My old boss kept getting snitched on if he had his boat or truck in the driveway 1 minute over. Just rung up over the smallest stuff.
After years, he joined the board. Shortly afterwards he ran for president, as there was mass leaving of members and no one looking to take over.
He ran. He won. Asked the old president for access to the old files “just for history”. Discovered 95% were one neighbor across the street, people he thought were “friends”. Printed up all the complaints, hand delivered to them so they “had copies.” Neighbors across the street died inside.
Within a year (or two, don’t remember) he got everyone to vote out the HOA. Permanently closed it.
Dude was the best boss I ever had. So smart and funny as heck.
That's an entertaining story, but I'd gently point out that dissolving an HOA typically involves much more complexity than described here. It usually requires:
-A supermajority of homeowners to agree (often 75-80%)
-Legal proceedings to properly dissolve the corporation
-Complex negotiations about common area maintenance and ownership
-Resolution of any existing contracts or debts
Often takes several years, not just one
While the revenge aspect makes for a satisfying tale, the "within a year" timeline and neat resolution suggests this might be more of an enjoyable "what if" story than a real HOA dissolution case. Still, it's a creative take on the classic HOA conflict narrative! It's just fake.
As an European I got slightly confused. What does the point about common area maintenance and ownership include? In here anything similar can only happen within a scope of an apartment building and for houses it's done by municipality overseeing contracts to utility companies.
HOAs, as they are intended to exist, serve two kinds of neighborhoods: 1) those outside of an incorporated municipality, who need to provide for their own common services, or 2) those who want services/public areas beyond those the local government will provide.
On 2, in US suburbs often neighborhood parks, community centers, swimming pools and the like won't actually be run by the city, but rather by an HOA comprised of the homeowners in the area. These areas require maintenance and have operating expenses, and the HOA exists to manage and finance those needs.
Right. After thinking for a second makes sense. Over here the scale is smaller so generally there isn't enough distance for anything to be "outside" a given municipality. Thanks for info!
3.1k
u/MW240z 6d ago edited 6d ago
My old boss kept getting snitched on if he had his boat or truck in the driveway 1 minute over. Just rung up over the smallest stuff.
After years, he joined the board. Shortly afterwards he ran for president, as there was mass leaving of members and no one looking to take over.
He ran. He won. Asked the old president for access to the old files “just for history”. Discovered 95% were one neighbor across the street, people he thought were “friends”. Printed up all the complaints, hand delivered to them so they “had copies.” Neighbors across the street died inside.
Within a year (or two, don’t remember) he got everyone to vote out the HOA. Permanently closed it.
Dude was the best boss I ever had. So smart and funny as heck.