with pretty much no rules. We have goats and emus in our front yard. 7.3k Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 10
    SanchoMandoval I was putting on new siding... very obviously too, had ladders up and everything. But there was just plywood up one morning on part of my house, facing the street. I got a knock on the door at 7:30 AM, a code enforcement officer (in uniform, looking vaguely like a cop) was visibly upset and acting like I'd taken a dump on the front sidewalk or something. Told me if I didn't have the siding up by the end of the day I'd start getting fined every day. 7.1k ↓ Share ...
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 11
    Captain Peachfuzz. My grandparents lived in a old folks community with a zealous hoa. My grandmother had to go to the hospital, cause of her many health problems. My grand father would go with her. This happened once when I was visiting. There was a knock on the door at about 10am. Two elderly women with clipboards immediately jump into a speech about how the trash cans hadn't be brought in. I explained the situation. One of them said she was in the hospital the previous week but still managed t
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 12
    valuesandnorms. Obligatory "not me but", a Texas HOA foreclosed on and sold the house of a soldier while he was serving in Iraq. Because he and his wife were behind $800 dollars in dues. Story. 4.4k 4.4k Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 13
    whatchawhy HOA lost my quarterly check. Sent a notice that I didn't pay an October quarter. Showed them the receipt from when I dropped it off. Then started naming each quarter before until I didn't have receipt proof they received it and then it was "that is the one you didn't pay". Tried to charge an extra $5 for something, sold the house and moved far away. ↑ 2.9k ↓ Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 14
    SupKilly They wanted me to switch the color of the lightbulbs I used outside. Nah, I don't need someone who is that picky to have ANY power over my property. At that point, it's no better than renting. EDIT: they were the wrong hue of white. 2.5k Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 15
    2 moo I'm the Treasurer of our HOA. We pay $250 a year to cover road maintenance. We make sure that is all we worry about. We get Karens at meetings all the time complaining. We politely tell them we maintin the road and that is it. We have 18 laid back neighbors and 2-3 Karens. ↑ 2.3k ↓ Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 16
    o bwalz87 My wifes aunt and uncle live in an HOA neighborhood. Their current problem is that the ground is higher than their 1st level and it's slopped towards a group of condos. Every time is rains bad, their condos flood. They don't have basements. HOA won't do anything and it seems a few of their residents are lawyering up. This has happened since they put in a storm drain and for some reason it backs up into their common area which is behind the group of condos. 2.1k Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 17
    diegojones4. I bought a house in a development that had died. My house was built in the 70s. But a new developer came in and as houses started being built everywhere, they enacted the HOA clause and populated it with rich retired folks that just make rules. Wrote a up rule that you had to put up a fence around your backyard. So I did. They didn't like my fence so they changed the specifications for the fence. I got irritated and had a friend give me a dead feral hog to hang on a post in my front
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 18
    It didn't solve anything but since I had a dog door I would sometimes wake up with 15 dogs around my bed who came in during a storm. I was the crazy redneck, but the dogs loved me and I like them more than humans. 1.7k Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 19
    WhyBee92 This thread served as a deterrent for future residents, thanks. I'll add no HOA to my search filter 1.5k Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 20
    [deleted] I've never lived in one, but I remember a story where a guy wanted to build something like an 8 ft privacy fence. The HOA said the fence couldn't be higher than 5 ft. The wording only said fence, so he built a 5ft concrete partition, and stuck a 5ft fence on top of it. 1.1k ↓ Share
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 21
    aecarol1. Everyone has HOA horror stories, but ours must be an anomaly. Our dues are just over $100 a year. The money spent to maintain a nice park/playground, an annual Easter Egg hunt, and prizes for best Halloween decorated houses. So long as your house looks okay, the yard is maintained, and nobody parks an RV/Boat on the street over a week, they pretty much let us alone. We did a major renovation/repair about 10 years ago and we had an approval only hours after we emailed them. Almost painl
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 22
    9 christikayann. My family was fined for "putting up a fence" when we put a 12 inch tall wire boarder around our flowerbed. My friend was fined in a different HOA because her garage (that was painted by the same company at the same time and with the same paint) was a "different" color than her house. It wasn't. The HOA president delivered the violation notice to her on the day of her husband's funeral. Yes he knew that she (46 year old) had just lost her (48 year old) husband 4 days before. 733
    via u/CrotchWolf
  • 23
    [deleted] I was doing some work in the yard and had a 5 gallon home depot bucket on my driveway. After about an hour I took the bucket back in the garage and went inside. A week later my HOA sent me a three page letter with a picture of said bucket on my driveway saying it detracted from the value of my neighbors homes. It was on my driveway for an hour, while I was working. Can't make this up folks. 231 Share
    via u/CrotchWolf

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