Imagine moving into a home that’s part of an HOA without really understanding what most HOAs are like.

In this story, one homeowner quickly found out what an HOA is like when he parked an RV in his driveway. He went from loving his neighborhood to hiring a lawyer and scaring off a tow truck.

But that was just the beginning!

Keep reading for all the details.

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

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

If I knew about HOA’s when I bought my first home I would have never purchased my first home in one.

Me and my wife 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.

All it took was an RV for a neighbor to turn on them.

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 and parked it in the driveway for the 3 days leading up to the trip to pack it and for me to learn how half the things in it worked.

Well 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 it being parked he got home and stormed over demanding we remove it from “his” neighborhood or he would have it towed and fine us for every hour it was there.

The neighbor tried to force the situation.

Myself being the average and normal person told him kindly to back off and get out of my driveway and told him if he returns I’ll call the cops because he was screaming like a madman inches from my face.

About 3 hours later a big rig tow truck shows up and he walked up like he was a god and handed me a plain envelope with a letter inside that pretty much said “by order of the HOA this RV is to be towed” and a fine of $1,500 for violating their rules.

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 comes on the property I’ll call the cops.

Once the tow truck driver decided he’s done being involved in this mess and left neighbor goes even more crazy and storms off.

It’s helpful to know a lawyer.

I call 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 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 back off in legal terms and to leave us and our property alone.

The HOA didn’t back off.

I then continued to receive fines of $1,500 a day in plain envelopes not postmarked stuffed into my mailbox that I then turned over to my friend’s father and each time he sent another set of letters and contacted USPS to report the incidents.

Turns out putting mail into people’s mailbox is a crime, who knew.

Well we decide to go on our week long trip across the state and mildly forget about it all. Kind of upset I had to spend $500 to have an attorney send letters but that’s what they do.

The situation got even crazier when they got back from their vacation.

Fast forward to us returning from the trip and the RV back in our driveway for 2 days so we can unload/clean then return it.

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

Well here’s where the fun really begins, turns out Mr Crazy finally gives me a “summons” to appear before the board.

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

The lawyer went with them to court.

Another $500 to the attorney and we wait for the date they made (a Tuesday at 10AM).

They attempt to keep my attorney out of the room on some “board privacy” rule but quickly shut the hell up when he begins going over their own rules that they are violating to them.

Deep in this HOA book are some very nicely worded rules and stuff outlining about 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.

It was time for his wife to work on the next part of the plan.

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

Well it happens 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 2 months she went around and really began to get to know our neighborhood really well. Turns out a lot of people dislike the HOA and the power hungry seniors who act like dictators that run it.

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 and a fairly rude flyer and letter to everyone explaining the “dangers” of not having an HOA and all the bad people that will move in and take over/sell drugs etc. That our houses would become much less valuable and everything else they could try.

The board couldn’t put off holding a meeting forever.

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.

The HOA was no more and all remaining funds were to be dispersed back to the home owners and members equally (this never happened, turns out somehow the HOA used all their funds in the course of the last two months).

It worked out well for everyone except the former board members.

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 rude letters by the HOA but it was too long ago to find anything.

Moral of the whole mess, don’t buy a home in an HOA and if you do.. plan to hire an attorney.

I love that they successfully abolished the HOA and that their neighbors rallied around them to help raise money to cover the lawyer fees. Now, it sounds like a wonderful neighborhood once again.

Let’s see what Reddit has to say about this story.

I’m sure the funds didn’t go towards any repairs.

Another person shares their thoughts on HOAs.

Surprisingly, I have heard a few good stories about HOAs, but they are less common.

Here’s another story about a neighbor with an RV.

That HOA member messed with the wrong homeowner!

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