Imagine moving into a house that’s part of an HOA. Actually, don’t imagine that. I’d never want to live in an HOA. They have too many rules.

Regardless, the couple in this story recently moved into a house that’s part of an HOA. They are trying to be good neighbors and follow the HOA rules, but one of their neighbors keeps complaining and using the HOA as a threat.

Now, they’re not sure if they really are awful neighbors or if their neighbor is the truly awful one.

Keep reading for all the details.

Nervous in an HOA

My partner and I just moved into a new neighborhood and it is our first time living in an HOA.

We are both very respectful and reserved when it comes to living places and we’ve been trying our best to follow all regulations.

They have an awful neighbor.

Our next door neighbor first introduced herself by berating my partner for back-up parking into our assigned space.

I’ve seen other cars in the area park backwards into spaces and there’s nothing against it in the regulations so I was perplexed.

Since then, she has been approaching us whenever she sees us and acting extremely condescending, trying to give us unsolicited advice and mentioning the HOA.

Recently, the neighbor complained about the TV.

Most recently, at 8PM on Sunday, we were watching TV and she started ringing our doorbell repeatedly and knocking on the door.

When I answered the door she was extremely rude and condescending about our TV being too loud.

Granted, we did not realize how thin the walls were and that she could hear our TV.

Instead of asking me to turn the TV down, she started by saying “Never in my 8 years of living here have I had this issue. This is an HOA neighborhood. Your TV is rattling my walls.”

She apologized multiple times.

I apologized and said we were going to turn it off soon anyway.

To which she replied by saying “I didnt ask you to turn it off but this is an HOA neighborhood, you can’t be loud. I had to turn my TV up so I couldn’t hear yours.”

All I could do was apologize multiple times until she went away.

I am a reasonable person and would’ve totally turned the TV down if she had asked nicely (and also would keep it in mind for the future) but the interaction made me feel extremely uncomfortable and stressed.

Is there anything I can do about this neighbor or will I just have to tolerate it? I don’t want it to turn into something that consistently happens.

Wow! That neighbor sounds like too much. Sure, their TV may have been too loud, but asking them to turn it down would’ve been better than attacking them.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a family who is resisting pressure from the HOA to remove their tree and lights.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person offers some advice.

Another person shares some advice about the TV.

This person thinks she apologized too many times.

They definitely have a problem neighbor.

Sure, the TV was too loud, and that’s a problem. But the neighbor could’ve been nice about it. Simply letting them know would’ve solved the problem. They weren’t trying to bother their new neighbors.

If only you could meet your neighbors before deciding where you want to live.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a homeowner who responded to an HOA violation letter by investigating the bylaws and having the whole board removed.