19 Unhinged Homeowner's Associations That Went Way, Way Too Far In 2024

1. This HOA that is probably being run by the actual Grinch:

"I would get a color swatch of the original paint color, hold it up next to your current house, and take a pic to send back. Chances are that there is very, very minimal change over the years. As others have said, the lighting, camera quality, time of day, and overall weather conditions are too wildly different for them to force you to repaint your whole house because someone WANTS there to be an issue."

—pondo_sinatra

2."My HOA in Texas has recently FLIPPED OUT because we painted our house black. Originally, all of the houses built in the early 2000s were similar pastel colors. Light grey, yellow, blue, etc.. very boring. The CCRs state that to repaint your house you have to submit the color to the architectural control committee (ACC) and that the colors must be 'harmonious' with the neighborhood or some BS like that. Nothing specifically prohibits any specific color. We followed the rules to the letter and got written approval."

"Now the HOA president, Karen, is trying to make us repaint and force the members of the ACC to retract the approval or resign. I say they can kick rocks. What I don’t get is WHY DOES SHE CARE?? It doesn’t impact her in any way, and the neighborhood, although outside of this particular HOA, already has tons of black houses. Do they seriously think that forcing every house to look the same will somehow boost property values? I think the opposite. (It’s also worth noting that every house in the HOA has tripled in value over the last 10 years, so home value is not even an argument by any stretch)."

—MoPanic

3. This HOA that needs to take a moment to stop and think before they hit send:

Twitter: @savannahelisse

4. And this HOA that wants to police what kinds of cars residents' guests can drive???

"The email I just received from HOA. The people in the SUV were regular people who were my friends. This is just weird. Am I supposed to tell those people to rent a Prius the next time around?

FYI, this was a very tame party. No loud music. About six vehicles in the driveway and two on the street and everyone parked in a decent manner."

—Moetheoneandonly

5. And this HOA that thinks a flower bed would not be "aesthetically pleasing":

Twitter: @ZhenghuaYang

6. This HOA that wants residents to do volunteer work while paying $800 a month for the privilege:

"For even more infuriating context, our monthly HOA fee is $800+. WTF are they doing with our money that they can’t hire someone?"

—iamayamsam

7."Just found out my dad is selling the house he spent almost two years waiting for because the HOA bylaws are so invasive. Just over a month ago, I helped my dad and his wife move into a new build that they had been waiting almost two years to be completed. I saw this as a downgrade from their previous house that was sitting on 2 acres, had a beautiful kitchen that he redid himself, as well as a massive two-story garage that my brothers and I helped him build. But he decided it was too difficult to maintain as he’s getting older and decided to get into something more easy to manage."

"I went out to breakfast with him and my oldest brother this morning, and he said that his new house was on the market for eight days before it sold.

He went on to explain that he needed HOA approval to have a shower rail installed in their bathroom (he’s 62 years old) and wasn’t allowed to have an inoperable vehicle in their own garage (my dad and brother are gearheads, so that’s gonna be an issue). The final straw was when they got a cease and desist letter from the board’s attorney for a conversation he was having on his back patio that the president overheard as she was walking her dog. They had no idea she was their neighbor from across the street. Apparently, she had even gone as far as to have cameras pointed at their house after this.

I don't know how he pulled it off, but he lived in the house for just over a month, sold the house in eight days, and will make $10-15k when all is said and done. I bet he read the bylaws for his new house. I came home and told my wife we will never get into a house that’s a part of an HOA.

I can’t believe my poor dad has to deal with this at his age, but I guess this is why you should always read the fine print. I guess I’ll be helping him move again in a month."

—analfissure_303

8. The HOA that cut down a resident's tree instead of giving them a key to the pool:

"We moved into a brand new neighborhood in January, and all summer, we were asking our HOA for our pool key. In response, they had our tree cut down because it 'looked dead.' The person sent to cut it confirmed that it did not look dead but did their job anyway."

—cool_arachnid_4749

9. And this HOA president who should seriously just resign:

"My new tenant just moved in and asked if he's allowed to have a Ring doorbell installed, so I asked the HOA president. This was her response."

—Majestic_Fox_428

10."The street on the side of my home is the HOA neighborhood, but my front yard is on a different street that isn't part of the HOA. When I moved in, I asked them if I could pay their HOA fees to let my kids use the pool and playground directly across the street. Nope. I planted a mulberry tree on the corner of my property and started getting visits from their HOA saying that my branches were too low to the ground and it violated their HOA."

"I told them if I was in the HOA, you'd see my kids swimming in the pool. Since they didn't, they would have to deal with my tree. My kids love that tree and still come in Spring to gather berries, even though they are now in their 20s.

Then one day I come home and someone had lopped off a big branch from the tree, one that went out to the street. I tried to find out who did it, but they kept mum about it, and there wasn't anyone I could go after.

So I rebuilt the branch using PVC, wrapped it in bright Christmas lights (It was May), and then wrapped the rest of the tree for good measure. I did it ugly, too; it was propped up with old branches I found in the woods and some rope, and it just looked awful. I kept those lights on all the way until just before Christmas, when I took them down. They sent me some letters, but they just went into the trash. The HOA members who came to my house to ask me to bring them down since it was the gateway to their neighborhood and that I was 'probably' affecting property values were told to fuck off. They never did mess with the lights, though. I guess they were worried about what I would pull next."

—Educational_Dust_932

11. And this HOA that could use a refresher on what holiday decorations look like:

"I've had this wreath on my door for two years in support of Ukraine. Today, the HOA decided the wreath is a problem because it's not Valentine's season 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️."

—DaisyCatsby

12."HOA Illegally cut our internet wire. For context, I live in a house in a gated community with many houses next to each other. I'm not sure if they knew it was an internet wire or what, but they cut it. Apparently, it was an 'eye sore' how it was exposed a tiny bit to the box. That makes no sense cause there are other wires there, also. Not to mention it's been there for YEARS."

"So, we called Spectrum, and they sent out a guy today to check it out. Here's the kicker. Not only did they have someone cut the long, expensive wire, but they also stole it. The spectrum guy was like, 'What the fuck? They can't do that. They can't destroy our property.' He also said he could have reconnected it if they hadn't stolen it. So, now we have to wait till Monday so they can bring in a few guys to put a new wire and the labor to get it from our house to the box. Spectrum is going to charge the HOA the bill.

It just doesn't make sense to me. We had no idea they were even doing that to our property. No notifications or anything. They just came and did it. I was at work. The only reason we knew was cause my dad heard someone on the roof, and the wire was cut. And the guy said he was part of the HOA. Isn't that illegal as fuck? Beyond destroying and stealing Spectrum's property, they can't come to our property without notifying us and destroy something. If I was home, I would have 100% said what the fuck are you doing? Get the fuck down. If I saw someone on my roof."

—Curse06

13. And this HOA that tried and failed to keep a true Halloweenie down:

"There’s no way I’m waiting until October 7th to decorate. I’ll keep the lights off and wait to put out the majority of stuff, but that’s the best you’re getting. I’ll pay the fine."

—Late-Courage-7139

14. This HOA that apparently has a problem with one of its own "approved" paint shades:

"It's an HOA, the approved colors are just 50 shades of beige."

—lpfan724

15. As someone who grew up in San Diego, I'm willing to bet that this HOA requires the same people they want to take 5-minute showers to maintain a green lawn year-round in a very dry climate:

"I guess I don’t really need to scrub my ankles or pretty much from the knees down. This 5-minute challenge is going to be cake 🍰."

—neighborhoodtokers

16."My HOA is threatening to tow my car from a spot that I pay for in a condo that I pay for. For context, I live in Florida. I plan on moving across the country for work, so I have been very busy with planning that, and I just let the registration on my car slip my mind. That’s all fine. Registration is online. I was able to do that, but they have to ship the sticker to me, which could take weeks. Okay, fine, the car is legally registered with the state. All good, right?"

"WRONG. They said I need to have the sticker for 'proof.' Like, yall won’t do shit about the upstairs neighbors stomping around at 1 a.m., but they’re going to tow my car for literally no reason??? So glad I’m moving out of here."

—overthinkabl

17. This HOA that threatened a resident with legal action for *checks notes* doing what they asked them to do???

"I received an email saying I had an overgrown bush that I needed to take care of in front of my house. I originally wasn’t going to do anything to it because I didn’t feel it was overgrown but I ended up clipping roughly four branches from my bush. I received this email a few days after. I can’t stand these losers."

—Miller-time410

18. And this HOA that decided nobody really needs to get their mail:

"Oh cool, someone is a worse painter than I am!"

—cdb230

19. And finally, I'm not sure what Kathy at the HOA did, but whatever it was made someone mad enough to set three alarms to wake up and yell at them:

Twitter: @_curvesandkickz

Do you have an HOA, and what has it been like for you? Tell us everything in the comments.