Living close to others means learning to tolerate different lifestyles, tastes, and noise levels.

So when one homeowner’s neighbor tried to introduce strict, HOA-like rules to govern everything from kids playing to garden decorations, one fed-up homeowner publicly called out the man’s history of controlling behavior.

And it didn’t go well at all.

Keep reading for the full story!

AITA for rudely shooting down the idea of an american-style HOA

I live in Germany and am a homeowner in a small, quiet community of about 25 houses, mostly families or older people whose children have moved out.

I grew up in this community and have taken the house over from my parents.

Admittedly, the neighborhood has gotten a little rowdier over the years.

Over the years, the community has changed quite a bit, and especially in the last 3–4 years, we have had more and more conflicts.

Most of the time, it comes down to families with kids vs. elderly residents or families without kids.

Stuff like kids playing on the street (legal, it is a “Spielstraße”), kids being loud outside. Another big point is the house and garden designs.

Some families have big BBQ places in their garden or swimming pools or swing sets and so on. A family recently painted their house in a pastel color.

This homeowner has mostly made peace with it, but another neighbor was prepared to take drastic measures.

This is often a point of conflict as some people claim it “devalues” the neighborhood.

One of my closer neighbors has recently started campaigning for a legal construct in the way of American homeowner associations (he specifically refers to that).

Essentially, he wants all the neighbors to sign a legal contract that would force them to comply with certain rules set by an elected committee.

The neighbor tried his best to spin the idea.

He introduced this to a smaller group of neighbors, including me, during a dinner. The way he described it made it sound like a wonderful idea that benefits everyone.

Except that I have known him for years, and my family had quite a few conflicts with him when I was a child.

But this homeowner refused to let it slide.

So during the dinner, I pretty much immediately shot down the idea, that I would never sign up for something like this and would actively advise others against it.

Things got heated, and he demanded to know why I would want our neighborhood to “turn into trash pile.”

So the homeowner points out this neighbor has quite a history of controlling behavior.

So I brought up all the times he expressed his hatred for kids playing, for any decoration/design/garden that he deemed an abomination, the fact he got kicked out of a Schrebergarten committee for being too much of a rules freak.

Yes, I know, it was pretty much a personal attack, but I honestly think he is a horrible person.

And to retaliate, the neighbor kicked the couple out.

My wife and I got kicked out of the dinner, of course. She later told me while she agreed with me, I should have been nicer and that his plan would probably not work anyway.

Regardless of the feasibility of the plan, the homeowner wonders if he took things too far.

Another neighbor, who I consider a good friend, also mentioned that the whole thing probably wouldn’t even work legally.

I don’t know (and don’t really care) if it is legal, if it is feasible, if it will probably not work out.

I think people like that sometimes need to be called out, and this judgmental, elitist attitude is just god awful.

Sounds like this homeowner was right to take a stand.

What did Reddit have to say?

Getting any homeowner to relinquish freedoms they’ve always had would be a pretty tough sell.

The neighbor’s retaliation proved just why he was so untrustworthy in the first place.

This commenter agrees this homeowner is right to be wary of this proposal.

The neighbor is in the wrong here as far as this user is concerned.

The dinner ended early, but the message landed loud and clear.

Turns out, not everyone wants a rulebook for their own backyard.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.