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The original was posted on /r/fuckhoa by /u/Timely_Cake_8304 on 2023-09-28 20:25:31.

I posted this in HOA but probably should have started here. I was on the board of the HOA and then uncovered that it was not an HOA at all. The officers had inherited a long-running potluck club and turned it into a regime. I uncovered the deceit, confronted them and told them they should get legal advice on moving forward in a an appropriate way. They added the word “voluntary” to the dues notices and reminders they send out. The president resigned quietly, I believe on quiet advice from an attorney, and is now the treasurer (haha). The “officers” refuse to acknowledge they ever called themselves an HOA but still act like one. The board is confused and doesn’t really understand what happened. I quit.

Dues are really low, a few hundred dollars a year so who is really complaining?

Meanwhile, there was a large “common area” that was ignored by them for many years which I had always been pushing the board to spend some time or money on. I realized it was actually a city park and told the new president I was going to start a beautification project and didn’t want any trouble. They said it wouldn’t be a problem and even had faux outrage that I thought they might somehow be

I started working with the neighbors, the Parks Department and other local groups, yada yada, THe HOA got angry, ripping out some plants. took the areas we had prepared and ambush planted some shrubs there to prevent us working. One of the board members told me the officers are launching a bad mouthing campaign of blaming me for the past neglect (?) and roadblocking our plans by “planting over our work”. I am frustrated.

When I was one the board, I had been asked to be a part of a merchant association as a community volunteer. I had also been floating the idea to the other 5 or 6 neighborhood associations in the area that they should try to all organize get together and maybe have future joint projects. The president of the HOA became furious and told everyone that I was “impersonating a member of their HOA”. I backed out and moved on to other things.

I do not know how to handle this. It is like playing wack a mole where the officers find anything I am doing. take it personally and crush it. I am always trying to put out these gossiping defamation fires. Am I the a$$H@&*???

Thank you for letting me vent. I feel so sad that we could make the neighborhood so much better and instead just have drama. Really overthinking this and especially don’t feel good about giving up on the park but hard to move forward.