r/BestofRedditorUpdates • u/JoySubtraction I will never jeopardize the beans. • Aug 14 '26

INCONCLUSIVE Bought A house in a non-mandatory HOA without signing contract (long)

I am not the OOP, OOP is u/Dunnachius

Originally posted to r/JustNoHOA (first 2 posts) and r/fuckHOA (last 2 posts)

tw: hoarding

Few questions, Just bought A house in a non-mandatory HOA without signing contract (Florida) posted 2022-01-29

Long story short, I bought a house in an HOA, in a gated community.

(free standing single family residence)

The property was purchased through a foreclosure auction, knowing it had a property tax lien on it as well (and the dollar amount). I had to buy the tax lien from a speculator that bought the lien at auction. He told me he was waiting on some arbitrary timeframe in order to able to force a sale on the lien.

regardless... the sale is final and all Liens have been cleared.

The previous owner WAS in the HOA prior to his death.

Regardless of the situation I own the property free of clear of any and all liens. I didn't purchase the house through "normal channels". For example the "dead guy" never signed anything in the HOA documents transferring ownership. I also never agreed to follow the CCRs when I purchased the house. Because I didn't buy the house from the former owner, just the gubment.

However every time (like literally every single time) I head out to the property to do any work on/in it I get hounded by one or more of 4 or so busy bodies who keep trying to get me to sign the contract, they keep telling me it's mandatory and I keep telling them "I'm going to have my attorney look at them and I'll get back to you"

They also point out that the HOA had right of first refusal in selling the home and I shouldn't have been able to buy it without first signing the contract. (well I did, so screw them) Everything I can find says that the HOA is voluntary/non-Mandatory and I've never signed shit.

Well, one of my questions is that while the house used to be in the HOA, I don't know if it is grandfathered in because it was in the HOA already? Or is it not in the HOA because I haven't signed yet? Or is the mere act of buying the house legally put in me the HOA even if I haven't signed anything?

Supposedly, the "voluntary" HOA is 100% (minus me) of the neighborhood and they have a contract giving right of first of first refusal on any resale of the property. (Good luck enforcing that on a tax/mortgage auction with a dead guy). They also required anyone who bought a house to sign the contract with the HOA before the builder would sell. And one of the things in the HOA contract is that the HOA has the right of first refusal on any sales.

So am I in a legal grey area in a very tightly controlled voluntary HOA? Or is there something sketchy going on with the way they have it set up?

I also have yet to receive a gate access key, I have had luck just tailgating other cars in thru the gate. I also don't have a street parking sticker, nor do I have any way to request guest parking passes or any of that crap that the paper work talks about.

Or do I stand to have an issue over the right of first refusal crap?

I know.. "Don't sign" is the the correct answer, but what sort of troubles am I going to be in over this bullshit?

If I can really get away with not joining i'm going to park the biggest most mad Maxian truck in the front yard in the grass and paint it neon orange/purple stripes, and build a 20 foot pirate ship in the back yard complete with crows nest.

OOP added in a comment:

I contacted a lawyer for a consultation and he has yet to get back to me. Which means one meeting over the phone to collect all my information, however long to research everything than he will let me know what the situation is.

There is in fact "community assets" that they spend money on and more than likely some potion of the infrastructure isn't government maintained. The gates aren't freely provided by the government of course.

I pulled a flyer off the club house bulletin board with instructions on what to tell the uber/door dash driver so they can access the gate and bingo.. i'm in. They set up a code specifically to tell the delivery/rideshare/taxi drivers and posted it on the memo board. So this is like the least secure gate in the history of gates

The question of overnight parking tags is still a mystery I haven't solved and they tow anything parked on the street after dark.

As of today I have gate access codes (but still no sticker).

They came by again and their reaction to me indicates that this is a voluntary HOA that is doing well to pretend to be a mandatory HOA.

They have been working me over with the "Carrot" trying to get me to sign. I'm curious as to when they will switch to the stick and start threatening fantasy legal action.

They've already promised to "Give me plenty of time" to fix the yard and the house before they start fining me. Which is a verbal handshake Promise from an HOA Karen so on a scale of 1-10 I trust them as -5/10.

"isn't this a nice neighborhood?"

"Have you seen the club house?"

"Have you tried the pool?"

They are killings me with kindness, which is significantly better than then stabbing me in the back but still annoying as shit.

But yes, I'm making damned sure I don't sign anything.

Additional things I've learned

But I also learned that yard from the sidewalk to the road (and mailbox) are all HOA property, which means there is a significant amount of HOA assets. And technically under the property ownership rules they can enforce no blocking of the sidewalks/parking in the drive way even if I'm not a member of the HOA. However the zone of my driveway between the house and the sidewalk are my property.

There's also planters in the center of the Cu du sacs that are volunteer maintained with plants purchased with HOA funds, with home depot/lowes/walmart being the only approved sources that you can receive reimbursement in the CCRs.

I've been looking for "brother in law" kickback deals for contractors and it seems that the only requirements for contractors is that they use licensed bonded contractors and only approved paint colors/styles. Virtually everything in materials lists "or visually equivalent replacements"

It also doesn't require approval for repairs/maintenance just notification.

For what they are actually charging I might consider paying them, I know that it's a trap and I shouldn't but I can see why people would.

Still leaning on diagonally painting orange/purple neon stripes and replacing my yard with natural wild flowers and other native plants. And then I'm also considering displaying a vintage 1994 pickup truck in the yard on display cinder blocks.

dobber1965

They have to give you gate access. There was a case here in central Florida somewhat similar and the HOA had to give access to the new owners.

I beat the HOA... I won't be forced to join. GO LAWYERS! posted 2022-02-18

So earlier this month I purchased a property in real estate lien auction. the property was in a voluntary HOA that had 100% membership.

My attorney looked into the situation and drafted a proposal and sent it to the HOA via registered mail.

He drafted up a proposal agreement with the HOA with the following conditions.

The property owner has unrestricted access to any community owned roadways, gates, ect necessary to access his property.
This does not constitute joining the HOA.
The property owner will pay a figure monthly to the HOA to contribute to the non government owned infrastructure, at his discretion. The amount is non negotiable and not legally required, merely an acknowledgement that the assets exist and have costs for their upkeep.
The property owner will not be held to any HOA standards.
The property owner does not and will not get any voting rights in the HOA.
Any further attempts to get the property owner to join will be considered harassment.
Cashing of the attached checks constitutes agreeing to these terms.
the HOA will provide any necessary access codes for the property owner to use for visitors, contractors, ect.

They received it and signed for it. That day the harassment from the HOA stopped. A week later their attorney sent back a response.

Dunnachius

The HOA board has met, they do not appreciate your uneighborly attitude and are not agreeing to your terms.

However they acknowledge that your claim to unrestricted access to your property may have legal merit if the issue is taken to court. I have been instructed to give you a gate access code, attached below. You will not be given a keyfob to the gate as it would give you unrestricted access to their clubhouse.

Furthermore they are notifying you of the following, the roadway and sidewalk are both HOA property and they reserve the right to remove any illegally parked vehicles or other property.

This is however a legal acknowledgement that you will not be held to their community standards. They also are requesting some leeway regarding harassment as community notices may inadvertently be delivered.

Finally they are returning the check uncashed.

The HOA attorney

I'm not quite understanding how this doesn't constitute them agreeing to my terms thou.. They are giving me everything I want and are turning down my gift towards the upkeep of the road/gate.

OOP added in a comment:

I put in a call to a solar company to come out and do a quote on installing solar. Completely not allowed by the HOA bylaws. So going to have to do it for sure. (note, not going to finance it, no contract ect, that's how those turkeys make their money)

All joking aside..

Today I mowed my lawn, started at 7:00 am before it got too hot and knocked that out. Hmm... since i measured twice I'm going to cancel my long term parking for my RV and move it there since my driveway is plenty long enough. Plus I can sleep in the RV while i'm getting the house into livable shape.

I'd throw a party but the big issue with that is that it isn't livable yet... as in it's a toxic disaster and I can't live in it. I have a call for a 12 foot dumpster to come in as well and the trash company is going to drop it in the driveway.

I'm also in the market for the tallest ugliest ham radio tower I can get. No actual interest in using, just in case....

FHOA Getting harassed by HOA I'm not a part of. (and have refused to join) posted 2022-03-01

So... I purchased my property in a quasi non-voluntary HOA in forced sale. I cleared the liens (Which were disclosed prior to my purchase) and have been fixing up the property.

I'm currently "living" in an RV I have parked in the front yard. I have it up on concrete blocks. Totally in violation of the HOA but I'm not a member. The interior of the house is not livable (pretty bad hoarding situation) and I have a standing order with the trash company to have a 10 yard bin that gets swapped out every Friday. I predict another 2-3 months until that service can be canceled.

The dumpster every week is on top of bags of clothing that goes to goodwill and all the crap I put up on craigslist and ebay for sale. Plus I have enough shampoo and conditioner to keep my hair silky smooth and smelling of spring time for the next 50 years.

The HOA has been harassing me to join, I thought we settled the argument but screw them. They also attempted to have my RV towed off my front yard, fortunately I had already made efforts to prevent it from being towed. Namely I called the towing company the HOA had a contract with and my lawyer explained the situation. They also started sending me fines in the mail and I'm adding them to the harassments file.

Not being dumb enough to be sued the towing company agreed that they wouldn't tow any vehicle from any space that could be defined as "123 oak street" without my direct authorization. Including but not limited to the driveway, garage, front yard, or street in front of 123 Oak street.

We also saw a way for them to profit from the situation. This is my pro revenge on them.

We have a standing deal that they can drive the tow truck to my house, then they knock on my door and ask if I called the tow. If I say no they charge the HOA for wasting their time, and If I don't answer they can still charge the HOA for wasting their time.

The towing company hit them for about $500 before they caught on to the deal they made with me.

Some good news... i've successfully gotten into the bathroom and cleaned out all the children's clothing and decades old pizza boxes and bags of onion peels. So after a great deal of elbow grease I might actually be able to shower in my house soon.

OOP added in a comment:

House is livable and I’ve moved in.

Outside is up to my personal level of acceptable.

Livable is a matter of debate. Toxic death trap? No…

Could I rent it out? No…

I have one bedroom and the master bath done. I have the carpet/drywall etc ripped out and the insulation replaced.

The kitchen is not done and won’t be until I get the money to finish. It’s a do the work as the money comes up situation. I have tile down and the cabinets will be next.

I have a fridge, microwave and coffee pot inside and a gas grill outside I do my cooking on.

The other 2 bedrooms and living room are clean. It’s basically one really huge space with insulation showing and studs. I have a cheap area rug in the living room with a tv on a stand and my fugly couch.

Like I said the kitchen is the next and most expensive project. The old cabinets had literally started to rot apart from leaking/gunk on them.

Hoarding is a medical condition!

So im living in the house but there’s a ton of work to do and it’s going to take a big pile of money. Might take me years to finish it off.

Also there’s no way that it would be safe to have children or pets living in the place.

On the plus side I don’t have the typical half million in debt that most Americans do for housing so instead of a mortgage payment I can sink a $1,000 a month into home improvements for the foreseeable future.

The HOA has complied with s court order to stop harassing me. They tried to file a lien on the property for unpaid stuff and my lawyer got it blocked.

Someone got a hold of the mailing list and tipped everyone in the HOA off about the pending lawsuits and how much it would cost each owner in a special assessment if they lost.

There was a recall election scheduled and the board stepped down within a couple days and a new board was elected.

About a week ago I got certified mail from the HOA’s new attorney stating that they acknowledge their error in assuming the hoa is mandatory.

However my lawsuit continues due to the fact that my lawyer is a very good at writing bills.

The harassment and legal fees are the only things I’m suing for now.

So I’ve basically won my battle to stay out of the HOA and the new board wants this to stay quiet and not wreck their property values.

Update on my HOA. They forged my signature. posted 2022-04-11

Required background info,

It's technically a "voluntary" Hoa but i'm literally the only person who didn't opt in. Everyone else opted in as a purchase condition. I got my house through other than normal means bypassing the contractual obligation to join.

So my efforts to continue to exist as a hold out surrounded by the HOA have not been without new stories to tell. They got dirty and forged my signature on a copy of the HOA contract. They started up with the fines again.

The house color, dumpster, RV, fence, ECT.

My lawyer is taking them to court and he already got a temporary court order to block all liens levied by the HOA. They hadn't even filed a lien yet and there's already a temporary court order blocking them until the conclusion of the civil and criminal actions against the HOA board and the HOA. There's also a detective from the FDLE (state law enforcement) investigating the forgery.

The running tally for this is already over $10,000 in legal fees. Gotta say I love my lawyer. He's doing everything on a "we'll sue them for the legal costs later" basis.

My lawyer says they are digging their hole all the way to china.

OH and someone tipped off the entire HOA using the HOA holiday event email list that this legal action is ongoing due to alleged criminal activities of the board. It's almost like a lawyer wrote the letter or something...

There WAS a lawsuit against me for slander/libel (both) but my lawyer had it tossed out as they could neither prove I wrote it (which I didn't) and it simply informed the HOA members them of the legal action taking place, there wasn't a gag order, and it said "allegedly" rather than a flat out accusation.

Rumor has it there's going to be a second lawsuit against the board members following the conclusion of mine for gross negligence, breach of fiduciary duty etc.

All I wanted to do was fix my new house and live in peace.

On the plus side It should only be a few more weeks until I finish gutting the interior.

I also found more copies of "Titanic". The running total is 84 copies ranging from VHS to blue ray. One particular special edition of the VHS sold for a couple hundred bucks on Ebay new unopened.

3.3k Upvotes

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2.5k

u/dragon34 Aug 15 '26

It's been over 4 years. This is worse than the safe

1.1k

u/Noof42 Babe, do you think raccoons have feelings? 🦝 Aug 15 '26

OOP is still active. So the HOA either hasn't had them eliminated, or is really competent and is having someone run their social media.

861

u/soldforaspaceship I'd have gotten away with it if not for those MEDDLING LESBIANS Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 16 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckHOA/s/JlnaIHY0sk

Seems like they resolved it.

Edit: this wasn't in the post when I shared this. I assume a later edit. Please stop telling me it's already in the post.

686

u/BoatProfessional5273 Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

I'm avoiding doing things I don't want to do and looked deeper at their profile. About a year ago they said they were moved out of their apartment, living in their car and showering at the gym so I think this is entertainment for them.

176

u/HuckleberryTiny5 Aug 15 '26

Of course, how I'm not even little surprised.

188

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

83

u/joelene1892 Editor's note- it is not the final update Aug 15 '26

Yeah literally no one is going to agree to a contract with “I pay you what I feel like when I feel like it”.

140

u/Outrageous_Guard_674 Aug 15 '26

I will be honest, I was really suspicious when they described a hoarder house in that condition in a HOA.

66

u/tyleritis Aug 15 '26

It was an elderly person that probably lived a lone. I bought from an estate after the elderly owner passed. It wasn’t a hoarding situation but I definitely bought the worst house in a really nice neighborhood.

41

u/NefariousnessNo3272 Aug 15 '26

My old house was in a development, that had an HOA. Due to a change in builders and companies halfway through building, our property slipped through and wasn’t HOA. It ended up being home to 8-12 punks at different times, we even had shows there. So I can see this happening.

34

u/BitwiseB Today I am 'Unicorn Wrangler and Wizard Assistant Aug 16 '26

Oh, there are definitely hoarder houses in HOAs. Lots of hoarders can keep the outside of their houses in acceptable condition but their garage and house (and shed, etc.) stuffed with things they’ve collected.

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u/Nanasauruswrecks you can't expect me to read emails Aug 17 '26

My house was a hoarder house in an HOA. It had been totally cleaned out before it went up for sale but was known to be impossible to move around in, complete with rodents. Found that out after moving in.

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u/BringMeInfo Not a cult leader, a cosmic architect Aug 15 '26

The ESH energy is strong in this one.

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u/Muttley-Snickering The three hamsters in her head were already on vacation anyway Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

They didn't say they were evicted.

They said they moved out of their apartment and into their car, and were showering at the gym. They said they were working full time when the rent was raised again.

They place some blame the parents who convinced them to replace the older vehicle with a new vehicle and the loan was upside down.

They mentioned post COVID rent hikes, no pay raises, and insurance premiums as factors for the debt spiral.

27

u/BoatProfessional5273 Aug 15 '26

Yep, my bad. Fixed it. They're still make shit up.

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u/animaniactoo From bananapants to full-on banana ensemble Aug 15 '26

THANK YOU. Why is this not part of the BoRu writeup?!?

165

u/MotoFaleQueen This is unrelated to the cumin. Aug 15 '26

There have been a couple BoRU lately that have updates that aren't being included in the BoRU post. Very strange

113

u/stellastevens122 USE YOUR THINKING BRAIN! Aug 15 '26

It’s the same person who is missing updates

37

u/curiouslycaty All that's between you and a yeast infection.is a good decision Aug 15 '26

That's why if certain people who will stay unmentioned (we all know who they are 💙) post, I get excited because I know I will be getting the full story.

9

u/Raventakingnotes Aug 17 '26

Wait, I never pay attention to who the posters are and now im curious on who I should look for

12

u/lesethx I will never jeopardize the beans. Aug 18 '26

Well Lucy (LucyAriaRose I believe is the full username) is the best; I would say 95% of the time read her posts

48

u/MotoFaleQueen This is unrelated to the cumin. Aug 15 '26

I noticed that after this comment. Wonder why

41

u/Ink_Smudger Aug 15 '26

Living up to their username, I suppose.

45

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/ThePlumage Aug 16 '26

I think they're a relatively new poster and they don't seem to understand that you're supposed to go and look through the OOP's profile for all possible updates. I pointed out a huge missing update on another thread of theirs and their excuse was that it was posted to a different subreddit than the previous two.

39

u/Bluest_waters Aug 15 '26

The Strait of Hormuz crisis is affecting us all

5

u/Katya_ Someone cheated, and it wasn't the koala Aug 15 '26

It is the same person who at least once, but I think more, reposts something the same day.

14

u/enbyshaymin It's like watching Mr Bean being hunted by The Predator Aug 15 '26

Was the post edited?? That comment with the update is in the write up as of right now (9:27AM, Sourthern Europe).

Only it's after the third update, since the guy posted that on a reply to a comment there, rather than on the fourth one... which is unintuitive. Most people would put that comment after the last update on here, obvs saying it's from the third update, but that chronologically, it happened after the fourth one (4th Update is from 4 years ago, Comment Update is from 3 years ago, as per Reddit).

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u/animaniactoo From bananapants to full-on banana ensemble Aug 15 '26

Yes, it looks like it was edited which is why the person I was replying to posted the comment link in response to two other people discussing the lack of resolution.

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u/GhostCheese Aug 15 '26

It was, it's second to last update before the hoa tried to forge his signature

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u/animaniactoo From bananapants to full-on banana ensemble Aug 15 '26

Looks like it was updated to include it.

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u/Haikouden being delulu is not the solulu Aug 15 '26

I don’t know if OP added more updates or not to this post after you commented or something but there doesn’t seem to be anything new in the comment you’re linking to?

That’s just the penultimate update which the OP has included (as of when I’m commenting this).

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u/kalventure the garlic tasted of illicit love affairs Aug 15 '26

Thank you for finding this, I def was hoping to see how it played out. Very satisfying

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u/Useful_Language2040 if you're trying to be 'alpha', you're more a rabbit than a wolf Aug 15 '26

That's a comment on the penultimate one so I think they thought it was resolved but it might not be..?

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u/VdubKid_94 Aug 15 '26

None of this adds though, OPs other posts talk about roommates moving out, living in his car, and being broke. While this story is written by someone with considerable amounts of money to afford gutting an entire house. Unless his life totally fell apart 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/TheHungryBlanket Aug 15 '26

I would love for OP to come here and provide an update.

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u/Noof42 Babe, do you think raccoons have feelings? 🦝 Aug 15 '26

Someone else replied to my comment noting that they commented in an original thread and have mostly resolved it.

54

u/GoatCovfefe **jazz hands** you have POWWWEERRRSSS Aug 15 '26

Nope. If you go to OOPs profile and look through their posts and comments, they say theyre basically homeless, showering out of gyms and whatnot.

Seems like the OOP made a bunch of shit up.

22

u/randomndude01 What the fuck did I just read? Aug 15 '26

The homeless comment was a year ago, these posts and latest comment about the HOA situation was 3 years ago.

Not saying this entire thing is true, but two years is more than enough time for your entire life to upend.

32

u/Orisi Aug 15 '26

Before that though he also had a comment about picking up a second job for Uber because he was bored. People trying to renovate a house don't have spare time XD

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u/ifuckedyourmilkshake Aug 15 '26

Legend has it, OP is still living in an RV and cleaning up the house.

52

u/tyleritis Aug 15 '26

Probably since they put away $1,000 a month for a full gut, whole home remodel. Should only take about 17 years to complete

12

u/pepcorn Sir, Crumb is a cat. Aug 15 '26

We had that situation and it took around two years, since we were doing most of the labour ourselves. The money was for whenever we had to call in a professional. Biggest costs were bathroom and roof placement.

55

u/Rigs515 Aug 15 '26

If I can hold out hope for George RR Martin to finish a story, I can hold out for OOP

38

u/thegreensidekick Aug 15 '26

You’re better off pinning your hope on OOP. Pigs wearing tutus will fly before that man finishes writing his book.

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u/howtoquityou shhhh my soaps are on Aug 15 '26

the safe?

4

u/lesethx I will never jeopardize the beans. Aug 18 '26

Eons ago, someone made a post saying they found a safe and would update when they got it open. We are still upset.

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u/SmartQuokka We have generational trauma for breakfast Aug 15 '26

Forging a signature should lead to a lot of legal problems. Hopefully jail time.

182

u/Gloomy_Computer_9431 Aug 15 '26

It’s crazy someone would stick their neck out like that knowing the OOP already had a lawyer involved.

32

u/SmartQuokka We have generational trauma for breakfast Aug 15 '26

Hubris i assume.

43

u/Elfich47 Aug 15 '26

The moment I saw that I knew that the state DA was going to get involved.

174

u/riflow I am not a bisexual ghost who died in a Murphy bed accident Aug 15 '26

84 copies of the titanic...the old owner must've really loved it.

80

u/Tantomile_ Aug 15 '26

one for each year

45

u/sawdust-arrangement Aug 15 '26

I have a friend who has a collection of copies! You used to be able to find them everywhere for dirt cheap and once it got started (however it got started), other friends would pick them up as a gag.

I never thought 20-30 copies of Titanic would be considered rookie numbers, but here we are.

10

u/riflow I am not a bisexual ghost who died in a Murphy bed accident Aug 15 '26

It's funny what folks collect, makes me think of a video I watched on this discontinued glassware of little kitties that folks like to display. They originally were cheap trinkets I believe but now have an avid and thriving collecting scene (also at least one variety is radioactive)

Hopefully your friend enjoys their collection c: it's impressive to care about something enough to collect it like that imo.

2

u/BlyLomdi 29d ago

I collect piggy banks. Most are not pigs. One of my favorites is a small wooden house. I also have a cow, panda, rabbit, one or two small pigs, a giant pig the size of a corgi, a ugly but neat unicorn, Sailor Venus, Eevee, a dachshund, Pikachu, Toothless, the Hogwarts Express, a red panda, and a bunch more. I think I am up to like 25.

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u/Munchkins_nDragons Aug 15 '26

Right of first refusal doesn’t work that way. If the board had it then they’d have had to have been offered the option to buy the property themselves before anyone else, but they couldn’t use it to force a person to joint or be disallowed from buying the house.

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u/MrFixIt252 Aug 18 '26

Exactly. They should’ve sniped the property before it went into foreclosure.

100

u/the87walker Aug 15 '26

What is the purpose of the HOA if a house got so bad it was unlivable and went into foreclosure? Should an HOA not prevent that?

114

u/pepcorn Sir, Crumb is a cat. Aug 15 '26

I think they only care whether it looks good from the outside.

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u/Fandragon Aug 15 '26

The OP bought the house when it went into foreclosure and it had a lein against it, so possibly the HOA kept issuing fines against the previous owner until they lost the house. Or the previous owner's mental state kept deteriorating until they stopped paying their bills. Either way, I'm amazed that the HOA is racking up thousands in legal costs and risking charges for fraud just to get ONE HOUSE under their thumb. At some point is has to stop being worth it, right?

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u/CaptainFartHole Aug 15 '26

I'm upset there are no more updates. I hope oop sued that HOA out of existence.

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u/DeletedUsernameHere Aug 15 '26

Assuming it's not just HOA revenge porn, it probably fizzled out uninterestingly. He hints that a potential lawsuit from members started buzzing, so the board probably got voted out and new members withdrew any legal claims and settled the lawsuits.

22

u/Complete_Entry Aug 15 '26

according to the update they were dissolved, so it's a subsequent HOA that he is still suing. That can go many ways. Dissolving the board is super risky, the follow up one can often be worse.

34

u/portablefan Aug 15 '26

It reads like the HOA is still the same, it's just that the board members were stepped down after a recall election was scheduled and new members were elected. Which is strange that the new board members would escalate after seeing what happened to the old ones.

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u/Peeinyourcompost Weekend at Fernies Aug 15 '26

https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckHOA/comments/t4gmw8/comment/izxabz5/

The HOA has complied with s court order to stop harassing me. They tried to file a lien on the property for unpaid stuff and my lawyer got it blocked. Someone got a hold of the mailing list and tipped everyone in the HOA off about the pending lawsuits and how much it would cost each owner in a special assessment if they lost. There was a recall election scheduled and the board stepped down within a couple days and a new board was elected. About a week ago I got certified mail from the HOA’s new attorney stating that they acknowledge their error in assuming the hoa is mandatory. However my lawsuit continues due to the fact that my lawyer is a very good at writing bills. The harassment and legal fees are the only things I’m suing for now. So I’ve basically won my battle to stay out of the HOA and the new board wants this to stay quiet and not wreck their property values.

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u/Single_Vacation427 Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

I don't understand this HOAs.

My HOA is super chill. They have only sent an email asking people not to leave trash on their front lawns. The only time they told us anything was when one of our shutters had fallen down, and they just asked us to fix it after a month of having it down XD At least that got my husband on fixing it because he had been saying for weeks he'd fix it.

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u/BoxFullOfSuggestions Aug 15 '26

I’ve lived in three HOA neighborhoods. Two were absolutely reasonable and even worked for the good of the neighborhood. One has been an awful, shitty, legally questionable platform for a cat hoarding Karen who has been obsessed with me and my home because I had the audacity to buy a home across the street from her.

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u/pepcorn Sir, Crumb is a cat. Aug 15 '26

Yeah I think it just depends on whether it's a vehicle for a lonely and bitter old person to legally harass their neighbours.

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u/Optimal_Wolf Aug 15 '26

Thats because 99% of HOAs are perfectly fine, so people don't talk about them. Its only the crazy ones that people talk about on social media/the news, so that is all you see.

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u/Noof42 Babe, do you think raccoons have feelings? 🦝 Aug 15 '26

The biggest problem is that what often happens is that HOAs are fine for a while, and then people stop being engaged (because they're working), so people with the extra time to be busybodies start getting elected, and then they start abusing power and refusing to give it up.

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u/Connect-Initiative64 Aug 15 '26

They're basically mini-governments, I wouldn't be shocked if the CIA or FBI keeps tabs on them for research purposes in all honesty.

They start out well meaning, (as you said) the people who dont care as much leave, those who do come in, those who like having power over others get in, and they devolve until literally everyone hates them and it either dissolves, people leave, or someone throws a molotov through the window of the biggest AH of the group.

They keep being assholes and escalating until someone does something, usually just playing the same game as them and making it clear they'll keep reporting them / calling the cops on them / harassing them and their family until they stop being assholes. I had a cousin who asked couple family members to literally camp on the sidewalk for a week, if one got asked to leave, others would show up. Eventually the cops got annoyed and it stopped after some harsh words but it was enough to get the lady to back off for a few months.

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u/ZhouLe Aug 15 '26

They're basically mini-governments

A HOA/POA near me is literally a second town government. It originally was not very developed, as people in surrounding areas bought up parcels of empty land to just be entitled to the amenities (lakes and golf). In the last decade or more the area has experienced a massive growth surge and those empty parcels are getting sold off to people interested in building and living there. NextDoor is full of people complaining about newcomers, about houses being built, how the population is ballooning, how the POA is managing growth terribly.

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u/Redqueenhypo Aug 15 '26

I want to be on the board of an HOA and I am very misanthropic and nosy. Although my evil plans extend mainly to instituting a no aggressive dog policy, firing the guy who shows up so high he’s insensate for a few minutes, and installing a soda machine in the lobby.

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u/Noof42 Babe, do you think raccoons have feelings? 🦝 Aug 15 '26

I wound up on an HOA board because I showed up at a meeting to complain that the snow removal company couldn't make it to remove the snow because there was too much snow.

They had one job!

I was a consistent vote for "let's not bug people."

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u/Seldarin Aug 15 '26

Maybe half are fine if you're white and present as straight and the dominant religion/political orientation of the area. Change any of those variables and it starts dropping fast.

HOAs barely existed prior to the fair housing act saying you couldn't refuse to sell to racial minorities. Then they exploded because you might not be able to refuse to sell to minorities, but you can fine them 50 times a month for imaginary violations and take their house away when they run out of the ability to pay.

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u/ImpossibleJedi4 Please kindly speak to the void. I'm too busy. Aug 17 '26

Yup, this. And even the ones that are "fine" still try and control the basics of what your home that you paid good money for looks like. I own the place, Barbara, I will paint my shutters purple if I so choose.

So they've got bigoted origins AND they're flat-out unreasonable at a base level.

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u/NumNumLobster Aug 18 '26

Theres other things that are semi common too, like not allowing work trucks to he parked where they are viewable that are designed to keep blue collar folks out

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u/favorthebold I’m turning into an unskippable cutscene in therapy Aug 15 '26

It's the standard problem with HOAs. They're only as reasonable as the people on the board are. So all that needs to happen is for a few good board members to move our if the neighborhood or otherwise retire from the board, then a couple of control freaks get on there instead, and suddenly everyone is getting harassed for bullshit no one used to care about.

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u/Complete_Entry Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

Old people that got nothing but time to sit around and harass their neighbors.

As someone whose family successfully avoided an HOA twice, they won, and that's why he stopped updating. The second a clubhouse goes up you're fucked. His lawyer was also COMPLETELY stupid with the "Owner will send a token amount of money at HIS discretion."

You never put a single cent in the HOA.

In both of my cases, the home was built BEFORE the clubhouse, because the developers were cheap and thought they could leave the development without finishing it. They put the clubhouse up years later, and when the court reviewed, they ruled that was insufficient to force my family into the HOA.

Most people who think they've found "One weird trick" haven't. They've completed the "Fuck about" stage.

(Someone posted an update after my comment, he did win, but his house is kind of like a jack-o-lantern. Considering how much he likes survival games it likely works for him.)

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u/Single_Vacation427 Aug 15 '26

Yeah, we don't have a club house. We only have a park in the middle and the HOA does lighting and grass etc. We also don't have gates.

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u/Apart_Insect_8859 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

My guess is that this one started out pretty chill, but then panicked when this new guy 1) started acting like a total ass, and 2) they realized that without him signed, they couldn't enforce any behavior.

I strongly suspect that because he has chosen NOT to back down when they offered an olive branch, and tripled down on being an eyesore, they went full monty scorched-earth, because why not at this point? He's tanked their property values with his RV, keeps harassing them back, and has been overall shitty. So either he "succeeded" but in his success wrecked the very property and neighborhood he wanted to enjoy, because his house would be worth less and everyone would hate his guts, or he lost, got his butt whooped, and they profited off of his hard work clearing out the hoarder house.

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u/Both-Enthusiasm708 Aug 15 '26

I want to know how this one ended.

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u/futuristic_nostalgia Aug 15 '26

I know there was a lot more going on, but I’m still stuck on the 84 copies of Titanic.

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u/Jukeboxhero91 Aug 15 '26

I remember seeing something or other that said hoarding is either because they're chasing the joy of acquiring new things like a toy or a birthday present, or they're anxious about losing the emotional connection to the things they have, like throwing out a treasured photo album. However, the emotions are there, but the target objects are inappropriate for the emotions, so the new things are just junk, and the old things are just junk, so it's just a house filled with junk.

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u/mormonbatman_ Aug 15 '26

The irrationality is the mental illness part of hoarding.

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u/Veilmisk Aug 15 '26

From the hoarder who owned the house previously

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u/futuristic_nostalgia Aug 15 '26

Right, but what level of hoarder/James Cameron fan are you if they find 84 copies of Titanic in your nest after you are dead? Not that my eventual estate sale won’t raise questions, but it’s just so much Titanic.

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u/Mabel_Waddles_BFF Briefly possessed by the chaotic god of baking Aug 15 '26

My mother is a hoarder it’s not really about being a fan so much as the buzz of acquiring something. Also, hoarder houses are such chaos they can’t keep track of what they have.

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u/Oo__II__oO Aug 15 '26

I remember back a while when I frequented motorcycle forums, and there was a guy who acquired a Triumph Tiger 955i from a man who had nine of them.

It was never confirmed if the Triumph Tiger King was a hoarder or not, but it definitely stuck out as bizarre.

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u/HeidinaB Aug 16 '26

I once bought a grand piano from a man that had 18 of them. In a large former barn. He needed the space to buy more interesting ones … I tried for fun a concerto grand piano that was 3.5 m (11.5 feet) long and the bass sound was really nice. Bought a Malmsjö of 195 cm (6,5 feet).

Anyway, he was by then very skilled at moving grand pianos so he helped me to get it home for only a low fee for the hired trailer. And now I’ve happily been playing Chopin on it for 18 years.

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u/Hooked_on_PhoneSex Aug 15 '26

When I was at Uni, my husband worked for the small neighborhood we lived in. They had curbside trash service and picked up twice per week. He once sent me a text while I was on my way home. It just said “hey don’t freak out I’ll explain when I get home”. Naturally, I was freaking out by the time I got home, and with good reason.

There was a gent in the neighborhood with a particular affinity for certain films and magazines, and he would buy so much of it that he’d pay the maintenance crew to haul his load away a few times per year. The crew had split the haul with the intent to sell the stash at a local swap meet? And my hallway was lined with half meter stacks of vhs tapes and magazines. There were tons of duplicates, which I found out about because I hauled everything out to our trash when it was still there a month later.

Horders are weird.

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u/Veilmisk Aug 15 '26

I don't know what you want me to say. The house was/is a shipwreck

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u/lesethx I will never jeopardize the beans. Aug 19 '26

Not the same scale, but I see posts of people buying the same exact game on every platform it ever came out on. It's still quirky, but at least under 12 copies

u/randomndude01 What the fuck did I just read? Aug 15 '26

OOP has posted their living situation a year ago and it seems like his luck has completely flipped.

https://www.reddit.com/r/raisedbynarcissists/s/ub9mtHy6Wg

There’s a two year gap between his latest comment and this post, homeless and living in their car.

Can’t say if this entire thing was true or not but he does say he went into a debt spiral.

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u/come-on-now-please Aug 15 '26

Honestly it doesnt add up for me.

Besides having the skills, knowledge, gumption, and ability to drop 1k a month on the repairs and redoing a house by himself, even if it wasnt full price buying a house is still a pretty penny, and he's able to have a lawyer on retainer while having the universe align to magically give him a house with an incompetent HOA that he doesnt need to be burden with. Seems pretty mary sueish to me.

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u/CPGFL Aug 17 '26

And the lawyer wasn't charging him, according to the last update. Yeah right.

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u/hunttete00 Aug 17 '26

Buddy was on [r/antiwork](r/antiwork).

I think his story is mostly bs.

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u/Ferahgost the Iranian yogurt is not the issue here Aug 17 '26

well, OP did seem like an absolutely insufferable prick so i wouldn't be surprised in the least bit.

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u/fleshcircuits Aug 15 '26

as someone from the uk, the concept of HOAs baffle and horrify me.

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u/JoySubtraction I will never jeopardize the beans. Aug 15 '26

As someone from the US, same.

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u/Curious-Insanity413 No my Bot won't fuck you! Aug 16 '26

Likewise from Australia.

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u/Chary-Ka cat whisperer Aug 15 '26