There’s no place like home — unless you’re dealing with an HOA that micromanages every aspect of it.

When one HOA board member’s overzealous enforcement crossed a line, one couple struck back with a vengeance, taking down the entire HOA in the process.

You’ll want to read on for this one!

Become the worst neighbor and HOA Board member ever? Lose your “job” and HOA

Let me start by saying NEVER purchase a house in an HOA; it is a complete mess that should be regulated and illegal.

If I knew about HOAs when I bought my first home, I would have never purchased my first home in one.

My wife and I purchased our first home when we were 24 and 25.

We spent months looking at houses and areas and tried to find a “forever” home in a good district for potential future kids, etc.

We finally found a perfect one at a decent price.

At first, everything was great—super nice neighborhood and decent neighbors.

Well, a few months after buying the house, we rented an RV to go on a trip.

We parked it in the driveway for the three days leading up to the trip to pack it, and for me to learn how half the things in it worked.

Little did they know, certain people in the neighborhood weren’t so understanding.

This is when we learned that HOAs are absolutely crazy, and our neighbor was on the board of our local HOA.

Within an hour of the RV being parked, he got home, stormed over, and demanded we remove it from “his” neighborhood, or he would have it towed and fine us for every hour it was there.

The homeowner tried to send him on his way, but he they learned just what kind of individual he was dealing with.

Myself, being the average and normal person, told him kindly to leave my driveway and that if he returned, I’d call the cops.

He was screaming like a madman inches from my face.

About three hours later, a big rig tow truck showed up, and he walked up like he was a god and handed me a plain envelope.

The letter inside that pretty much said, “By order of the HOA, this RV is to be towed,” along with a fine of $1,500 for violating their rules.

Even the tow guy couldn’t get on board with the demanding neighbor’s antics.

While Mr. Crazy Board Member might not listen to reason, the tow truck guy they found wasn’t so fond of entering my driveway and towing a vehicle when I told him if he came on the property, I’d call the cops.

Once the tow truck driver decided he was done being involved in this mess, he left.

The neighbor went even more crazy and stormed off.

So the homeowners decided it was time to lawyer up.

I called my friend to get his dad’s number because he’s an attorney, to ask him about this insane letter and fine I just received and to ask him for some legal advice.

After speaking to his father, he told me to come down, write him a $500 check, and bring along all the papers I received when purchasing the home and the current letter I just received.

The next day, he had a very friendly letter sent to my neighbor and the HOA board, basically telling my neighbor to leave us and our property alone, in legal terms.

But this neighbor just wouldn’t quit.

I then continued to receive fines of $1,500 a day in plain envelopes, not postmarked, stuffed into my mailbox, which I turned over to my friend’s father.

Each time, he sent another set of letters and contacted USPS to report the incidents. Turns out, putting mail into people’s mailboxes is a crime — who knew?

Well, we decided to go on our week-long trip across the state and mildly forgot about it all.

I was kind of upset that I had to spend $500 to have an attorney send letters, but that’s what they do.

Fast forward to our return from the trip, and the RV was back in our driveway for two days so we could unload, clean, and return it.

Again, each day, more envelopes stuffed into our mailbox, more visits to our attorney, and more letters sent, along with more incidents reported to USPS.

Here’s where the fun really begins.

But soon the homeowners found out this neighbor wasn’t just annoying – he was breaking the law.

It turns out Mr. Crazy finally gave me a “summons” to appear before the board.

My attorney said this was crazy illegal because what they’d done was use what looked like an actual legal document improperly to “summon” me to the board.

Another $500 to the attorney, and we waited for the date they set (a Tuesday at 10 AM).

They attempted to keep my attorney out of the room on some “board privacy” rule, but quickly shut up when he began going over their own rules that they were violating.

So they went digging in the HOA handbook and found something interesting.

Deep in this HOA book are some very nicely worded rules outlining what makes board members ineligible and how they cannot serve if they commit certain infractions.

Well, guess what Mr. Crazy Neighbor has done? Committed several of them, all documented.

Also, the cherry on top is that if 51% of the HOA members vote to dissolve the HOA, it all goes away.

So the homeowners put all their resources into dismantling this corrupt system.

Well, it happens that my wife worked part-time from home during this mess and had all the free time in the world to begin a “Disband the HOA” campaign.

Over the course of the next two months, she went around and really began to get to know our neighborhood.

It turns out a lot of people disliked the HOA and the power-hungry seniors who acted like dictators that ran it.

The HOA, of course, tried to fight back, employing aggressive scare tactics.

The HOA attempted to stall everything by holding no meetings (another HOA violation) and began their own campaign, trying to change HOA rules to keep from being ousted.

This included a fairly racist flyer and letter to everyone explaining the “dangers” of not having an HOA.

It claimed that bad people (minorities) would move in and take over/sell drugs, etc., and that our houses would become much less valuable.

But the neighbors outnumbered them.

Turns out, it’s extremely fun to use someone’s own rules against them.

The neighborhood even started a fund that paid us back what it cost us to get the attorney started and the continued costs he had.

A few weeks after their failed fear campaign and being forced to hold a meeting, a vote was called by using their own rules.

Their efforts were a success!

The HOA was no more, and all remaining funds were to be dispersed back to the homeowners and members equally (this never happened, as it turns out the HOA used all their funds during the last two months).

The oppressive neighbors even decided to move away entirely.

About half the former board members sold their homes and moved, including Mr. Crazy Neighbor.

I’ve spent 3 hours trying to find old news articles because it was reported on, mostly due to the racist letters by the HOA, but it was too long ago to find anything.

The moral of the whole mess?

Don’t buy a home in an HOA, and if you do, plan to hire an attorney.

Looks like these homeowners found all the loopholes they needed to bring down this corrupt system.

What did Reddit think?

Who knows what other corruptions could have been lurking beneath their facade?

Seems like HOAs have an unfavorable reputation in lots of places.

This commenter notices a similar trend.

Funny how differently conflicts play out when they include reasonable people.

The HOA handbook was no match for a scorned couples determination and strategic thinking.

This story proves that you should never underestimate the underdog!

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.