HOAs can be difficult to deal with. But what about difficult HOAs that you were never even told you were technically a part of?
In a Reddit post on r/legaladvice, a user discussed their frustrations and confusion with their HOA. Their HOA sent them a notice that their lawn needed to be reseeded or resodded due to the conditions of the lawn being made up mostly of weeds and dirt.
The Reddit user was irritated with this HOA notice for a few reasons. First, they only moved into the unit less than a year ago, during the rainy season in Oregon, so there was not ample time or conditions to address the lawn. Secondly, the user explained that they weren't told they'd be in an HOA neighborhood beforehand and had been told by other tenants that there is no HOA.
With plans to leave the unit soon, the original poster was worried about how the HOA would respond if they did not spend the time and money to reseed their lawn and was seeking legal advice. "The backyard was covered in blackberry vines and I had to tell them to clean it prior to moving in — I highly doubt the previous tenants were charged for that," the user stated.
HOAs are notorious for being difficult, especially when it comes to making sustainable changes to one's home. Although this Reddit user is frustrated specifically with the lack of clarity around whether an HOA even exists for their home, this can get in the way of a lot of positive environmental changes for the estimated 40 million U.S. homeowners situated in an HOA, according to iPropertyManagement.
Luckily, there are ways to fight back against confusing and unfair HOA rules, and many people succeed. One such example was a homeowner who got their front yard turned into a Certified Wildlife Habitat, thus preventing their HOA from demanding they switch their native plant lawn to a green grass one.
A commenter on the Reddit post imparted some knowledge, commenting that "the HOA should be dealing with the homeowner, not the tenants," which is an important point considering the original poster was only renting the space.
The OP responded with a quote from their lease stating, "Tenant is responsible for maintaining the landscaping," which still doesn't solve the question as to whether there even is an HOA.
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