Imagine living in a condo that’s part of an HOA. If the HOA decided that a contractor needed to inspect your unit for water damage, would you want to be home when the contractor arrived, or would you be fine with the HOA manager letting the contractor enter your condo when you’re at work?

In this story, one person is in this exact situation, and he is not okay with someone he doesn’t know entering his condo when he’s not home. Now, he’s wondering if that’s an unreasonable request.

Keep reading to see why he’s feeling conflicted about this situation.

AITA for not letting an unknown contractor into my home while I’m not there

I live in a 2 story condo complex that is managed by an HOA.

One lower unit reported some water damage through their outer wall and it was determined to be coming from the upstairs balcony. They inspected and found some rotten framing behind the stucco.

The association would like to inspect all of the upstairs units now, of which mine is one.

They sent an email yesterday (Tuesday) saying they’d like a contractor to come inspect and to allow access for the contractor even if we’re not home.

But OP wants to be home.

I’m not comfortable with someone I’ve never met having access to my home while I’m not there, so I said I’d like the contractor to contact me directly to setup an appointment.

The HOA manager told me that they’d be there this morning (Wednesday) and would like to be able to inspect the balcony.

I said I could be there at 9:30 to meet them.

The manager said “perfect”.

But it wasn’t actually “perfect.”

I took time off from work to be out there and was home at 9:15 after taking my son to school.

I waited until 11:30, and never saw a contractor even working on one of the other units nearby, so I left and sent an email to the HOA manager that I’d waited 2 hours and no one came by, so please have the contractor contact me directly to setup a definite time to inspect.

The manager sent me a reply that said:

“You could make this easier Seth. If you would allow us access. Then you wouldn’t have to wait until Joe gets to your unit.”

AITA for not wanting a strange person in my home without me there and for leaving after waiting for 2 hours after our agreed upon time?

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to request to be home when a contractor enters your condo. The contractor failing to show up at the agreed upon time is the real problem.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person is on OP’s side.

Another person points out how much OP has been willing to try to accommodate the contractor’s schedule.

Here’s another vote for OP’s request being completely reasonable.

But this person disagrees and thinks OP is being unreasonable.

Sometimes, you have to stand your ground.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.