Horror stories are unfortunately all too common in some HOA communities. In most neighborhoods, homeowners' associations are pretty chill and get things done for the residents. But unfortunately, other HOAs sometimes spiral out of control, with members flexing their power to fine, harass, and even sue homeowners over tiny infractions.
Read on for the worst HOA tales they've come across while working in the field
The “Slip”
"I slipped in my driveway and fell and broke my femur near my hip and couldn't get up. I was laying in my driveway calling for help for about 30 minutes and I could hear people walking past but nobody stopped for quite a while. I eventually asked someone to call an ambulance and got taken care of. Spent a few days in the hospital, and when I got home, I had a letter from my HOA saying I was in violation for sleeping in my driveway in the middle of the day. So the people who walked by and definitely heard me call for help and didn't stop were from the HOA or reported me to them."
The one with the unreasonable lawn rules.
When you join an HOA, you may forfeit the right to make certain choices about your own home or garden. Case in point: when one community put shocking restrictions on lawn height.
A real estate expert says he encountered a case where an HOA in Arizona enforced a rule requiring homeowners to maintain their lawn at a specific height.
"One of my clients received daily fines for each day their grass grew beyond the limit, which was only a couple of inches," he tells Best Life. "It culminated in an extraordinary expense and legal action before the requirement was found unreasonable in court. This not only cost the homeowner financially but also caused emotional distress over what many would consider a trivial matter."
He adds that this incident serves as a reminder to thoroughly read and understand HOA regulations before purchasing a property.
HOA Forced foreclosure
Not to be confused with the dreaded Zombie Foreclosure; in some states, if you fail to pay HOA fees or fines, the organization can impose a lien on your property. This can have serious and permanent consequences for the homeowner.
In some cases, HOAs have even been known to foreclose on homes due to unpaid fees or fines. This can be devastating for homeowners who may not have been aware of the charges or were unable to pay them in time.
Some HOAs have strict rental restrictions, which can be "a nightmare for investors who rely on rental income to cover their mortgage payments."
The one with the non-regulation fence
In this HOA horror story, a couple who had bought their dream home in a gated community. Everything seemed perfect until one day they received a notice from the HOA saying that their backyard fence was not allowed and they had to remove it immediately," says Locklear.
"The couple had spent thousands of dollars on this fence, which was approved by the city council, and now they were being told to take it down without any explanation," Locklear adds. "After a long legal battle, it was discovered that the previous HOA board had changed the rules without notifying the homeowners."
Garbage Can Grinch
"A client moved into a new construction neighborhood after picking out all the bells and whistles for the dream house. About two years after moving in, the garbage truck managed to destroy the garbage can somehow. The sanitation company replaced it, but in the time between the trash account being set up and the mishap the sanitation company changed the color and style of cans they provided. “My HOA told me that my garbage can was unauthorized and could not be left on the street on trash day because it was visually detracting."
"I went to the city sanitation and explained what was going on, and they told me that they didn't maintain the old stock of cans and they had switched over to the new ones when the old ones ran out.
So, I had to take a letter from them back to the HOA, who would not budge and told me that I needed to have the same kind of can as everybody else. Everybody had their can in the same place on the same side of each house when it wasn't trash day.
So, I ended up having to put the new can in the backyard and wheel it around the house at the exact moment that the trash truck showed up, and immediately wheel it back to the backyard. I had to make special arrangements with work to be able to do this every Monday."
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