A Redditor has shared an infuriating story about a neighbor determined to get him in trouble for seemingly no reason.
In a recent post on an anti-HOA subreddit, with the caption, "Weird interaction with a weasel of a neighbor," a user told the tale of his neighbor in northern California submitting complaints about the user's yard in an attempt to punish him for an overgrown lawn.
"I've gotten 4 notices from my landlord," the Redditor wrote.
The user explained that two complaints were about his overgrown lawn, one about an overgrown fence, and another about a supposedly overgrown hedge that doesn't even belong to him. He also said that most of these so-called violations occurred around the time that he welcomed his fourth child, so his landlord was understanding of the situation and didn't penalize him.
A hilarious detail about one of the complaints is that "the photo submitted was taken literally the day after I mowed the lawn. Like, the person taking the photos were so hellbent on getting me, they tried to retroactively submit a complaint."
The user also noticed that the photos were all taken from similar angles, so he ascertained that they must have been submitted by a nearby neighbor.
"So one Saturday morning, I was coming out to mow my lawn, and I see the weasel, getting ready to take another photo," the user continued. "He had his d*** iPad up and everything. So I just said 'Good morning, can I help you?' The guy … just panics, tucks his iPad under his arm, and starts scuffling down the sidewalk … So I just followed (at a distance, at least 50 ft back) and asked him if there was an issue, why are you photographing my house, etc. I knew why, obviously. Well he gets about 4 houses down, quickly goes in his garage, and frantically shuts it while looking back at me."
While in this particular case, the HOA itself is not at fault, the story nonetheless shows the kinds of snooty, selfish personalities that are often attracted to such communities, which frequently have a tendency to make life unnecessarily difficult for their neighbors.
HOAs across the country (along with nosey neighbors) have been a consistent pain for tenants who attempt to make more eco-friendly choices with their homes, like owning electric vehicles or installing drought-tolerant yards full of grass alternatives.
Many tenants who have found themselves in conflict with their HOAs have discovered a variety of solutions to their problems. If you want to learn more about how you can protect yourself against an HOA, read TCD's HOA guide here.
Users sounded off against the annoying neighbor in the comment section.
"Sounds like he's targeting you for being renters. He had to travel down 4 houses to photograph your yard, and panicked when caught. Of course he could just be a busy body. Definitely ask the other neighbors about him," one user wrote.
"I worked in a community managers office for a few weeks as a temp," another user shared. "There were those who took daily walks around the community looking for violations as their main hobby. Let's report that lawn decor! I'm sure it wasn't approved! (Who. Cares. It is a concrete lighthouse, not an outhouse.)."
"Be in front of his house acting like you're taking pictures and have a tape measure in your hands and pretend that you are measuring things like lawn height, width of driveway, width of sidewalk, etc," a third user suggested.
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