Even people who are part of a neighborhood HOA don’t like being under their thumb, and will fight tooth and nail to do what they want with their own house.

So, why would the HOA think a homeowner who isn’t subject to the rules would want to follow them?

Laughable – and that’s just what this person was doing as they went about their business.

AITA for laughing at my neighbor and calling them stupid before closing the door on them?

I 25M live in my family’s cottage which I was given ownership of. The cottage itself is a waterfront property facing a medium-sized lake.

My family has been living here for generations as my great grandfather originally bought it before passing it down eventually leading to me.

My neighbors are a different story as many of the people I have known since childhood has moved out.

The houses that my neighbors once had have been torn down and replaced with “designer” style homes.

With the construction of these homes came new neighbors and an HOA of which I am not a member.

He then explains the cause of all the headache.

My problems started with my next-door neighbor Sophie (F50-60?) over fishing.

One day after doing some Canoe fishing I was approached by Sophie on my beach. She started asking if it was legal to fish on the lake to which I said it was as long as you pay the 25$ per year license.

After that, I said that I had to go as I had caught some fish and I wanted to start processing them for dinner as it was getting lake.

After our conversation, I did not hear from her for over two weeks.

Flash forward a couple weeks, and Sophie ups the intensity.

My encounter with her this time was not in person but through a letter. In this letter, she wrote about how “dangerous” fishing is to the environment and why I should stop.

In response, I chose to simply chuck it in my recycling bin and ignore her as it wasn’t worth my time.

My most recent encounter was two days ago while I had some friends over.

It was in the afternoon when I had ran back into the house for some more beers along with one of my friends. While grabbing the drinks we heard a knock at the door.

Pulses did race.

When I answered the door it was Sophie and she had another letter.

Before handing the letter she said that she had tried to be diplomatic and now she has had enough and has a letter from the HOA.

Admittedly I was a bit tipsy at the time and in response, I laughed and called her stupid for believing the HOA can do anything before closing the door on her.

After sobering up I feel conflicted, on one hand I feel that I was justified in my actions because my fishing is none of her business.

On the other hand I feel that I could have dealt with her in a more tactful way.

Am I an AH?

Let’s check out what folks had to say.

This person nailed it right here.

And this is some brilliant advice.

Ain’t got no power over anyone Sophie!

While this person just pointed out how absurd the initial claim was to begin with.

Nice try Sophie!

You have no power here, lady.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.