Bad HOA interactions seem to make up a good amount of the content on Reddit.

And for good reason – they’re an endless supply of nitpicky people with nitpicky power.

The levels of annoyance when dealing with these people could power a nuclear reactor.

And this story is one to toss into the uranium pile of HOA nonsense.

You can’t park there, I won’t be safe

This story is about a power hungry HOA President. We will call her Helen.

So a little background about my neighborhood. It’s basically a long street with a cul de sac at the end. Helen lives in one of the 4 houses that encircle the cul de sac.

And herein lies the rub.

So a few years ago, Helen proposed at our monthly HOA meeting that our street is too narrow for emergency vehicles like fire trucks or ambulances to fit through and she’s worried that they won’t be able to reach the cul de sac houses in an emergency.

Which is b******t.

It’s not a thru road so only residents of this small street ever need to use it.

Sure it can be a little tight at at times but two lane traffic moves comfortably (and it rarely ever needs to because it’s a quiet neighborhood street with not much traffic.)

Fire trucks can and have been accessing the cul de sac since the beginning of time.

Oh but Helen was a feisty, power-tripper.

But Helen was on a power trip and she wanted to have one side of the street curb painted yellow to restrict the parallel parking on the street. This move was heavily opposed because it would significantly limit street parking in our neighborhood.

Plenty of people raised concerns that there wouldn’t be enough parking and this would affect the value of their homes.

And since the street parking was first come first serve, it would create undue competition between neighbors in securing a parking spot on our street.

Seems valid enough.

Not for Helen. She continued her tirade.

But Helen pushed back saying that safety was more important being able to find a parking spot. She said there’s always plenty of room to park on the cul de sac if need be. It shouldn’t be an issue.

And after much deliberation, we put it to a vote and the motion DID NOT pass. The highly unpopular curb painting would not be happening.

No she did not.

Or so we thought.

Helen went to the fire department a few days later and voiced her concerns. She told them the neighborhood residents had her support in painting the curb.

And on a Monday afternoon while everyone was at work, they painted the curb yellow.

We all came back home that evening to find that our available parking options had been cut in half.

People were livid.

Enter the hero of our story.

One neighbor in particular was having none of it.

You see he owned a small boat which he typically kept parked on the street.

But now that parking was significantly reduced, he decided he would find a better place for his boat.

He waited for Helen to leave for work the next day and parked it right in front of her house on the cul de sac, per her suggestion.

The look on her face when she came home to find her usual parking space taken over by a boat was almost worth the whole ordeal.

And since he rarely ever took his boat out, it stays parked there in front of her house pretty much year round.

Oh but the revenge doth not stop there.

At the next HOA election, she was voted out.

The next president got the curb painted back to normal but boat guy still parks his boat in front of Helen’s house. All is good in the world.

This person has first hand experience with HOAs, and this insider info is crazy.

And this person made the exact right call in KC.

While one person had a great idea if this ever happens to anyone else.

Another commenter brought up a fantastic simile.

This person was eternally thankful to Reddit.

Say no to HOAs.

You’ll regret it if you don’t.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.