HOA board planned stringent new rules for just 20 rural homes. Residents knocked on every door — and voted them out before they could begin
'Maintain only what actually needs to be maintained, handle the basic legal and financial obligations, and otherwise leave people alone'
People have mixed opinions about HOAs. Some believe they make the neighborhood better, while others think they're just a bunch of unnecessary rules. An individual who goes by u/Capital-Bobcat8270 lived in a tiny but rich neighborhood, a total of 20 homes. The people who lived there wanted a quiet life, but the HOA introduced several "unnecessary rules." Instead of going with the flow, the residents decided to show them who had the final say. The post was shared on August 5, 2026 and it had 4,800 upvotes and 207 comments.
We beat our overreaching HOA board by doing the one thing they didn’t expect: getting out the vote
by u/Capital-Bobcat8270 in fuckHOA
United we stand
The author explained that it was a semi-rural neighborhood, and everyone who moved there wanted "space, privacy, and to be left alone." On the flip side, their HOA thought there was not "enough excitement," and started making new rules. Instead of just abiding by the strange rules, the residents decided to push back. The author said they "canvassed the neighborhood, knocked on doors, talked directly to our neighbors, explained what the board was doing, and made the case for why people needed to vote." They did not take the whole Facebook-drama-or-anonymous-letter approach, and it worked.
'Leave people alone'
When the residents temporarily took over the HOA, they replaced the problematic board members. The new mandate was to keep the HOA's role as minimal as possible. The rules were: "Maintain only what actually needs to be maintained, handle the basic legal and financial obligations, and otherwise leave people alone." The main idea was not to treat adults on "multi-acre properties like children who need permission to live in their own homes." Furthermore, the author was working on dissolving the HOA. They needed 14 signatures, and so far, 10 of the residents have given their word.
HOA governance
Getting residents involved may have been the most important part of their strategy. HOA elections often attract surprisingly little participation, with one 2026 analysis estimating median annual-meeting turnout at only 15% to 25%. In other words, a relatively small group of motivated homeowners can potentially have an outsized effect on who runs the association. Interestingly, dissatisfaction with HOAs is not universal. A national survey of 3,000 people living in community associations found that 86% rated their overall experience as either positive or neutral.
'Step three is dissolve the HOA'
People congratulated the author for taking control of the board, but advised them to dissolve it altogether. u/dwfmba wrote, "That's step one and step two. Step three is dissolve the HOA completely." u/hlt29 chimed in, "If I took over an HOA, my first and only action would be to completely disband the HOA."
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HOA bombards new homeowner with 'set of rules.' But one problem — his home wasn't even in the HOA
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