HOAs are known for having housing standards residents agree to.

But what happens when one neighbor follows the rules to a T?

This Redditor shares how one woman’s watchful eye took the idea of an HOA to another level.

Another HOA story

This was about 10 years ago, 2010ish. My family lived in a very nice gated community with an HOA.

It was during the summer, and most weekends we would bring our boat to the house on Friday nights to take out on Saturdays, and then move it back to where we stored it Saturday night.

[The] HOA had a rule where you aren’t allowed to keep boats within view of the street. Our driveway ran up beside the house, and we’d intentionally position it to be as invisible as possible, for the ONE night it would be there.

Someone would have to be pretty vigilant to notice the boat outside one night a week.

Basically, all that was visible was a small T top over my dad’s truck.

Our HOA was actually pretty awesome, super laid back and really only did anything when there was a complaint.

It was a relatively small neighborhood, less than 50 houses, and the HOA was really good at throwing monthly parties where we’d shut down a cul-de-sac and everyone would bring food and music and we’d all have fun.

So, you’re saying we’re invited to the next block party, right?

This was kind of what an HOA is supposed to be in theory, a good thing.

Well, Karen had made a complaint to the board about our boat and had provided time-stamped photos of multiple violations (mind you [this happened] 1 night a week, but she’d claimed it was consistent).

The president came by to tell us, and [the boat] wasn’t there when he was.

Why does this feel like a sitcom waiting to be made?

We told him our side of the story. Basically, it was only there for about 12 hours on the weekend, and he said he, nor anyone on the board, had ever noticed it.

But since they had a complaint, they had to request we remove it. (I completely doubt they’d actually fine or do anything past asking, but rules are rules.)

Cue my fathers mastery of the art of malicious compliance.

So you’re saying he really knows his stuff here.

Well, [here’s] an important bit of information about this piece of property. When the neighborhood was built, my dad bought the house as well as a property bordering the back of ours that was not a part of the HOA, or in the neighborhood.

And [it] originally had a small chain-link fence between it and the house.

It was accessible through a small street with a few homes on it bordering our neighborhood.

Well, My dad’s beautiful brain started thinking about, and for the cost and inconvenience of storing it at a storage place, he could probably just build a pad for it behind the house.

We love a DIY, money-saving boat king.

He had a gravel pad put in the corner of the property with a shed over it, intentionally as close to the edge of the property, so it would preserve the view out the back (or be very visible from the front of the house either one).

This seems like a win-win…

There wasn’t any real backlash about it. Apparently Karen brought it up again, and the board politely informed her that they had no control over that property, and I think she admitted defeat.

The board actually found it pretty funny, and [we] never had any other issues with them.

Karen moved about a year later, and my parents moved about 2 years ago.

Loved the neighborhood though, genuinely a positive HOA experience, just an annoying Karen to make life inconvenient.

Hoping this Karen finds an HOA that feels true to her vibe.

Let’s see how Reddit feels about this HOA hubbub.

One user had no sympathy for this seemingly nosy neighbor.

Another Redditor enjoyed the story but was puzzled at the subreddit it was posted to.

This user was amused by the idea that a boat would violate any HOA rules in the first place.

Ultimately, it seems a little silly for this woman to raise such a ruckus over one day a week.

It’s clear the HOA felt the same way!

If you liked that story, check out this one about a 72-year-old woman was told by her life insurance company that her policy was worthless because she’d paid for 40 years. 🙁