For every nosy neighbor, there's the one whose clever hijinks you can't help but admire. Here, we have a particularly private resident who did not enjoy the slim possibility of Peeping Toms getting a closer look at his backyard. Naturally, he decided that the best way to combat the new neighbors moving in next door was to install a tall fence to keep them out. Well, apparently, an eight-foot fence was too high for the local HOA to permit, so they tried to throw a ton of fees his way. That's whe…

Every neighborhood has a Karen, but if you live in an HOA-regulated area, you're most likely living under the thumbs of a whole gaggle of Karens.

When you want to be charged several hundred dollars for decorating your home as you wish, the HOA is your organization. These notorious corrupt groups seem to love handing out massive fines for tiny little violations. Home Owner's Associations , or HOAs, are groups of people who are supposed to look out for the well-being of their community. But instead, they seem to spend an awful lot of time messing around. For example, one person's HOA horror story involved them painting their house a new co…

It's time for a weekly venting session about everyone's favorite topic: their local homeowner's association. A friend of mine recently recounted a story to me about how the previous owner of her modest condominium had his air conditioner incorrectly installed in a way that violated HOA bylaws. The problem is that no one ever noticed the issue while he was living there. When my friend moved in, she was relieved that she didn't have to install her own AC for once. Well, she would end up wishing t…

Your mailbox is a disgrace, and needs a fresh coat of paint, they said. Your flowerbeds are looking a little dull, get a gardener, they said. HOA likes to say a lot of things, and if you don't listen, well, you get fined. That's just how it is, and there isn't much you can do about it. The HOA members are always grumpy, miserable-looking people who have their noses high in the air and think that they're better than everyone else. They don't have much to be proud of in their life, so their lawn…

This couple got some exceptionally good revenge on their petty HOA manager . What are HOAs good for? Well, they're supposed to be used for things like telling your neighbors not to leave their trash cans on the street 24/7, or telling people not to park on the sidewalks. Instead, a lot of HOA organizations try to enact their own petty rules. These rules don't benefit anyone but them! This person, u/houseofnim, has been having an issue with fitting their vehicles on their property . With two pic…

It's not every day you hear about someone having a positive experience with their local HOA . It seems like 95% of the time, people share stories complaining about how controlling their HOAs are. A lot of Home Owner's Associations, or HOAs for short, have a habit of doling out fines for the pettiest little reasons. Some people have been fined for things like parking their cars in their own driveways, or for placing those little signs on their lawn that advertise the landscaper who trimmed the g…

The move to Florida is going to be a big change for this person. Using an apt username, u/firsthomeFL has a request for the good folks of Reddit: What's the best way to get on an HOA's nerves? Up next, this finance worker was advised to “ let the newbie fail ," after revealing that a new worker refuses to learn anything.

HOA board members cannot really get much more heartless than this. While the family of a matriarch was in the midst of their grieving, Ed (the HOA representative) decided that now would be the right time to bother them about their mother's late fees. The truth of the matter was that even if the family wanted to pay those fees now, they couldn't because the courts had not yet ruled about the particulars of their mother's estate, but that answer was not enough for little old Ed. He kept bothering…

Here is one of those rare instances in which an HOA was on the right side of an issue. You know that you're a major problem if everyone else in the neighborhood agrees with how your HOA dealt with you. This neighborhood had two desired parking spaces, one of which everyone unanimously agreed belonged to an elderly neighbor. The other space was hogged by an annoying resident, who would go out of his way to ensure that no one ever snagged his spot. Well, his stubborn nature got him absolutely now…

Why would anyone want to be an HOA board member? That's just a one-way ticket to immediately becoming one of the most disliked people in the neighborhood. I'm convinced that some people in this world would rather be in the most unnecessary, fake position of power, even if it meant making all the enemies. We feel this even at a young age when classmates try to hog the playground and assume some sort of faux position of power. This also applies to the annoying teacher's pets in school and your hi…

For one South Carolina homeowner, HOA rules just weren't acceptable. His case is totally understandable: why would you want an association to meddle with your property? Why is it any of their business in the first place? HOAs, or Home Owner's Associations , are known to be meddlesome groups. They're usually run by local people who police the properties in their area heavily. They can issue fines for things like parking in one's own driveway, or having the wrong mailbox type, or painting one's h…

If HOAs want to enforce pointless rules, then they better be prepared for people to expose just how pointless said rules are. Here, we have a guy who just wanted to paint his house a light green color but did not realize that the HOA had to approve the color. When the head of the HOA came by to discuss the paint job, he purposely left out this reminder so that the resident could later be fined for not complying. That’s when the resident decided to get petty in return. He proceeded to submit doz…

If you can help it, never move into a neighborhood that is home to an HOA. The name of an HOA, or Home Owner's Association, implies that it's a board that'll make sound decisions for the homeowners of an area. But in practice, that's so far from the truth. In reality, HOAs are run by a few people who make sweeping decisions for an entire area, and are often more focused on keeping control over people's homes and charging massive fines to line their own pockets. They're able to do things like ch…

Everyone has a dirty little secret hiding somewhere on their property—sometimes it's that project car that hasn't moved for months (and that probably will never be finished), and sometimes it's your neglected fountain in your backyard that has become less of an aesthetic water feature and more of a mosquito breeding ground. And it's only natural to be vaguely annoyed by these oversights on the part of your neighbors, as—when you're locked eternally into a plot of land in (relatively) close prox…

Being cautious and conscientious about where you're buying property is extremely important. Ensuring that you're aware of any zoning, environmental hazards, or other possible issues ensures that you're going to not only make a good investment but enjoy a peaceable existence in your new home as well. Future-proofing is important too. Of course, you can't control all eventualities, but the last thing you want to do is get caught out, unaware that you were buying next to a plot of land that could…