HOA is an abbreviation for homeowners association. According to nerdwallet.com, “HOAs are governing bodies found within common-interest communities, such as planned or gated neighborhoods and apartment or condominium buildings. They’re run and funded by residents and have boards of directors. The boards organize regular meetings, establish and maintain budgets, and enforce rules and regulations.”
Some HOAs in certain neighborhoods go way too far when they enforce their rules in the neighborhoods they govern. These are a few examples of HOAs that went overboard with their rules and regulations.
One homeowner got a letter in the mail from the HOA stating that the weeds are overgrown and not kept after in their flowerbed. They informed the HOA that they did not have a front flowerbed and only a back one covered by an 8 foot fence for privacy that people could not see through.
The homeowners emailed the HOA asking how they knew about the weeds in the back flowerbed and they told them that they got complaints from the neighbors. They explained that there has not been a single neighbor that visited them or saw the backyard in the six years they have lived there.
So they called out the HOA and told them that they could not trespass. They purposely did not remove the weeds and set up a camera out back. Sure enough the HOA member opened the gate and walked around the backyard every monday. So the home owners took off work and sat in the backyard one monday and caught the guy trespassing in their backyard. He was later arrested and the HOA did not mess with those homeowners again.
Another example is when a group of friends rented a condo. They were unaware of the harsh rules made by the HOA of that area. One day when it was snowing outside, they decided to leave the shovel on the porch overnight so that it could be ready for them the next morning. They got fined 60 dollars because they had a shovel on the porch overnight.
Then they were also fined 80 dollars for taking the trash out to the curb at 7 o’clock pm. They didn’t realize that there was a rule about when they should take the trash out. The rule is that the earliest anyone can take their trash out is 8 o’clock pm. They decided to move and quickly got out of that neighborhood.
Finally, another example is when a homeowner got told by the HOA that they need to plant more trees in their front yard and they have 1 month to do so. This was in December and the homeowners wrote back saying that they will do it when the weather gets warmer and springtime.
The HOA told them that they still need to plant the tree in December regardless if it was going to die during winter. The homeowners thought that that was ridiculous and did not respond.
HOA can be way too overboard and too controlling in certain neighborhoods. These were some interesting and bizarre stories about the HOA being too controlling and harsh in their making and enforcing of their local rules.
