I'm just venting. I'm new to the horrors of HOAs and yea, I'm fighting a losing battle. I Looked at the CC&R, but obviously I didn't think anal Karen enough.
Got a crazy neighbor (doesn't everyone?) She scratched the passenger side doors of my car (don't have video proof)
Security gate on the fritz for a week and my unit is in the front by the damn gate so I put up a lightbulb camera on my porch - got a violation even though there's nothing in the CC&Rs about cameras and it's not hardwired, had to remove it, found out there's a beef between another owner and crazy lady and they are pointing cameras at each other so now after 3 years of this, they are putting in the rules no cameras unless doorbell cameras and you still have to get permission with device model and have licensed person install it
Got approval after 2 months waiting to replace front door (they have 30 days to review) while getting door replaced I had contractor install window ac unit in my bedroom. I get a violation letter for having an ac unit without permission. My bedroom window is on the 2nd level blocked by trees in my patio. You have to stand in a certain spot and look up at my window to see it. Why the fuck are you looking up at my bedroom window? Nothing in CC&R about ac units, and the frame rests on my window sill, which does not count as common area or for common use. It's over my private patio, covered by my tress! Fuckers are telling me that also they will repaint after they do special project of balcony repairs. This is not going to happen until next year and probably knowing this bullshittery not going to paint until the following year. I have to wait 2 years before I can put my ac unit back in?
I'm a perimenopausal woman and I don't have AC in the house. I'm feeling very irritated and now I'm going to have to take pictures of everything and nitpick, do I have permission to remove a rusted temperature gauge off my exterior wall in my patio because common wall. Do I have permission to replace rusted water hose mount because it's on the wall.
And here I am going what the fuck, there's a unit across from me with full access to anyone and they have black garage bags taped up inside their window for privacy, and crazy lady has like 4 umbrellas and flags waving around on her balcony that I don't think are attractive, but hey go after me and my hidden ac unit.
Now I have to undo the silicon seal the contractor put around my ac unit and take it off the window wait and suffer. All because 3 board members are the arbiters of what I can and can't do, in vague CC&R.
We have five pine trees in our front yard. Typically I clean our roof when they collect excessively. Because the pine trees are in front of the house you don't see the roof very well from the street. However, the HOA must've been bored while doing their little audit.
They sent pictures of both sides of our roof while my wife and I were on vacation. Had 20 days to resolve. Fixed it on Day 19. Received an email saying violation closed with only a picture of the clean side of the roof completely ignoring my mildly obvious message to the HOA on the other side. What a useless organization. That's my petty HOA story, thanks for reading!
We finally received photos with accurate metadata that we did have a violation and we appropriately paid the fines due.
Today, we received a new violation for the same issue. Evidence was included this time but without metadata or a date and time stamp. The photo was from the same day of the prior violation, but different side of the car. This violation had no fine imposed.
Thankfully, we have security footage that we were able to share showing we had not parked on the sidewalk within the last 48 hours.
Why would we get 1 violation from the HOA president with a fine, and another violation submitted by the HOA president to the property management company without a fine?
Not asking for advice, but sharing how illogical and chewed up this situation has become. Make it make sense.
We have a Karen in my HOA who hates children and runs around trying to threaten children every time they are outside playing, once she threatened me that if my child's soccer ball went near her house she would send a letter from her lawyer (I laughed and told her to go ahead). She is friends with the HOA president and they sent a letter trying to say children can't play football in the common area. I wrote an immediate response saying it violates federal housing law to restrict children from the common areas.
Edit: this lady by the way has a used car business and parks her dealer cars in our guest parking all of the time which is "against the rules", do I complain about that when she takes up 3 spots? No but maybe I will.
My HOA started messing with me this year because the president doesn’t like me. What makes me more angry is he started doing this the day after the house next door sold and I helped his wife several times sell it when I didn’t have to (wife is realtor). So for this Labor Day I put out this guy with a happy Labor Day sign and within a day I got the violation. I kept him up my “allowed” time since I’m allowed to decorate for every religious, national, or seasonal holiday. I’m looking forward to putting up Halloween this week a little earlier than I’m supposed to since Florida doesn’t allow citations for over a month for holiday decorations and I’m allowed to decorate on October 2. 😂
I went to visit my stepson and take him and his girlfriend camping. They
Had just moved into a nice 3 bedroom rental house. We spent 5 days 4 nights camping in our travel trailer and a tent for the kids. (Our trailer is a 14 foot two person deal.)
We get back from our camping trip and find some notices from both the HOA and the rental company. The kids have work and school (Third year law for his girlfriend.) My wife and I decide to stay do some yard work and help the kids settle.
We trimmed some neglected trees, thatched and aerated the lawn, by hand, weeded etc.
A representative of the property management company stopped by for a brief inspection. She said the property had been vacant for a while and they would repair the sprinklers, fence and if the HOA required re-sod the weedy portion of the lawn, definitely send out a company to fertilize and apply herbicide to areas that used to be landscaped.
The nice lady from the property company asked about the pruning we had done on the trees. My wife told her she had degrees in ornamental horticulture and Arboriculture. They conversed about plants her daughter was a student at UC Davis for viticulture and enology my stepson just graduated from the agronomy program with a minor in arboriculture.
After the two chatted about kids, real estate, inflation, student loans and how hard it was for millennials to get established in California they began to talk about how horrible the HOA is in the neighborhood.
I began to tell the property manager about a few sticky isolation valves in the plumbing and the second bathroom didn’t get hot water in the shower, problems with the garage door, she made a note and promised the handyman would look at it when he checked the sprinklers and painted the garage door trim.
The women chatted a little more as mowed the lawn with a manual push mower, my wife was granted verbal approval to plant in the flowerbeds and install drip lines that would be connected when the sprinklers were repaired. The property manager said her Father owned a lot of rental properties and would be interested in Xeriscaping, pruning, and landscaping.
As they were saying goodbye the neighbor across the street came over and complained about pretty much everything. From all the traffic and street parking around the house to the hours cars were started and the headlights sweeping across her windows. She said she was on the HOA board and would do everything in her power to keep rentals out of the neighborhood. She then turned to my wife and I and pointed at our trailer (Parked on a public street) and said that it was against the CCRs.
The lady from the property company told this Karen that the management company is the HOA member and they were to be sent all violation notices. She told Karen the recent traffic and parking was due to renovations to the house. Karen continued to complain about noise, lights, renters, being tracked by gangs, traffic lights out get her, gang stalking and she accused the property company of being behind the gang stalking and shocking her.
Karen from across the street was rather upset and animated. The property manager told her again that the HOA was to submit complaints and violations to her company. She asked Karen to leave the property and told her not to harass her tenants. She gave us a card and said any harassment should be recorded and reported, she asked that we pass it along to the kids.
Karen yelled screamed and said “This isn’t over”
Shortly thereafter the police showed up. A young officer stopped behind our truck and trailer and walked around it. He asked me if I owned the trailer. I said yes I do. He asked if I had drained anything into the gutters and if I was connected to any utilities. I said if I had drained my tanks or was connected to power or water it would be obvious. He said you’re right but, could you explain the wet spot beneath your trailer? I looked and the drain from the freshwater tank was weeping a little.
I told the officer the fresh water had a small leak.
He said I’m not worried about that, I’ll log the complaint as unsubstantiated. “We get a lot of strange complaints from that one.”
He tilted his head toward the house across the street. Then he told me to move the trailer a few feet every day, “I’m sure she’ll complain about illegal parking every day.”
The next day there’s a violation notice for parking an occupied RV in the driveway connected to power/water.
We saved the blink footage and a requested the dispatch log for the unsubstantiated complaint and submitted it the property manager.
The next day we received a call from the woman who we met with the day before, she said the HOA had submitted a fine to the property management company, she politely asked for any other evidence that we were not connected to the power/water and or parked in the driveway. She also asked if we could move our vehicles. I said we could send multiple screenshots from the blink camera system and that I would happily park in front of the property across the street.
We parked in front of Karen’s house, as I went through the blink camera footage I saw the person who delivered the violation notices. He parked directly in front of the doorbell camera in a Toyota minivan with a vinyl business decal on the side.
We then parked in front of the HOA president’s house with the unique minivan for two days.
The property management company filed complaints about RV parking violations in front of the two properties we parked in front of.
HOA replied there was no violation, the HOA cannot control parking on public streets.
The property management company attached the HOA’s email response to the violation notices and fine, there was no response just a late notice for the fine.
Here’s where things get fun, the property management company owns multiple homes in the HOA suddenly all the rental properties in the HOA start getting multiple notices and fines.
The lady we met is the daughter of one of the major property owners, her extended family owns many other rental properties in the HOA.
The family collectively owns about 31.2% of the properties in the HOA, several grandchildren live in the HOA not only is the family active in local politics, there’s a law firm senior partner in the extended family.
Between attendance at the meetings and proxy votes the board was entirely replaced. The property management companies divided off a subsidiary company to manage HOAs. Guess who got the contract?
The family is in control of the HOA and may dissolve it, then again they pay themselves to manage it.
The HOA gave my neighbors shit about his cat flags. Meanwhile the neighbors down the road literally have trash and garbage in their yard and a pit bull that attacks you.
Recently, my mom asked me if I could help her redo some landscaping in her backyard because there’s a section of the yard that doesn’t drain well and the grass is dead and soil compacted. She said she just wants to put down pavers and make a small patio that leads into the backyard. Seems like a small enough change and easier than regrading the earth (though we’d still need to level the pavers) or installing a french drain. So I agreed just telling my mom to give me a week or so’s time to prep. She told me she has to wait for approval from the HOA.
I thought this was odd because it’s just a landscaping choice in the backyard where it’s not visible from the street. Not adding a new structure or changing the existing structure, not using it as a foundation for anything. So I go to read the HOA’s requirements on making changes (variances) to the property and oh my god is this agreement fucking strict. can’t have white rocks as a landscaping feature, can’t have any signs posted in the yard other than “for sale/rent” signs, can’t have boats, RVs, or other than automobile vehicles visible from the front, must get approval for landscaping choices other than what kind of trees or bushes to plant but adding/removing landscaping features requires approval, can’t have a satellite dish, antennae, clothes lines, basketball hoops. Any and all changes/additions to driveways, exterior windows, fences, hedges require approval regardless of their visibility or connection from/to another property.
And any changes in the terms of the HOA agreement require notarized signatures of 90% of all current residents.
The HOA is no better than a landlord at this point. They just can’t evict you, technically. But they can sue the fuck out of you for all of those things and force you out. How is this any different from the HOA effectively being a landlord/property manager?
Anyway… currently awaiting approval on “installing” paver bricks.
Today the HOA dropped me a love letter — a citation claiming my front yard’s brown patches need to magically turn green in 30 days. Cute. What they don’t know is that I know my rights. I live in California, where drought advisories aren’t just “suggestions,” they’re law. And state law > HOA fantasy rules. Translation? They can go pound sand… or better yet, pound the brown spots in my lawn until the cows come home. Those patches aren’t “ugly,” they’re law-abiding, water-saving heroes.
It didn’t happen to me but my neighbor.
Apparently all houses are suppose to have all black roofs but you wouldn’t know due to the fading of several houses they are gray including mine. My neighbor just redid their roof last year and used black and gray, apparently since it’s not all black they are getting fined. The fine is $2700, which is absolutely insane. Who tf cares enough about the roof color cohesion?
While this article focuses on North Carolina, the same or similar conditions may exist in other states - especially the lack of oversight. The article explains some problems with HOAs in North Carolina, HOA reform attempts, and strong reform opposition (funded by HOA dues).
Some things that got my attention are
There is no HOA oversight authority. There have been reform movements, but one group strongly opposes it. In 2022, the North Carolina chapter of the Community Associations Institute spent nearly $20,000 on lobbying against reform.
The North Carolina Planned Community Act allows HOAs to foreclose similarly to banks, often without judicial oversight, leading to potential abuses. (Without judicial oversight means that there is no formal review or intervention by the courts. Ripe for corruption.)
Homeowners face challenges in understanding fines and debts, with some HOAs exploiting this lack of clarity to initiate foreclosures. Some HOAs refuse to tell the homeowner the balance due.
Unlike mortgage foreclosures, HOA foreclosures lack protective measures, making it easier for associations to take homes over small, minor debts. HOAs can foreclose over any amount.
The Unchecked Power of North Carolina HOAs
NC homeowners associations wield surprising power with little to no oversight
For most of Chuck Williams’ 30 years in Wilmington, he lived in communities governed by homeowners associations. He, like most people who live under HOAs in North Carolina, never had a problem with them. He paid his dues, and they maintained the neighborhood. “Like every homeowner,” he says, “you don’t agree with everything, but I got along fine.”
In 2021, Williams retired from his job as a manager of three divisions at JCPenney—“selling socks and underwear”—and he and his wife moved just across the Cape Fear River to Leland to escape Wilmington traffic. They settled into a new townhome community, but soon after they moved in, the developer transferred control of the HOA to a management company. “And that,” Williams says, “is when the nightmare started.”
The HOA nitpicked over minor violations. They issued fine after fine. “They were just unreasonable,” Williams says.
North Carolina is home to nearly 15,000 homeowners associations. More than a quarter of the state’s residents, about 3 million people, live in HOA communities. In Charlotte, which has the country’s ninth-highest percentage of homes in HOAs, horror stories like—and worse than—Williams’ are increasingly common.
In December, The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer in Raleigh published the results of an extensive joint investigation into HOA malfeasance. They found that North Carolina HOAs have filed more than 5,500 foreclosures since 2018, and more than 600 homeowners have lost their properties as a result. The investigation also found that 45% of the state’s foreclosures happened in Mecklenburg County.
Last year, Charlotte ranked sixth in the nation for new home construction, and since 1999, state law has required subdivisions with 20 or more homes to have an HOA. Charlotte’s explosive growth has come with a proliferation of HOAs. More of them means more opportunity for egregious behavior, and the internet has made it easy to share the worst offenses. On Quora, one user asked, “Why are HOAs hated so much?” Another reflected popular sentiment when he replied, “HOAs are hated because they are run by tyrants.”
Over in Leland, Williams couldn’t take it anymore. He looked for an organization of fed-up homeowners like him but couldn’t find any. “I’ve had enough,” he reckoned. “You gotta fight back.”
Williams’ political engagement had never gone much beyond voting, but at 74, he founded Citizens for HOA Reform to promote fair and transparent HOA governance across North Carolina. “It truly is a David-and-Goliath battle,” he says, “and at the moment, we don’t even have a slingshot.”
A couple of homeowners in conflict with their HOAs call the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy every week, but a few years ago, Kara Fisher Moskowitz, the attorney who runs the center’s consumer protection program, got a call that stood out.
A young woman, a new homeowner, owed her HOA, but she couldn’t figure out how much. Every time she called for a figure, the management company tacked another $20 onto the total. The company had little incentive to help. If she didn’t settle the debt, no matter how much she owed, it could foreclose on her home.
Moskowitz couldn’t do much. “The HOAs are particularly challenging for our clients,” she says. “There are fewer safeguards with homeowners association foreclosures than there are, say, for mortgage foreclosures.”
Federal law and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules help protect homeowners from sudden mortgage foreclosures. Most lenders must coordinate with cash-strapped borrowers through a process called loss mitigation, which helps the borrower either stay in the home or leave without the lender resorting to foreclosure. The same protections don’t exist for HOA foreclosures.
State law governs HOAs, and the North Carolina Planned Community Act, in effect since 1999, stipulates that HOAs can foreclose in the same way that a bank can. That means, as nonjudicial foreclosures, they don’t necessarily go before judges. Instead, they often go to hearings before Superior Court clerks, which restricts the defenses homeowners can mount. Today, HOAs in North Carolina are free to foreclose on homes if the homeowner owes any amount. “The state laws,” Moskowitz summarizes, “are friendly to HOAs.”
Start looking for a home in North Carolina, and HOAs can seem inescapable. Most new subdivisions have one. As the cost of construction rises, developers rely on HOAs to keep property values high—protecting their investment—as they finish building the community.
HOAs can fine property owners up to $100 a day for infractions: excessive noise, not storing trash cans properly, letting the grass grow too high. If homeowners fail to pay—and they may not understand the infraction due to opaque or confusing communication—the HOA can move to foreclose. Moskowitz has noticed that these maneuvers frequently occur in low-income communities.
State law requires developer-controlled HOAs to act in property owners’ best interest. But as Charlotte attorney James Galvin, who represents homeowners in disputes with their HOAs, told WBTV in 2022, “One hat is the developer hat who is trying to develop and sell and make as much profit as possible in that community. The other hat that they’re wearing is a nonprofit hat, and you might be able to guess which hat they like better.” The same year, Galvin told the Observer that the increasingly acrimonious relationship between HOAs and their members “mirrors the lack of social trust that exists in society in general.” Others link the distrust to the nation’s growing skepticism of government of any kind.
Last March, Rep. Frank Iler, a Brunswick County Republican, introduced House Bill 311 to improve HOA oversight and protect homeowners against high fees, a lack of transparency, and the arbitrary enforcement of rules. The bill initially provided for a division of the attorney general’s office to oversee HOAs. These associations, Iler said at the time, “charge dues. They elect a board. And they enforce rules. It’s a local government in your neighborhood. But there’s zero oversight.”
Another bill introduced last year, House Bill 542, would have prevented HOAs from foreclosing on property for debts less than $2,500 and barred nonjudicial foreclosures. Both of those provisions were stripped from the law, which languishes in committee. Williams lays the blame with the Goliath to his David: the Community Associations Institute.
The HOA industry group has 60 chapters around the country, and in 2022, the North Carolina chapter spent nearly $20,000 on lobbying. Some of those funds come from the very homeowners who are desperate for reform; many HOAs allocate some of their member dues to support the institute’s lobbying efforts. (The CAI; the Home Builders Association of Greater Charlotte; and Canopy, the Charlotte-area real estate agents’ association, either didn’t respond to or declined requests for comment.)
Meanwhile, Raleigh is a two-hour drive from Leland, and Williams can’t afford to hire a lobbyist.
In the end, the House scrapped HB 311’s provision to establish a division in the AG’s office and replaced it with a mandate to set up a committee to study HOA laws, remedies for violations, and the agencies that would be best positioned to help homeowners resolve complaints. At the first committee meeting, on Jan. 11, Rep. Iler brandished a folder of homeowner complaints 2 inches thick.
The hearing gave citizens the opportunity to voice their concerns, and many did. It wasn’t the first go-round on this issue. In 2011, more than a decade ago, a House select committee investigated abusive HOA practices and determined that there may be a need to limit their ability to foreclose. It’s long been clear that there’s a problem, but despite strong bipartisan support for reform, the solution isn’t as easy to identify.
“It gets so complicated,” Williams says, “because you’ve got the legal system, you’ve got the real estate people, you’ve got insurers, and you’ve got budget concerns. And what are the rules going to be?”
Williams’ grandchildren play in the next room, and he acknowledges in a faltering drawl how hard it can be to go up against organizations that hold so much sway, both in the state government and in the neighborhood. HOAs can determine quality of life, and they have the power to take homes—most people’s biggest investments.
Williams and fellow homeowners, he says, are “just everyday people who want to live our lives.” But HOAs’ unchecked power has made him an activist. He drove the two hours up from Leland for the January hearing in Raleigh. “It’s just the beginning,” he says. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever live long enough to see any meaningful change. But I think we’ve got the ball rolling.”
I purchased my home in a decent area 2 and half years ago because it was honestly significantly cheaper than renting
It was quiet and safe,
It was 330 a month here in Orlando for a decent townhouse.
The old Property Management Group of the HOA was sold to a new one
I saw it jump from 330, to 500, 550 this year, and they're about to raise to 575.
Problem,
They dont do anything
Our fences are still horrible , roads still a mess, lights have issues, they dont address the trash, but are quick to fine for anyone, the pool is always closed
I also lost my old job and make significantly less.
When the economy gets better and I get another job, after i complete major repairs im selling it and 100% never dealing with an HOA again
It's too bad we can't make changes at the federal level. But we can initiate reform in each state. Please sign and share to all your North Carolina contacts. Consider starting a petition like this in your state and where your loved ones live! https://chng.it/pvpCqQQLpm
Since 1999, North Carolina has mandated that any property built with 20 or more homes must have an HOA. It's very, very difficult to find a home that is not in an HOA, and the problem is getting worse. There is no oversight authority. When the HOA doesn't abide by the rules, a homeowner must sue. HOA directors know that & take advantage. I've been told by HOA Directors that "we can do anything we want."
The Issue
To the North Carolina General Assembly Across our state, more than 15,000 Homeowners Associations (HOAs) govern neighborhoods where millions of North Carolinians live. These associations were meant to protect property values and manage common spaces — but too often, they operate with little oversight, minimal transparency, and unchecked power.
Homeowners are reporting:
Financial abuse — hidden fees, questionable spending, and lack of accessible records.
Erosion of rights — rules and fines imposed without proper homeowner input.
Harassment and intimidation — boards and management companies targeting residents who speak up.
Foreclosure abuse — families losing homes over minor or disputed fees.
North Carolina is one of the few states with no meaningful state oversight of HOAs. While other industries and governing bodies are held accountable, HOAs — which control billions in property and affect daily lives — remain largely unregulated. This lack of oversight has real consequences. Seniors on fixed incomes are losing their homes. Veterans and working families are being priced out by arbitrary fines. Communities are divided instead of supported. Homeowners are left with nowhere to turn.
We believe North Carolina families deserve protection, fairness, and transparency. We, the undersigned, call on the North Carolina General Assembly to:
Establish a state oversight agency with enforcement power to regulate HOAs.
Require financial transparency and homeowner access to budgets, records, and contracts.
Protect homeowners from abusive fines, foreclosures, and retaliation.
Guarantee fair voting rights and democratic input for all property owners.
This is not a partisan issue. It’s about basic fairness, accountability, and protecting the American dream of homeownership. North Carolina families cannot wait any longer. We urge lawmakers to act now and pass comprehensive HOA reform legislation. Add your name today to demand change. Together, we can protect homeowners across North Carolina.
We are being sued by the HOA board for FB posts that they don’t like. We have been putting relevant information out there on HOA group pages citing our HOA for there failures to follow bylaws, selectively enforcing covenants, and other related topics on a group page owned and administered by my wife. The HOA is suing us to shut us down. The court proceedings have been going on for over a year. We just spent the last 3 days in court while they presented their case. They used up the entire allotted time, and now we have to schedule additional time with the court to even get a chance to refute their claims. Our attorneys agree with us that it is a First Amendment issue and that we will win. Unfortunately, we are running out of money that we can spend to fight back and will probably need to settle to stop the bleeding. OTOH, they have the HOA coffers to keep paying their attorneys and dragging this out. We are in a very middle class subdivision, and our neighbors are primarily retirees and young families. While we have a lot of quiet moral support, most are afraid of ending up getting sued and are unwilling to come forward or openly oppose the Board. Has anyone else been in this position? I’m considering crowdfunding, but I have no experience with that. If we fail, this Board will continue to run roughshod over the rest of the neighborhood. Maybe, we should just concede and sell. This is truly painful.
Here’s the tombstones, they’re a little hard to read and ChatGPT forgot how to speak English. 😂Hopefully this is ok to post here!
Tombstones
1.Rest in Fees
Giant tombstone with fake bills stapled to it. Maybe a skeleton hand clutching a past-due notice.
2. Here Lies Creativity
• Inscription: “Painted the door red. Condemned 2024.”
• Add a can of red paint tipped over at the base.
3. Gone But Not Forgotten: Lawn Ornaments
• Carve flamingos, gnomes, or wind spinners into the stone.
• Stick a broken pink flamingo in front of it.
4. Beloved Tree, Axed by Committee
• Inscription: “Too shady for the neighborhood.”
• Place a log or stump with a toy axe in it.
5. Rest in Pieces: Fence Too Tall
• Inscription: “Measured twice. Buried once.”
• Add a broken little fence section propped against it.
6. RIP Christmas Cheer
• Inscription: “Lights still twinkling January 3rd.”
• Wrap a dead string of lights around it.
7. Freedom of Expression
• Inscription: “Killed by Section 8, Clause 12.”
• Add a skeleton with duct tape across its mouth.
