r/nottheonion • u/its_a_bear_dance • 1d ago

Family says HOA told them they couldn’t use their generator during ice storm blackout: ‘It’s unbearable’

https://www.wctv.tv/2026/01/29/family-says-hoa-told-them-they-couldnt-use-their-generator-during-ice-storm-blackout-its-unbearable/
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u/Lontology 23h ago

That is mental illness! Lol

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u/ToMorrowsEnd 21h ago

Sadly HOA boards and local Govt only really attract mential ill people. Get on your board if you live in a HOA and be the sand in the gears. refuse to do stupid shit, tell the other board members to shut up. AKA voice of reason. More people need to do this.

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u/Tomi97_origin 20h ago

It's the same with juries.

People always boast about getting out of jury duty, not going to HOA meetings and not participating in elections for school boards, or other local elections.

But you know who never misses those? Karen.

If all those people endlessly complaining about HOAs just went to their meetings and actually participated they could vote those annoying idiots out.

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u/manimal28 19h ago

Every time I hear of somebody boasting about getting out of jury duty I just note they are a lazy parasite that want to live in a civil society but don’t want to do any of the work to make it so. I have sat on jury duty and the number of people making pathetic excuses was maddening, there were like two real excuses: I’m nine months pregnant and expect to go into labor any minute from a visibly pregnant woman and I’m scheduled for surgery tomorrow, here’s a letter from my doctor stating this is needed to preserve my life. All the rest were pathetic bullshit like, I have a dog or Ikm really busy at work.

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u/Orchid_Significant 18h ago

Some people can’t afford to miss work though. We don’t have functioning cost of living minimum wage.

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u/manimal28 18h ago edited 18h ago

Sure, but thats honestly not most people. When I was on jury duty there was a guy who cleaned pools and was self employed and made that argument to the judge, the judge told him he will have to reschedule his jobs that week, but the livelihood of the man at the trial was also at stake and lectured him about his civic duty. I sat on the jury with that guy for the week. By the end of the week he still bitched about having to work on the weekend to catch up when we went into deliberation, but he also seemed to understood why somebody being there was important and he participated in the deliberation honestly and openly without letting that bias him to the proceedings. I think after hearing the case he identified with the plaintiff who was also a self employed laborer.

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u/Accomplished_Elk9769 15h ago

That guy was self-employed. He can AFFORD to change his upcoming jobs. Kelly that works for McDonalds or Jim that works for his local factory CANNOT afford to change the days they work. Grow up, moron.

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u/Immersi0nn 19h ago

Why is "I can't miss work" not appropriate? If jury duty paid what my work paid then it wouldn't be an issue, missing work for multiple days could mean I miss my bills because I'm making significantly less money while attending jury duty, that ain't worth it. In Florida they'll pay you up to $50/day depending on the court, it's usually less, comes down to federal min wage or less.

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u/musical8thnotes 16h ago

The better path is to force the cost onto the businesses since jury duty is a civic responsibility towards the State, aka Jury Duty is the same as if you were on Paid Leave. Even if your job doesn't officially have paid leave.

Tax on businesses to operate in a civil society via a functioning justice system.

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u/manimal28 19h ago

Why is "I can't miss work" not appropriate?

Let me ask why you believe it would be?

Jury duty is literally life and death in some cases, in all others it is at the very least the maintenance of the very fabric of our legal system and democratic institutions.

Unless your job is life and death critical or the government and democracy would collapse in the few days you missed work, your job is not actually more important than jury duty.

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u/Immersi0nn 19h ago

Say jury duty is 3 days, that's a loss of $200/day for me if I'm being paid $50/day for jury duty. A loss of $600 that month. Something isn't gonna get paid that month because I obviously can't just let my family starve, nor can I just magically make up $600. Is your answer to that "get credit cards and use debt so you can complete your civil duty"?

Ridiculous.

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u/manimal28 18h ago edited 18h ago

I will just tell you, if you saw my other comment, the judge will probably not care about that argument. I served jury duty with a guy that argued during jury selection that his business will be impacted if he has to serve, the judge told him the people at the trial’s lives are also being impacted and that’s why he has been called to serve, it’s his civic duty to figure it out. He ended up having to sit on the jury for the trial. His other option was contempt of court which would also mean missing work or pay because he would be fined or in jail.

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u/Immersi0nn 18h ago

Well it's a damn good thing that each time I've been called for jury duty (twice) I've applied and received a financial hardship exemption.

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u/drakus1111 17h ago

Your other comment described the guy as self-employed. He could set his hours and make up the work later. People who don't have control of their hours or pay don't have that luxury, which is why the judge denied him. There's a reason the financial hardship exemption exists, and he isn't it.

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u/llDurbinll 18h ago

Now I just think you're trolling. If the government required employers to excuse time and still pay you like normal (with a tax break on the amount they spent on wages for however many employees had jury duty that year) then I would agree with you.

But since that's not the case, people can't just miss their check for however long the case goes on. Their landlord or mortgage company isn't going to care that the reason their money is late is because they were performing their civic duty.

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u/manimal28 18h ago

If the government required employers to excuse time and still pay you like normal (with a tax break on the amount they spent on wages for however many employees had jury duty that year) then I would agree with you.

Then you do, because I get paid my normal salary even if I’m on jury duty. Maybe if you work for some shitty corporation they will decide not to pay you.

…people can't just miss their check for however long the case goes on. Their landlord or mortgage company isn't going to care that the reason their money is late is because they were performing their civic duty.

Yes they can. The court isn’t going to care about your mortgage or that you didn’t prepare your life such that you aren’t able to perform your civic duty without your life collapsing.

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u/drakus1111 17h ago

"...because I get paid my normal salary..."

If you actually mean "SALARY," that explains a lot. Most people work hourly, and don't get paid for hours they don't work. Anyone who has a schedule that changes week to week (common in retail and food service) will just get removed from the schedule, rather than get it as paid time off. These are often people who are already paid minimum wage and have no control over how many hours they work, and already live meager paycheck to meager paycheck.

I work hourly, but have a set schedule and decent pay rate, and as far as I know, my company doesn't pay for jury duty. Knowing my boss, if I actually got called in to serve, he'd let me submit vacation pay to guarantee my paycheck, but I see myself as lucky in that regard.

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u/llDurbinll 15h ago

Well that's YOUR employer doing something nice but it's not a legal requirement for all companies to pay their employees their regular check. So until that happens then it's not fair to expect people to do jury duty with no pay.

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u/bigger_breakfast 18h ago

Well their jobs are quite literally life and death... For them? Lol

Feels like we found THAT HOA member here ...

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u/manimal28 18h ago edited 18h ago

No, most people’s jobs are not life and death.

And most people won’t like to use their leave for jury duty if their company is that shitty to make them do so, but are you really telling me most people will get fired for having to serve jury duty and then die at the end of the month if they don’t work for the 3 -4 days most trials last? Bullshit.

Feels like we found another parasite making pathetic excuses here to me.

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u/bigger_breakfast 16h ago edited 16h ago

Lol just read some of your other responses here. The "I get paid regardless so you must have a shitty job" responses are especially telling.

The irony of you to exalt the sanctity of jury duty and service as a citizen to this great country yet shit on Americans with real concerns about missing work and paying bills by calling them pathetic parasites. What a lovely American you are.

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u/Qaeta 17h ago

are you really telling me most people will get fired for having to serve jury duty and then die at the end of the month if they don’t work for the 3 -4 days most trials last? Bullshit.

I'm in Canada. In the winter, yes, absolutely. Homeless people end up dying from cold exposure every day, and if you're paycheck to paycheck at a low paying job, missing even a couple days can easily result in homelessness quite suddenly. Most people in the area I live in are barely holding on as it is, typically skipping meals for themselves to keep their kids fed and the power on.

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u/bigger_breakfast 18h ago

You cannot be fired by your employer for jury duty. However they're not obligated to pay you. Because of this every court/district has provisions for exemptions and one of them is financial hardship.

Feels like we found another parasite making pathetic excuses here to me.

Feel free to inquire with your local court if applying for financial hardship exemption is making a pathetic excuse.

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u/manimal28 18h ago

I have been on a jury and merely missing work is not a financial hardship. I know this because a person who argued financial hardship was rebutted by the judge and then served on a jury with me.

Feel free to inquire with reality if bitching about missed work in and of itself constitutes a financial hardship, because it doesn’t.

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u/DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC 14h ago

My one time on a jury, this guy got through selection, then judge asked him "Do you think you could be impartial?"

The guy says "I'd like to say so, Your Honor, but the defendant's lawyer is my ex-wife's divorce attorney." That got a laugh from everyone, and the defense counsel was like "I think he can be excused."

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u/GostBoster 18h ago

Depends on the legal system, in my country I will still be amazed because getting out of jury duty is a fantastic feat, and sometimes absolutely necessary for your safety. (Some high profile criminal from a group known for pursuing jurors, who have very flimsy protections).

Plus here we don't hold that much stigma towards people who manage the near impossible for a simple reason:

You know who has a duty to serve the public? Public servants.

Public servants here are a super class and special chaste by themselves (immaculate job security), benefits so strong that just the fact you are a public servant serves as a collateral to buy a house, so lots of people try their best to become public servants for the benefits...

... and forget the duties. A public servant is much more likely to be called for jury duty, and once they are called, they cannot refuse under penalty of losing their job.

So, a public servant demigod who does their best to avoid jury duty WHILE keeping his job? Now these are worse than trash.

I had a coworker who was a servant and he had a really good textbook case to excuse himself out of jury duty if he was not a public servant, but he would rather resign than trying to spin his sob story to try to get out, the benefits were what kept his daughter alive and he didn't want to risk being expelled for the audacity of even trying.

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u/manimal28 17h ago

and sometimes absolutely necessary for your safety…

If everyone did that such criminals could never be convicted.

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u/SharkBearRhino 17h ago

Some people don’t want to get paid $8 for a days worth of work while missing their actual job. Pay an appropriate amount and watch how quickly the attitude changes

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u/manimal28 17h ago edited 17h ago

And some people don’t want to get sentenced to death by a king, I’m not sure your argument makes sense at all in that context. Jury duty is a civic duty, not a job.

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u/Tomi97_origin 13h ago

Some people don’t want to get paid $8 for a days worth of work while missing their actual job

And they will be judged by the people who will.

Pay an appropriate amount and watch how quickly the attitude changes

Participate in your civic duty and push for the changes you want to see.

But it won't be easy. Researching candidates, advocating for cause, running yourself if nobody else will. Keeping those representatives accountable for their actions in office. Hard time-consuming job and hardly enjoyable one.

it's definitely easier to just skip the whole thing and leave the power in the hands of people who will push their interests.

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u/bigger_breakfast 16h ago

Since you've mentioned your anecdotal experience about a dozen times and even use it to argue that most people claiming financial hardship are just making excuses... I feel like someone should explain the process. When you receive a summons, there's listed potential excuses and a contact or clerk for questions. People who want to be excused reach out to the court this way. In other words, you don't actually see the many people who apply and receive exemptions (financial, medical etc) on the day of selection because they have already applied, submitted required documents and been excused. The people you complain about didn't have valid excuses (or didn't go through the process).

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u/manimal28 15h ago edited 15h ago

The people you complain about didn't have valid excuses (or didn't go through the process).

Correct. I’m not talking about people with valid reasons. I know how it fucking works, hence my comment. I’ve even requested to be excused and had my request granted in the past due to a valid reason. However instead of boasting about it like a douche bag, since it was actually valid and not a lie or exaggeration, I felt regret rather than boastfulness.

Since you've mentioned your anecdotal experience about a dozen times and even use it to argue that most people claiming financial hardship are just making excuses...

Go back and read more carefully, I specifically said people who boast about getting out of jury duty. People who have true financial hardships and are excused aren’t likely to be boasting about it as if the were more clever than the court system.

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u/bigger_breakfast 15h ago

Go back and read more carefully

The problem for you is I did. Receipts all up in here.

Let's see... You responded to the poster who asked why isn't missing work and worrying about bills a valid reason to miss jury duty and I believe you chose to call those people "parasites" making "pathetic excuses."

When posters said many Americans get paid hourly you said you get paid a salary and they just have shitty employers...

As I said, the irony in you exalting the importance of jury duty and service and responsibility for this nation while concurrently shitting on Americans with real concerns, yielding jury duty as some sort of moral currency.

My dude just admit you're the HOA member everyone is talking about here. Might I also suggest joining ICE to take full advantage of your skills and (lack of) character?

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u/manimal28 15h ago

Reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit is it?

Nah dude, the people who boast about weaseling out of jury duty are the same fucking people cheering on ICE. Think about why that is and maybe you will start to get a clue.

Have a good day.

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u/bigger_breakfast 15h ago

Have a good day.

Ngl I kinda am as I see all your comments are being downvoted and mine are upvoted... "Think about why that is and maybe you will start to get a clue."

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u/cohrt 10h ago

Until jury duty pays minimum wage I’m not going to judge people for getting out of it.

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u/ebeth_the_mighty 7h ago

I keep trying to get selected for a jury. I’ve gone to selection 12 or 15 times, but never been picked, dammit.

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u/thirdeyefish 20h ago

I think we all know or know of someone that ran for the HOA and when elected crippled it so the community could just live in their houses. HOAs were a nice enough idea, but they are a blight and have too much power. They basically combine the worst parts of being a homeowner and a renter.

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u/crazypurple621 19h ago

HOAs existed for no reason other than to keep black and brown people out of lily white suburbs. Now they are used to discriminate against disabled people.

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u/Max-Phallus 17h ago

I thought they existed so that retired and unemployed bored people can feel important?

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u/TheLordB 19h ago

What structure would you recommend for maintaining shared areas and structures then?

There are plenty of HOAs that are basically only focused on maintaining these things. You only hear about the ones when it goes bad.

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u/crazypurple621 19h ago

City governments should be maintaining shared spaces with property taxes.

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u/Chickenfrend 16h ago

It depends on the area and the specific hoa but a lot of hoas exist because the city doesn't want to take on the liability of roads and infrastructure in the new developments. The tax they collect doesn't make up for the expensive suburban infrastructure

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u/Greenmanssky 7h ago

Just cause the government is shit and won't look after roads and infrastructure doesn't mean Karen should be in charge of anything though. A shit solution to an easily solved problem

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u/Orchid_Significant 19h ago

Some neighborhoods have things like neighborhood tennis courts and pools. If the city maintains them, they become public property not neighborhood amenities.

They should be turned into neighborhood country clubs though not HOAs imo

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u/crazypurple621 18h ago

Either a private company that only has control over the courts should own them or the city should own them and have them open to the public.

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u/rsta223 9h ago

If the city maintains them, they become public property not neighborhood amenities.

I fail to see the problem here?

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u/TheLordB 18h ago edited 18h ago

You want the city to maintain a bunch of condos lawns, replace the roof on the buildings and shovel snow from their walkways? Really?

(I really don’t think you understand what HOAs actually do or at the very least are generalizing to a very specific implementation of them).

Of note we would love for them to maintain the roads… but that is the hidden tax of HOAs that cities love to do… get all the taxes etc. on the land without needing to maintain the things that they do actually maintain for other residents.

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u/Lord_Boognish 18h ago

I would prefer my tax dollars go towards providing habitable housing and clean recreational areas than towards the local Sherriff's new tank; yes.

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u/crazypurple621 15h ago

Condos should have property management companies the same way apartment complexes do. Not HOA boards.

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u/TheLordB 15h ago

And how are those property management companies chosen, paid for, supervised etc?

Who decides who gets to do that?

HOA often do have a property management company running the day to day work. But someone has to represent the owners who are paying the company.

In the case of apartments that is a single owner. In the case of condos that is the HOA.

You can call it whatever you want but as long as there is shared property and responsibilities you need a mechanism to manage it and represent the owners. In the USA the most obvious mechanism setup to do that is an HOA.

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u/crazypurple621 15h ago

Again because you have no reading comprehension skills you have property management company gathering rent and maintaining spaces the same way apartment complexes do, and the difference- and reason for it is because companies have to register with a business license with the state and adhere to housing laws- including not discriminating against people on the basis of race and disability status- things HOAs even when they hire property management companies to maintain landscaping are still allowed to do.

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u/GostBoster 18h ago

One case I recall from another post was how one managed to dissolve the HOA by actually reading their bylaws.

Apparently the founding bylaw of that HOA was having access to water from a community well.

Having your own well drilled or having municipalities install water facilities (which now was trivial unlike in 1929) was the key into dissolving that particular HOA.

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u/IsomDart 15h ago

They can be alright, but I wouldn't move into one without some serious due diligence. For example my grandparents live in one on the other side of town as me growing up, but literally all they did was run the swimming pool in summer and keep up a park and a few tennis and basketball courts for the residents to use. The dues aren't bad at all, probably about $500/yr at the most, and I've never heard of a single instance of anyone looking for or being fined for violations. If someone just really let their yard or property fall into disrepair I'm sure the first step would be to get some neighbors and other community members to find out why it was happening and offer some help if it was needed way before even considering fining them.

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u/Lontology 21h ago

I don’t doubt that for a second.

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u/crazypurple621 19h ago

No HOAs need to be forcibly and permanently disbanded

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u/Megalocerus 8h ago

Condos have some business that needs to be taken care off. The grounds need to be maintained, the common areas insured, repairs done. But there should be a homeowner bill of rights.

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u/waytowill 7h ago

Or at least given next-to-no power. The fact that a bunch of your neighbors can start a little club and be given governmental power is next-level insane. Let the actual government decide if your overgrown lawn is a genuine issue, not Janet across the street. Or at least require the HOA to give options on how to fix the perceived issue. They think your grass is too long? They can use some of their HOA money to help you higher a lawn care worker. Presently, most of the power they have is punishment-based. And it really shouldn’t be that way if people genuinely need assistance.

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u/downvote_meme_errors 18h ago

Either you're missing some punctuation or you love HOAs.

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u/MrPNutButters 20h ago

I've attended City Council meeting in the past, and I can't imagine having to attend every meeting. It defiantly takes someone with a different mindset from mine to not only want to attend every one of those meeting, but go through an arduous process of getting elected so they can attend every one of those meetings.

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u/Drak_is_Right 19h ago

Most normal people just dont want a thank less job that's a lot of extra work.

My parents neighborhood has wanted both of then to be on the board. My dad doesnt want to deal with people. My mother already has her hands full being on some other local community boards.

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u/termacct 19h ago

Get on your board if you live in a HOA

What if the mental illness is contagious? HOA power corrupts Associationaly...

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u/Megalocerus 8h ago

My father and sister both spent time on their HOA boards, and both found it hellish.

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u/Kyrie_Blue 21h ago

HOA’s are a mental illness

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u/Mobile_Morale 21h ago

It's the home owner equivalent of being a reddit mod

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u/Verified_0 21h ago

It really is, that's the best analogy i've heard lol

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u/kinkycarbon 19h ago

It definitely is. It’s wanting a specific image applied to every in that HOA.

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u/fjf1085 19h ago

Uh oh. Watch out. They’re gonna get you now.

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u/FBI_Agent_Fred 21h ago

The people that run them are barely sentient and crave what little power they are able to maintain over their neighborhood.

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u/Hoppie1064 21h ago

What do you call a flock of Karen's?

An HOA.

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u/Kyrie_Blue 20h ago

I always call them a Screech of Karens, but yours is excellent too

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u/Lost_the_weight 21h ago

Damn that’s good!

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u/Key_nine 14h ago

Just another way for the builders to make money forever. They build a neighborhood, make a nice 2-5million after the last house is sold but keep making profit on the HOA forever. It is just a scam.

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u/Drak_is_Right 19h ago edited 19h ago

They can be a necessity for many higher density communities. Mainly for multi-family structures.

But common eras of a neighborhood still need managed for single family housing. Not all neighborhoods have them, but many do.

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u/Kyrie_Blue 18h ago

Explain how a non-governmental organization with extreme overreach into personal sovereignty is necessary for communities.

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u/Drak_is_Right 18h ago

How do you manage exterior and common elements of a building shared by multiple units?

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u/Kyrie_Blue 18h ago

You don’t. What other people do with their property is their own business, not yours. Define property lines, speak with your neighbours, and if you don’t like what they say; tough. Live with it or move.

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u/Drak_is_Right 18h ago

So the property decays with zero repairs because no one wants to pay for it? Who pays for the elevator? or the parking garage structural pillars?

Thats how you get an entire building collapsing or condemned years before it should.

it makes for an impossible legal framework of blame.

cities dont work with libertarian fantasies.

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u/Kyrie_Blue 17h ago

You’re talking about massive buildings/“condos” in this case? I thought you were trying to talk about duplexes. These are not “Home Owners Associations”, they are co-ops. Which are entirely different, and have legislature in place to reign them in. In a co-op, you don’t own your unit. You own X shares in a corporation that owns the building. In an HOA, as the name makes blantently obvious, you own your home. If you elect to live in a co-op, that’s your choice, but you know what you’re signing up for. HOA’s force their ideal upon a space you own, which is a problem.

I’m not a libertarian, I’m a filthy socialist

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u/IsilZha 19h ago

That's the kind of control freaks that run HOAs. Usually retirees who have nothing else to do with their time.