Homeowners play games with entitled HOA board member by extending paint approval process for months: 'After 8 or 9 swatches that were denied, the head of the HOA was fuming mad'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 2, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Being a homeowner should mean that you have earned free rein to do whatever you want with your home. Provided that you're not actively causing harm to anyone, you should be able to transform your home into a total eyesore if you see fit. Unfortunately, in the name of so-called "civilized society," there are always going to be nosy people whose seemingly sole purpose in this life is to make your living experience feel less free. 

This is where HOAs thrive, and here, we have a couple who probably should have read the fine print of their HOA handbook before they chose their preferred paint color for their new home. However, after a shady HOA board member purposely informed them that their color was denied after the whole paint job was complete, the couple outsmarted these entitled losers by extending making the paint approval process more difficult for them. 

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    "[They got] petty revenge by driving the HOA head and the paint approval committee crazy."
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)
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    "Annoying the Head of the HOA"

    A friend of mine not too long ago painted his house. He lives in a development that has an HOA. He admits that he and his wife made the first mistake by not reading the HOA handbook close enough so they didn't realize they had to get the color approved by the HOA.
    via lawilde
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    On the first day of painting, the head of the HOA stopped by and talked to them, made small talk, talked about ways to make painting the house easier etc. At this time the HOA head knew they hadn't gotten the color approved because he sits on the three- person panel that approves the colors, however, he opted not to say anything to them. Instead, he
    via lawilde
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    waited until they had the entire house painted then told them the color was not approved because there too many other houses with a similar color (it was a lighter shade of green).
    via lawilde
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    So, faced with having to spend the time and money to repaint the entire house, he and his wife decided to get a little revenge.
    via lawilde
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    Cheezburger Image 10488402944
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    They submitted the form and color swatch for the new color and were approved. Knowing the panel had to take time out of their lives to meet every time they submit a color, they decided to submit another color swatch and form saying that they had changed their minds. This color was one they knew would never be approved. As
    via lawilde
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    assumed, it was denied. They had to submit again and again they submitted a color they knew would never be approved. Again, they were denied. They repeated this 4 or 5 times before the HOA head
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    contacted them and told them the first swatch they submitted was still approved and not to submit another swatch for approval, they were tired of playing games. He replied telling him that it turns out that color is no longer available
    via lawilde
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    and they needed to submit one last swatch, which, of course, was a color that they knew would not be approved. This time the HOA told them if they submitted another un- approvable swatch they would be fined and billed for the panel's time. He submitted another swatch
    via lawilde
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    that was a color he knew would never be approved and with it a photocopy of the page from the handbook covering the process of getting a color approved. He pointed out that there was nothing in there that mentioned any limit to a number of swatches a person could submit.
    via lawilde
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    Cheezburger Image 10488403456
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The couple decided to take matters into their own hands this time and looked at the fine print of their HOA handbook closely before enacting their form of petty revenge. Here's how they managed to extend the paint approval process by several months until the head of the board accidentally agreed to that same light green color!

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    This entire process took a few months. After 8 or 9 swatches that were denied, the head of the HOA was fuming mad and showed up at their door telling them he wasn't leaving until they had decided on a color for the house. My friend
    via lawilde
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    pointed out that the handbook says the only way for a color to be approved was with a vote from the full panel. The HOA head called the other two people, they came over,
    via lawilde
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    and once they were all sat down he and his wife shuffled through about 10 different swatches of crazy colors before finally showing them one that was a light green color. Frustrated, they approved it and left.
    via lawilde
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    A few weeks later, the head of the HOA contacted him to see when they were going to paint and he told them they already had. The swatch that they had approved was the color the house was already painted. A week later he got an angry letter from the HOA
    via lawilde
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    and a bill for their time. He refused to pay and will fight it. A couple weeks after that everyone got a revised handbook in the mail with very detailed rules on how to get a color approved. My friend then called the head of the HOA and told him all of this could have been
    via lawilde
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    avoided if he had just said something that day when he came over and talked to them as they started painting, but he decided to so they decided to be be a s back to him.
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    TL;DR - HOA head is a to my ☐ ☐ friend so he and his wife get petty revenge by driving the HOA head and the paint color approval committee crazy.
    via lawilde
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    Cheezburger Image 10488403712
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    Edit Well, this has blown up - unexpectantly. Apparently, HOA's are a point of anger for a lot of people. Just a few follow-ups:
    via lawilde
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    1. I'm no expert on the lien/fine situation and how that all plays out. I was just going off something I was told. Apparently, if he doesn't pay the fine they can file a lien against him and they could foreclose on his house. When
    via lawilde
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    I told him this he explained that the handbook actually had a detailed procedure on how fines are to be handed out and collected. There are apparently a few steps the HOA has to take before they will file a lien and none of those have happened yet.
    via lawilde
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    The fine is $300 so if it escalates to the next step and they try to collect the money he will take action even if that means swallowing his pride and paying. He is going to double check just to make certain they haven't tried to file the lien on the sly.
    via lawilde
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    2. A lot of people are wondering how an HOA comes to be and why anyone would move into one. To make it short, the idea of an HOA is a good one.
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    They help make sure the community stays nice and property values stay up so you don't have neighbors that move in, never cut their grass, have three broken down cars and a couch in their front yard and constantly throw loud parties,
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    driving down your property values. They also often have community-wide benefits like a pool, workout room, etc. The problem is that some people get the slightest bit of power and it goes to their head and they turn into 1. Based on the replies I have seen here, that seems to happen quite a bit.
    via lawilde
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    There are good HOA's. My brother lives in a place that has one that he has nothing but good things to say about, but it seems like there are many that are bad and go too far.
    via lawilde
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    Cheezburger Image 10488402688
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • This author recounted the tale of his friend, who got back at his HOA with his wife after the head of the board waited until after they painted their entire home light green to tell them that they couldn't use that color. The reason? Too many houses in the neighborhood looked similar. Of course, this did not seem to be a problem for most suburban areas once upon a time, but once someone chooses to paint their house a certain color of their own volition, their preference just had to be questioned.

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hoa neighbors neighborhood drama house neighborhood neighborhood-drama bad neighbors neighborhood-stories terrible neighbors entitled people karma painting entitled people
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