One Redditor was infuriated when their careless HOA destroyed hundreds of dollars worth of plants and property with toxic pesticides.
Conflicts with HOAs are so common that there's a whole subreddit dedicated to them. In the past, overbearing associations have forbidden homeowners from keeping gardens, threatened to remove solar panels, and even dug up beloved plants.
This time, the HOA's issue seems to have been weeds. According to the Redditor who posted this story: "HOA sprayed pesticides all over my wife's plants, and on my son's stuff."
In their post, they explained that their HOA sent a landscaping crew that sprayed pesticide on their vegetable garden, fruit trees, flower beds, and their son's sandbox. "The plants are dead and we had to throw away his sandbox and his toys," they added. "There goes like $500."
The Redditor claimed that they tried to get hold of their HOA to fix the problem. "You can never get in contact with whoever is in charge," they complained. "And the people who do answer are rude."
The Redditor also noted that they eventually reached an HOA representative named Courtney. "Coutney claimed that they didn't use pesticides, only Roundup … which is a pesticide," they said, adding a face-palm emoji.
According to the Redditor, Courtney claimed that the landscaping company was contracted to spray the pesticide. While the Redditor said that they paid $360 per quarter to the HOA for lawn care, they claimed no one had sprayed their yard in the two years they'd lived there.
"I asked her to make sure it won't happen again, and she couldn't even say that it wouldn't," they added.
"I'm so sorry to hear this," said a commenter, then added some helpful advice. "If it wasn't a licensed professional you can sue, as well as call the state's pest control division, EPA, and USDA."
In an update, the original poster said that they wouldn't pursue legal action but that their wife had given an interview to a local news station. They also said that an HOA representative had turned up at their house unannounced to confront their wife and "fix things."
"My wife very kindly told them to … get off our property," the Redditor said.
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