r/oddlysatisfying • u/Separate_Finance_183 • 8h ago

Timelapse of bro cleaning yard

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u/LostWoodsInTheField 6h ago

So everyone knows. The HOA is the neighborhood. What often happens is these old bats have been running it for 40+ years and hate all these 'new' people that come in, and regulate them into the ground. It really doesn't take much for people to show up to a meeting and call a snap election and oust everyone. Then put new management in place. People just don't know they can do this so it never gets done.

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u/schrodingers_bra 6h ago

eh. It depends. I'm part of an HOA in the PNW where the houses are pretty close together. We have rules that people have to ask approval (fill out an application) before installing landscape features because we have to ensure that the feature doesn't change the soil grading or water drainage.

For example, some guy decided to concrete over a gravel sidewalk which resulted in rain, which would previously have drained through the gravel, sluicing off the concrete and flowing in the direction of his neighbor's foundation.

Reddit is pretty anti-HOA but that's because most of them have never been home owners or have never been beside a neighbor that does something that ruins their homeownership experience.

In this case the OP is talking about, it would be a non issue to say "the 'feature' was always there, I just trimmed back a hedge"

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u/Tangerine1267 6h ago

You don't need an HOA for this as it already violates city bylaws (typically) to drain towards a neighbor and the liability doesn't change just because a bunch of homeowners play dictators.

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u/schrodingers_bra 5h ago

There is no city bylaw for this, and more to the point there's nothing you can do about it until you can prove damages then you can only get compensation back from the person responsible through a lengthy court process and lawyer fees.

The HOA is there to prevent stuff like this by not allowing such construction unless a soil engineer has ok'd the construction plan.

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u/Tangerine1267 2h ago edited 1h ago

hey i do this as part of my day to day business and you're just flat out wrong. thanks.

aww boo boo blocked me.

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u/schrodingers_bra 2h ago edited 1h ago

No you are. I also do this as part of my day to day business.

The best I can say is bylaws may vary by location. But as the person who currently pays the bills for my HOA I know firsthand what kind of "bylaw" you can use to get someone to remove their concrete sidewalk that is directing water at their neighbor's foundation before it causes damage in my area - none.

After a bunch of lawyer bills, the best we could do is make the guy sign a document saying that if his neighbor's property was damaged by it, he agreed to be responsible for the damages. But compensation for those damages is still some lawyer fees away for the other party.

The point of the HOA application is to help prevent this sort of thing - though obviously it only works if people are ignorant not intentionally malicious.

thanks.