Living in a townhome means accepting a certain level of closeness with your neighbors. Shared walls, shared property lines, and the understanding that what you do on your side affects the person on the other side. Most people get that, but others miss the mark entirely.

One homeowner grew increasingly fed up with her neighbor putting her foul-smelling trash right in front of her front door. As flies and other pests began to congregate, the issue became harder and harder to ignore.

So as the homeowner contemplated reporting the issue, she was reminded that this same neighbor also held a prominent role in the HOA.

Suddenly she was caught between advocating for herself and rocking the boat.

Keep reading for the full story.

Neighbor trash can problems

So me and my neighbor have had weird interactions over the time we’ve been living next to each other.

I live in a townhome complex and share a wall with them. Our neighbor is also vice president of HOA.

In the past, this neighbor hasn’t exactly been the best person to share a wall with.

I’ve had issues with them in the past like when they put their fence up they pulled up a tree and didn’t consult with us although it was on our shared property line and it’s stated to speak with your neighbor before putting up your fence about tree removal.

It’s fine. We moved past it, but she was very unapologetic about it.

Lately though, it’s a different problem entirely.

Now, they have this trash can enclosure by their front door basically next to our front door where they keep their trash and it STINKS.

It smells so bad I don’t know if they have something rotting in it, but it’s happened more often times than not.

The issue is getting harder and harder to ignore.

I’m constantly walking to my front door smelling this disgusting smell AND flies that are constantly trying to get into the house.

I’m trying to figure out how to address this situation and annoyed that I have to, because why can’t people just be considerate??

I know y’all smell this too.

But there are a few nuances that make the situation even more difficult.

Since she’s HOA vice president… I could email the board which she’s a part of, I could text her which I’d rather not, because we’re not friends, or I could just message the president on FB and ask her to speak with her.

I’m just not sure how to move forward, but I’m extremely annoyed.

Sounds like this homeowner is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who got creative with his parking after his neighbors started using his extra spot without asking.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter thinks going right to the board is the right way to go.

Building a compelling case requires lots of evidence.

As long as the homeowner stays professional, hopefully there’s nothing for anyone to get upset about.

This user is wildly against the idea of HOAs.

The fact that this neighbor is the HOA vice president makes the optics awkward, but it doesn’t change the reality of the situation.

Her trash enclosure stinks, it’s affecting the person living inches away, and flies are becoming a household problem because of it. Those are exactly the kinds of issues an HOA exists to handle, and being on the board doesn’t exempt you from the rules you’re supposed to uphold.

She’s already been burned once by this neighbor’s lack of consideration with the tree situation, so expecting a respectful private conversation to solve this is optimistic at best.

Document the issue, take it to someone with actual authority, and let bureaucracy get to work.

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.