'Turns out Linda had been issuing fines on her own for months': Homeowner exposes a corrupt HOA president who secretly pockets fees collected from fake violations

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 22, 2025 5:00 PM EST

After a woman was charged a $50 fee for placing an inoffensive bench in her front garden, she smelled something fishy in the HOA. Doubting the legitimacy of the bench "structure violation," the homeowner did some digging and found that she wasn't the only one with petty fines posted up on her front door. 

As it turns out, the HOA president, Lowlife Linda, was pinning fake fees on the residents, pocketing the cash for her own personal gain. 

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  • Woman looking out of her window with binoculars
    via tirc83

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

  • Everybody hates a for-profit HOA. Ruining the sanctity of the neighborhood, HOAs will find any reason to slap their residents with some random fee. Relatively new to the homeowning scene, my husband and I have owned our condo for a few years now, and in the span of our live-in residence, the HOA fees have doubled… DOUBLED. Originally run by a mom-and-pop HOA management company, our original HOA fees were $275. The couple running the HOA humbly retired, and since then, our corporate HOA takeover has proven to be more expensive, less effective, and quite frankly, corrupt. So when this homeowner was able to expose her HOA president's corruption, taking her lies straight to the board, this feels like a win for every homeowner, and not just in their complex. 

  • AITJ for calling the HOA president's bluff and letting her "fine" me until the board realized she wasn't allowed to?
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • I moved into a quiet cul-de-sac last year. It's mostly retirees, very peaceful... except for Linda, our HOA president, who takes her role very seriously. The kind of person who measures grass height with a ruler.
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • My sin? I put a small wooden bench under the tree in my front yard. It wasn't bright, it wasn't blocking anything, it was just a simple place to sit.
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • Two days later, I got a "Notice of Violation" taped to my door saying the bench was "an unapproved structural addition" and I owed a $50 fine.
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • I emailed the HOA board. They were confused. They didn't even know the "violation" system existed.
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • Turns out Linda had been issuing fines on her own for months, pocketing "fee payments" as "administrative compensation." I didn't know that when she started threatening me, so I decided to test her.
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • Every time she shoved a fine notice under my door, I sent an email to the entire HOA asking which bylaw I was violating and requesting documentation. She got increasingly frustrated and
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • told me I was "harassing leadership" and "disrespecting authority." Last week, the HOA held a meeting to address "ongoing member challenges." I showed up
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  • with every notice she ever gave me. Other neighbors did too. The board was horrified. She was removed on the spot.
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • Now Linda is furious and telling everyone I am the reason she "lost her volunteer position" and that I humiliated her. A few older neighbors think I "stirred up drama."
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • My stance? She shouldn't have been making up rules and collecting fines. AITJ?
    via TransitionUnited6105
  • Nordilanche If she was pocketing the $$, that's embezzlement + fraud... she needs to be reported and criminally prosecuted
    via Nordilanche
  • Accomplished-Gas3209 If she was pocketing the money, it would be income. Tell her IRS would be happy to speak with her about her scam.
    via Accomplished-Gas3209
  • jellybeannc. NTJ. You didn't cause her to lose her position, her actions did. Her keeping the money for non- existent rules and fines would be considered theft, she's lucky no one has come after her for that.
    via jellybeannc

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