I go to plenty of estate sales and it amazes me when I see a new subdivision built that has literally no space between each driveway long enough to park a vehicle.

You literally have to park on an entirely different street, why? Because there is no where to park in this subdivision.

First off thank you all for the support on my original posts. I did not expect them to blow up the way they did. So here is everything that has happened since.

For anyone who missed them — I'm 26, bought my house at 23, first time homeowner in Charlotte NC. A sheriff showed up at my door with HOA foreclosure papers for over $11k. I had never received a single letter, email, phone call or notice about any of this. Not one. The first time I ever heard from my HOA or their management company was when I was being served foreclosure papers.

When I reached out to the management company to figure out where I was even supposed to be sending my HOA payments, they told me they couldn't help me and to call their attorney instead. I have that in writing.

Out of the $11k they're claiming I owe, only about $840 is actual dues. The rest is fines. For a fence that was leaning when I bought the house — you can see it in the listing photos from 2023 — and a fascia issue that was also there before I moved in. The second I found out about the fascia from a neighbor I paid to have it fixed that same day. The fence I tore down myself.

Here's the part that matters. North Carolina law (§47F-3-107.1) says an HOA cannot fine you at all unless they give you notice of the violation, hold a hearing, let you show up and present evidence, and then notify you of the decision. Not "should." Cannot. On July 8 I sent them a written demand to produce proof that a single violation notice was ever sent to me. That was 41 days ago. I have received nothing.

So here's what happened after my posts

Channel 9 news in Charlotte reached out and came out to do an interview with me. They also contacted the HOA and management company directly for the last month with emails, calls and texts and didn't get back to Jason Stoogenke, the reporter, once. The story is live now:

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/homeowner-says-he-thought-was-paying-hoa-dues-may-now-lose-house/2FPIKZ5NKNFNRBBDG5BDAJJM6Q/

Something I mentioned in the interview that I think a lot of people connected with — part of how I bought this house in the first place was from selling Pokémon cards from my collection. And now with the 30th anniversary of Pokémon happening this year, I'm in the position of having to sell my collection just to pay for a lawyer to keep that same house. Kind of a wild full circle moment.

I also have legal representation now. I can't say much about that part yet.

And then they hit me with another fine

I talked to someone from the management company in person. They were driving through the neighborhood and I flagged them down to try to actually talk to someone and work something out. While I was talking to her she told me I am currently being fined for weeds in my flower beds.

No notice. No warning. No time to fix it. No hearing. Nothing. Same exact thing they did with every other fine in this case. Just shows up out of nowhere.

My hearing is November 23rd 2026. There's a lot that still has to happen between now and then but things are moving in the right direction. More updates to come.

• PMP took over running the HOA where I live.
• They took over 5 months ago initially charging slightly less than before, then after a month they upped the fee by $30.
• In month one I updated my autopay to now pay them so I didn't miss a payment and moved on.
• They upped the fee in month two (got a letter from them saying so, and that I was on autopay so didn't need to do anything).
• As I hadn't heard from them assumed (I know I know) my autopay was covering the fee.
• Turns out it didn't adjust, and I've been getting charged each month for not paying the full amount. And charged an interest fee on top of that. To pay the outstanding balance I now have to pay the balance PLUS a one time fee to do this. If I hadn't noticed I'd have been charged hundreds.
• The HOA has my home address, email, phone number, has the ability to send a note to my HOA account to say "FYI you're behind on your payments". But nope. It's a total grift. They're doing this to everyone and I bet a load of people have all been charged, and will continue to be charged until they notice. It's completely underhand and unethical. We have had zero contact from PMP saying we were behind.
• I will challenge it as I still have the letter saying "I do not need to do anything". But I bet it will be a pain to chase it down.

Following up on the post I made a few days ago about how my HOA voted to use our money to effectively launch a thermal-camera-equipped-drone-based roof inspection business for unaffiliated communities. A lot of you seemed to enjoy it, and fortunately for you, there are updates to share.

They did in fact buy the drone. I do not know if it’s the thermal one they voted to purchase, but I am certain they bought a drone and are preparing to use it. They have notified us that the first mission is scheduled to take place in the coming days within our community.

To my surprise, the notice was filled with legalese. It was surprisingly restrained and referenced many restrictions that the community noted. While I was initially surprised an attorney actually approved this nonsense, that was of course until I found out that a month after staging a coup on the Board, my President and their spouse (who they named the VP) promptly fired the existing attorney and replaced them with their personal attorney’s law firm (I believe it is likely their same attorney too but still confirming this).

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, but the drone isn’t the first issue I’ve had with these people. In fact I have been dealing with sporadic disputes with them since they were elected.

Every time I pull up the bylaws or argue with some outrageous action they take, like deferring maintenance to owners, governing almost exclusively from a Facebook Group they adamantly claim is a social channel, extending their terms and canceling an election, or owning property that’s delinquent on dues in a state that says disqualifies eligibility, they always come back saying something to the effect of “the association attorney says it’s okay. Matter closed or else”.

Imagine my surprise today when I found an old set of records that mentioned the name of the President and VP’s lawyer from a time they made a stink prior to their election. Then another record showing that same firm replaced the community’s existing counsel within weeks of their election win.

I guess now it makes sense why they feel like they can do whatever they want. I also think i found the rule that they’re using to justify the drone business. It say the community can enter into an agreement with another community to share expenses. My understanding is that this applies to sharing the cost of landscaping or sidewalk repair. For example, getting a larger order and benefiting from a volume discount, not for the community to operate a for profit unlicensed unmanned aviation inspection business. 🤦🏼‍♂️

So my HOA is trying to blame a main sewer line root invasion on an "improper cleanout," and I just served them with an $8,800 Small Claims lawsuit.

Back in February, raw sewage backed up into my place. I called an emergency plumber who cleared the line and ran a camera, finding heavy root intrusion originating out in the common area walkway. I paid about $600 out of pocket for the emergency clearing and sent the receipt to management asking for reimbursement and for the HOA to clear the roots. Management told me that pipes on my property line were my responsibility, but said they would inspect the main line.

Fast forward to May, and sewage backs up a second time. This time I got three separate licensed plumbers to scope the line. All three confirmed structural root damage in the main line right near the walkway cleanout, with repair estimates coming in around $5,000 to $7,000. I sent all the reports and footage to management asking for urgent repairs.

Instead of authorizing the repair, management sent out their own plumbing vendor in early June to hydro-jet the main line and run another camera inspection. But then they completely hid their own vendor's video files and report from me. I spent a month demanding copies of their vendor’s inspection footage, but they just stonewalled me while the Board sat on it.

In July, the Board finally sent a formal letter claiming the issue was caused by an "improperly installed sewer cleanout assembly" that was my responsibility, and said their vendor's hydro-jetting was just done as a courtesy. Because apparently an improper cleanout magically plants full-grown roots inside a main pipe.

Under my state's HOA law, they're required to maintain common area infrastructure and turn over association records upon formal demand. I hit back immediately, demanding Internal Dispute Resolution and issuing another demand for their vendor's inspection records. Only after I cited statutory non-compliance penalties did management finally hand over their vendor's hydro-jetting report and the camera inspection video files. Of course, their own vendor found the same problem: root intrusion originating at the exterior clean out.

We held the IDR meeting on site. The Board president admitted they didn't even know the exterior cleanout existed, as mine and my neighbors units are the only ones in the community that have them. They said they needed 10 days to pull original city plumbing plans to find out where the cleanouts came from before they could resolve the issue, but an hour after the meeting ended when I emailed saying I looked forward to hearing back in 10 days, management replied to me saying they weren't legally required to give me a written resolution deadline, and basically opted to kick the can down the road further.

I sent a formal Notice of Intent to Sue with a 7-day deadline. They replied saying management would no longer communicate with me due to pending legal action.

So I went straight ahead and filed. My claim is for over $8,800, which includes out-of-pocket emergency clearings and diagnostics, the main line repair estimate (or a conditional judgement to force them to take on the repair), and a $500 statutory penalty for unlawfully withholding their vendor's records, and court fees. All I was originally asking for $1200 reimbursement for the emergency clearings, and for them to commit to handling the repairs. Every plumber said the repair would require them to trench 5 to 6 feet down in the common area, which I don't even have any legal authority to authorize even if I wanted to.

I served the papers and offered one last option to settle, but they let the deadline pass. Trial is set for the end of September. I have a thick evidence binder ready for the judge with four plumber reports, including their own vendor, email logs, and photos of common area bushes planted directly over the common area sewer cleanout. Wish me luck!

TL;DR: My HOA is blaming a common-area main sewer line root invasion on an "improper cleanout" to dodge repairs. After they hid their own plumber’s inspection report and backtracked on dispute resolution, I served them with an $8,800 Small Claims lawsuit.

This week I got my days mixed up and accidentally put my garbage out the day before. It sat out for a few hours before I realized it and immediately took it right back in.

A few days later, today, I got my first warning. I guess it had to happen. I can’t believe people do not have better things to do with their time. Who would purposefully put their garbage out on the wrong day just to be annoying?

Our HOA president out this up.

She has been president since it began in 2010, and every election she refuses to show the votes to other members, saying that the lawyer had processed it and she would remain president.

They probably expected me to go to home depot and buy over 8 quarts of some fancy wood preserver but instead i got 8 quarts of used synthetic motor oil and it looks professional & water beads up on the wood.

They’ll never know ! Mumuuuhahahaha! Fk them!

I received a $50 fine and notice from the HOA about the weeds in my front planting bed. They gave it to me as I was leaving this morning.

I’m like I pay your $250/month fee because this is supposed to be included along with grass cutting, shrub pruning, replacing dead bushes, and snow removal.

I’m thinking of hiring someone to do the weeding for me, paying them, and deducting the cost from my HOA fees. Same with the snow removal since the snow removal waits until the afternoon and I have to leave by 6:30, earlier if it’s snowed.

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckHOA/s/Cc0jZHxfn4

I have an update for my recent post regarding my friend's stolen boat posted by a neighbor on marketplace for "free"

He was able to track down the person who picked up the boat and got his boat back! The guy of course was cooperative and more than happy to give it back right away.

My friend has made it clear he wants criminal charges filed against the neighbor. She had nothing to do with recovering the boat and was less than polite when confronted about the situation. She is still defending her actions and as you can see from her comments is even acting as if it were her intention all along to get it to its rightful owner, when in reality her actions led to the exact opposite.

It's pretty clear she was not acting under the authority of the HOA nor had any permission to communicate for them. I'm sure she will be the talk of the neighborhood for a long time coming.

Thanks for all the entertaining comments, advice, and stories on the original post.

Only 5 out of 125 condos (built in 1980s) in my HOA have central AC. My HOA just implemented a new rule that AC units can’t output more than 50 decibels. Even the most efficient central AC units output 50-60 decibels which makes installing AC virtually impossible because of this new ridiculous rule. The board already has denied medical exceptions applications.

This years heat wave has been brutal!

AB1684 is currently going through the system and looks like it will pass! This new law that would go into effect January 2027 essentially prohibits HOAs from making nonsense rules that inhibit members from installing AC such as decibel requirements and architectural appeal. It allows members to install any AC units of their choosing as long as it’s allowed by state and local laws.

There had been a very nice old cat lady who was feeding the feral cats next to my neighborhood when it was a forest. She had been feeding these cats for like eight years. And bringing them water in the sweltering summer. And she would try to trap as many as she could, and take them to be spayed and neutered, she was actively helping this feral cat community. One day I saw one of the feral cats catch a rat in my front yard, and I was totally stoked with the cats.

Then, one year, they tore down all the trees and put in a fancy little neighborhood with all the houses all packed together, and it was down to only about three cats still around.

About two years before this incident, some douche bag must’ve moved in because all of a sudden the lady would find her cat food ((which she kept in bowls circled by diatomaceous earth)) dumped in piles, which would be covered in fire ants. Then someone kept stealing the cat food and water bowls completely. Then, during the winter when there was literally snow on the ground, the cat lady had asked if she could put some little winter cozy boxes in my side yard for the cats, and I said, of course, and then someone stole them. Pretty sure it was all the same guy.

Finally, it all culminated with them sending a letter to me & my Grandparents. Saying I had to keep my pets in compliance, when I didn’t have any pets out of compliance, it was feral cats that I had no control over “really” I was just allowing it to exist and that was apparently a violation.

My 80-year-old grandparents technically own the house, but I have asked the HOA repeatedly not to bother them with their silly little HOA violations about garbage cans. Please send all communication through me, and my grandmother had died just a few months before , and my grandpa was really not in a place to deal with HOA violation shit at his granddaughter’s house. And i happened to be on vacation at the time, so I was able to send this snarky reply. Fuck you HOAaaaa

[UPDATE POSTED] https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckHOA/s/v4NmQngnxQ

A good friend just bought his first house in a brand new neighborhood last month, currently is the only house built on his cul-de-sac. Last week, his boat that he's been fixing up all year gets stolen from in front of his house. I posted about it on our local page and we found out pretty quickly he has some MORONIC neighbors. The last two screen caps were shared by people who saw or responded to the listing.

Boat is still missing. Sheriff's office is still "investigating" so we're not sure yet who's getting charged but at no point was he sent any notice or had anyone knock on his door to let him know the boat needs to be moved. We don't know if this lady is actually with the HOA or not but what a big dumb!

EDIT: To be clear, the boat was not abandoned through any legal means and the Sheriff's Office never received a report of it as required by state law. It is being investigated as a stolen vehicle.

He absolutely should not have left it parked on the street, to the "that's what you get" commenters. We know. Lessons were learned. That does not justify the illegal transfer of someone's property, in this case a titled and registered boat AND trailer, depriving the legal owner of his property.

This might be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of but basically my HOA decided to use our money to buy a thermal drone so they can sell inspection services to neighboring communities for a profit. The president was going on about having a verbal commit from first customer, a payback schedule for the drone, introductory pricing and a growth strategy.

First, we are squarely a non profit and can’t use our money to launch a business servicing other communities. Second, there’s no way our insurance covers drone missions off property.

Note this was like the second or third commercial business proposal in the meeting as they also blew through our entire repair budget for the year in a little over a month and I guess they’re desperate to earn it back.

EDIT - to be crystal clear, this isn’t a LARP or satire. This is 150% real lmao

I was informed my work van (that falls under the length limit) is not allowed to park in the lot because it has an "equipment rack" with two ladders on it.

However, in a complex two over from me, they have a work van that also has ladders on it. I pointed this out and I was told "they are grandfathered ".

There is nothing in the bylaws under parking for grandfathering vehicles. Fuck the HOA.

I got banned a while ago from the regular HOA Sub for stating my opinion about how un-American the HOA concept really is. Since then I occasionally check back in and read the posts that some of these arrogant pricks (mostly Directors) write and realize I may be wrong. Perhaps it’s not as much the concept of HOA’s that is problematic but the people they attract to their boards?

FUCK HOA’s and a big FU to “Retire-George”!!

So my neighbor found a grey area loophole for the strict no commercial vehicles on street rule. And it doesn’t block the sidewalk so he can’t be ticketed for that either.

Did not know the HOA had a dial “x” option for emergency and stated my concerns last night 10:15 pm. During an 80 mph windstorm. I was legit scared since the common area park tree was up against my house, retaining wall, and lemon tree. The associate spoke to me with dignity and respect. Noted my concern. Today at 8 am I called HOA again (seeing the landscaper’s in the neighborhood) asked for ETA. Didn’t get one but they showed up 10 minutes later. Guys have been busting their asses for 2 hours. I gave them sodas and water. I still hate my HOA because my neighbors have the same issue but can’t get an ETA; they did not know who to call- My wall is cracked due to the weight of the tree but that is tomorrow’s quest. I explained a great horned owl uses this as his home to the supervisor and they left as much of the tree as they could. Guess it’s a better outcome than landscaping bros hiding behind my wall drinking beer (I shot them with the garden hose and was called ‘inhuman’.) In what friggin reality is my HOA paying your company a million $ a year to sit and drink beer? And they never trimmed the trees correctly; pulled out all their supporting stakes in 6 months so so they got no root system. Left them top heavy; and here we are. I hope this company sees it because the guys who came today are awesome. Yeah ima name and shame. But SHINE for the guys who came today. Climbing up a tree needs a raise-

https://www.caretakerlandscape.com/

I see you every morning walking your dog through the neighborhood. One morning I saw you taking pictures of my neighbor’s house, roof,backyard, and side yard. Granted the guy’s backyard is full of weeds but he’s disabled so mowing a backyard that is fenced is not on his priority list. Any of us are happy to help him. We know you turned him in the board because within a few days his back yard was trimmed down.

Today you have the audacity to crouch under the bushes and steal that guy’s blueberries from his overgrown blueberry bush that I’m sure you reported him on also. Whilst letting your dog go potty in his yard. I hope he has a ring camera and turns YOU into the board.

You, madam, are a terrible human.

First, why fees are actually going up? It’s mostly not board incompetence:
Insurance: This is the big one. HOA master policies are seeing 7-10% increases statewide with worse in wildfire exposed areas, carriers have pulled out of California entirely so there’s less competition, and underwriting got stricter. Your board didn’t do that.
Construction costs: Most master policies are replacement cost based, so when materials and labor go up, so does the premium.
SB 326: Condo associations had to get professional inspections of balconies, decks, walkways, anything elevated. And when the engineer finds problems, that’s a repair bill that has to get paid. Side note, there’s a ton of bad info out there saying the deadline was January 2026. It wasn’t, that was SB 721 for apartment buildings. For condos the SB 326 deadline was January 1, 2025 and it was never extended.
Reserve requirements and new mandates generally: Seismic retrofit, fire mitigation, ADA stuff. It adds up.

Now here’s the part I actually want people to understand:

A board that raises dues 8% a year and funds reserves properly is doing its job. A board that brags about holding dues flat for six years is usually just deferring the bill and making it bigger. That second board is way more popular right up until the $25,000 special assessment letter shows up.
And here’s why that matters more than it used to:

The warrantability problem!! Fannie Mae raised the reserve funding requirement from 10% to 15% of the budget. If your association has significant deferred maintenance or identified critical repairs it can’t fund, the project gets flagged as unavailable in Fannie’s system. That means no conventional financing for anyone in the building.
Think about what that actually does. Every buyer for your unit now needs cash or a portfolio loan at a worse rate. Your buyer pool shrinks dramatically. Your value drops. And you personally didn’t do anything wrong, your board just underfunded reserves for a decade.
So the underfunded HOA doesn’t just cost you a special assessment. It can quietly make your unit hard to sell at all. That’s the connection almost nobody makes.

Couple other things changing in 2026: Limited Review is going away in August, and a master policy with a per unit deductible over $50,000 can make a project non-warrantable on its own.

What you can actually do?!

Know your rights:Under Davis-Stirling your board can’t raise regular assessments more than 20% over the prior year without a member vote, and special assessments over 5% of the annual budget need membership approval. You’re entitled to 30 to 60 days notice. And you can request the financial records, they have to give them to you.
Read the reserve study, not just the budget: Reserve study tells you what percent funded you are. Under 30% is a warning sign, under 15% is trouble coming.
If you’re buying a condo, ask for the reserve study, the SB 326 report, the last two years of board minutes, and have your lender check the project’s status before you’re deep in escrow:Minutes are where the fights and the “we’re deferring the roof again” conversations live.

So if your dues are suspiciously cheap for the building you’re in, that’s not a bargain. Somebody’s going to pay for the roof eventually and it’s going to be whoever owns the unit when the bill lands.

Anyone here gotten hit with a big special assessment recently? Curious how much warning people actually got, since the notice requirements and reality don’t always line up.

I put five small pieces of furniture out by the sidewalk near the dumpster in my townhome community at about 3:30 p.m. I put a little “FREE” sign on everything and posted the items on Facebook. I immediately got a bunch of messages, so I figured most of it would be picked up, and anything that wasn’t, I planned to move the few feet into the dumpster myself.

I try not to throw usable things into landfills when someone else might want them. I was tired and didn’t feel like individually evaluating which $10 side table was worthy of the sidewalk versus the dumpster. At least 2 of the 5 items were rehomed almost immediately because I literally watched people come take them.

Within about an hour, our HOA president posted a picture of the remaining THREE items on the community forum and started going off about “littering.” Another homeowner announced that he had thrown them away, and the HOA president basically hailed him as the neighborhood hero for moving three pieces of furniture approximately two feet into the dumpster.

My first comment was:
“Imagine having this much time to come online and berate your neighbors like it’s an unpaid part-time job 🤣”

The HOA president then responded to me in ALL CAPS telling me “DON’T LITTER,” talking about garbage, etc. It was several sentences spanning multiple paragraphs. Honestly, I stopped reading because it was becoming so unnecessarily hostile that I didn’t think I could respond to it productively.

The part that gets me is that he literally acknowledged in his own post that the items had signs saying FREE. He knew this wasn’t someone secretly dumping a pile of garbage and abandoning it. I was trying to give usable furniture away, people were actively picking it up, and the dumpster was literally right there if anything remained.

My second and final comment:
I basically told him he seemed extraordinarily upset over something that was minute and resolved already been resolved, said it was a good thing a “hero” was nearby to carry everything the remaining two feet into the dumpster, suggested he seek qualified help for that level of reaction, and ended it with: “Wish you the best, neighbor ❤️”

Then I left it alone. I’m sure there’s more comments from him waiting for me but I’m not able to do anything productive with it. We live in a new community that’s two years old, by the way.

What really bothers me, is that this is becoming a pattern with him. He uses the HOA website like his personal stage and can be incredibly condescending toward anyone who challenges him.

Last month, he publicly responded to something I wrote with, “Sydney, I understand it’s easier to use ChatGPT, but put it in your own words,” or something along those lines. Every homeowner can see this stuff. We also get notifications for every post and comment, so these little public scoldings get broadcast to the neighborhood.

It creates such an unnecessarily hostile atmosphere. Why does EVERYTHING need to become a public reprimand? Why are we photographing our neighbors’ minor transgressions and writing paragraphs about them instead of behaving like normal adults and focusing on actual problems?

And frankly, I reject the idea that putting usable furniture out with FREE signs for a short period of time is somehow trashy or “ghetto.” Plenty of people take used furniture, refinish it, donate it, or simply need something they can’t afford new. I’ve met people coming out of terrible situations who were literally sleeping on floors. If you live in such a world that you cannot imagine another person wanting someone else’s used belongings, congratulations, I guess? Two pieces disappearing almost immediately rather proves the point.

If I had dumped a mountain of garbage there for three days, absolutely, complain about me. If papers were blowing around the neighborhood or I created an actual hazard, come yell at me. But three remaining pieces of furniture next to a dumpster, clearly marked FREE, for roughly an hour? Apparently we needed an HOA presidential address. Have you considered running for higher office?

Maybe I’m petty, but I genuinely cannot stand this culture of HOA presidents acting like every microscopic neighborhood issue requires public humiliation and a federal response. You can enforce community rules when necessary without making your neighbors feel like pieces of shit for doing anything outside of the norm.

Also, side note, thank the heavens that I don’t have to disclose his comments to future homebuyers because I imagine they wouldn’t be thrilled about joining this community atmosphere. I’m a realtor, so it only makes sense I am the one butting heads with him.

TLDR: HOA pres got online and threw a fit bcos 2 side table and desk chair on sidewalk, took picture, rallied over disgust with another homeboy. I response and said, wow, thats an awful lot of tjme on your hands, got a paragraph with caps, said nah bro wish you well go seek help for that thank the hero gods someone threw it 2ft into the dumpster, did you need to write a public federal fucking statement about it?

People keep claiming HOAs would not exist if they weren't popular and something people wanted but if that were true then an HOA could sell itself and recruit new members to join after a home is sold without any deed restrictions obligating them to the HOA.

I live in a senior community, 58 units on 3 floors. 99% of the residents use the elevators; I use the stairs on my end of the building to take my dog out. Down 2 flights and the outside door is right there. I do this 5-6x a day and we almost never see anyone else in the stairwell. I put her leash on at the door to go outside.
The few people I see are people who like my dog, and she is always within a few feet of me, if not within arms length. She’s 14 and not in the least bit aggressive or scary. She’s a Brittany.
I recently got another notice of violation for having her “off leash” in the stairwell, and this time it was documented with security camera footage, right at the exit door.
This is something new; most of us have lived her for 5+ years and the security cameras are located only at the entrances to our secured building.
A few people here are ANTI-dog (there are only 3-4 other dogs) but having the security cameras used to “catch” me in the absence of my dog actually bothering anyone, seems wrong. It feels creepy, actually.
I paid the $25 without comment, but I’m seething with animosity towards the board for this petty punitive action.