# HOA horror story **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217 "2024-03-22T19:04:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/281 "2025-07-20T06:17:15Z")
Here is another one: > It started with a few violation notices from The Trowbridge Company Inc., the firm managing her community. First, it was dry grass. Then a minor dent in her garage door — barely visible from the street. After that, it was mildew on her mailbox, which she said was caused by moisture from a nearby tree. > > The final straw was a cargo van parked in her driveway, not unlike several others seen in the neighborhood. > > “If you drive around my neighborhood, you’ll see there’s plenty of yards not up to par,” Green said. > > The HOA took Green to court in Hillsborough County. Green represented herself and provided photos and explanations for each violation. Still, the judge wasn’t convinced. **At a hearing last summer, she was given an ultimatum: fix the issues within 30 days or face jail time**. > **[Florida woman jailed after her HOA took her to court — why you should never...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-woman-jailed-her-hoa-232000209.html)** > > Brown grass, orange jumpsuit. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/282 "2025-07-20T12:31:26Z")
One of the bugaboos of FL law is “selective enforcement”. A COA / HOA can be quite forceful in demanding owners comply with the deed restrictions they agreed to. But they damned sure need to be equally aggressive with everyone. Picking on unit 123 while ignoring the problems over at unit 456 can result in a very expensive lawsuit in return. And pretty well destroy the respect for the rules from most of your residents. With chaotic to catastrophic results. I wonder how much that issue is present here, and how well it was articulated? A common problem with people representing themselves in court is they don’t understand that the court is there to decide the specific question set forth in the complaint according to fairly narrow guidelines. Not to resolve the entirety of the larger situation. So they mostly end up arguing things that might well be true, might well be relevant to the larger situation, but are, legally speaking irrelevant to the topic at issue. Then they lose and are duly mystified. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/283 "2025-07-20T13:14:19Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > It is literally a contract. It is regulated by contract law. Same as all contracts. It’s a housing issue, which is and always has been a special case. Historically speaking, housing law predates contract law. Home rental contracts are regulated. Residential real estate sales contracts are regulated. Why shouldn’t HOA also be regulated? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/284 "2025-07-20T13:28:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Home rental contracts are regulated. Residential real estate sales contracts are regulated. Why shouldn’t HOA also be regulated? Powerful lobbying group: > **[Community Associations Institute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Associations_Institute)** > > The Community Associations Institute (CAI) is an organization that represents homeowners, condominiums, and other community associations around the world. Based in Falls Church, Virginia in the United States, the CAI has more than 60 chapters of condominium and homeowner associations with over 45,000 members worldwide. The CAI provides education and resources to help the volunteer leaders and boards that govern community associations. It also advocates for laws and regulations that be Founded in ... Hint: they really _don’t_ represent _homeowners._ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/285 "2025-07-20T14:02:53Z")
I endorse the theory that certain HOAs are especially nasty because the people who run them have gotten disproportionately intoxicated with petty power. Sort of like that old saw about fights in academia being vicious because the stakes are so small. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/286 "2025-07-20T14:04:23Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Home rental contracts are regulated. Residential real estate sales contracts are regulated. Why shouldn’t HOA also be regulated? What exactly do you mean by home rental and real estate sales contracts being regulated by something other than contract law ? Or are you talking about something different , such as required discosures about lead paint, and known issues with the roof, plumbing etc? Which as far as I know also apply to a house/unit in a condo or homeowner’s association. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/287 "2025-07-20T14:27:23Z")
There are lots of provisions that even if they are included in residential rental contracts would be void or unenforceable. Tenants get all kinds of help fighting these. If you want to fight an HOA, you’re likely paying both your legal fees and theirs. I’ve been a member of two HOAs and a board member on a third (in three different states) I’ve seen both sides of the equation. Bad homeowner behavior and incredibly arrogant, vindictive and discriminatory behavior by boards and management companies. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/288 "2025-07-20T14:29:26Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Hint: they really _don’t_ represent _homeowners._ Really? I live in an HOA and we have yearly elections to the HOA board which are all from residents in the building. Basically a tiny democracy. How is it that they do not represent homeowners? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/289 "2025-07-20T14:48:53Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > There are lots of provisions that even if they are included in residential rental contracts would be void or unenforceable. If @Alessan had said rental contracts ( which I believe are the same thing as a lease) are regulated, I wouldn’t have any questions. There are loads of issues - security deposits, the ability to have guests or roommates, required notice for a rent increase , even the obligation for a landlord to provide a written receipt for rent that the government might regulate in a landlord-tenant relationship. But those issues in particular don’t apply to real estate sales whether they are in an HOA or not , so I’m not sure what he’s talking about - even a requirement that real estate contracts must be in writing to be enforceable is part of contract law. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/290 "2025-07-20T14:52:41Z")
In the same way that – despite the fact that Law Enforcement Officers are _also_ citizens, and sometimes live in the communities that they serve – their Unions really aren’t looking out for the interests of the community at large. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/291 "2025-07-21T05:09:49Z")
Remember, HOAs are governed by state law. As in, these stories vary widely by state. In most states HOAs have some power to take civil action to enforce a contract, which is what the written rules are. The problem is that if the HOA doesn’t enforce a given rule consistently, the rule becomes unenforceable at all. Letting small violations get by means that big ones can’t be stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217/292 "2025-07-24T01:29:18Z")
From the Wikipedia link on the Community Associations Institute: > [@](#): > > According to Evan McKenzie, they are dominated by lawyers and property managers that have shaped legislative and [judicial](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_law) policy-making to prevent meaningful regulation of CID\* activity[[6]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Associations_Institute#cite_note-6) and help keep the discourse on such matters largely private. \*CID = Common Interest Development, another term for HOAs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hoa-horror-story/999217.md?page=14)