She Was Furious When Her HOA Cut Her Tree, So She Fixed It With A Fake Branch
Shutterstock
Imagine living near an HOA but not actually being part of an HOA. What would you do if the HOA expected you to follow their rules?
In this story, one homeowner is in this situation. At first, she wanted to be in the HOA so that her kids could use the playground and pool, but when the HOA refused, she refused to care about their rules or requests.
The heart of the story surrounds a specific tree, the HOA’s actions, and the homeowner’s revenge.
Let’s read all about it.
My tree was cut by an HOA I didn’t belong to, so I lit that sucker up.
My house is the first house in the neighborhood behind mine. I am on the corner.
The street on the side of my home is the HOA neighborhood, but my front yard is on a different street that isn’t part of the HOA.
When I moved I asked them if I could pay their HOA fees to let my kids use the pool and playground directly across the street.
Nope.
They’re either in the HOA or they’re not.
I planted a mulberry tree on the corner of my property and started getting visits from their HOA saying that my branches were too low to the ground and it violated their HOA.
I told them if I was in the HOA you’d see my kids swimming in the pool. Since they didn’t, they would have to deal with my tree.
My kids love that tree, and still come in Spring to gather berries, even though they are in now their 20’s
OP was pretty upset.
Then one day I come home and someone had lopped off a big branch from the tree, one that went out to the street.
I tried to find out who did it, but they kept mum about it and there wasn’t anyone I could go after.
SO, I rebuilt the branch using PVC, and wrapped it in bright Christmas lights (It was May), and then wrapped the rest of the tree for good measure
. I did it ugly too, it was propped up with old branches I found in the woods and some rope, and just looked awful.
OP refused to take it down.
I kept those lights on all the way until just before Christmas, when I took them down.
They sent me some letters, but they just went into the trash.
The HOA members who came to my house to ask me to bring them down since it was the gateway to their neighborhood and that I was ‘probably’ affecting property values were told to back off.
They never did mess with the lights, though. I guess they were worried about what I would pull next.
Here’s the thing, was the branch that was cut off blocking the street or sidewalk? If it was, I don’t blame them for cutting it down. Otherwise, I’m on the homeowner’s side.
Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.
Let’s see how Reddit responded.
Here’s a story about someone in a similar situation.
This person would want to put a price on complying.
Don’t mess with tree law!
Here’s another tip about tree law.
What’s interesting is that the homeowner isn’t in the HOA but kind of wanted to be in the HOA. If they had let her pay the dues and let her kids play on the playground, she probably would’ve complied when they complained about the tree, but you can’t tell someone they’re not in the HOA and then be surprised when they don’t care about your rules.
Serves them right!
Enjoyed this story?
Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.
