Scorned HOA resident-turned-president gets revenge on former president, who fined them $50 for a crooked mailbox: ‘[I] spent 2 years making his life a bureaucratic [nightmare]’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Feb 3, 2026 10:00 AM EST

If you play your cards correctly, you will always have the opportunity to enact revenge on those who have done you wrong.

Finding the perfect time to get revenge on someone who has made your life more difficult requires patience, grit, and stamina. Most of the time, revenge isn't handed to you on a silver platter. Sometimes, you have to work for it. Play the long game. It's important to understand that you must work toward serving justice to the evil characters in your life, and eagerly withstanding any obstructions is crucial for these evil people to experience the karma they rightfully deserve. We believe in you, friends.

The little guy, with enough persistence, will always win. The universe has a beautiful way of sorting itself out. For instance, let's say you live in an HOA. You try your very best to adhere to all the rules set forth by the HOA board, but they continue to pile on top of each other until you can no longer keep track of what is and isn't allowed. One day, you receive a fine because your mailbox was slightly crooked. Slightly. Instead of letting it go, you decide to run for the HOA board, playing the long game to get back at the HOA president who chose to pick on you. That's what happens in this next story, so scroll below if you're intrigued.

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  • a man standing in front of a room full of people
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

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

  • "my HOA president fined me $50 for a crooked mailbox so i ran for the board, became president myself, and spent 2 years making his life a bureaucratic h***scape"

    throwaway - ts long but i promise it's worth it in 2021 i bought my first house.
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  • nice neighborhood, decent neighbors, except for one guy - "gerald." gerald was the HOA president and had been for 11 years.
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  • gerald took this role extremely seriously. gerald had nothing else going on in his life two weeks after i moved in i got a letter.
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  • my mailbox was "not perpendicular to the sidewalk" and i had 14 days to fix it or face a $50 fine.
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  • i measured it and it was off by maybe 3 degrees. you couldn't tell unless you were literally on your knees with a level.
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  • which gerald apparently was i fixed it then i got another letter. my trash cans were visible from the street on a non- trash day.
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  • they were in my OPEN GARAGE. you could only see them if you were standing at a specific angle on the sidewalk.
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  • $50 then my grass was "inconsistent height." my outdoor light was "too warm in color temperature." my car was parked "facing the wrong direction." i got 7 fines in 4 months totaling $340.
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  • i paid them all because i didn't know what else to do i tried talking to gerald and he said he was "just enforcing the rules equally" and that i should "read the CC&Rs more carefully." i asked if anyone else got this many fines.
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  • he smiled and said "most residents understand the standards we uphold here" i went home and read every single page of the CC&Rs.
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  • all 94 pages. and the bylaws. and the meeting minutes from the past 5 years. took me two weekends then i started planning phase 1: infiltration i went to the next HOA meeting.
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  • me and 4 elderly people. i asked thoughtful questions and volunteered for the "landscaping committee." i showed up to every single meeting for 6 months.
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  • then, i became "that nice young man who really cares about the neighborhood" phase 2: election HOA elections came up.
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  • nobody ever runs because nobody cares. i ran for a board seat. i went door to door.
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  • What did we say about persistence? It's a crucial factor in any revenge story. Some might argue that putting in more thought and time into an act of revenge is toxic and, quite frankly, takes more out of you than it gives to you, but we beg to differ. There's a certain level of joy that one receives from watching all one's hard work pay off, and in this resident's case, it's sweet, sweet victory.

    Using bureaucracy against a former prez is beautifully, beautifully petty.

  • i brought cookies and talked about "transparency" and "community." i won with 34 votes. gerald got 12 i was on the board but gerald was still president.
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  • not for long haha i spent the next year building alliances. i helped people with their violations.
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  • i "mediated" disputes. i made myself indispensable. when the next president election came, i ran against gerald.
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  • my platform was "reasonable enforcement" and "community first" i won 67 to 14. gerald's face when they announced it is something i'll remember forever phase 3: the reckoning now here's where it gets good i didn't change any rules.
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  • i didn't have to. i just started enforcing the existing rules. equally, thoroughly, specifically on gerald's property his mailbox was 2.7 degrees off perpendicular.
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  • $50 fine. certified letter his grass had a 0.4 inch height variance between his front and side yard.
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  • $50 fine his exterior paint had "visible weathering inconsistent with community standards." he needed to repaint.
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  • $2,300 estimate his driveway had a crack that was "a safety hazard." needed repair. $800 his porch light was 3200K.
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  • rules say 2700K. $50 fine plus mandatory replacement his fence had a board that was "warped." $50 fine i measured his trash cans.
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  • 14 inches visible from the street when his garage was open. $50 his christmas lights stayed up until january 8th.
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  • rules say january 6th. $50 i documented everything with photos, measurements, timestamps. everything went through proper channels.
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  • certified mail. formal hearings where i remained completely professional. in 18 months i fined gerald $847 and forced approximately $4,100 in "required repairs and updates" he appealed every single one.
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  • i held formal hearings and listened politely. i denied them with cited bylaw references. everything by the book.
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  • exactly how he taught me phase 4: the collapse gerald started coming to meetings red- faced and sputtering
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  • he accused me of "targeting" him. i calmly pointed out that i was "just enforcing the rules equally" and that he should "read the CC&Rs more carefully" he tried to get signatures for a recall vote.
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  • a person casting a vote into a box
    via Element5 Digital for Unsplash

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

  • he got 9 last spring gerald put his house on the market. at the closing, HOA dues and all outstanding fines have to be settled.
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  • he had to pay $426 in fines he'd been "disputing" before he could sell he moved to a condo 40 minutes away.
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  • no HOA. i heard from a neighbor he specifically asked about that before buying epilogue i'm still president.
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  • i've actually relaxed most of the enforcement. we do community bbqs now. i reduced the fine for trash can visibility to a warning for first offense.
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  • people say the neighborhood has "really changed" since gerald left last month i got a christmas card from a woman on maple street.
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  • it said "thank you for making this place bearable again" gerald if you're reading this - my mailbox is currently 4 degrees off perpendicular.
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  • come measure it
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hoa hoa stories entitled people karma hoa drama justice served hoa members
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