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LaserRanger_McStebb t1_jaccjth wrote

Reply to comment by TheGalator in [WP] You bought a house for insanely cheap, only to find it haunted by an ancient horror. After years of stubborn conflict, you have declared a truce to jointly battle a far greater evil: the local HOA. by ObsessiveAboutCats

Unfortunately they're real. They're most common in North America/the U.S.

Basically it's a group of stuck-up property investors masquerading as homeowners that have banded together and formed a cult tiny local government to enforce certain rules in the name of keeping property values high in their neighborhood.

Because (at least in America) home values are based largely on "comps", that is, comparable homes that have sold recently, keeping the value of all the homes in your neighborhood high is the same as keeping the value of your own home high.

So they make people bend backwards to follow all these idiotic rules, all so they can make sure their property stays as valuable as possible...

As you can imagine, this attracts some of the most sociopathic people you'll ever meet.

Read some more horror stories from r/FuckHOA

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TheGalator t1_jacdm2w wrote

...and they have legal authority? What happens if u do not do it? U get sent to jail?

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LaserRanger_McStebb t1_jace5t3 wrote

No, but if you break their arbitrary rules they have the authority to fine you. And if you don't pay the fines, some even have the authority to foreclose on your property until you pay up. If you don't pay up when you're foreclosed on, you're forced out of the house (just like with a normal mortgage default foreclosure)

They're an evil invention and I'll do whatever it takes to never live in one.

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BethsMagickMoment t1_jadhzr6 wrote

You can get hefty fines and penalties for not abiding by these stupid laws like for example if you rake your leaves and they are picked up by a tree truck or something like that then they will not pick up your leaves if they are not X amount of feet from the mail box or driveway or the wind blows them into the road. You can’t plant trees in the ground, they have to be in huge pots but not on the patio or and it gets stranger like having to spend money on their neighborhood restaurants or facilities in addition to your dues and jumping through the rest of their hoops. No parking, not letting your dog out between certain times of the day and night, no packages left on your porch or door overnight etc and they actually have people driving around to enforce their stupid rules.

One of the reasons is the damn power it gives them. I housesat for my boss for two weeks and she got a fine because I put her trash bins out before I went to bed because I had to go to work early and I didn’t realize that I had to wait until 5:00am to set them out. She sold her house less than a year later!

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