HOA neighborhoods have a reputation for drama, but when a homeowner finds themselves the center of a conflict, most people assume they’ll at least know what they did to earn it.

A homeowner living alone with virtually no visitors found himself the target of a coordinated neighborly attack that included false HOA complaints and, most recently, a neighbor photographing his license plate every time he pulled in or out of his garage.

He hadn’t had a single conflict with any of these people before it started. He hadn’t complained to the HOA, despite being told he had. He wasn’t doing anything that would explain why multiple neighbors had apparently decided he was worth targeting as a group.

Now he’s trying to figure out what someone can actually do with a license plate number, whether looking it up through unofficial channels is legal, and how far this situation has already gone without his knowledge.

Keep reading for the full scoop.

Neighbor taking pictures of my license plate as I drive out of or enter my garage

My neighbor across from me has been taking pictures or videos of my license plate as I drive out of or enter my garage.

This is a townhouse subdivision.

This homeowner can’t figure out why his neighbor would do something like this.

I have not had problems with this neighbor nor his family, so I am not sure why he would be interested in my plate number or what he would do with it.

My question is: what can someone do with my license plate number?

He runs through all the options in his head.

I believe that he cannot run the plates himself since he is not in law enforcement, but if he knew someone, could they run my plates?

Would that not be illegal?

Is there a way to find out if my plates were looked up?

Looking back, some neighbors have seemed to have it out for him in the past.

For background, several neighbors seem to have banded together to target me, a single person living alone with virtually no visitors, by spreading false claims, such as saying I complained to the HOA when I did not.

They have also filed complaints with the HOA.

This homeowner has quite the conspiracy theory on their hands.

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.

What did Reddit have to say?

If his neighbor can snap some photos, then so can he.

Security cameras were invented for this very purpose.

This user has two words for this homeowner: Paper. Trail.

The license plate photos could just be the tip of the iceberg.

A person who lives alone, keeps to himself, and has virtually no visitors should be the last person on any neighbor’s radar, which is exactly what makes this story so puzzling.

The false complaints, the fabricated attributions, and now the license plate documentation paint a picture of neighbors who have appointed themselves a kind of informal surveillance committee.

Whether they have any real leverage is a separate question, but for now, many redditors pointed out it would be wise for him to start building out a paper trail of his own.

His neighbors have proved they can’t be trusted.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about someone who asked their neighbor to move their fence off their property, then learned the neighbor was trying to claim their land as theirs instead.