HOA kept charging homeowner absurd fees for no reason — until he found the best way to get back at them

During the terrifying 2008 economic crisis, the Homeowners Associations (HOAs) exploited several homeowners. It imposed arbitrary penalties and created red tape obstacles, making financial recovery extremely challenging for many. An individual–who goes by u/68cadillac on Reddit–shared a similar battle with HOAs from that period. The story revealed how the individual outflanked the association's attempts to draw additional fees from them. 

In 2005, the couple purchased their dream house in a promising society with a seemingly good neighborhood, per the post. But little did they know about the financial turmoil that would reshape their entire lives in the future. Three years later, the 2008 economic crisis struck, plummeting property values. With over half the houses in foreclosure in their neighborhood, the individual and their significant other took a logical decision. They stopped mortgage payments and rented it to a family friend who had recently lost their house.

Meanwhile, the HOAs saw an opportunity to exploit and benefit from this situation. "A few months after my friend moves in, red, fire lane paint is applied to the curbs of all the cul-de-sacs in the subdivision. I'm furious because it prevents street parking in front of the house. Anytime I need to stop by to fix something or my tenant has a guest, we must park in front of a neighbor's house or in the common collector streets and walk in. I called the local fire department to ask why they need so many fire lanes, seeing how there were no hydrants nearby," the post read.

With a meticulously created strategy of bureaucratic harassment, the association started painting unauthorized fire lanes on neighborhood curbs. Notably, those red markings weren't even official. When the individual spoke with the fire department about the matter, they denied requesting additional fire lanes or painted curbs. "Come to find out, it's a ploy by the HOA to drum up more funds. If they paint curbs red and call it a 'safety zone,' their by-laws allow them to fine a homeowner for violating the safety zone," they wrote. To protest back, the individual painted over the red curbs with gray paint, but the HOAs persistently played a game of territorial marking as they would repeatedly re-paint the curbs in red. 

The real battle began when the association unleashed a list of dubious violations when the house owner decided to sell the house. The HOA claimed for additional fees, accusing the house owner of not responding to them earlier. "The HOA said they notified me in November but can't seem to produce copies of these multiple notices of violation. They only have the current one in March, listing all the outstanding violations. For example: black stains on driveway, uncoiled garden hose, unapproved tree, missing bush, missing foliage, dead tree. I informed them that the stains were tire marks from driving into the garage."

"The unapproved tree they did, in fact, approve. The missing bushes that the HOA approved the removal of. Here's a copy of the plan and your approvals with your name on it. It's not my fault you don't know what you approved," they explained. The HOA put a total fine of  $1,955—suspiciously close to the fraud threshold. But here, the house owner played a perfectly articulated game of revenge. They confirmed that a check could be used to pay the HOAs' fine, with the officer agreeing to mail it after document recording. Immediately after the short sale was confirmed, they placed a stop-payment on the check, nullifying the fee without legal consequences.

Reacting to the story, u/classic-sherbert-399 wrote, "Damn! This is such an American post. I can't believe you can just stop paying a mortgage because your property value went down." Similarly, u/evil_creamsicle commented, "I would live in my car before I would buy a home in an HOA neighborhood." u/redditisbasuda wrote, "HOAs are stupid and would never live in a community with one."