A lot of homeowners dislike HOAs because of their picky rules, but it turns out some HOA board members also dislike the rules.

In this story, we hear about a board meeting where one HOA board member calls out another HOA board member for breaking a rule.

She gets really upset about this and doesn’t really even want to be on the board anymore. She thinks the rule is stupid and plans to keep breaking it.

Keep reading for all the details.

AITA – HOA Drama over Board Member’s 14YO Basset

Am I overreacting? Small HOA Comm (90ish TH), mostly retired ppl. 5 board members incl me as VP (50F). Pres is 70M, Treas (T) is 65M, two other Dir (both 60+F).

Board mtg called to order. Open Forum is where residents complain about whatever.

Today no residents (we think, whew, this mtg will go FAST!).

Except, T says, I have an Open Forum item. He says, it’s about chrissy0116.

The problem involved OP.

She lets her dog out into the open area in back of TH not on a leash. And her son does too in front. That’s against the rules.

I reply, T, you know we stand at the back door, and son does too, right?

He says, yes, but it is still against the rules.

I just say, OK, noted.

Here’s some more context about the dog.

After adjournment, I turn to T and loudly say, I am extremely upset and angry that you called me out in a public forum over something so trivial. Had there been anyone in the audience, I would have left and resigned the board immediately.

He said, well, it is a public forum issue and that would have been your prerogative to do so.

I left and got more and more angry. This is a 14YO basset hound with one foot in the grave, who slithers himself off the porch, sniffs around the grassy area for 2-3 minutes and then hauls his old butt up the porch and back inside.

We stand there and watch him in case he wanders off. Son lets him walk up and down the grass next to the house while he smokes, and then brings him inside.

OP no longer wants to be on the board.

After awhile, I called Pres and said I would finish my term out of professionalism and not to put Pres in a bad situation (1 F board member is leaving at EOM and another is an a cardiac rehab facility til ??). If I quit, there would only be 2 functioning board members.

I told him that T was not welcome in my house for any reason, and if he ran next term that I would not run or serve.

I realize that I have been breaking a rule (re-read covenants).

If the doggo happens to relieve himself in the shared open area, I always pick it up.

Here’s some more context about their neighborhood.

Townhomes are in a row of 6-8 with back porches and then 20 ft of open grassy area between the back.

T lives catty-corner to our TH, and thus the dog wanders over by T’s back door ever so often, but mostly stays behind our porch.

Neighbor across from us (next door to T) has no issue with doggo.

When walking him, we always leash him.

She has lots of questions.

Questions:

AITA – am I overreacting? He’s kind of a jerk because he is so obstinate (he demanded we write up various people for putting up their Xmas lights a week early for instance), but up til now I have always supported him even if I didn’t agree.

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WIBTA – I’m NOT going to follow the rule, because in this case, it’s stupid. Even if he brought it up again, the Board would have to vote and the other Board members would not vote to reprimand me. If the situation plays out as described in #2, he might even quit in protest.

WIBTA – I could demand he resign thru a board motion, and the Pres and other Dir would agree, as they dislike him also – too harsh?

She definitely shouldn’t quit the board. She’s less likely to get fined if she’s on the board. Is it really that hard to follow the rules though? Can’t they just hold onto the leash and walk around the yard with the dog?

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person doesn’t think OP should break the rules.

Another person calls her out for thinking she’s an exception to the rules.

This person calls her entitled.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who finds his parking spot at a hocket game in jeopardy from a rude driver.

Everyone thinks she needs to follow the rules.

If you don’t like the rules, don’t move to an HOA. If you’re on the HOA board, you should know the rules better than anyone else. There’s no excuse for breaking the rules. I know it can be maddening to be called out, but T didn’t do anything wrong. She needs to stop being so defensive and just follow the rules like everyone else has to do.