HOA meetings often feel like boring formalities — until power starts going unchecked.

At one meeting, a first-time attendee watched two board members openly bully residents, then decided to use their own rules against them in a way the board never saw coming.

Keep reading for the full story!

Got two HOA board members removed from board because they tried to bully me

I didn’t really pay attention to my HOA. It’s a new community (under two years). I only went to my first meeting because a neighbor I’ve become buddies with told me the HOA was being shady.

My undergrad degree is in poli sci, so being a government structure/process nerd, I figured I’d check out the shenanigans for myself.

At the meeting, one of the board members was being confronted about something he’d done.

The attendee wasn’t impressed with how the board handled themselves.

The board member responded to the questions by yelling and using pretty abusive language toward the residents who were asking him questions about what he did. That was a red flag.

During his tirade, he told the people confronting him that he didn’t answer to them. A second board member chimed in, saying we were powerless and repeating the “we don’t have to answer to you” line.

Second red flag. I’d had enough.

So they decided to speak up.

I raised my hand. The president (a nice board member and good guy in general) recognized me and gave me the floor.

Since it was my first time there, the fight paused and it got quiet. It was weird.

I simply but clearly told the two jerk board members that, in fact, we are the only people they answer to in this role.

The first jerk board member didn’t like that and instantly became abusive toward me, trying to bully me.

This awakened something inside them.

Now, I’m a sleeping bear. I don’t mess with anyone, but if someone messes with me, I make it my mission to let them know I can be the bigger bully.

After his response to me, another resident said to him, “We’ve lost faith in you, you should step down.”

The board member replied, “I’ve lost faith in you!” which made no sense.

A second resident said, basically, to step down or we’d recall him. The board member said, “You’ll have to force me off.”

I then said, “Then that’s what we’ll do!”

So this attendee got to work.

In the next few days, I analyzed my state’s HOA laws and my HOA’s articles of incorporation, bylaws, and covenants.

I realized the election of the two jerk board members was completely against the bylaws.

So I wrote a demand letter to the HOA’s attorney stating that the election of these two members was in violation of our bylaws and that they must be removed from the board.

The attorney agreed with my analysis, and the two members were forced off the board.

Anticlimactic, but go government structure/process nerds!

The HOA had finally met its match!

What did Reddit think?

Some HOAs actually seem to do right by the people they serve.

Joining an HOA could really go either way.

And I think most people can relate to this…

It’s amazing how much power comes from just paying attention.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.