HOA plays favorites, but homeowner who keeps getting fined fights back and gets control of the whole board: ‘[They] may dissolve it’

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Sep 26, 2025 6:00 AM EDT

Favoritism is fine when you're talking about your favorite color or food, things like that. But when it comes to favoritism in things like your HOA, that's when it becomes something much more nefarious. If an HOA plays favorites, that means they can fine homes that they don't like much more money, then community members that they like better. It's unfair and unjust. And that's exactly what this homeowner discovered. It was actual through her renters that this was unveiled. A neighbor was bothering her tenants none stop, to the point that they were getting fined and ticketed. So, the homeowner did some digging and found out that this Karen neighbor had her grimy little hands in the HOA board. 

So, she did what she had to do, and took over the board. And what do you do with an unjust system? Well, usually you dismantle it. So, thought the HOA is still in place currently, dissolving it is heavily in the talks and that feels like a win. And in today's climate, you gotta count celebrate every win you get! 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10558062848
    via Unsplash+ (and Natalia Blauth)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "[Messing] with the HOA"

    I went to visit my stepson and take him and his girlfriend camping. They had just moved into a nice 3 bedroom rental house.
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  • We spent 5 days 4 nights camping in our travel trailer and a tent for the kids. Our trailer is a 14 foot two person deal.
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  • We get back from our camping trip and find some notices from both the HOA and the rental company. The kids have work and school.
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  • Third year law for his girlfriend. My wife and I decide to stay do some yard work and help the kids settle.
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  • We trimmed some neglected trees, thatched and aerated the lawn, by hand, weeded etc.
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  • A representative of the property management company stopped by for a brief inspection. She said the property had been vacant for a while and they would repair the sprinklers, fence and if the HOA required re- sod the weedy portion of the lawn.
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  • Definitely send out a company to fertilize and apply herbicide to areas that used to be landscaped.
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  • The nice lady from the property company asked about the pruning we had done on the trees. My wife told her she had degrees in ornamental horticulture and Arboriculture.
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  • They conversed about plants her daughter was a student at UC Davis for viticulture and enology my stepson just graduated from the agronomy program with a minor in arboriculture.
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  • After the two chatted about kids, real estate, inflation, student loans and how hard it was for millennials to get established in California they began to talk about how horrible the HOA is in the neighborhood.
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  • I began to tell the property manager about a few sticky isolation valves in the plumbing and the second bathroom didn't get hot water in the shower, problems with the garage door.
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  • She made a note and promised the handyman would look at it when he checked the sprinklers and painted the garage door trim.
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  • The women chatted a little more as mowed the lawn with a manual push mower, my wife was granted verbal approval to plant in the flowerbeds and install drip lines that would be connected when the sprinklers were repaired.
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  • The property manager said her Father owned a lot of rental properties and would be interested in Xeriscaping, pruning, and landscaping.
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  • As they were saying goodbye the neighbor across the street came over and complained about pretty much everything. From all the traffic and street parking around the house to the hours cars were started and the headlights sweeping across her windows.
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  • She said she was on the HOA board and would do everything in her power to keep rentals out of the neighborhood.
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  • She then turned to my wife and I and pointed at our trailer parked on a public street and said that it was against the CCRs.
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  • The lady from the property company told this Karen that the management company is the HOA member and they were to be sent all violation notices.
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  • She told Karen the recent traffic and parking was due to renovations to the house.
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  • Karen continued to complain about noise, lights, renters, being tracked by gangs, traffic lights out get her, gang stalking and she accused the property company of being behind the gang stalking and shocking her.
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  • Karen from across the street was rather upset and animated. The property manager told her again that the HOA was to submit complaints and violations to her company.
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  • She asked Karen to leave the property and told her not to harass her tenants. She gave us a card and said any harassment should be recorded and reported.
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  • She asked that we pass it along to the kids. Karen yelled screamed and said "This isn't over."
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  • Shortly thereafter the police showed up. A young officer stopped behind our truck and trailer and walked around it.
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  • He asked me if I owned the trailer. I said yes I do. He asked if I had drained anything into the gutters and if I was connected to any utilities.
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  • I said if I had drained my tanks or was connected to power or water it would be obvious.
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    via Unsplash+ (and Markus Spiske)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • He said you're right but, could you explain the wet spot beneath your trailer?
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  • I looked and the drain from the freshwater tank was weeping a little. I told the officer the fresh water had a small leak.
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  • He said I'm not worried about that, I'll log the complaint as unsubstantiated. "We get a lot of strange complaints from that one."
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  • He tilted his head toward the house across the street. Then he told me to move the trailer a few feet every day.
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  • I'm sure she'll complain about illegal parking every day.
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  • The next day there's a violation notice for parking an occupied RV in the driveway connected to power/water.
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  • We saved the blink footage and requested the dispatch log for the unsubstantiated complaint and submitted it the property manager.
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  • The next day we received a call from the woman who we met with the day before, she said the HOA had submitted a fine to the property management company.
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  • She politely asked for any other evidence that we were not connected to the power/water and or parked in the driveway.
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  • She also asked if we could move our vehicles. I said we could send multiple screenshots from the blink camera system and that I would happily park in front of the property across the street.
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  • We parked in front of Karen's house, as I went through the blink camera footage I saw the person who delivered the violation notices.
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  • He parked directly in front of the doorbell camera in a Toyota minivan with a vinyl business decal on the side.
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  • We then parked in front of the HOA president's house with the unique minivan for two days.
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  • The property management company filed complaints about RV parking violations in front of the two properties we parked in front of.
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  • HOA replied there was no violation, the HOA cannot control parking on public streets.
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  • The property management company attached the HOA's email response to the violation notices and fine, there was no response just a late notice for the fine.
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  • Here's where things get fun, the property management company owns multiple homes in the HOA suddenly all the rental properties in the HOA start getting multiple notices and fines.
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  • The lady we met is the daughter of one of the major property owners, her extended family owns many other rental properties in the HOA.
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  • The family collectively owns about 31.2% of the properties in the HOA, several grandchildren live in the HOA not only is the family active in local politics, there's a law firm senior partner in the extended family.
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  • Between attendance at the meetings and proxy votes the board was entirely replaced.
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  • The property management companies divided off a subsidiary company to manage HOAs. Guess who got the contract?
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  • The family is in control of the HOA and may dissolve it, then again they pay themselves to manage it.
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