You're not supposed to take things that aren't yours—this is something that is ingrained in us from a very young age (or at least it's supposed to have been.) We were all taught that taking Little Jonny's red ball out at recess without his permission wasn't ok. Although we might still hold a grudge against Jonny for being a tattle tale (we were going to give it back), it doesn't change the fact that some valuable lessons were learned. These lessons and new-found boundaries should have stayed wi…

When you're facing up against power and authority, it's easy to feel helpless and like you don't have any options, feeling like the only thing you can do is try to mitigate the fallout they're causing by trying to keep peace with them. The thing is, they're counting on you thinking and feeling that way; a lot of times, petty authority and controlling behavior rely completely and wholly upon silence. It's difficult to do, but if you ask around enough, you're likely to find there are others with…

“These people are top tier con artists.”

Nothing is worse than living somewhere with arbitrary rules about your own property.

“Be an utterly unethical thorn in [the HOA's] side which can never be removed or retaliated against. I'm not locked in with them; they're locked in with me.”

Imagine having such an atrocious experience with your HOA that you end up feeling the need to quit your job and move far, far away. Here , we have a night shift worker whose property manager needed to come into his place two to three times a week because there was an electric panel he frequently needed access to for work. Unfortunately, the HOA claimed that this was for legitimate emergency purposes despite the fact that there never seemed to be a real emergency and the 24-hour notice period wa…

Sometimes the only way to beat an HOA is to become a board member

This person is really living the dream: they have a lakefront cottage and their own seaplane! That sounds like a cozy life: they inherited their place from a family member, and they're not even required to join their local homeowner's association . Just because you aren't part of this HOA, doesn't mean they won't still try to bug you! The HOA members are certain that they could make this dude move the seaplane. It seems to be a fairly common issue for HOAs to try everything to get more money fr…

In a battle of wits, the smartest player comes out on top. Unfortunately, when you're dealing with an HOA, the rules are skewed to their advantage and simple smarts are not usually enough to defeat them.

“That'll do, donkey. That'll do.” Those immortal words spoken by Shrek captured the memorable bond between those two fictional characters, a bond that this homeowner shared with his own emotional support animal, also a loving and loyal donkey.

“[He left] a note stating if I can't do what was agreed upon he would evict me.”

It's no secret that HOAs can be nothing more than an invasive nuisance 90% of the time. This Redditor's story serves as yet another example of how a neighborhood HOA made an already stressful process worse. The Original Poster (OP) was in the process of going through a move and had not yet received his proof of registration sticker for his car. For the record, he had already gotten his car officially registered online and was simply waiting for the sticker to be shipped in the mail. Yet somehow…

It really just comes down to whether you are pro-purple house or not…

The best part about finally owning your own home is that you can do whatever you want with it—within legal limitations and logical reasoning. Of course, you'll quickly come to realize that this isn't necessarily the case, as you'll also be contending with nosy HOA members poking around looking for a single blade of grass out of line. You'll also be subject to the opinions of your neighbors, who will be more than happy to share them with you as though their judgement is law. This homeowner bough…

HOAs do not get much more invasive that this… Here, we have a resident who had been living in the neighborhood for several years and had been following all the rules and regulations of his HOA to the best of his knowledge. Then, everything changed when a member of the homeowner's associated contacted each resident about the limit they were imposing on the number and type of cars that can be parked outside their homes. Furthermore, they are imposing new required repairs that must be done by 2026…

Bad neighbors will go to great lengths to make your life difficult.