'We emailed back and forth trying to understand why we were being fined': HOA spends 4+ years suing tenant who insist they're "misappropriating our funds"

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Oct 3, 2024 5:00 PM EDT

Getting caught up in a lawsuit is no fun at all. It's really expensive, for one thing, and it can take years and years to resolve something. Just ask u/onlymrsstorie, who has been fighting her HOA in court for years! 

It all started when this couple moved into their home as first time homeowners. They must not have known to avoid HOAs, which can require monthly dues along with doling out frequent fines for things like… parking your own truck in front of your own home. Yes, that's the first time this person was in contact with their HOA. The HOA insisted that even though this homeowner's husband owned the vehicle, that he wasn't allowed to park there for more than 12 hours every 2 days. No matter how much this person begged and pleaded, the HOA stuck with their $100 fine. With HOAs like these, who needs enemies? 

You can check out the whole story of how the lawsuit went down by scrolling below: it's a long story, but it's well worth the read. 

Up next, these scorned exes got some very petty revenge on their former partners, like one person who admitted they "took all of the knobs and handles off of everything—TV, dresser, stereo..."

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    Cheezburger Image 10412050176
    via Getty Images for Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Our HOA is suing us This is a long one, tried to sum it up as much as possible. This is an example of a cautionary tale of why to be weary of buying a home in an HOA. Thanks for reading! TLDR: We are being sued by our HOA over predatory violations that have resulted in 3 liens on our property and thousands of dollars in fees and fines.
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    We moved into our home in 2020 as first time homeowners. After three months of no issues we were sent an email that asked if the truck parked in front of our house belonged to us. My husband responded, yes that's ours, thinking they were just trying to make sure that it belonged to someone that lived there. They immediately tacked us with a fine for violating the parking restrictions.
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    This is a city street that the HOA does not maintain. There are no "no parking" signs. It's a parking strip that runs along the back of other houses, not in front of anyone's driveway. Dozens of other cars are parked there constantly. My husband worked a full time job out of the home so the truck moved every day. It is not a commercial vehicle or derelict in any way.
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    We emailed back and forth trying to understand why we were being fined. They just kept coming back to the CCR's that state "no vehicles shall be be permitted to be parked on the street within the neighborhood for more than 12 hours within any 48 hour period" We tried to reason with them on the grounds that we have a one car driveway for a 3 bedroom house with a 4 person family with two working parents that need vehicles to get to our jobs. Their
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    response was along the lines of, our records show you have a garage and a driveway so you should be fine. Unfortunately, neither of our vehicles fit in our garage. We bought our house as new construction so only the framing was done. We planned to park my car in the garage and our truck in the driveway. I drive a compact sedan. We had no idea that the builder would put the water heater in the garage with a post that took away multiple feet of space for parking. The floor
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    plan for our home was provided by the sales office but it did not detail that the water heater would be in the garage. After that, my compact sedan did not fit in the garage. It's now too short for anything but a smart car. From the back wall to garage door is 17'10" From the pole to garage door is 14'10" MY car is 15'4" We were sold a home with two parking spots but they created an
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    impossibility for us to utilize one of them. They obviously didn't care and continued to fine us. We requested proof of the violations multiple times, which they are required to provide in regard to the CCR's, but they never did. We continued paying our dues while disputing the fines. Our dues were $60 a month and the fines were $100 each. At that point they started applying any payments we made for dues to the fines. Even though they were
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    specifically noted as being for dues on each check. Since they were not applying it to our dues it caused late fines and interest to accrue. Which eventually led to them placing a lien on the house. We know we were being targeted because we are in good standing with all of our neighbors, who also park on the street because their garages aren't big enough. None of them were being fined for the same actions, which is one reason we suspect selective
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    enforcement. We then told them that we would not continue paying the $60 a month dues if they were not going to use the money the way the checks were notated. They were misappropriating our funds and we were not agreeing to pay the fines until they could prove the violations were legitimate. Then they tacked on another lien. Not only did they record a second lien but they rolled the amount due from the first lien
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    into the second without dropping the first one. According to the county assessors office the process should have been to update the first lien as opposed to recording a new one. At this time the HOA board was being run by the developer of the neighborhood. We could clearly see that our efforts were going nowhere with them so we waited it out until the actual homeowner board took over, thinking they would be more reasonable.
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    As soon as the takeover happened we started attending meetings, which were not open to homeowners before the takeover. At one meeting one of the board members stated that they know our portion of the neighborhood has "challenges adhering to the parking restrictions" so they would not be enforcing that rule from then on. We requested a hearing with the board to get back in good standing with our account. Multiple letters were
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    sent in the mail as well as dozens of emails requesting a hearing. We were denied the meeting over and over and then they ghosted us for months. During that time they placed a third lien. Again in the same fashion as the second. Rolling the balance of the second lien into the third without canceling the first two. The meeting was finally granted FOURTEEN months after the
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    takeover. At the meeting we explained our situation. We had spoken to other neighbors who were in similar situations (not regarding parking) with egregious fines and liens placed by the developer board. Those neighbors were given the opportunity to present their case almost immediately after the takeover. The board took their complaints and decided to forgive the past fines and move forward. However, we were not
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    offered the same. We were met with hostility and told that if we did not pay our balance in full they would be hiring a lawyer and that we were free to do the same but "they have a lot more money than we do and their lawyer would crush ours". Multiple times, in writing, we requested access to review any documents or records relating to our property, in accordance with Washington state law, which states that access should be
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    permitted as long as requested for a reasonable time within business hours. We were met with denial and an offer to provide copies at a cost. About this time we received a call from our local police. We live in a relatively small town and know most of the officers. They told us that they received an anonymous call claiming that there was an abandoned vehicle in the neighborhood. The police responded and immediately
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    recognized that it was our truck so they called to confirm and nothing more happened because it was, in fact, not abandoned. They told us we could access the call on the CRESA (Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency) website. We found the call and it turned out to be one of our board members. They lied to the police claiming they didn't know who the truck belonged to. Just another example of their continued malicious behavior.
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    After our own calculations, and some best guesses because they had the worst accounting practices ever, we sent a check to cover any past dues that were missing as well as the late fees attached. Which we repeatedly offered to do once we were able to meet with the board. We knew we moved into an HOA and had agreed to pay the monthly dues when we bought the house. In no way were we trying to get out of that responsibility. The concern
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    was the debt they were drowning us in because of the unjustified fines. After years of fighting this, we were served with a lawsuit. We have followed the lawsuit procedure, responding to each of their claims. Once we entered the discovery period of the suit we submitted our discovery request for proof and documentation of the violations, as well as the accounting records for our property to the initial filing.
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    attorney. We sent the letter certified with return receipt requested so we know that request was received on June 17th. In response, we received a notice of withdrawal from their first attorney. The current attorney has still failed to send any documentation beyond a summary of the accounting. We responded to that with a settlement offer to pay the remaining outstanding dues of which we were not previously aware and the appropriate late
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    fees for each of those payments. Within the last month one of our neighbors two houses down reported to the HOA that a vehicle had been parked on the street in front of his house for over a week. The response from the HOA in an email was "we can't do anything about it because the car is parked on a city street and the HOA has no jurisdiction over it". We don't see how they can claim to have the authority to bring this lawsuit
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    when, in their own words, they have no authority over the same public city street upon which we park. Our mandatory scheduling hearing was on September 6th. We appeared before the judge in person and the HOA attorney appeared via zoom. The first thing the judge pointed out was that the attorney had not submitted the joint status report. The attorney said she did send in a report but that it wasn't "joint"
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    meaning they did not work with us on it like they were supposed to. The attorney then said that this case was just sort of dropped in her lap and after briefly reading over it, she didn't really understand why this suit was being brought in the first place. She said she received our settlement request and sent it to the HOA but they have not been responding to her. She said that she wasn't able to update us
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    because she didn't have our contact info. Even though my husband's phone number was clearly printed on the top of the letter she was referencing. The judge asked if we were willing to share an email address to communicate as well, we said yes and provided it. The attorney asked that the trial be set for as far out as possible in the hopes that we can reach a settlement and avoid trial altogether. I asked for it to be as
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    soon as possible because we have been dealing with this for four years and I didn't want them to drag it out even further. The judge took both opinions into account and set the trial for January 13th 2025. My husband then pointed out that we had submitted the discovery request back in June but we still haven't received anything. The judge asked the attorney why that was and she said she hasn't seen that
    via u/onlymrsstorie
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    document. Even though we have a signature proving it was received. The attorney asked that we send it again. We agreed to do so. She said she would email us that day, now that she has our email and that we could reply to that and include the discovery request. It is now 2 days later and we still have not seen an email from her.
    via u/onlymrsstorie

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