Disgruntled neighbor throws tantrum over resident not being included in the HOA: 'He’s on a kick about making [the] HOA exempt houses join'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 22, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Misery loves company. That's not just what Kathy Bates's infamous character Annie Wilkes believed in Stephen King's aptly named Misery, but it's also what real humans going through life's everyday inconveniences want as well. You would think that decent people wouldn't need to see other people go through what they went through in order to feel whole, and yet, there are enough folks out there who can't bear to see other people experience, well, happiness.

This especially extends to one's living situation. When I have seen my friends undergo apartment searches and find better deals for better spaces than I could have ever discovered, I can feel the urge to justify my less-than-stellar situation. However, I'd like to think that I'm mature and secure enough to stop myself from taking away someone else's joy. 

This guy's neighbor, however, was not as secure with himself. In fact, he wanted all the non-HOA residents in the neighborhood to experience the misery of what it's like to be in the HOA rather than let them steer clear of that strict existence.

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    via Zac Gudakov

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

  • Wouldn't a better use of this neighbor's frustrations have been if he had banded together with the other residents who were stuck in the HOA and advocated for its eradication? At the very least, they could fight for more relaxed rules and regulations since a strong portion of the neighborhood was not a part of the HOA anyway. Instead, this disgruntled fellow was unable to imagine a better living experience for himself, so he wanted to advocate for a worse living experience for all the people around him. 

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    We bought our house about 6 years ago. When we went to the open house one thing that really caught my attention was the fact that there was not an HOA. We
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    closed and eventually learned that the neighborhood does in fact have an HOA. However there's a handful of houses that were excluded from this HOA
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    because they were previously built by another builder that backed out of the neighborhood. Fast forward to the neighborhood being finished and the HOA being turned over to a management
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    company. There are now board members from the neighborhood that interact with everyone on our Facebook page.
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    Well there's one old dude that constantly complains and airs out his grievances, now he's on a kick about making us HOA exempt
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    houses join. It just makes me laugh...he's so miserable and hates the HOA so much but he wants to make other people join.
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    rocketmechanic17... That's sad. Just trying to drag you down by the ankles. Also I'd be surprised to see how they "make you" join.
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    Cheezburger Image 10532732928
    via Unsplash+ (Guillaume Issaly)

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

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    Lonely-World-981. > now he's on a kick about making us HOA exempt houses join. [old man yells at cloud]
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    Competitive-Reac... To counter this, all you HOA- exempt home owners should band together... Never mind.
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    tallman11282 · Such crab in a bucket mentality. He's miserable so he's trying to make everyone else miserable as well and stay in the bucket instead of trying to fix things so he's not miserable.
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    Ima-Bott. Start a freedom from HOA riders group on FB. Become the thorn in the HOA karens side.
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    gregaustex • Make sure your deed doesn't include a clause allowing future annexation into a HOA. Then there might be some risk but usually you'd still have to consent.
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    Wohv6. Wow that's just petty. Does your neighbor also sue people who don't agree with him?
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    30_characters • 3 . I'd love to see the farmers who sell their land to developers start including the opposite of an HOA encumbrance on the deed.
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    File a deed restriction that prohibits the property and is sub-divisions (pun intended) from being attached to an HOA forever, in perpetuity. It's legal to force people to participate, the inverse should be legal too, right?
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    Ok... They can't force you to join, fortunately for you. Unfortunately for you, there is often sufficient vagueness in property records and related public documents
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    that entitled people with plenty of fixations, time and money on their hands can at least get some lawyer to take various actions based on the smallest amount of vagueness in records that
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    could embroil you in some legal fighting that would at the very least ensnare you in an emotional, psychological and financial fight. It is not likely but I have seen it happen.
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    We avoided a home (two homes in two different neighborhoods actually) because it was in a vague set of circumstances HOA-
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    wise. I made a few calls to neighbors using their public information found online and identified myself as a prospective contract buyer
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    for a house in their neighborhood and they told me a lot. Including one old guy who said, "of course that part of the neighborhood is not technically part of the HOA
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    but we could legally force it if we have to." I believe his intent was to reassure me that no one was going to get away with painting their house orange but it was enough info for me. We backed out of our contract
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    due to "home inspection" which p ed off our realtor because the previous non- HOA home we backed out of was for the same reason (no technical HOA but the bones were vaguely there).
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