
You could say Home Own Associations are sometimes run like the mob. Pay their fees and they'll take care of you, right? You can never tell how they're going to be operated. Maybe it'll be the friendly kind of mafia. That's can happen sometimes, right? Most often, and the HOA can go either way, they'll extort you and boss you around and make living where you live a nightmare.
Reddit user, [usernameremoved], wanted to hear the worst of the worst when they asked:
What's your Home Owners Association horror story?
Spring Brings Changes
They sent us a series of nasty notices to remove the dead tree in our front yard. The tree had lost all of its leaves and it was unsightly, apparently.
The catch is that they sent us this notice in November. You know, like, FALL. When perfectly healthy trees lose their leaves.
We pretended we didn't understand which tree they were talking about until spring, when the tree magically came back to life.
We're Short On Water
Fined multiple times and threatened with a lien by the HOA because we would not water our grass during a major, major drought season.
It was cheaper and easier to fight the HOA since the City AND State passed regulations banning constant watering and green grass. The City had Google like vans with cameras that'd be driving neighborhoods to catch violators and fine them.
Case Of Mistaken Identity
When we were privately renting in a townhome community the dumpster had video surveillance so that the HOA could fine anyone breaking the rules as far as what we were allowed to dump. One day both myself and SO get a b!tchy call from our property manager alerting us that HOA has fined us $250 for illegal dumping, the property owner will have to pay it and we will have to reimburse him.
After racking our brains about what we could have possibly thrown out that wasn't allowed, we decided to call up the HOA to see if we could see the video. They would either transfer us to someone else that would hang up, or their hours would change to where no one would answer the phone, or they'd promise to get the video to us the next day, etc. This went on for about 2 weeks.
Finally my SO got to see the video while I was at work. I texted him to find out what was on it and he said the video was of a middle aged asian lady throwing out a bunch of furniture. It was the stupid property owner's freaking wife.
That's Literally The Day
Everyone in our neighborhood received fines for leaving garage cans at the road.
It was trash day.
Wrong Time Of Year
My HOA decided that my trim needed to be painted RIGHT NOW. Threatened a $100 a month fine if it wasn't. The trouble is that it was January, and I live near Chicago.
As I was buying the paint, the salesperson keeps telling me that the paint won't dry, it will just freeze, and fall off within 6 months. I was selling in the spring anyway, so I didn't care. Painted the trim in a temperature of 7 degrees F.
F-ckers.
At The Worst Possible Time
2008 my parents lost our house because of financial struggle. We are forced to move into the cottage that my grandfather left my dad. We are scraping by and barely affording food. Home owners ASSociation decide our garage/shed is "an eyesore" and that we needed to reside the entire thing. We had to spend 400 dollars on siding when we didn't have grocery money.
They then made my dad park his truck in the woods behind the house because they didn't want people moving into the houses in the area to "get the wrong idea".
F-ck those absolute pompous d-ckheads.
Nature Moves In Its Own Ways
A friend of mine had gotten a new dog and there were three spots from where the dog peed that had killed the grass. My friend is literally outside with a rake, grass seed and the hose, pulling out the dead grass in preparation for the seed when the HOA lady walks up. She lectures her on taking care of her grass and hands her a letter with a fine and a complete by date. She's like "well I'm planting seed RIGHT NOW so when it grows it will be fixed."
HOA lady "you have three days" and damn if she didn't show back up three days later to find, SHOCKINGLY, NO GRASS! Drops off letter with a fine again. Very three days until the grass grew in.
They wrote a letter, fully explaining the science behind grass growing, with pictures that looked like they were from a 1960's era grade school science book. Their fees were dropped and they moved out shortly after.
Throwing It Back In Your Face
Preface: I had a house fire my sophomore year of high school. No injuries, but my family lost our home.
Last year, about two years later, it was Independence Day. The neighbourhood has a strict "No Fireworks" rule. My younger siblings were playing with sparklers in the front yard. The neighbourhood "manager" approaches and tells my mom, "You can't have those. You guys of all people should know how easily these houses can catch fire."
I was livid when I was told this a few days later.
Problems Of The Incredibly Wealthy
Here's a doozy. My Grandfather lives in a rich, gated golf course community. The golf course is literally the backyard of the houses. The HOA requires every golfer to write their name and address on every ball, and if any balls hit someone's window, car, or lands in someone's pool, that golfer is held liable for damages plus a $100 fee for hitting a ball out of bounds. If you are found in possession of an unmarked ball (no name) you get banned for a length of time and charged another fee. Some of the houses decks are actually located two steps away from a hole.
Taking The "Christ" Out Of Homeowner
My sister and BIL moved into a townhouse with HOA. One of their cars needed repairs so BIL's Mom lent them her car. It had multiple religious bumper stickers on it, so they nicknamed it "The Jesusmobile."
[Within] a couple days they received a notice stating that they had to remove the unsightly vehicle from their driveway.
Were They Koopas?
My parents used to have three large rock turtles in the front yard. The HOA told them they had to remove it, and we were perfectly fine with that, so we told them it'd be gone within the week.
2 days later, It still wasn't gone and we caught a member of HOA smashing [them] with a hammer. We reported it too the police but they never helped us because 'we were warned' or something like that.
An Impossible Loophole
Not mine, but my sister's: The external vent from their clothes dryer had shifted in the rafters and caused the steam to condense and the drips leaked through the ceiling and puddled inside the house. The HOA said it was an appliance issue so it wasn't their responsibility to fix. My sister said "Fine, we'll cut a hole in the dry wall and fix it ourselves."
The HOA said she would need their permission to cut a hole in the ceiling and they refused to grant it because it was an appliance problem, not a structural problem. She went back and forth with them for weeks, unable to use the dryer without furthering the water damage. It took lawyering up to get the HOA to finally fix the problem.
HOA Eyes Are Watching You
Not me but my dad. When he was young they used to rent an apartment and the HOA used to spy when they were turning off the TV in order to cut off the electricity.
One day they were watching the TV and my dad saw an eye on the peephole.
He quietly got up, disconnected the TV and opened the door, and then this got really crazy!!! He threw the TV on the HOA door and he told her a lot of things! Cursing and a lot of fun stuff!!! EPIC!!
Don't Get Mad At Them. They're Kind Of Dumb To Begin With.
Here's a good one from the other side: I worked as an property manager for HOA's. The board of directors for one HOA came to me one day insisting I fine "Jane Smith" $200 for littering outside her condo. They "watched as she littered and told her she'd be fined, so fine her."
I asked this board of director why $200 for a fine. She shrugged and said because. I then asked if she was aware if their community governing documents had a fining policy. She said she didn't care.
Well, to cover my ass I looked into their documents, as was my job. No fining policy whatsoever, putting $200 on their account would have been a lawsuit. Said board of directors wasn't too happy when I pointed this out.
So tl;dr: Don't get too upset when the HOA contacts you, they don't always know what the f-ck they're doing.
Wounds That Never Heal
I think I've posted this before, but I'm still fuming over it years later so here goes. I went away for a long weekend and left after work on Thursday. Late Friday afternoon, my water heater burst (in the attic of a three story home) and flooded my entire townhouse. When my neighbor got home from work he saw gallons of water running from underneath my garage door. When he realized I wasn't home, he tried to find my phone number and when he couldn't, he called the HOA to notify me.
The lady that answered said that since it was "after business hours (it was 5:01 at this point), the matter would have to wait until Monday." My wonderful neighbor ended up calling the non-emergent police line and they came and shut my water off from the street. When I got home Sunday morning, my entire house was damaged and I could see my attic from my basement. After a massive panic attack and a frantic call to my insurance company, we started the process of repairs.
The cherry on top was that I needed to have a dumpster placed in my driveway and a moving pod to remove what was left of my furniture while they began drying out the house and I got a visit from the HOA. They didn't like how "unsightly" my home had become and wanted these items removed from my driveway.
I essentially told them that they could take their complaints and go f-ck themselves with them. I got a little revenge too because I stopped paying their stupid fee since they couldn't fine me before six months and I was moving in less than five months. I'll never own another home with a HOA ever again. F-ckers.
Pro Equipment For Amateur Hour
Not mine but one of my good friends has a rather insane HOA. They actually used rented surveying equipment to determine that his clothesline was 1 inch taller than his fence and fined him several hundred dollars for some stupid "structure beyond the fence" rule they had.
Same HOA has someone walking around actually measuring the length of grass with a ruler and issuing warnings for mowing.
[deleted]
JUST. LISTEN. TO. SCIENCE.
"Only plant oak trees" even after multiple arborists & botanists informed the board that doing so would give all of them various diseases and all would need to be cut down.
10 years later? All have been cut down because they have diseases and mites.
Quiet Hours From 12-12
When my brother first moved into his condo, quiet hours were 10pm - 6am Sunday-Thursday, never really enforced. A couple years later two board members sold, two new came onboard. One being a 60 y/o man. Quiet hours are now 8pm-6am Sunday-Thursday, 10-6 Friday-Saturday. The 60 y/o guy will knock on your door if he thinks you are too loud. It's a very young metro neighborhood, loft complex.
The old guy came to his door to complain a couple weeks ago bc he thought the pizza delivery guy was too loud.
But That's The Opposite Of What You Told Us!
HOA said there was a surplus of funds and sends out a survey to find out what people want the money spent on- swimming pool, basketball court, etc.
A few months later we get a notice that they're raising the dues because they need more money to afford all the new amenities we requested. The entire board was voted out the following year.
What's the worst thing your HOA has ever done? Share it with us!
It's highly believed that it is important to learn history as a means to improve our future.
What is often overlooked is that what is taught in history class is going to be very different depending on where you went to school.
And this isn't just internationally, even different regions of the United states will likely have very different lessons on American history.
This frequently results in our learning fascinating, heartbreaking and horrifying historical facts which our middle or high school history teachers neglected to teach us.
Redditor Acherontia_atropos91 was curious to learn things people either wished they had learned, or believe they should have learned, in their school history class, leading them to ask:
What isn’t taught in history class but should be?
The Irish Troubles
"The troubles."
"Too many people in America do not understand why a wall straight through Ireland would be a BAD idea."
"I’m referring to the Brexit referendum and possible outcomes."
"If people were wondering why we were talking about walls through Ireland in the first place."- CLCVS.
Forgotten elements of World War II
"What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WW2."
"Unit 731."- CaptainMcBoogerJew.
"Japan gets off easy for their war crimes in WW2."
"They killed an estimated 16mil Chinese civilians and another 8mil soldiers"
"Also, Pol Pot."
"Didn't know who he was until I was like 25."
"Worst dictator all time (in terms of percentage of population he decimated)".
The truth about the American Revolution
"That the American Revolution was part of a wider cold war type of conflict with France."
"The American Revolution was basically the UK's equivalent of the US version of Vietnam."- vinsant7.
The Dark side of Swedish history.
"As a Swede, I'd like to know more of all the horrible sh*t my country has done throughout history."
"It's a damn shame we're trying to hide our history."
"For example, Swedes killed a metric sh*t ton of all Polish people when we were at our strongest."
"That's the kinda sh*t we don't get to learn."- mogwandayy.
Colonization
"Basically what Belgium did to the Congo."
"A lot of people are telling me that they are taught about this actually."
"I'm glad to hear it because I wasn't taught about this in the USA during my public school days (1995-2008)."- EconArch.
The truth about "heroes".
"While teaching about historical Heroes they should also tell students about the unspeakable things some of them did."
"Many famous figures throughout history who are pillars of morality actually did many terrible things." - User Deleted
Intolerance for Mental Illness
"The dark history of mental illness treatments."
"I think it's worth learning about."- 7dayexcerpt.
Slavic Mythology
"Slavic mythology in Slavic countries."
"Don't get me wrong, I love both Greek & Roman mythology and as a person from the Balkans both of those cultures are part of my country's history and had great influence over not only my region but the entirety of the continent & the western world but I wouldn't mind knowing more about Slavic mythology as well."- ShorsShezzarine.
The truth about the CIA
"How the CIA was made and all the shady things they did over the years."- ALargeChip.
There is a lot about the history of our world, not to mention our own country which shouldn't be ignored.
And it's from learning from our mistakes that we really improve our future.
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So apparently we are in the endemic phase of this nonsense.
We have light at the end of the tunnel.
So what now?
Where do we go from here?
Normal seems like an outdated word.
How do we get back to normal though?
Is it even possible?
What are reaching back to?
Life pre-Covid.
Those were the days.
If only we could bring them back.
Redditor hetravelingsong wanted to discuss our new normal in this hopeful "endemic" phase. So they asked:
"What’s something random you miss about pre-COVID times?"
I miss people being sane. Though that maybe election cycle issues not COVID. We'll never know.
I thought I was Alone...
"Being able to grocery shop after 11 pm."
Reading_Rainboner
"Hell yes. I miss the days where the Walmart across the street was open 24 hours."
Small_Tax_9432
let's just go...
"I miss spontaneity... everything now seems to have a barrier of difficulty."
iidosee
"I live very close to Disneyland so I have an annual pass. My friends and I would just go there after work and hang out and grab a bite to eat."
"Now, we have to reserve a day to go. And most of the time, the days are at 'full' capacity so we couldn't even reserve. I don't want to schedule to hang out at Disneyland for a couple hours for July. So yeah, I definitely miss the 'lets go eat at Disneyland tonight?' texts."
mymymissmai
Not til 24-25
"Functioning global supply chains. Ah, the product you want has got microchips in it? 9 month wait."
richard-king
"Minimum, I'd been saying for a while now that I wouldn't expect a true return to normalcy in terms of electronics prices till 2024-2025. Although Crypto crashing through the floor really took some of the pressure off graphics cards which I really appreciate."
statiiic
WTF?!?!
"How affordable everything was!"
Disastrous_Hour_6776
"Yep. Today I was bagging up my things at the grocery store and I heard the cashier say to the lady behind me 'thats $78.12.' She had -- 2 boxes of Kellogg's corn flakes, a carton of 12 eggs, milk, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, a small cheese cake, English muffins, coffee, and a small whole frozen chicken that could maybe feed 3 people if the meat portioning was small."
SnowyInuk
Sushi
"My favorite sushi place. It was good quality, close by, kid-friendly, and not too expensive."
InannasPocket
All of this... it was a simpler time.
NASTY
"As a retail worker, just how f**king NASTY some people have gotten."
DmitriPetrov*itch
"They applauded you for being an essential worker but won’t vote for policies that’ll raise minimum wage while insisting a wage cap for heavily paid employees."
sketchysketchist
CHANGES your DNA...
"Some of the people closest to me became very bitter and petty over the last 2 years. So many people have the 'crazy eyes' now."
__--__7
"So true and holidays with the family is like who has the biggest tinfoil hat building contest. How many jumps does your brain have to go through to think that the Covid vaccine CHANGES your DNA into the patented DNA so that the government now controls your body."
"So like vaccinated people now have a singular DNA set. I feel like I still have a chunk of my brain just broken off due to that comment alone. I was also told by same family member that I could never donate blood again due to the vaccine. I guess it is so my patented DNA doesn't affect people?? FYI my vaccinated butt just donated today fine and multiple other times after the vaccine."
tyreka13
Homeward Bound
"House prices."
adrianinked
"I'm resigned to never thinking I have a chance on owning property where I live. I'm 30 and just can't imagine it anymore. And I don't want to live anywhere else so, whatever."
Osdab2daf
"That didn’t happen because of the pandemic. That was already happening regardless."
CH11DW
Oh Mickey
"All Day Breakfast at McDonalds."
hutch2522
"It was honestly hell to do, and not very popular. ITs margins aren't anywhere dinner and lunch specials. ON top of that, the temperatures are such that They require its own grill, meaning that if you have 2 grills in shop, you are down 50% of lunch capacity."
Freyas_Follower
Way back when...
"Hanging out with friends. And I mean waaaaaay before Covid. Like 2006 back when I had some friends."
LoocsinatasYT
I miss the old days. Maybe we'll get back there.
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What do you believe?
Is there a GOD in the sky?
Is he guiding us and helping us?
Life is really hard. Why is that is a big entity is up there loving us?
Atheists have taken a lot of heat for what feels like shunning GOD.
What if they've been right all along?
Maybe let's take a listen and see what they really think.
Redditor __Jacob______ wanted to hear from the people who don't really believe all that "God" stuff. They asked:
"Atheists, what do you believe in?"
I'm waffling between G-O-D and nothing. So please give me some education.
911
"We need to look out for each other because help isn't coming."
cknipe
Peace Out
"More than 2 decades ago, a priest was giving a sermon in my church and he said 'our faith requires you to believe without question. Why call it faith if you have to ask questions?' I haven't returned to church. Not until my wedding day but you know what I mean."
asiangontear
Delusion
"When I was young I used to think that after death you would have access to a PC that you could see absolutely anything about your life. Stats, any question you had no matter how obscure, replays of moments, perspectives of others in relation to you. No matter what you wanted to know, if it was relatable to you, you could see it. I know it's silly, but as time goes on I just want it to be real, and I don't think I'd have any issue allowing myself to fall into that delusion."
eggwardpenisglands
I think nothing happens...
"Realistically, I think nothing happens. We literally experience nothing after death. Same thing that we experience before birth. We don't exist, so it's nothing. I think the tenant that we should follow while living is to try to be happy and healthy while minimizing the damage we do to each other."
"What I would LIKE to happen after death is whatever you believe in, exists. I think Christians should get to go to heaven if they truly believe in it, Hindus and Buddhists get reincarnated, and everyone else also gets to experience what they believe they will experience."
"'I would still experience Nothing. Maybe it's one of those things where at the moment of death their brain makes them experience what feels like an infinitely long moment in time where they experience their afterlife. I just think it would be neat for everybody."
Better_Meat_
Shrug
"Best advice I received from a dear senior on their way out. 'You win some, you lose some' shrug. Nothing divine, life is that simple and wonderful, accept it and move on."
Tune_Kindly
It all sounds pretty simple. Why are people so up in arms about Atheists?
Whatever
"I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do."
imCIK
Cool with Empty
"Nothing. [Serious]."
rumblingtummy29
"I feel this way about death. When I was 5, my grandfather died and my cousin simple said, he is dead, that means you are gone forever. Everything ends up dying, even plants and animals. I'm now in my 40's and still have this simplistic view of life and death. People think I'm ambivalent to life and death but it's just what it is."
thepigfish82
puppet-masters...
"I think a lot of religious people struggle with the fact that we are all just swirling units of chaos. There is no grand plan or great orchestrator. I think that’s why people who are prone to religion are also susceptible to things like Q anon and the Cabal and all that. They REALLY want to believe that there is some almighty puppet-master who determines all of humanity’s fate."
Lngtmelrker
“we’re living in a society!”
"Just be a kind and empathetic person not because you’re worried about some cosmic justice, but because it’s the right thing to do. If there is some being that created us there’s no way they actually care about believing in it or adhering to some rules from over 2000 years ago."
"Also a big thing for me is that I find the idea that you need religion or the Bible in order to have morals and ethics pretty dumb. It’s pretty f**king clear that most evangelicals have neither. But my main thing is being a good person simply because, as George Costanza once said we’re living in a society!' If you’re only a good person in order to make it to heaven you probably aren’t actually a good and moral person."
conservative_genius
That's All
"You're born. You live. You die. That's it. After you die you cease to exist, the same as before you were born."
serefina
Believe what you want. We're all here together. So let's focus there.
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The list of what irritates me is endless.
I mean... breathing too loud or dust can set me off.
I'm a bit unstable, yes.
But I'm not alone.
So let's discuss.
Redditor Aburntbagel6 wanted to hear about all the times many of us just couldn't control our disdain. They asked:
"What never fails to piss you off?"
I feel like this article can go on forever. Let's get some highlights.
Wasted Time
"Meetings that could and should have been an email."
Sirena609
Lotto People
"Getting stuck behind people playing the lottery at a corner store."
thenuggetlover
"I also used to work in a gas station and you’re SO right. I f**king hated the lottery people. Especially since my store had a small staff and there was usually only one of us working at a time, which meant that I couldn’t get any of my other work done as long as they were there."
"And you’re right, it’s also pretty sad to watch. I had one lady who used to come in every day and spent hundreds and HUNDREDS of dollars on scratch tickets. One day, she won $200 after spending probably around $600 and she was so excited and saying she can 'finally pay her bills.'"
i-am-your-god-now
Aware...
"No situational awareness. Job, home, shopping, driving. Think for one minute and go about. OBSERVE!!"
Dizzy-Foundation8122
"My mom is one of those people who leave the shopping cart in the middle of the damn aisle and proceed to walk twenty feet away. After correcting her a million times to no effect I just walk away now so people don’t know I’m with her."
OutrageousEvent
Shut Up!
"Endless barking in the middle of the night, I love animals but that sh*t I can't stand."
Acceptable-Lemon2924
"Endless barking in general drives me up a wall. One of my friends dogs was barking almost an entire gaming session the other day. I wanted to reach through the computer and smack him for letting it go on."
bangersnmash13
Kindness
"People being mean to service workers, especially if the workers are very young."'
scaryboilednoodles
All of these things. I hate them all.
Admit It
"People who never accept fault when they mess something up. Like, why blame a million people when it was clearly you who did it???"
Quirky-Area-8978
From Above
"My upstairs neighbors."
lutzow89
"I had terrible neighbors at my previous apartment. It was a one person studio for students, but her boyfriend was clearly living with her illegally and he was loud."
"One night we knocked n the door at 3 AM because of the loud music and an unknown girl opened the door. I just thought they were having a little party. But the next door I saw the girl living there come home with a suitcase after having been away for the weekend... Her BF was cheating on her in her own apartment."
Th3_Accountant
Move Away
"People who sit directly next to me at the airport, movie theater, any other place where you can choose a seat when there is PLENTY of other seating."
BacardiPardy33
"I can’t YES this enough and the ones who can’t park for crap so they park so close you can’t open doors on one side of the car or the ones who park directly behind when you pulled through so the door won’t open to load groceries."
BacardiPardy33
It's Over
"People who try to restart old drama. Like I'm done with you, just leave me alone."
Tired_Potatos
"Yep, half the reason I've basically quit playing one of my favorite online video games. People keep bringing old crap up or sh*tting on on someone who used to be our friend. I got tired of it so I just ejected the game out of me."
CaucasianHumus
AHHHHH!!!
"People walking too slow in front of me with no way to get around them. It’s even worse if it’s a couple or group taking up the whole sidewalk. HAVE SOME SPATIAL AWARENESS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!"
_-v0x-_
Life in general pisses me off. I'm easy.
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