Harassing the HOA
My mother’s HOA, which was for a community of only 41 homes, had some pretty interesting characters in it.
About ten years into living in this small community, my mother decided to run for their board to try to get some community improvements done and to take her turn in a board position like most long-term residents. She was elected president of the board.
There was an older family in the neighborhood that included a husband, a wife, and their near middle-aged daughter. They were well known for being extremely nasty and bossy. The wife thought that although she wasn’t on the HOA board, she got to determine how the dues were spent.
She claimed that she knew the community money wasn’t being saved or spent properly and that she could make up whatever rules for the community and her family that she wanted to.
Like most HOAs, ours had a standard for how front yards looked, what could be planted in them, limits on things such as the colors of the house, doors, and trim, and what you could add to the house and yard.
This family took water from the neighbors by rerouting their drip hoses and also put in fake flowers and yard decor. When they were caught having messed with the drip hoses, they trashed the waterline and tried to blame it on the neighbors they were pilfering from.
They were harassing the board, the community, and their closest neighbors in person, by phone, and by mail. They stored trash in their yard and planted invasive, unapproved species of plants.
To top it off, this family hadn’t made one HOA payment and owed about $7,000 in dues, late fees, fines, etc. When the board found out, they banned them from attending meetings. That did not go over well.
As a result, the wife began harassing my mom, who was President of the HOA board. The woman then served my mother with a summons and notice of complaint. Once we read the notice and calmed down, I decided to do some research.
While the company firm, letterhead, and case information led to a real case, it turned out that it wasn’t a case against my mom. It was a case against the woman by her former neighbors from the community she’d lived in before.
She had taken the letter, scanned it into a computer, edited the information to make it seem like the case was filed against my mom and to match the circumstances, and had it reprinted in color onto fancy stationery.
She had even traced over the lawyer’s signature in pen very carefully, so it looked like a proper signature. Needless to say, the firm was not thrilled when we called them and told them what this woman had done.
Story credit: Reddit