Young guy rents an HOA-enforced home and gets hit with $400 fine and warning of eviction before even moving in, exposes property company online and gets a full refund: 'It's not like I had anything to lose.'

There are all these communities that create programs that are supposed to help its residents, but then it gets infiltrated by greedy, inconsiderate people that ruin it for everyone. Take HOAs, for example—"Home Owners Associations" were created to help maintain neighborhoods as a community and take some of the responsibility off of the homeowners. The homeowners would pay a few fees and then the shared parks would stay clean, and people would not be allowed to mow the lawn at the break of dawn, things like that. But, alas, most HOAs are not a money-hungry establishment in cahoots with large real-estate management companies with the sole purpose of extorting more money out of homeowners and their renters. It's tragic, really. 

 

So when we see an evil property management and HOA get taken down by one guy quick with the online wit, we love it!! 

Like what you see? Follow our WhatsApp channel for more.

Author image for Elna McHilderson Elna McHilderson
Advertisement

  • This guy was “young and dumb,” as he describes himself, and made the mistake of renting a home that was in an HOA. The rules were immediately sketchy, like, the first rule of him not being allowed to actually see the rules because he was a renter and not a homeowner, but immediately got a fine before he even moved in… Like, what? But don't worry, he was able to get a full refund, taint the reputation of his landlords and HOA, and move out to better pastures. Justice served, baby! 

  • 100 Signatur RENT HOUSE
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

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

  • Advertisement

  • "Don't think anyone will care what I think and advise me to leave a negative review? Awesome let's see what happens."

    This is a long one but I still enjoy it. Long ago I was dumb enough to rent a house within the control of an HOA. I have since learned better. This property was managed by a company called (city I lived in) properties they had purchased the house within the HOA and rented to us but given that I
    via CasyD
  • wasn't actually in the HOA I was just a renter it became a really conveluded mess very quickly. We were told that we would need to adhear to the HOA guidelines, but we couldn't talk to the HOA directly nor would we be able to receive a copy of the rules but that it wasn't that serious most of their tenants didn't ever hear
    via CasyD
  • from them. Should have said no right then but I was young and dumb. The day I arrived at the property to move my stuff in I was informed by my landlord that I was being fined 100 dollars for my trash cans being visible from the street. Apparently because my
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • trashcan was delivered by the city two days prior to a place | didn't have access to, it was my responsibility to have driven across town and broken into the backyard to move the trash cans. The first infraction is a warning they never passed on the second is 100 dollars. They said I was responsible for it especially after the warning I
    via CasyD
  • literally never received. Then they told me that they would only accept payment in person going forward even though my deposit and first months rent were paid online, and it must be through a money order in person. Then they informed me the office for (the city I lived in) properties which I'd never been to is actually a two hour drive
    via CasyD
  • away totally not in (the city I lived in.) I told them this is my first day in I got the keys a hour ago there's no way I could have done this correctly. Surely it. could be explained to the HOA that this couldn't be my fault. They said no I couldn't talk to the HOA because I wasn't a
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • member couldn't see the rules was supposed to follow because the HOA only allows copies for members. Then they pointed me to a single line in the rental agreement that said I would follow the rules. After far more back and forth than should be required for something so ridiculous we came to an agreement that
    via CasyD
  • they would cover the fine but for some reason it was impossible to wave the record of the infractions and I would be half way to eviction on day one. All of it counted against me but they'd do the 100 dollars. I asked if there were any more rules that I needed to be aware of up front since I couldn't get a copy of the rules.
    via CasyD
  • They told me I had to mow every Thursday because that and the trashcan thing is what typically gets people in trouble. They do a "walk by" Fridays if we mowed on Wednesday it would be too long by then if we did it Friday they'd count it as not done.
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • I mow the lawn every Thursday for months and kept my head down I never even spoke to a neighbor or did anything to draw attention to myself. Around 3/4ths of the way through the lease I get a 400 dollar fine on a Friday with a photo taken nearly in my backyard of my grass with a
    via CasyD
  • ruler next to it which I had just mowed the day before. I'd missed a single tuft of grass behind the AC unit it was less than half an inch above the rest of it they'd walked through the yard to the back corner with a ruler to find an issue. They said this puts me on my final warning before eviction unless I could prove it was cut by a
    via CasyD
  • specific landscaping company owned by someone in the HOA. Apparently the HOA only accepts work from them and it's the only way to reverse a fine. I fought it hard but ultimately I paid it because I was almost out. Then I started to pay to have it done by that company and kept receipts just in case
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • Around 2 months or so left in the lease I get another notice this time it's a 600 dollar fine and a formal letter stating that I would be evicted and a picture of my grass fully mowed. No. ruler no indication that anything was really wrong just a wide shot of my house with cut grass. Since the last time I was told that a receipt proving it
    via CasyD
  • was done by them could clear it up. I called the landlord up offer to show them the copy of the receipt told them to look at this picture or come by with a ruler but it was done correctly. I figured it was a misunderstanding and there's no way I'm actually getting evicted over this.
    via CasyD
  • A woman who I'd never spoken with answers the phone and comes in hot from the get go. I calmly explained the situation to her, she isn't having any of it. cuts me off mid sentence says I have to pay 600 today then they are going to evict me. Refused to look at the receipt or the photo tells me the buck
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • stopped there and it's my fault for being a bad tenant and to just save my breath and start packing. I told her I didn't recognize her voice and that I had been dealing with someone else. I asked how long she'd been there. "2 days I just started." I ask to speak to someone else who might be more experience. "There's
    via CasyD
  • REEMENT Builder Signature Builder ame Client Signature
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

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

  • nobody else. We don't need to continue any further than you giving me my money" I started to say I think that I need to speak to someone else again "Nobody else works here and no one cares what you think. Stop trying to get out of it and be a man" I'm a pretty easy going guy but now it was the
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • principle of the thing. I was like I'm pretty sure someone cares what I think and I know they didn't just hire you and leave you alone in the office. "Then go write your opinion on Google or something where we can all go back to ignoring you, if you call back you're only ever going to talk to me because this isn't worth anyone else's
    via CasyD
  • time." I said oh don't worry I will get right on that and I promise you're going to care in the end. Then this woman started listing off review websites saying that they don't care and no one cares about me. Go to yelp go to this place and this place because no one cares. I wrote them all down. Asked for her
    via CasyD
  • name, she gave that too and I wrote that down. Then I told her I'd be in touch. Cue the malicious compliance. This was early in the morning and I had to go to work but it was an office job that allowed me some leeway in when my work could be done as long as all of it got done before the end
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • of the week. I cleared my whole day I didn't get a single other thing done. I found every online site that even halfway mentioned them and I wrote an entire scathing review on every one of them. Not just copy and paste but fully hashed out in every single place fresh. I even contacted the local news
    via CasyD
  • organization though they never got back to me but the attempt was made. I ripped them a new one in every method I could. Their website, yelp, Google, Zillow every single place that had a message box. I was doing it in bed up to the point I passed out late that night.
    via CasyD
  • Most of these places had no reviews or one 5 star review so it definitely didn't go unnoticed. 8am I get a call from the VP of the property company. She'd flown in from Florida where she was on vacation to figure out why they suddenly had all these super negative super specific reviews. I said "oh so
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • there is someone else who works there?" The VP tells me that she's read the reviews and that while she's sorry this was my experience that this was liable or whatever since I wrote it in a public place and that they'd sue. I told her it's not liable if it's a true account of my experience which it was. I
    via CasyD
  • added that her new employee even told me the places I could write my opinion because no one was ever going to care what I said. I was just following instructions. They were also evicting me based on something that was demonstrably false so it's not like I had anything to lose. She
    via CasyD
  • got really quiet then puffs herself up and started getting an attitude says I'd be hearing from her lawyers soon. I said oh great, were they on vacation too? She hung up. I think it was an hour or two later I get another call from the president of the property company this time. They looked
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • at my receipt for the lawn care and looked at the photo and saw that it was very obviously wrong and were dropping the charge, we were not going to be evicted. Not only that but they'd straightened it out with the HOA and the first two infractions were also dropped.
    via CasyD
  • My 400 dollar infraction was actually only a warning as a first infraction so I'd be getting that money back, and to top it all off the wretched woman who told me that no one would ever care what I think was fired by him personally before the call which is what took the hour or two. Apparently she was in tears. They asked if I would
    via CasyD
  • take down or at least revise some of my reviews so it didn't ruin their companies reputation. I left them all up even after I moved out and never answered another call from them again.
    via CasyD
  • Advertisement
  • Someone's dog may or may not have also taken a dump underneath their door mat and accidentally stomped on it after a two hour drive to drop off the last money order. Impossible to tell really but who cares anyway.
    via CasyD

Stay up to date by following us on Facebook!

Tags

homeowner costs real estate agent karens buying land hoa hoa stories hoa fees new homebuyer how to handle your hoa new homeowner hoa scandal HOA board member homeowner homeownership house hunting helpful new homeowners community drama owning a home buying a house reddit karen what goes around comes around entitled people karma homebuyer real estate pay back How To karens in the wild hoa drama justice served entitled karen karma new homebuyers r-entitled Reddit official hoa owning a house karen story new home karma karen housing market entitled people buying a new home hoa members
Scroll Down For The Next Article

Also From FAIL Blog

Social media manager buries micromanaging boss in approval requests and business starts to suffer, owner steps in and gives manager more control and a raise: 'The problem is she takes forever to respond'

Social media manager buries micromanaging boss in approval requests and business starts to suffer, owner steps in and gives manager more control and a raise: 'The problem is she takes forever to respond'

Trending Now

14-year-old gets even with entitled mother who demands his bus seat: 'He is the hero of the story'

14-year-old gets even with entitled mother who demands his bus seat: 'He is the hero of the story'

01
Couple excitedly announces that they bought a home, distant cousin they haven't spoken to in years demands they let her stay in the guest room for free: ‘Some people only act like family when it’s convenient.’

Couple excitedly announces that they bought a home, distant cousin they haven't spoken to in years demands they let her stay in the guest room for free: ‘Some people only act like family when it’s convenient.’

02
Boss cuts back on granting overtime, worker complies and refuses to jump on urgent project after hours: 'All scheduled overtime had to be approved…cool!'

Boss cuts back on granting overtime, worker complies and refuses to jump on urgent project after hours: 'All scheduled overtime had to be approved…cool!'

03
25+ Workers who were baffled by modern technology: 'He picked up the mouse and started to use it like a TV remote'

25+ Workers who were baffled by modern technology: 'He picked up the mouse and started to use it like a TV remote'

04
Manager blocks employee from getting a promotion, driving them to quit their job, years later same manager applies to a position in employee's new company: ‘I got her interview canceled’

Manager blocks employee from getting a promotion, driving them to quit their job, years later same manager applies to a position in employee's new company: ‘I got her interview canceled’

05
Entitled mom with 5 and 7-year-old kids tries to steal family's movie theater seats that they paid for: 'She [...] tried to make it seem like I was in the wrong to want my seats that I picked and paid for.'

Entitled mom with 5 and 7-year-old kids tries to steal family's movie theater seats that they paid for: 'She [...] tried to make it seem like I was in the wrong to want my seats that I picked and paid for.'

06
Advertisement