'I decided to head over to Big Bill's condo and talk to him man to man': Top HOA Stories of the Week (May 13, 2024)

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
May 13, 2024 8:00 AM EDT

It's time for a weekly venting session about everyone's favorite topic: their local homeowner's association.

A friend of mine recently recounted a story to me about how the previous owner of her modest condominium had his air conditioner incorrectly installed in a way that violated HOA bylaws. The problem is that no one ever noticed the issue while he was living there. When my friend moved in, she was relieved that she didn't have to install her own AC for once. Well, she would end up wishing that she had. One day, she and her partner were fined over $1,000 because of the AC installation despite the fact that they had nothing to do with the installation in the first place. After consulting some lawyers, it became clear that fighting this would only cost more money. Just when they thought they would have to deal with it and pay the fine, my friend happened to bond with a fellow resident of the building over an annoying neighbor. The resident was the spouse of the HOA board president. Very quickly, the fine was removed. Every so often, you get a win! We have to enjoy these rare moments of success.

These folks, unfortunately, were less lucky with their HOA debacles. Keep scrolling below for the full stories. For more, check out this week's top Karens.

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  • 01
    Top HOA Stories of the Week
    via Francesca Tosolini
  • 02
    HOA is leveraging a special assessment on me over a tenant with an Emotional Support Animal
    via u/Agent_Kid
  • 03
    I got a letter that my board is pursuing no animals in the complex and will charge me, the owner, $100 a month until the dog no longer resides at the residence.
    via u/Agent_Kid
  • 04
    My tenant has lived here for a year with an approved ESA. They understand they cannot charge the tenant; however, I should be the one assessed as I "allowed this to happen". They claim the assessment is due to costs associated with wear, tear, and damage, risk, and impairment to equity. No damage has occurred. No nuisance complaints have been filed. The tenant is a single woman with a 5 pound dog.
    via u/Agent_Kid
  • 05
    They argue that she is being offered "reasonable accommodations"; however, a simple vote at a board meeting justifies them the ability to leverage special assessments as they see fit.
    via u/Agent_Kid
  • 06
    In my 17 year history there has never been an issue except the resent rise in dues. Some money was mishandled and inflation. Got it. Now the board refuses to see thr distinction between a pet and an ESA (well aware of the further distinction of service animals).
    via u/Agent_Kid
  • 07
    Finally, the board president told me it's "only $100 a month and I can make that up by drinking one less latte a day." Yadda, yadda. HOAs!
    via u/Agent_Kid
  • 08
    They want pictures to make sure I've planted grass *RANT* So I got an email from the HOA saying that our yard wasn't the compliant cause of weeds. Fine.
    via u/Spaghetti4jo
  • 09
    Plant f grass and send pictures within the next 6 weeks to make sure they are growing. I knew that HOAs were f ridiculous but this is fu All because of f[ grass??
    via u/Spaghetti4jo
  • 10
    Ugh, I knew moving into a neighborhood with an HOA was a bad idea. But we were desperate to move out of our apartment because our cars were getting broken into and this one had two car garage. God, I wished I hadn't signed a 2 year rent agreement.
    via u/Spaghetti4jo
  • 11
    This will be the first and last time I live in these kinds of neighborhoods. I don't give a if its nice. HOAs don't f ]pay for my f rent.
    via u/Spaghetti4jo
  • 12
    Board president being paid to be our management company Hi all, Our HOA has voted to hire the board president and pay him a monthly amount to "manage" our property. They state this is two different roles. They are hiring the board president instead of a management company as they were too expensive or not taking new clients.
    via u/Adventurous-Bee314
  • 13
    In our by laws it states no compensation may be provided to any board member as its a volunteer position. They clearly are stating it is 2 separate roles as a loop hole for the president to get paid.
    via u/Adventurous-Bee314
  • 14
    This seems like a major conflict of interest to have the board president now being paid as our property management "company".
    via u/Adventurous-Bee314
  • 15
    For reference the association is in New York. I do not trust this process as the board president has already taken action without majority vote on other things.
    via u/Adventurous-Bee314
  • 16
    Look up lawsuits involving your HOA It's not a bad idea to look up lawsuits involving potential board members, also. If the judgments are available, check those out. Any foreclosures can be interesting to see the history and how long it takes to get to that point. It's amazing to see how many hearings are involved, also.
    via u/EminTX
  • 17
    I got to tell you, it really s☐s to see board members who have sued the community. One of our former presidents sued ours because it was so stressful that he had "loss of consortium" when he was told that he couldn't block the sidewalks with his plants and put up no trespassing signs at sidewalks insured by the community for common usage.
    via u/EminTX
  • 18
    When this guy was president, he and his wife that owned one single property held three separate board positions giving that one household majority rule over our board.
    via u/EminTX
  • 19
    Edit: Google is your friend. If you have never done this, try searching "court records" and your city name. Also try "district clerk" or "county clerk".
    via u/EminTX
  • 20
    Early 2000s HoA and Putting the Fear Into Them This is a story from back in my twenties.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 21
    In the early 2000s I decided it would be smart to stop renting and buy a condo. It sounded like a good idea at the time so I went through with it. I found a very nice condo in area very close to where I worked. I never really experienced an HOA and my realtor did me the disservice of telling me the HOA would cause me no problems.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 22
    My dumb self agreed and moved in. I paid my HOA fees, kept my exterior up to standard, and minded my own business. For about 6 months I had no issues at all.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 23
    Enter big bill. Big Bill, he called himself this, was one of those big loud old men who thinks that he is the top dog. He was retired from construction and like to throw his weight around.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 24
    The dude was an absolute bag of He would go and bother people at all times of day and night to tell them something was wrong. He bothered my little old lady neighbor and told her that she needed to get her garbage cans in line or he would hit her with a fee. Her garbage can was in the space that it was supposed to be in but was crooked and this is what he was threatening her about.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 25
    Big Bill started targeting me, a young 20-year-old fit single guy who apparently threatened him because he missed the days when he was young and fit. I would see him two to three times a week for him to complain about something. He was looking in my backyard and will complain that the grass wasn't mowed even though it had just been mowed. He would come out with a ruler and measure exactly where I parked my car. He just kept pushing anything he could find or make up just to come and bother me.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 26
    If I'd complain about it to the HOA association they would tell Bill to back off. He was basically their attack dog. Then he would call me and say things like, you don't need to run to the bosses, we can handle this like men if you want to
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 27
    I had some friends over on one weekend to just hang out and play some video games. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday. There was no drinking, we were just hanging out and gaming. They went home a couple hours later and I got a call from Bill. He told me it was unacceptable to have guests over as late as I did and if I wanted to talk about it man to man we could.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 28
    So I told him that yes I wanted to talk about it man to man and he was welcome to come over whenever he wanted. He didn't show up. The next morning I decided to head over to Big Bill's condo and talk to him "man to man".
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 29
    He wouldn't answer his door but I could see him through the window hiding in the kitchen and peeking around the corner. His wife came to the door and said that Bill was out grocery shopping. She was very nice and I chatted with her for a few minutes and then told her that Bill said that he wanted to talk man to man" with me and I was willing to do so.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 30
    His wife rolled her eyes and told him to come outside. He immediately yelled that he was going to call the police. I asked why since I wasn't trespassing and I was following up with him and his many messages for me saying he wanted to talk to me. Big tough guy Bill didn't know what to do and I said I would just happily wait for him to come outside and then we could talk. I pulled out a book, sat on the bench and the common area across from his condo, and just waited.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 31
    Finally he got some courage, I assume from al based on his smell, and came flying out of his condo. He stomped over to me and immediately tripped over the curb crashing into the grass. I just laughed at him. He told me that he was going to get me kicked out for breaking all of the HOA bylaws, but he had no proof and at this point it was threats from him and clear I said that was fine but if he called me or came by my place again I was going to throw hands.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 32
    I went home and he went home. The next day he showed up at my doorstep bright and early puffed up and loud and asking me if I wanted to go. He caulked his fist back so I p him in the mouth and knocked him down the two steps. Then I said I warned him until them not to come back.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 33
    I never heard anything else from Bill nor did any of my neighbors. I heard that he resigned from the HOA board and never bothered anyone at least for the time I lived there.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 34
    Man, the less Sue happy late '90s and early 2000s was a wild time. And reading some of the stories of the absolutely insane HOA members makes me miss those times and everyday I'm glad I don't live in an HOA.
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx
  • 35
    My neighbors where I live now talked about starting an HOA and I told them absolutely f not. TL;DR: Ped an HOA board member in the mouth and he quit the board
    via u/xlIIlIIxxIIlllIIlllx

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FAILS hoa neighbors neighborhood-drama neighborhood-stories entitled reddit thread Reddit funny entitled people
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