Moving into a new home can come with unexpected challenges, especially when an HOA is involved.

So, what would you do if your dream home included a unique area that the HOA wanted gone? Would you just get rid of it to keep the peace? Or would you find a way to keep it?

In the following story, a homeowner finds herself in this exact situation and does not back down. Let’s see how it all played out.

Get rid of my lady lair that came with the house? Sorry, HOA, you approved the sale.

When we bought our house, the largest in the hood and the original showcase home for the development, there was a shed in the back yard. My Lady Lair, if you will. The home sale was approved by the HOA and a letter of “no violations” was issued. All good, right?

The home unfortunately came with scads of “abandoned property.” Within 24 hours of taking possession of our home, the former owners broke back in to remove what was now legally ours (a suitable story for entitled people.)

I stopped at the security guard shack to inquire about ensuring that the former owner’s gate codes were inactivated and to keep an eye out for any attempt at continued entry into the gated hood. The guard assured me he would handle it, and I went on my way.

Lucky for her, the security guard was well informed.

That evening the guard came to my home to give me additional info I might need and offered security cam footage for the police. I thanked him for taking the time to make me feel safe in my new home, but before he left, he said, “Just to warn you, the HOA will go after you for your shed-they want it gone.”

After a bit more discussion, he informed me the former owners were not only super crazy but had gone toe-to-toe with the HOA over the shed. Three years and lawyers all around the HOA finally said forget it, this is costing us too much money, and their lawyer is better than ours, and dropped the whole thing.

Within two weeks I had two different neighbors tell me the HOA would give me problems over the shed. Fun!

Then, the inspector showed up.

At the three-week mark, an inspector from the county showed up to tell me he was investigating an anonymous complaint about code violations, and the shed, visible only if you stood on my property, was in violation with the county as there was no permit for it.

I was livid and already considering what avenues I had to keep my shed or “win” compensation for the loss of property when the code enforcer smiled a devious smile at me, handed me a printout, and said, “All you need to do is fill this out, pay $50 to the county, and you will be in code compliance.”

He then said, “Mr. Little Man Syndrome…*oops cough cough…I mean, the ‘anonymous complainant’ cannot touch your shed after that.”

Thankfully, county permitting laws tend to change.

The key here is that 4y ago, when they were battling the former residents, the county did not permit sheds, and the bylaws say all additional property structures require permits. If there is no permit the HOA can order the removal and fine the resident until it is gone.

Two years ago, the county started permitting sheds, and the HOA was unaware of the change. I paid my $50 and got the permit, making my lady lair code compliant and untouchable by the HOA. I also made a new friend in Code Enforcement, and all is well in my 150 sq ft slice of heaven.

Wow! It was awesome that the Code Enforcement Officer came to the rescue.

Let’s see what the fine folks over at Reddit have to say about the issue.

This person doesn’t trust HOAs at all.

Here’s someone with a similar experience.

Yikes! This is not cool!

This person thinks you should be able to do what you want on the property you buy.

Good for her! The HOA should have mentioned the shed issue during the sale.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.