Homeowner's clever $0-maintenance trick got him elected HOA president — then he pulled the plug
'We went from $280 a month to $0...'
A renter (u/glasshouselabstx) had just moved into a small neighborhood in 2020 with only four houses that had an HOA, primarily to maintain a small park. However, he soon realized that the association wasn't serving a real purpose, even though everyone was still paying the HOA fees. So what did the man do? Well, he got himself elected as the HOA president, and his first decision officially demolished the association. The person posted the twists in the tale on Reddit on December 26, where several users said they were vicariously living through this stranger's achievement.
The "park" in question was actually the backyard of one of the neighbors, so the HOA insisted that the family legally take over the property for $3,000. This would put the money in the HOA emergency fund, as well as rid the community of any responsibility over a plot of land they'd never use. In fact, a splendid side-effect was the low maintenance fees from hereon. "The $280 was to maintain a 1.2-acre park. Once that was transferred to the other homeowner, it was only $50," he said. A lawyer drafted a deed to ensure that everyone could access the park, and if the homeowner moved away, the park would return to the HOA. Once this was done, they had to select a new HOA president, but nobody seemed interested except for the author. So, they became president.
"Well, it was my turn. I found an opportunity to disband the HOA, and without the park, there was very little that needed to be done," he explained. The park was gone, and the HOA had literally no responsibilities except for a small strip of grass that technically was in the author's property. "I have a riding mower, so when I became president, I fired the maintenance company since they had a minimum to stop by and mow that small strip. I just made it part of my mowing, and it adds maybe 1 minute to my mowing," the person explained. Next, when it was time to renew the HOA lease, all four houses decided to disband the association. "We still have a fund together that we hold in a 3rd party account. There is obviously a tiny bit of risk, but we went from $280 a month to $0. What a time to be alive," he wrote, boasting his ingenious plan for $0 maintenance.
Nearly 30% of the population in the US, i.e, over 75 million Americans, live in around 365,000 HOA communities, Newsweek revealed in September. However, most hate the HOA and even consider abandoning their homes due to negative experiences with the association. While there are hundreds of reasons to dislike an HOA, a significantly high fee is one of the top reasons, according to various surveys. For example, Frontdoor surveyed over 1000 American homeowners and found that 70% of homeowners would prefer to live in a community without an HOA if they were to buy a new property today. In fact, among those who want to leave their HOA-governed communities, 63% blamed the unreasonable fees. Respondents also reported how the money they were paying to the HOA didn't match the services they were getting in return.
Meanwhile, reacting to the Reddit post, u/floridianmichigander suggested, "Make sure that in addition to just voting to disband, you file all the paperwork to officially dissolve the association and remove the deed restrictions. Otherwise, someone else could move in and restart the whole thing." Similarly, u/adhesivenessone8966 wrote, "I wish ours would do this. Nobody follows it anyway. All the board members quit in October 2025. Just get a lawyer and close the darn thing. Common areas can be done by neighbors or just left; I couldn't care less. We are in a wooded area anyway."
u/desktopchill wrote, "It's on the flood plain, so actually giving it to the people in that house was a very smart move. Because when it floods—and it will sooner or later (that’s why it’s listed on the flood plain) — it will just save the rest of you from a big bill. Doing that and removing the HOA was to your advantage. Good job!"
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