Homeowner gets malicious HOA complaint for doing rooftop yoga. She made them regret it

Homeowners Associations (HOAs) are typically responsible for managing rules and regulations meant to benefit all property owners. However, countless stories about some HOAs forcing strict and unconventional rules have frustrated several homeowners with the constant threats of violations. Something similar happened with a property owner (u/clammyanton on Reddit) who received a formal notice from their HOA after their neighbor complained about their rooftop yoga practice, calling it "inappropriate public displays." She shot them a mail questioning what bylaw was violated, putting them on the spot. 

The property owner revealed they had been practicing yoga on their rooftop terrace for the past few months. "It has amazing sunrise views and helps me start my day peacefully," they said. Everything was going smoothly until they received a formal notice from their HOA. The notice stated that someone from their neighborhood had complained about their morning yoga session on the terrace. Not only that, the neighbor described their morning ritual as a "disturbance of community aesthetics." They were shocked since they practice yoga at 6 AM when people are hardly awake.

"I was shocked since I practiced at 6 AM when hardly anyone was awake, wore completely normal workout clothes, and made zero noise," the property owner added. They reached out to the HOA manager for further clarification, who informed them that their neighbor had even sent pictures of them, claiming they were "inappropriate for children" and encouraged Eastern religious practices in a family community. "I'm literally just doing basic vinyasa flow!" they concluded their post.

Meanwhile, reacting to the bizarre story, u/cheybananas commented, "If that whole promoting Eastern religion thing is an exact quote, I feel like that right there is your ticket to fight. They can’t just outlaw religious practices." u/newmehu wrote, "You should fight back because this complaint is racist, as the assumption is that 'western' religious practices are fine. Whether yoga is relevant to Eastern religion or not, Eastern religion never should be a thing here." u/persian_omelette added, "Sounds like you might have a jealous neighbor who doesn't want their husband to see you practicing yoga."

On the other hand, u/ok-pomegranate-6479 suggested, "That’s f****** creepy that they were snapping photos of you. Make sure you tell the HOA that you’re uncomfortable that someone was filming you and ask to see the rules where it says no yoga is allowed." u/ballistic_86 confessed, "It is shocking to me that your neighbor took creep shots of you, and instead of someone in your HOA telling him that is fucking weird, they went through with the official complaint. F*** HOAs, period. You bought one house, not the neighborhood."

u/asslesschappie said, "Call the police on your neighbor for stalking and harassment. The neighbor took surreptitious photos of you. Take a video of your yoga practice so the cops can see that you are fully clothed and entirely appropriate. Tell that pearl-clutching, puritanical old busybody to get bent!" After watching the overwhelming support on the platform, the property owner expressed their gratitude. Besides, they also revealed that they had been contemplating filing a counter-complaint about the neighbor peeping and taking pictures secretly. "I hadn't even thought about the fact that they must have been watching me pretty intensely to take photos. That definitely makes me uncomfortable and feels like an invasion of privacy," they added.

She confirmed in the comments that she had checked the HOA bylaws and found she hadn't broken any rules. "There's nothing in there about prohibiting exercise or yoga specifically on private terraces," she wrote and hinted she would counter and question the neighbor's "peeping" and "invasion of privacy." They added, "I've drafted an email to the HOA board requesting the exact bylaw citation for their complaint and included screenshots of the relevant sections from my copy of the bylaws. I'm also requesting all photos they've collected of me, as I have a right to know what evidence they're using against me. The irony is that yoga is supposed to reduce stress, but this whole situation is doing the opposite!"