On paper, homeowners associations are meant to keep the peace, but in reality, they often specialize in picking petty fights.

When one homeowner learns his HOA is threatening a neighbor over a fence that was legally grandfathered in, he decides to step in and set the record straight.

What followed was a tell-all exposé that got the HOA to back off for good.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one!

Dear Sir, Please remove your fence..

While retrieving my mail shortly after moving into my new home, there was a flyer attached to the mailbox post.

I read the flyer with interest, finding that it was from the neighbor who purchased the model home at the entrance of our subdivision.

The HOA had their eyes on a new target.

The flyer was addressed to all members of the Homeowners Association and essentially informed us that the HOA was using our HOA dues to sue him for not removing a fence from his front yard.

The builder erected the chestnut rail fence around the front yard of the model home when it was built, and the purchaser never thought anything about it.

A contingent of HOA officers notified him that he had 24 hours to remove the fence or face a lawsuit.

So this homeowner decided to look into the matter himself.

Having already faced the wrath of the HOA myself, I stopped at his home to talk with him.

After ascertaining the preceding information, I informed him that anything existing on the closing date of the real estate transfer was grandfathered in and, therefore, the fence was legal.

Turns out, this homeowner had the right connections to get the HOA to reconsider.

I then proceeded to show this to him in the covenants.

At the time, I was an editor with the local newspaper and asked if he minded my writing an article about this incident in the newspaper.

He readily agreed, and I went off to discuss it with the managing editor.

The series was quite a success as far as the homeowner was concerned.

Between us, we decided to run a series of articles about HOAs and the “Little tyrants who run them,” highlighting this incident.

The series ran seven weeks on the editorial page, during which time the court case was held and the homeowner won, with the HOA having to pay his legal expenses.

The exposé ended up working like a charm.

He told me that had they asked, he would have removed the fence with no problem, but he was a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army and was not used to being ordered to do things.

Thirty-six years later, the fence is still there.

Now that’s the power of good journalism.

Redditors are sure to get a kick out of this one.

This commenter points out that many HOA board members share similar unsavory qualities.

Sometimes all it takes is the threat of a lawsuit to get someone to back down.

HOAs don’t really make a lot of sense to some people.

Others have sworn off HOAs altogether.

This story proves that when neighbors band together, there’s nothing they can’t accomplish!

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