20 Times People Were Driven To Take Petty Revenge On Their HOA

Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) can often be a source of frustration for residents, imposing strict rules that dictate everything from lawn maintenance to paint colours. Many find these regulations overly controlling and sometimes downright absurd, leading to tension between neighbours and the governing bodies. In response, some homeowners have decided to take matters into their own hands by employing amusing acts of petty revenge that are as humorous as they are harmless. From turning their lawns into whimsical art installations to creating tongue-in-cheek signs that playfully mock the HOA’s rules, these clever antics serve as a lighthearted way for residents to express their discontent while bringing a little laughter into the neighbourhood.

#1 My mother in-law’s HOA was run by a retiree who had nothing to do but get in everyone’s business all day. He fined people for leaving their trash can out 10 minutes too long and other rediculous things.

Image source: GadreelsSword, Vanessa Garcia / pexels (not the actual photo)

The community became so irate they staged a coup. They showed up and forced a vote for a new HOA president (selected before hand). The moment he was voted in, he raised a proposition to abolish the HOA. Everyone voted yes and the HOA was no more.

#2 I’m single and own two vehicles. The per unit limit. The one I drive the most I keep parked in my reserved space and the other in a remote lot.

Image source: Bill Fletcher, Jonathan Reynaga / pexels (not the actual photo)

I work nights and one day shortly after going to bed there was a persistent knocking on my door. (I had disabled the doorbell) finally when it was obvious they where not going away I went to the door and the property manager was there holding a clipboard and wanted me to sign over my proxy for the upcoming election. Instead he got an earful and that is when the harassment began.

Several months go by and my brother asked to borrow my pickup truck, the vehicle parked in the remote lot. When I got home that morning I went to the lot an my truck had a towing sticker on the window. I removed the sticker, drove to the corner to gas it up and ran the truck through the wash. Returned it to the lot and went to bed.

A few hours later my phone rings and it’s my brother asking where the truck is.

the rule is a vehicle not moved in 12 days is considered inoperative and subject to being towed. I honestly do not remember how long it had been since I last moved it to warrant the sticker in the first place but it had been moved that day and he towed it anyway.

So after recovering my truck and paying the fees I no longer parked in the remote lot. I parked next to the property manager’s reserved spot. And everyday I would turn it around in the space and take a picture. after 11 days of this he towed it again.

The association paid me back for both tows plus $1000 and we got a new property manager.

#3 Not me but a friend. They lived in an HOA where the people on the board had their own little clique that could do anything they wanted but, they would threaten and sue anyone else who tried to do the same thing.

Image source: Nathan Hayes, KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA / pexels (not the actual photo)

One day, while in the process of trying to have some work done on their home, one of the HOA board members came by and put a stop work order on the property (in this particular instance the work was inside of the home so the HOA had no say in the matter but this board member decided that they didn’t like the construction noise and they wanted to stop it). By this time my friend had been collecting evidence of harassment and proof of inequitable behaviors (do as we say, not as we do) by the board. So they took them to court and sued the HOA. When they won the order, my friend requested that as part of the settlement, that the board members should be required to pay the fines out of their own pocket and not be allowed to use the HOA funds or HOA insurance to cover the costs and restitution that was won and that the board members must recuse themselves from their positions. Because my friend proved that the Board Members were acting outside of the HOA bylaws and had been abusing their position of power, the judge agreed and enforced in the ruling that the board members must pay out of their own pockets. Needless to say, all of them ended up selling their homes and moving out of the neighborhood after judgement was issued. The new HOA board voted to disband the HOA.

#4 The story as I was told by someone personally involved:

Image source: Richard Francis White, Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo)

A piece of land was purchased by developers next to a farm and houses were built. When the houses were sold, an HOA was formed. The HOA started harassing the farmer demanding he join the HOA and follow the HOA’s rules. They even attempted to fine the farmer for violating the rules of the HOA, even though the farmer never joined the HOA.

The HOA decided to install an in-ground swimming pool and a playground/picnic area for the use of the HOA’s residents next to the farmer’s land. Annoyed by the constant harassment from the HOA, the farmer moved the pens where he kept his pigs right to the edge of his property, directly on the border with the HOA’s recreation area. So when the HOA’s residents wanted to use their brand new swimming pool and the wind shifted, they had to deal with the smell of approximately 100 pigs.

#5 I read of a fam who was mad the HOA would not approve their preferred color of house paint. Apparently there were 5 or 6 approved colors. Period. So they painted the house striped in all the approved colors.

Image source: throwawayshirt, Azizi Co / pexels (not the actual photo)

#6 I joined it. I owned a townhome from 2003 until 2018 and lived in it until 2009, renting it out after that. The dues were increasing every year, and the old biddies on the board were in the habit of sending violations to those they didnt like for things that werent even mentioned in the cc&r’s.

Image source: Robert Stainbrook, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)

Around 2007 i was approached by a few other owners who were as fed up as i was when the dues suddenly increased 20% with no justification. The board of directors in that association was comprised of seven people, 3 of whom had been on the board since the construction of the coomplex in 1972. Four of us canvassed all the owners and promised if we were voted in to change things for the better. We agreed that no matter what when the sh*t hit the fan that we would bind together in solidarity. The three originals were in the middle of their terms so the board became 4 against 3 in every situation that mattered. Finally there was a special meeting called to choose exterior paint colors. Four of us steered the meeting to the annual budget approval and cut the spending and dues substantially. We fired the property management company also. One of our little group had a real head for mumbers and fine print. She became the treasurer. We stuck together. Ultimately we found a few others that shared our vision. I eventually was chosen president, a position i held until i sold the unit. Our owners were much happier as a whole after those changes. We managed to avoud any increase in dues for four more years, and then they were small, cost of living amounts.

If you dont like the way things are being run, get involved and change it. Finding a good manager is key. We found on we liked and when she left her company for a better job, we hired the new company with the stipulation that if for any reason she was no longer to be our manager, we could option out of our contract with no penalty.

It’s a task that is not enjoyable. You own your property. If it’s not to your liking, change it until it is.

#7 HOA in California tried to limit lights and decorations to December 1st through December 31st. Our multi-ethnic, multi-religious complex went balls to the wall – Hanukkah, Halloween/Dia de los Muertos, Eid, Easter, Holi, Solstice…lights everywhere, people were getting inflatables, I put a light-up tinsel polar bear on my roof. It was really awesome. I’ve never been so proud to be part of the melting pot.

Image source: FixergirlAK, James Wheeler / pexels (not the actual photo)

#8 I pressed trespassing charges. I had a compost bin against the house. The only way the Karen in charge of the HOA could have see it was to go onto my property. She said something about having an unauthorized structure.

Image source:  Nowaydudes, Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo)

What are you talking about, Karen? Against the back of your house. You mean the 4 pallets I screwed together? Yes, take it down immediately. Eff of, Karen. She sent me an “official” letter which I took to a lawyer. So we sent a cop to her place to give her a citation for trespassing. Got her name in the local paper (back when local newspapers were a thing) for being anti environment because she was against compost bins, she rather see it all in landfills. Things like that. She ended up backing off.

#9 I was told I couldn’t store my sawhorses on my balcony. I bought a used coffee table, used said sawhorses when cutting off the legs, and placed the legless table on top of the sawhorses. Now they’re a “table” that doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing and draws more attention than two stacked sawhorses. Best $10 I’ve spent in a while.

Image source: yakcmnoslen, Ksenia Chernaya / pexels (not the actual photo)

#10 Not exactly revenge, but we got a dinger notice about a few bald spots in our lawn. The spots we get always fill themselves in once the summer temps go up enough so I didn’t worry about it.

Image source: Elizabeth George, Scott Webb / pexels (not the actual photo)

What I did do, because it was such a petty complaint, was to go to the HOA-maintained clubhouse and took pictures of its many bald spots….the kind that don’t fill themselves in (different grass, different lighting, etc). I sent the photos in an email telling them that I’d fix mine when they fix theirs (knowing full well that my grass would be all filled in within a month). All HOAs need to have a petty meter. Sigh.

#11 Not me, but my friend lives in an HOA and they have all kinds of weird rules. All cars must be in the garage unless being loaded or unloaded and no cars in the yard or parked in the street which means that if you have two cars you can’t have anymore visitors than can park in the driveway. Forget big family holidays or Super Bowl parties.

Image source: Herbert Shimmelfinney, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)

She is a biker with her husband and her having their own Goldwing motorcycle. She decided to put their rules to a challenge and invited everyone she knew from their riding club to come over for a cook out pool party and advised them all to ride their bikes for parking space. The HOA rules specifically said cars, not pickup trucks or motorcycles or vans or motorhomes for that matter. It was always assumed that the intent was to include all types of motorized vehicles, but not specifically ever defined as such. Sure enough, 20 motorcycles ended up parked in the driveway and in the yard and the HOA had a fricken fit. They tried to send her a citation and a fine. The whole thing ended up in court and dismissed. Apparently the judge said something to the effect that the language is specific about cars and not ambiguous enough or broadly defined as motorized vehicles to be a violation. I don’t know if the rules were ever changed, but the HOA ended up paying for her lawyer and any fees associated.

#12 Not really savage, but entertaining, to me at least.

Image source:  John Gluth, Laker / pexels (not the actual photo)

Got into an argument with the HOA president over some flowers my wife and I had planted – they said I needed the board’s permission to plant flowers, per the CC&Rs. I got my copy of the CC&Rs and showed them where it said I had to secure their permission to plant trees or large shrubs. I asked if annuals were trees? No? How about large shrubs? No? Get off my 1/114th undivided interest in the lawn.

Then, I studied the CC&Rs, and noticed that, per the rules, people were not permitted to ride bicycles, tricycles, skates, skateboards or scooters around the grounds.

Nothing about unicycles. So I went to my folks place, and got my old unicycle out of the garage and rode it all over the common areas for a couple of months until we sold/moved. I believe this could be categorized as malicious compliance.

Next place, no HOA – mostly good, but…there were a couple of things where an HOA would’ve been nice there. But that’s another story.

#13 My parents lived in an HOA area. The HOA was called the Art Jury then, and had a lot of power respecting things like roofing materials, exterior finishes, paint colours and the like. The area was a sort of “Spanish colonial” looking area (red clay tiled roofs and stucco’d houses painted white, cream, pale gold, pale tan and the like).

Image source: Laurie Keller, Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo)

A neighbour of theirs wanted to paint the exterior of his house a pale blue. He submitted his colour and was turned down. He had a careful read of the rules and discovered that he could resubmit up to three colour chips, but the Art Jury, having refused him once, was legally obliged to select one of the three resubmitted colours. So he submitted a black and a vivid purple chip, along with a pale blue chip almost identical to the one the jury had rejected. The jury had little choice but to okay the pale blue.

#14 My parents got a nasty letter one year about how chickens couldn’t live in our yard. We keep it trimmed, it’s a nice suburban lawn. My parents bought plastic chicken and stuck them in the lawn

Image source:  gonzoantifa, Iulian Sandu / pexels (not the actual photo)

#15 A friend of mine was forced to purchase a $200 mailbox from the HOA president despite having built an exact duplicate.

Image source: Colby, Jack & Sue Drafahl / pexels (not the actual photo)

So he poked around and learned that he could legally paint his house any color he wanted. He chose Blue and Orange (the colors of the rival football team)

It was such an eyesore it tanked housing prices by 10% for everyone on the street.

#16 A friend owned a landscaping company and after a number of problems with his HOA he got mad when they told him the verity of grass in his lawn was the wrong type.

Image source: Anned, Sinitta Leunen / pexels (not the actual photo)

he did lawns for a living and knew he had seeded his lawn with the right type of grass and the HOA board knew nothing about grass and he was the only person with the right type of grass listed in the HOA rules. he got mad and one dark and foggy night drove to each HOA board members homes and sprayed herbicide across their lawns. they went nuts and had to hire a landscaper to fix their yards.

They told the landscaper what type of grass they needed to plant by the HOA RULES and he did. Only to find there lawns did not match the rest of the HOA and they had no idea why.

the HOA board looked like fools when they found out they were wrong.

#17 Our hoa “Karen” kept b***hing about me parking in a firelane. No one else cares and in no way was it blocking access to a fire hydrant or any houses. I rented a used fire truck and parked in said fire lane. “Karen” lost her mind. Even the police laughed…where else does a fire truck park!

Image source: Ok_Side2009, Clément Proust / pexels (not the actual photo)

#18 The best revenge I heard of was about a guy who was forced out of a neighborhood for keeping homing pigeons. He sold, but didn’t take the pigeons with him. So the pigeons’ descendants continue to torment the neighborhood to this day.

Image source: Steven Higbee, feslegenli rotalar / pexels (not the actual photo)

#19 A group of us ran as a slate of officers and got ourselves elected to the board.

Image source:  Jay H. Link, Haikal Omar / pexels (not the actual photo)

Our board had three officers and all were elected annually and the same group had been on the board for several years. They had a sweetheart deal with a management company and too much money was being spent on management fees and the amenity infrastructure was not being maintained properly. For three months prior to our January meeting we very quietly canvassed the neighborhood gathering support as well as proxies and at the January meeting well over 100 homeowners showed up and we took over the board. We immediately initiated an audit and we were able to secure the return of some funds from the management company and then terminated their contract for cause.

People often forget that the HOA is the homeowners and not some foreign entity. If taking control back into the citizens hands is revenge then I suppose we got revenge.

#20 Nothing direct or intentional, but when I sold a condo because I was fed up with the HOA, I ended up selling to a man from Albania who was one of the biggest jerks I have even met. In any setting, he strove to be the Alpha Male and treated women like servants. I was delighted to close the sale knowing that he would never give in to HOA rules and would drive them crazy.

Image source: Charles Stuart, Thirdman / pexels (not the actual photo)