'There is nothing to sue': HOA board member bothers family about fees after matriarch's passing, family sells house against his will

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 29, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

HOA board members cannot really get much more heartless than this. While the family of a matriarch was in the midst of their grieving, Ed (the HOA representative) decided that now would be the right time to bother them about their mother's late fees. The truth of the matter was that even if the family wanted to pay those fees now, they couldn't because the courts had not yet ruled about the particulars of their mother's estate, but that answer was not enough for little old Ed. He kept bothering them incessantly for the next several weeks.

Finally, the Redditor who shared this story decided to confront Ed about his pestering and told him to only speak with their lawyer moving forward. Eventually, the fees were paid, but the family had plans to make Ed's life difficult when they sold the house. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from folks in the comments section. For more, check out this story about an HOA that wouldn't let someone plant sunflowers.

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  • 01
    Adventures with my Mother's HOA I lost my mother a few years ago at the peak of Because of that pesky it took months for the court system to open my mother's estate.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 02
    Her home was in a HOA. Mum's d was sudden, and she passed without a will. My sibs and I agreed I would act as executor and handle the estate until it could be divided. After her d, I took the dC certificates around to let all her utilities know she was gone and the estate wasn't up yet.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 03
    Enter Ed. Ed headed up the HOA. I notified them via certified letter and with a copy of her d certificate. I explained that it would be a while before the judge formed her estate and left my name and number in case of an emergency. This was the worst decision.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 04
    Ed calls me, and I can tell right off that he's an older chap who loves enforcing the HOA rules. Mum is late paying the HOA fees, and I need to pay them. Yeah...
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 05
    no. I already paid all the utilities to keep the house warm and lit out of pocket. Ed didn't like that and warned they wouldn't let this slide for too long.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 06
    The day the next bill was due, Ed called to 'remind' me that my Mum was two months behind. Great.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 07
    Thanks, Ed. Still, I cannot do anything about it until the estate is formed and I can access the accounts. He began calling once a week to pester me to pay the bill.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 08
    Four months after my Mum's d, I'm still waiting for the courts to establish the estate. Ed is practically frothing at the mouth at my indifference to his demands. That is when he tells me that he will have to get the lawyers involved
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 09
    if it is not paid. Guys, I LIT into him. I asked him who exactly he intended to sue. My mum is d there is no estate, and the house is not in my name, nor am I the executor of anything yet.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 10
    There is nothing to sue, and his lawyer will tell him to let the courts do their thing. I ended the call by giving him the number of the estate lawyer overseeing Mum's estate and added that if Ed insists on going that route, all communication can go through the lawyers.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 11
    That shuts Ed up for a whole month-one month of peace and quiet. The estate is opened, and the HOA gets paid. That's not the end of Ed. He rings me to ask what we are doing with the house. Since I would rather live in an empty shipping container than in an HOA, I tell him the family is selling. Ed immediately says we have to go through their real estate agent. It's in the rules. I check my Mum's papers and found the association "strongly encourages" the use of one agent who "knows the community.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 12
    My siblings and I took a pass on that one. Before the open house, the agent (not Ed's) listing the house gets a call from Ed.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 13
    The HOA would like to inspect the interior to be sure everything is in order before the listing is live.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 14
    Again, we declined and reminded Ed that the HOA isn't entitled to the house's interior.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 15
    I assume Ed dropped in during the open house, but there wasn't anything to see. The house was empty and pristine. The day the new owners closed on the property was the happiest of my life.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 16
    mlloyd67. 23 hr. ago Well THAT was an infuriating read. Ed. My condolences for your loss. 268 Reply Share
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 17
    foo ShootFrameHang OP. 22 hr. ago I saved him on my phone as Fing Ed 184 Reply
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 18
    WearyTadpole1570. 21 hr. ago Get his email address and sign him up for at least 50 mailing lists
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 19
    Flyguy3131 19 hr. ago I'm on my HOA board. It's guys like this that give HOA a terrible name. During we actually told people who were out of work to contact us so we can work this them and not fine them. We bend over backwards to help people. We have 200 homes built in 1987 in PA. We have over $500k in funds that we pour into the community to keep it updated. We keep monthly dues as low as possible. If you have a good board things get done and go well.
    via u/Sh***FrameHang
  • 20
    "I would rather live in an empty shipping container than in an HOA"
    via Nikola Knezevic

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family drama hoa homes lawyer neighborhood neighborhood-drama neighborhood-stories family reddit thread Reddit
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