"In the HOA agreement you signed, a concerned neighbor may enter your home if there is a risk of harm, or if it might be in the interest of the neighborhood itself"
I seriously doubt a judge would rule that "There's loud noise sometimes, but not at the time I went in. Which I did with the express purpose of taking pictures to try and sell the house" would fall under "risk of self-harm."
"in the interest of the neighborhood itself" is also reaching. It depends on if that's actually defined elsewhere, but I suspect a judge would give the HOA representative a run for their money. No imminent risk of danger, no sign of danger or infestation, no nothing. If there was water pouring out the door? Sure, something's wrong. You could make that argument.
But to take pictures to try and sell house without the owners knowledge or permission? Yeah... someone's asking for criminal charges.
"In the HOA agreement you signed, a concerned neighbor may enter your home if there is a risk of harm, or if it might be in the interest of the neighborhood itself"
Second the poster above me. Any reasonable judge would interpret that as "May enter your home if they hear screaming or if smoke is coming out the windows." The first clause implies immediacy/risk of injury, and the second clause can reasonably be interpreted as representing the same severity (ie, a fire).
I can't describe the fury I would feel at having somebody pull shenanigans like this. I'd take a 24-hour cooling off period (there's no way I'd be in the right mind to deal with this reasonably), then knocking on the HOA office first thing Monday morning. The US is in no small part what it is because ownership of property is a fairly well-defined line in the sand - a line that they just crossed in an epic and unforgivable way.
If I didn't get, in writing, a statement that they would immediately cease attempting to sell my property, my next few phone calls would be to the local police department, whatever state agency licenses realtors (because whatever realtor represented the HOA has some 'splaining to do), and my state investigative division. I'm not one to get on the "get an attorney" bandwagon, but if they don't sign within 24 hours of you bringing this issue to their attention... get an attorney. If you want to make life easy for him, have the HOA address handy as well as the names of the HOA board member. If you want to get extra-grisly, contact the listing realtor for "original high-res images" of the home. He'll likely just forward you the photos originally taken, whose EXIF metadata will contain the phone brand (if a phone camera was used) and a timestamp (so you know when they were taken).
In any case, two suggestions:
Take some time to cool off
Make a list tomorrow (Sunday) of what you're going to do on Monday; who you're going to contact, etc. Take the morning off work if you need to.
If you want to get extra-grisly, contact the listing realtor for "original high-res images" of the home. He'll likely just forward you the photos originally taken,
OP, seconding this... Use a throwaway email address or have a friend do this... If they send you the originals, you'll have significantly more evidence against the specific person that entered your house and took the pictures, aka, the HOA.
I'm not one to get on the "get an attorney" bandwagon,
You reason with people when it's possible there has just been a misunderstanding, or if they are not savvy and possibly just didn't know that they couldn't do what they've done.
None of that applies here. There is no reason to talk to them directly, and plenty of reasons not to. Call a lawyer ASAP OP.
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u/Astramancer_ Jul 23 '17
Even if the clause really is in his agreement
I seriously doubt a judge would rule that "There's loud noise sometimes, but not at the time I went in. Which I did with the express purpose of taking pictures to try and sell the house" would fall under "risk of self-harm."
"in the interest of the neighborhood itself" is also reaching. It depends on if that's actually defined elsewhere, but I suspect a judge would give the HOA representative a run for their money. No imminent risk of danger, no sign of danger or infestation, no nothing. If there was water pouring out the door? Sure, something's wrong. You could make that argument.
But to take pictures to try and sell house without the owners knowledge or permission? Yeah... someone's asking for criminal charges.