Originally published at: Read: Reddit's revenge story of the year | Boing Boing
…
11 Likes
Revenge and then there’s HOA revenge.
18 Likes
When I bought my first home, over 20 years ago now, every real estate dealer I talked to was all “you have to have a home in an HOA-ruled subdivision, it’s the only way to protect your investment!” I didn’t listen to them, and I still live in that home, HOA-free and no doubt pissing off neighbors with my antics, and if it’s impacted my home’s value, it isn’t reflected in the tax assessment. Just say “No” to HOAs.
31 Likes
Well, apparently I need to put this in here. I do not give consent for my posts to be read/interpreted/posted to any monetized or ad-supported platform. Examples include YouTube or other platforms. Short version: If you make money off reading someone else’s posts, I do not give consent for you to make money off of my posts.
EDIT: Yeah, I realized he was speaking about people reposting/re-reading the whole thing. BB is just posting a small excerpt and linking back to the original, so it’s not really the same thing. Carry on.
5 Likes
Unfortunately for him, posting on reddit gives up those rights
there’s an entire youtube industry of “journalists” whose “work” consists of, verbatim reading the work of jason schrier - formerly of Kotaku, now at Bloomberg - loudly and overly bassily, often followed by their own very shitty opinions.
while it is legal to quotate a small portion of a work for purposes of education (ie, within a classroom) or commentary, reading an entire work verbatim is clearly not ok
6 Likes
Years ago I rented 5000 sq ft of raw loft space. Paid for all the build out, etc. Part of the Lease included assessments for the “common area” that would change depending on what needed to be done.
There was an empty lot across the street that was used as a Parking Lot. It was the size of the Building and we “could use it” but it was specifically excluded from the Lease because the Developer who owned the Building was planning to build on it. But the Building Manager would include all expenses related to maintaining that lot on our “Common Area Expenses” which included things like erecting a fence, lighting, snow removal etc.
Then the Developer went bankrupt and the Bank took it over just after I signed a 1 year extension to my original 5 year Lease. I immediately went through all the expenses that were charged for that parking lot over 5 years and pointed out the clause that the lot was specifically excluded from my Lease. I asked for credit for all expenses related to maintaining the Parking Lot for 5 years. I had an itemized list. I ended up getting about 6 months of free rent because of that.
Once I succeeded at this I spread the word throughout the building and everyone else did the same thing. Some of them had been there much longer and got a much bigger credit. No lawsuits necessary!
9 Likes
This is quite the case study in ‘not learning your lesson’.
12 Likes
I wonder if no-longer-a-real-estate-broker and president of a non-existent HOA can get a no-longer-the-president to give her a pardon? /s
10 Likes
The only thing that could have made this story better is if it was a real HOA being taken down.
18 Likes
Thank goodness this Redditor dodged the inconvenience and drama of a real HOA.
5 Likes
HOA’s can be useful in some cases, but I generally agree that not having an HOA when my wife and I bought our current house was a requirement. My last home (a condo) had an HOA where every owner got to sit on the board and have voting power. So take that as my background, I was on the board of a small HOA.
In such a setting the benefits are not dissimilar to a labor union. The ability to organize and assert rights for the common good. Indeed we did not make hay over petty shit. Things we addressed were things like: bad tenant behavior in the rental units, our shady parking enforcement company, how we go about repairing the common areas of the building via special assessments, etc.
It wasn’t an overly positive experience (only because the HOA wasn’t always well organized), but at least with the “owners as board members” setup, we never had an issue with a single person lording their power over a petty fiefdom in the 13 years I owned my unit.
4 Likes
What a rotten human being she is. This was delightful.
5 Likes
In a way, that makes it worse for some of the neighbors. I cannot believe many of them fell for the “voluntary association” nonsense, with no real documentation to back it up. She really took advantage of folks who weren’t familiar with how a real HOA works (and how much paperwork is involved at the point of purchase), I guess. Glad to see they weren’t completely excluded from serving the revenge, but their money is gone.
6 Likes
The problem for people like the woman in the story is that the arrogance and confidence that drives you to defraud people so much also serves as a weakness that can trip you up.
Not that people should get away with such things, but if you’re going to commit fraud, it’s in your interests to keep your head down and make friends rather than enemies of everyone around you, but it sounds like she couldn’t stop herself from being herself.
13 Likes
Your comment is spot on. In my experience, there are 2 elements of human nature that are specific to a person like this. The first one is greed. And the second one is incompetence. It’s possible to exist without consequence for awhile, but eventually one or both of these will be the downfall.
8 Likes
What a trainwreck. Like the OP, I feel a bit sorry, but in the end the collapsing house of cards was of her own making. Hubris and stupidity don’t mix.
I think it’s a good example of shifting boundaries, and how people get themselves in deeper trouble because they don’t get punished for previous infractions, so they push a little more, and a little and more, until they become overconfident.
7 Likes
I spent 15 years on an HOA, so I always have a slightly different view on these HOA horror stories, but yeah, this was a fraud that they took out. And I’m actually in this situation right now - my home belongs to an unofficial HOA that I pay ~$100/year to, but the two ladies who send us the letter each year definitely are making sure the “common area” which is a largish lake and a lot of green area/planted space and benches, are well maintained. I mean, it looks like a park. And I get a yearly detailed list of how the money was spent.
Now, in doing my time on the HOA, I was certainly hated, for I was the treasurer. The president was the president because he really wanted that on his resume and did not a lot otherwise, but I joined because the people before me were completely trash. I and 3 others got ourselves elected and kicked out the previous treasurer, secretary, and VP and did make a difference…for about 10 years. When the economy went to heck, and people lost their jobs and stopped paying, we had a lot of trouble paying for anything…which people then complained about us not doing. I remember arguing with someone who complained that we cancelled the street replacement, while pointing out he was 6 months in arrears, to which his answer was “why should I pay if you don’t do it?”. sigh
Just remember not everyone on the HOA is a Karen or Kevin out to torture you. Some really do care. But Karen and Kevin are absolutely there as well.
17 Likes
Just finished reading the story, i feel like i need a movie about this
8 Likes
