The freedom of country living draws a lot of people to the land.
But what happens when your rural land is governed by an aggressive HOA?
This story from Reddit shows what happens when neighbors bicker over a barking dog and a lost seat at the head of the HOA.
AITA for this rural neighborhood dispute?
I live in a rural HOA community (yes, my first mistake).
Each lot is 35 acres, and we raise livestock on ours (which is permitted).
An HOA for 35 acre lots? But why?
We have a Livestock Guardian Dog who keeps watch over our stock.
His job (which is in his bloodline), is to warn off predators. Being 130lbs, he’s got a loud bark, and it is effective!
He is the loudest in the morning and the evening (he sleeps in the barn with the goats at night), as he goes back out to patrol his perimeter.
We can all see where this is going.
We have lived here with him for 4 years.
A few months ago, I was appointed President of the HOA.
This obviously made a few people extremely unhappy (IDC), and 3 property owners have bombarded the board of directors with complaints about my dog since I was appointed.
One of the complainers is the previous BOD President.
Ahh, now I get it.
The new board sent me a violation letter and my argument was/is:
- Why is this an issue now? We’ve been here for 4 years, the timing is questionable
- If this is such an issue, why did the previous President not address it? Why is she only addressing it now.
So, here we are 2 months later going to an HOA hearing.
The board offered mediation, I agreed.
The previous President did not, she wants a public hearing.
Someone sounds upset that they lost the election.
This has cost our association a large amount of money in legal fees.
Under Colorado State Statue, my working dog is protected under the Right to Ranch Act.
A letter of support stating that was sent to my BOD from our County Sheriff and County Commissioner.
My question is: whose the a******? Me for having a working dog (the complainer is a half mile away as the crow flies).
Im not disputing she can hear him, but I question her claim that he is a nuisance.
Sounds like our author has all their ducks in a row, but let’s let the folks over at Reddit chime in with a verdict.
Top posts questions the veracity of the complaint to begin with.
Another commenter wonders why it’s a problem for the dog to do exactly what it’s bred for in an environment that should welcome that.
Some asked if maybe there was a way to meet in some middle ground.
Any multiple comments thought that this sounded a lot like sour grapes from a sore loser.
Maybe it’s the loss of power that set the former president off?
And last, one comment said it was time for the author to abuse their new-found power.
The dog wasn’t a problem until the out-going president decided to make it one, strictly for the sake of making the new person in power’s life difficult.
What a royal pain in the rear.
If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.