Some people choose not to live in an HOA.

That’s great except for when your next door neighbors are part of an HOA and they like to treat you as if you’re part of it too. T

hat’s the situation in today’s story, and one neighbor is wondering if he pushed back too much.

Let’s see how the story plays out…

AITA for not following the rules of the neighborhood homeowners association even though I live in the neighborhood but am not a member.

Neighbors in a Home Owners Association have issues that I don’t follow the HOA rules…

So the neighbors called me a jerk today…

I bought a house 5 years ago that a real estate company built on speculation. Mine was the first house in a planned subdivision that they were going to build one house at a time or as people bought the individual tracks of land.

The area kind of hit a boom period and the other surrounding houses went up quick.

OP’s neighbors treat him as if he’s part of the HOA even though he isn’t.

In my contract to purchase my home their was no home owners association, and because I was here first I don’t have to join any if the other neighbors decide to create. I’m grandfathered in is what it says in my contract.

They all seem to forget this though and continually try to give me HOA fines for breaking the rules of the HOA.

This has ranged from days I have things delivered to my home (Amazon deliveries on Sundays), to when I cut my grass to me having vehicles parked in my yard and they aren’t happy I own an extra tract of land because I bought 2 to have a bigger yard so I could build a shooting range (I live in the south this is not that uncommon) .

There’s a messy area of OP’s property that the neighbors don’t like.

The recent event though that led to them calling me a jerk is they came over to ask me to remove the eyesore in front of my garage.

Now my home faces the road not anyone else’s house so they don’t stare at my garage, but apparently they still don’t like it.

I run a small hobby business of doing woodworking projects and I have a shelf outside my garage door full of various pieces of treated lumber that I may use one day.

It’s not the neatest and cleanest area but it’s not a disheveled mess either.

OP said he’d remove the wood pile, but the neighbors pushed for more.

So I told them if they lightened up and just left me alone about all the other stuff I’d consider moving my wood pile if it bothered them so much.

They proceeded to tell me that I needed to address all the HOA issues and take care of the wood pile along with stopping any deliveries on Sundays and getting my other truck out of my yard.

They handed me what basically amounts to a ticket, and I trashed it and told them to get the F off my property.

They called me a jerk for my unreasonable behavior and told me they’d be back

Considering OP isn’t part of the HOA, the neighbors should really just leave him alone.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story…

This reader suggests a restraining order.

Another reader suggests an attorney.

This person also suggests an attorney.

Another reader suggests starting a new HOA.

This person warns OP not to back down.

HOAs really need to mind their own business and stop bothering people who aren’t members.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.