Neighbor tattles on HOA resident and gets them fined, resident messes with them until they hire a priest for ghostly behavior in return: ‘He had the house blessed’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Jan 13, 2026 1:00 PM EST

Do you believe in ghosts? Or, do you lend certain strange occurences to your conniving neighbors instead?

Whether you're a believer or not, seeing your trash cans move half a foot nearly every night might strike a certain nerve inside you. What could you have done to the spirits above (or below) to receive such strange punishments via your garbage bins? If you're lost, which I'm sure you are, stick with me.

There are moments in your life when you will have to decide between being a decent person and being a sneaky person. You should almost always choose the former route, only because karma has a funny way of finding us when we least expect it (and being a decent human being rocks). In this story's case, the neighbor who tattles on a fellow resident in their shared HOA fails to communicate their distaste for how visible their garbage cans are from the street. Instead, they communicate their issues to the HOA directly… Now, the fellow resident is fined, when the entire situation could have been avoided if the neighbor had come straight to them about the problem. Sneaky, sneaky…

What do you do in moments like this? Do you take the situation for what it is, swallow your pride? Or, do you do something much more fun? The scorned resident chooses to execute some ghost-like revenge. Scroll below to read the full story.

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  • a person hiding in shrubbery
    via Rodrigo Ramos for Unsplash

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

  • this started 2 years ago. my neighbor gary reported me to the HOA because my trash cans were "visible from the street" on a non-trash day.
    via kubrador
  • i got a $50 fine. i said okay gary. okay. every wednesday night i set an alarm for 3am.
    via kubrador
  • i go outside in dark clothes. i move his trash cans about 6 inches to the left.
    via kubrador
  • that's it. just 6 inches. then i go back to bed. the first few months he didn't notice.
    via kubrador

  • You might think that this is an elaborate prank for a meager $50 fine. Sure, that might be so… But it's nearly never only about the money, but rather, the principle as well.

    Here at Fail Blog, we root for the little guys. The underdogs. The fellas who feel wrongfully messed with. This is a harmless prank, one that doesn't do much of anything. At least, not in the beginning. Sooner or later, the neighbor will have their work cut out for them. Scroll to see what I mean.

  • then one morning i saw him standing in his driveway just staring at them. he moved them back.
    via kubrador
  • next wednesday. 6 inches. he started putting a rock in front of them to mark the spot.
    via kubrador
  • i moved the rock too. he installed a ring camera. i approached from the blind spot behind his bushes.
    via kubrador
  • i know his yard better than he does at this point. last summer his wife came over to ask my wife if we'd "noticed anything strange in the neighborhood." my wife said no.
    via kubrador
  • i was standing right there. i ate a granola bar and nodded. in october he had the house blessed.
    via kubrador
  • senior priest standing at the altar
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • i watched a priest walk through his front door. i saw them standing in the driveway praying over the trash cans.
    via kubrador
  • i almost felt bad. almost. he's started bringing them inside his garage now. so i've pivoted to moving his welcome mat 2 inches every week instead.
    via kubrador
  • i will never stop. i don't even remember what being normal feels like. the HOA created me.
    via kubrador
  • EDIT: since people keep asking about the ring camera - the welcome mat is by his side door.
    via kubrador
  • camera points at the driveway. but i'm not taking chances so i bought the same ring camera model and spent a month testing angles in my own house.
    via kubrador
  • there's a 2 foot blind spot if you approach from the left hedge. 10 second delay before recording starts.
    via kubrador
  • i can be in and out in 8 ;)
    via kubrador

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