HOA drama hits different when politics and ego move in next door.

So when a condo owner clashed with a self-important neighbor who weaponized inspectors and legal threats over hallway access, he dug into the governing documents to see where the real leverage lived.

And in the end, it turned out this neighbor didn’t have much of a leg to stand on.

Keep reading for the full story!

Neighbor in condo association acts like a jerk and we get her to move away

I live in a city in the North East in a relatively small condo association of six units.

It’s surrounded by new construction, but this particular building is a very old 1850s mansion that was converted into condos back in the 1980s.

Because of this, every unit is totally unique with different square footage and layouts.

The main character of the story is introduced.

The jerk neighbor, let’s call her Monica, was the daughter of the owner.

She’s also a has-been politician who was a former mayor of a small city in the state who lost re-election almost 10 years ago.

But she mentions this all the time, in emails and in casual conversation.

“My former time as mayor.” “I’m very connected in the state as you know.” And on and on.

Then there’s the other neighbor.

Another neighbor, let’s call her Rachel, decided to sell her unit.

As part of this process, she made improvements on it and had contractors frequently.

We have a back hallway that is required for contractors to access units, and a painter had left some minor things on the first floor as he was working.

Jerk Monica apparently did have some connections because, without asking my neighbor or talking to the contractor, she managed to get a city inspector to come right over. Who immediately fined the contractor for “impeding access” in the hallway despite it being a small number of supplies.

This pretty much ruined it for everyone else in the building.

The contractor was so ticked he said he would never do another job in this building.

Very annoying as trusted contractors are hard to find.

Monica did this because she likes to flex and is a jerk.

So one tenant began speaking with Rachel and tried to cut her a deal.

Well, I spoke to Rachel before listing, and I offered to buy it from her direct.

We agreed on a price and avoided real estate agent fees.

Plus she just wanted a simple transaction as she already had a new house.

I acquire the unit and start renting it out.

But then another neighbor enters the mix.

Then another neighbor, Phoebe, wants to sell.

The real estate agent emails all the owners in the building and tells us about the open house.

Well, it turns out Monica wasn’t contacted because she’s not an owner.

Monica, of course, hates being excluded.

Because of this, she takes it upon herself to report the real estate agent to the state board for discrimination because Monica is black.

Cue the real estate agent calling me in a panic, asking me to vouch for her in a disciplinary review.

Which I oblige. Absolutely insane behavior.

So when the unit sells, it’s looking like good news.

The unit sells over asking.

Everything is great as it’s boosting the value of our units and the building.

However, the buyer is insisting that the condo board signs off that all HOA fees are paid with a form that’s submitted to the registry of deeds.

Which requires a valid condo board.

This is going to be a problem.

Since Rachel moved out, there is no condo board.

We have been derelict in our duties. We haven’t had an association meeting in years.

Not a single valid trustee since Rachel moved away.

But after closer inspection, one tenant finds something interesting.

I read the condo docs with a magnifying glass over and over.

It turns out with my two units, my wife and myself can each represent one unit and have 52% of the voting power because our two units have 52% of the total square footage.

Ours are each three bedrooms, while the rest are two two-bedrooms and two one-bedrooms.

This puts them at a huge advantage.

We have just slightly the max footage of the building and the majority beneficial interest, which effectively gives us full say over the building.

As the sale process is happening, Monica’s mother passes away from cancer, which she had been fighting for years.

Monica now becomes an owner as she inherits the unit.

But it’s not all said and done yet.

In order to be elected to the condo board, you need the majority of beneficial interest and at least three units to vote for you.

We have 52% of the beneficial interest but only two units.

Therefore, one more unit has to agree.

The tenant pulls some strings.

I get the owner who’s selling and moving away to agree to vote for myself and my wife, and I vote for them in return.

That gives quorum.

We sign off on the condo fees, and then the seller resigns from the board promptly.

Now only my wife and I are trustees.

This is great news and they both breathe a little easier.

According to strict reading of the condo docs, my wife and I now have de facto control of the board and never have to have another election. Because with beneficial interest at 52%, we never have to approve anyone else.

Even if everyone else votes, they can only get a maximum of 48%.

In this situation, the remaining trustees can be the trustees indefinitely if there cannot be quorum achieved.

Monica continues to be a huge obstacle in everything going on.

Monica throughout everything has been protesting aggressively. Accusing us of prejudice despite my wife and I being Vietnamese. And sending legal threats.

My lawyer has been countering everything, and there is no issue.

Monica has now decided to sell and move away.

It turns out she inherited $15,000 in unpaid condo dues that no one bothered to collect because we had no board and were disorganized. She will have to pay that in order to get approval to sell.

The tenants weren’t going to make things easy for Monica.

Furthermore, all of her contractors doing work on the inherited unit have had to park far away because my wife and I have been very strict about hallways and driveway parking of vehicles impeding access, which is absolutely not allowed.

We even got a van towed that was doing work on her unit because it “impeded access.”

The tow truck works for the condo association rather than the city, so we could approve it as the trustees.

They attribute it all to her terrible attitude throughout the whole story.

If Monica hadn’t been such a total jerk, we would have been totally reasonable about everything.

But once she started bringing lawyers and inspectors and playing the prejudice angle, everything became war for us.

And she lost.

What an incredible story.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

In matters like this, it’s always best to protect yourself.

This user points out that some key characters seem to be missing.

This user can’t help but think about the poor people who get to live next to Monica next.

With great power comes great responsibility, and this couple has wielded it well.

The HOA bylaws finally put a much-needed end to this neighbor’s reign of terror.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.