I feel bad for these folks.

My building’s HOA kicks ass, but admittedly, the people we elected to it are very ‘live and let live’.

I get pissy about mine sometimes but reading these stories… Holy shit.

They overcharge a lot and pass the profits to their friends.

I got a $100 fine because the curtains I decorated my bedroom with were visible to the outside and not an approved color.

Never again.

deleted by creator

That it was in a state of total chaos: the management company wasn’t doing their job, one of the members wasn’t paying his fees (only 3 units so it was a major hit), and I found out we didn’t have any insurance. I ended up taking over, got rid of the shitty management company, sued the delinquent member, evicted one of his tenants (drug addicts that left the doors unlocked and would set off the building smoke detectors all the time), and sold/moved once the dust settled.

My HOA is badass because it’s really just one paranoid nice lady who lets literally anyone know if a trunk is open or if someone suspicious entered, etc. I’d complain about privacy but who the fuck hangs out in hallways?

But they had a nightmare prior to me moving here. Long story short, the former board member ran a slip & fall legal case against herself which paid out to the tune of 4 million. The insurance company refused to fight it (despite the lack of evidence) and instead settled immediately, recouping their costs by raising the building’s costs four fold.

This resulted in high HOA fees while that lady just fucking bought a house and left. Her sister sticks around, though, and on multiple occasions, stolen cars have been in our garage in their spot or in the guest spot as their “guest”.

Now that I said the last part, that’s still happening and I change my answer to that also being my nightmare HOA situation. Lol

Wouldn’t let me rent when the housing crash hit and I couldn’t afford the place, wouldn’t let me have friends over late at night because they thought my d&d group were a bunch of drug dealers. All around a miserable experience.

I feel like mines the opposite. I pay $20/mo and we get access to a huge and well taken care of community pool, park, and basketball court. They also host community parties for each holiday that you can go to. They certainly allow you to get your $20 worth. Idk how they do it.

When it comes to architectural control, they’re pretty lax. We’ve got some vibrant and eclectic houses, but they are well put together. I haven’t found anything yet they won’t approve if you stay within a standard palette offering when it comes to shingles, siding etc. But some of these colors are yellows and reds so it’s not all boring either.

They also don’t allow signage in the yard to be displayed. So political signs etc will get you a violation. But it’s just a “remove by x date” and there’s no penalty if you do. I don’t mind this rule.

We do have to keep grass cut to an extent, but my neighbors cut it once a month at most and it’s usually a non issue. Honestly, other than safety things I’ve not seen anything crazy in mine. The two lady’s that operate it are super nice.

I’ve lived in 3 and had the luxury of them being fantastic and doing more than I expected, above and beyond and never being more than like…$50/mo. Included gym and pool access and stuff.

BUT, I have a family member who lives in one where basically everybody got hit with a roof repair bill of $30k partly due to previous management embezzlement, and it ended up being taken to the courts and crap and eventually got reduced but not eliminated. I think like half the residents sold and left in the year following.

So…it can be a crapshoot but I hear more stories that are bad than good.

I lived in a failed HOA in California, 8 unit condo, slipped thru the cracks. We shared a water bill so that was getting turned off a lot. We had a large leak that we ignored for years until we couldn’t and had to collect $500 from each dirtbag to get it fixed. 3 of us cared, the others I hope have a painful demise.

No nightmares… $100/yr and it mostly goes to landscaping at the entrance and repairing the wall when cars drive into it.

mine went after a guy for adding insulation to the attic.

About 2014, HOA decided to do some upgrade to our water main coming from the street. The guy came out with a weedeater and damaged my mailbox post. I reported it to the board and they said they would take care of it. Two weeks later I got a violation in the mail for damaged mailbox post. I went to the board website and they told me I had to repair it or face a fine. Right about this time the builder stepped down and handed the HOA to an attorneys office to manage. I reached out to the attorney to forward them the first message and ask them to repair my mailbox post and they said they would send someone out. About a month later I got a notice from the HOA that said this was my third warning (it was my second) and they were going to put a lein on my house if I didn’t pay the fine, fix the mailbox post, and now pay a separate fee to the attorneys office since they were managing it.

I sent the HOA and the attorneys office copies of both of their messages saying they would handle it with a picture of my damaged mailbox post. Three months later, we get the yearly Financials from the board and the attorneys office charged the HOA $1,800 to put a $500 lein on the title of my home that we had paid off after trying to go through my previous mortgage holder’s legal department to try to get the fine out of my escrow that no longer existed.

We sold the house with a damaged mailbox post last year. Our new neighborhood has no HOA.

They don’t allow privacy fences. Only shitty metal picket fences you can see through. Can’t go outside without everyone on the street all up in your business and everyone’s fucking dogs are constantly barking at each other and getting loose because their fence isn’t tall enough to keep them from jumping it.