Susan’s Horrendous HOA
Homeowner’s associations. What good do they provide? Sure, some neighborhoods’ HOAs are worthwhile. They can provide access to valuable amenities, help keep up the neighborhood’s appearance, and maintain property values. However, some homeowners would argue that living in an HOA neighborhood is totally insufferable! Between tyrannical HOA leaders and expensive fees, it is no wonder why some residents despise neighborhood organizations of the like. In fact, nobody has more experience with horrid HOAs than our friend and dedicated mother of two, “Susan.”
When Susan first moved into her new home with her two young children, there was a neighborhood HOA. Initially, Susan didn’t think anything of the HOA, so she shrugged the organization off. After all, the HOA had to benefit the neighborhood in some way, right? Wrong!
After months of expert sleuthing, Susan discovered her neighborhood’s HOA didn’t give back to the community in the slightest. The organization didn’t clean the neighborhood, maintain landscaping, or ensure the neighborhood remained secure. Susan couldn’t find one thing the HOA did correctly. Been there, done that, Susan!
Susan knew something in her neighborhood needed to change. She refused to stand by while her neighbors got scammed by a terrible organization. As an act of revenge, Susan crafted an ingenious plan to singlehandedly take down her neighborhood’s HOA and teach the greedy leaders once and for all. Would Susan’s neighborhood finally have a chance at freedom without a horrible HOA looming over them?
Grab a snack and get cozy, because it’s about to get real!
~
Lies Upon Dirty Lies
Susan had two children. Her oldest child had just turned two years old, and her youngest was a newborn. Shortly after her youngest child was born, she moved into a neighborhood with an HOA. Susan knew HOAs could have bad reputations, however, she was excited to move into her new home. Two children meant upgrading to a family-sized home, and Susan was ecstatic to move into a home where her children could make lifelong memories. Susan figured if she looked past the organization, she could find more positives to living in the neighborhood than negatives. We love an optimist!
As far as Susan was aware, the neighborhood’s HOA collected fees from residents in exchange for services. The services were typical for an HOA to perform, such as snow removal, landscaping, and trash pickup. Even though the HOA fees were relatively hefty, Susan was willing to pay them for the sake of living in a clean and safe neighborhood. After all, the HOA did clear the snow from the roads in the winter, and they did regularly collect trash each week. This meant the HOA had to be doing something correctly, right?
Ha! If you thought right, you’re wrong! What would be a horrible HOA story without a sketchy and scamming organization?
To Susan’s surprise, she discovered the HOA didn’t control neighborhood maintenance. Well, who was making her neighborhood sparkly clean, then? The city, of course! The city controlled the snow plows and garbage trucks that maintained Susan’s neighborhood, not the HOA. The HOA claimed they cleaned the neighborhood purely for the illusion of effort. If the organization could make it appear as if they truly cared for the neighborhood, residents would be more willing to pay their HOA fees.
Unfortunately, the HOA leader’s lousy lies didn’t stop at snow removal and trash collection. Soon, Susan would find out that the HOAs web of lies was more complex than she had ever imagined.
~
The Lousy Landscape Job
One summer, the HOA planned to plant trees throughout Susan’s neighborhood. Susan was pleased with the thought of making her neighborhood a greener community but quickly became disappointed when she discovered the HOAs selfish ulterior motive.
The company the HOA hired to landscape the neighborhood and plant new trees was owned by the son of one of the HOA leaders. Susan knew the HOAs choice of landscaping hiring was not just a matter of coincidence, and the trees would be the beginning of the end for the once long-reigning HOA.
I would have been angry, too. There’s nothing worse than an unfair HOA family hierarchy!
When the landscaping company began planning to plant trees throughout the neighborhood, Susan’s mother, “Fran,” happened to be visiting her home. While Fran initially came to her daughter’s house to visit with her two grandchildren, she couldn’t help but notice the landscaping efforts outside. You see, Fran was passionate about botany, and she was a certified master gardener.
As Fran intently watched the landscapers through the windows of Susan’s home, the men working simply dropped the saplings on the grass medians in the street. The workers didn’t dare bother to take the sapling roots out of their plastic bags, either. There wasn’t a single hole dug or cut, just bagged saplings lying in the grass like any old pathetic and worthless stick.
As if the situation wasn’t already bad enough, the workers and HOA allowed the saplings to sit outside in their bags all night. Throughout the day, nobody from the landscaping company came to the neighborhood to actually do their job and plant the trees correctly. No way! Not on Susan and plant fanatic Fran’s watch!
In passing, Fran mumbled, “Those poor trees are going to die if they don’t get planted in soil soon.”
Then, something spectacular clicked in Susan’s mind.
~
The Newest HOA Member
As Fran mentioned how poor of a job the landscaping company was doing, Susan paused and came to a harsh realization about her neighborhood’s HOA.
Susan was paying massive amounts of money towards the expensive monthly HOA fees. This was money Susan worked hard for. This was money she could have used to better the lives of her two children. What was the HOA using the money for? I mean, they obviously didn’t clear snow or remove the garbage, as the city completed those tasks. Their landscaping job was carelessly thrown together, and the saplings were never truly planted. Essentially, Susan was paying the HOA for lazy, half-completed work.
Susan and her husband worked hard to take care of their children, afford a house and food, and be able to send their children to daycare. Why would they waste any more of their hard-earned money on the deceptive lies of the HOA?
Not anymore! Susan refused to let the HOA take advantage of her or the community any longer. You go, girl!
Completely livid, Susan marched down to the leader of the HOAs house. She knocked on the door, fist trembling in anger. When the HOA leader opened the door, he looked shocked and surprised to see Susan standing outside.
“What can I do for you?” the HOA leader asked with a condescending tone.
“What can’t you do for me,” Susan snidely remarked, “I pay for you to take care of the neighborhood. Can you tell me why unplanted saplings are laying in the grass? Something needs to be done about the state of the HOA in this neighborhood!”
“Well, the landscapers ran into trouble the other day and weren’t able to finish up,” the leader curtly stated, “But if you have such an interest in what is going on in the neighborhood, why don’t you join the HOA? We could always use extra help.”
Little did the HOA leader know, allowing Susan to join would be his second major mistake.
~
HOA Meeting Mistakes
Susan agreed to join her neighborhood’s HOA. By joining the organization, she could singlehandedly expose the HOA and its lies once and for all.
But first things first, Susan needed to make an appearance at the next HOA meeting. If she seemed truly interested in the organization, the leaders wouldn’t question why Susan joined. When she arrived at the community center where the meeting was held, there were only five other people present in total.
“Wow,” Susan thought to herself, “No wonder why they asked me to join. They must need some help.”
Susan glanced around at the collection of people in the room. Nobody in the room was an actual HOA fee-paying resident except for her. So, who were the other people present at the meeting?
While enduring the long and boring meeting, Susan found out the other people present were all “contractors” the HOA hired, otherwise known as close relatives of the HOA members. These contractors weren’t paid by the HOA, therefore, the HOA didn’t need to charge residents for their “valuable work.” After all, these contractors were family.
I understand what the sketchy HOA is up to now!
After the meeting, Susan needed to get to the bottom of the scam the HOA continued to pull on her neighborhood. Did we mention Susan worked as a teacher, so she had the entire summer free to take down the HOA before school started in the fall? We love that for her! Investigator, who?
With her children carted along with her, Susan searched through years of paperwork detailing the HOA’s financial situation. To Susan’s amazement, she discovered incriminating information fit to take the HOA down forever. With critical information in hand and a lawyer and accountant hired, Susan ensured her neighborhood’s HOA would cease to exist.
~
Susan’s Revenge
While digging, Susan found out her neighborhood’s HOA didn’t do a single thing to benefit the community. Everything the organization claimed to do was covered by each homeowner or was done by the city itself. Shady, much?
Essentially, the HOA was collecting money from each neighborhood resident under pretenses. The real kicker? The HOA didn’t need to be managing Susan’s neighborhood. The association’s actual zone was in a different neighborhood on the opposite side of the city. However, Susan’s neighborhood had more residents, which meant the HOA could con the residents for more cash.
So, what did Susan do while she had the entire summer off work? She petitioned to take down the HOA in her neighborhood! She made pamphlets, walked the neighborhood with her children in a stroller, and went door to door to inform residents about the HOA’s shady money-grabbing tactics. Susan was the total definition of a girl boss!
With the help of the lawyer and accountant Susan hired, the neighborhood wouldn’t be exploited for money each month. It put a dent in her pocket, but Susan thought it was worth every penny to protect her fellow neighbors.
Another fed-up HOA member helped Susan sift through the various documents and data sheets, passed out pamphlets, and encouraged residents to attend HOA meetings. After weeks of petitioning, gathering evidence, and gaining community support, Susan rolled up to the courthouse with her lawyer and accountant.
During the hearing, Susan was able to provide more than enough evidence to throw the fraudulent HOA out of the neighborhood. Even after nineteen years, no resident dared to organize another HOA again.
The lesson? Don’t mess with a mother who wants the best for her community. With a little digging and determination to do what’s right, Susan taught the HOA leaders a valuable lesson about greed and took the organization down for good.
~
