Imagine being banned from wearing camouflage clothing in your front yard, or not being allowed to grow anything edible in your garden. It might sound like a little dictatorship but in reality, it’s the way some people are being forced to live thanks to a few wild Home Owners Association rules.

HOAs are meant to keep neighborhoods neat and tidy, properties valuable, lawns uniformly green and pools sparkly blue. But sometimes they feel more like a proverbial judgemental cloud hovering over your home, just waiting to rain on your parade.

Bored Panda is filled with stories about people having run-ins with their power-hungry HOA boards of dictators, many of whom seem to have mistaken a cul-de-sac for a small, sovereign nation. And we aren’t done yet…

Someone recently asked netizens to share the most outrageous HOA rules they’ve ever encountered and some of the answers read like the laws of a country that could be in need of a coup de tat. We’ve put together a list of the best of the worst conditions people have had to endure in their own homes. We also break down what your HOA is not, by law, allowed to do. You’ll find that info between the images.

Discover more in “Could Not Wear Camouflage Clothing”: 44 Of The Most Outrageous HOA Rules People Have Endured

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#1

An HOA I lived in had a rule where residents could not wear camouflage clothing outdoors. It was considered “Redneck” to go out in public in such. This guy racked up fines because he wore camo daily. No matter how many times he appealed, with a good reason, the fines would stand, even though he refused to pay them.

The fines were dropped after his unit commander attended an HOA meeting and tore into the board about their idiocy in fining a man for wearing a military uniform.

#2

I had an HOA president tell me that “We reserve the right to use force to enter your home if we need to. It’s in the covenants.”.

I chuckled, looked him straight in the eye, and said “And that will be met with overwhelming shock and awe. We will all be on the news.”.

#3

Not a rule but the the HOA below me (that I have to drive through to get to my house) a couple years back apparently got the red folks breaking their imposed 15mph speed limit.

Their solution was to install speed bumps on a rather steep section of the road which remains snow covered for most of the winter. That alone would have been bad but in choosing said bumps they instead opted for parking stops because the would be more “effective”.

This caused many going up to lose momentum slowing for the enormous bumps and spin into the ditch. Those coming down would try to break for them and slid into the ditch on the other side.

I left three messages for the HOA president in a week… none were returned.

Two days after the final call, a friend and I pried them up in the middle enough to get a tow strap under them and yanked them out of the road with his F250.

We left them stacked neatly in front of the HOA president’s driveway.

#4

No brown plants – here’s the kicker – enforced year round. I got a violation notice for having a deciduous tree with brown leaves in my front yard…in January…in the PNW.

#5

New HOA President told me my 12 foot Palm trees were a height violation of the HOA rules and had to go. They were jealous of all the money we spent on our trees and landscaping. There was no rule. I double checked. Told them to pound sand.

#6

The best FU we ever had was when a property management firm tried to form a HOA in my neighborhood back in 2008 or 2009. The meeting was a riot. One of my neighbors directly asked them “why do we want to pay you to tell us what we can and can’t do on our own property? What is it exactly you’re going to DO for us that warrants that?” The representative said “we want to maintain your property values and assure this stays a beautiful neighborhood for generations to come”. Our neighborhood is about 40 years old, never had an HOA, and the way it’s built, has no room for addition of amenities. Our roads and garbage are all municipal maintained. It was a joke an a half, and was immediately struck down when put to a vote.

#7

Friends of mine are not allowed to grow anything edible in their garden. Ornamental plants only.

Growing food is for *poors*, apparently.

#8

HOA said our planned 6ft pool waterfall slide was not a play structure and could not be higher than 3 feet. Argued all the way to lawyers who agreed with us that a slide is something kids play on. Built it 8 ft high.

#9

This rule only lasted like six months twenty-something years ago, but there was a time in the neighborhood that I was living in the the HOA banned children from gathering in groups of four or more, unless at one of the designated park areas and with a party permit.

Didn’t matter it was four friends taking a bike ride or five siblings laying about the grass out front, instant fine. My friend’s mom ended up fined when I walked past her house with my dog, and she was outside with her three kids, and I waved.

Apparently it was to prevent gang violence (in an upper white middle class area where at the time the worst thing that happened was a Super Bowl fight over in like five minutes), but the parents finally had a cow about it and blew up. The rule got easily removed because only like two people on the HOA board actually showed up to the hastily announced meeting (the rest were retirees who lived up north for the warmer months, called snowbirds).

We kids were still discouraged from grouping up outside those particular homes owned by said snowbirds, but nothing else ever came of it.

#10

My FILs HOA says they must not sell their house to “people of color.”

Completely unenforceable, but still in the covenants.

#11

No pets over 10 pounds. I’m pretty sure every pet in the complex is over the weight limit, but luckily no narcs.

#12

Was looking at a condo that had a very small backyard with a deck. HOA specified owners couldn’t plant anything in the back yard, only grass there.

Also, potted plants on the back deck could only be certain flowers of certain colors.

Curtains on front windows could only be certain colors or only have a white liner.

And no planting trees, shrubs, or flowers on the front tiny yard. Grass only.

Didn’t buy the condo.

#13

We had an awful management company a few years back that got kickbacks for violation letters sent out. Like $0.75 cash for them per violation. They had a car go around literally every week and just pick random stuff for violation letters.

Some examples:

– Leaving garage door open during the day (the person was literally leaving their house in the picture)
– Garden hoses visible from street (the person was actively washing their car)
– Poorly kept lawn (the person was actively mowing their lawn after 2 solid weeks of rain)

We also had them crack down on dirty siding panels – *certainly* had nothing to do with the fact that one of the board members had just started a pressure washing company, and he gleefully posted on the Facebook page offering group discounts if entire streets would schedule for the same day.

#14

I managed a community that had a “No Parking in the Driveways” rule, but the thing is the community was built in a semi-rural area where everyone drove giant pick-ups and SUVs while the builder built the garages way too small to accommodate these large vehicles. Additionally these were 4 BR townhomes so there was bound to be more than 2 vehicles per HH. Made for a tense annual meeting…

#15

Not my HOA but the neighborhood next to mine put in a breed restrictions on dogs 20 years after already being established. The majority of it is still owned by the developer who’s a scum bag and he was the one wanted it in place, probably because what he owns is his rental properties and he didn’t want the liability. They prohibited Great Danes, German shepherd’s, huskies and St Bernards, Rottweilers, Mastiffs, Doberman Pinschers, Alaskan Malamutes and Chows. Only the President and VP knew about it and the rest of the board ended up quitting immediately because it was just those two board members and the developer who created those rules. It made the news.

#16

Curtains and blinds have to be white when closed. No color but white. But you can put up different color leds lights and make different colors project onto it. Perfectly fine.

#17

Clothes lines have always been outlawed by HOAs as far as I know and that has always seemed ridiculous to me. It’s way more eco friendly and some actually prefer the smell and crispness of naturally air-dried clothes. The complete opposite of the rest of the world. I grew up with clotheslines and it is actually quite nostalgic to me now.

#18

Tried to make me change the color of my drapes (dark brown) that were in my house and in the back to my patio. You can only see the drapes when standing on my patio.

#19

Mine used to not allow any signs in the yard other than for sale signs. Then our state passed a law that HOAs have to allow signs for political candidates within 30 days of an election.

My neighbor put up a sign saying “Save Our Libraries!” The HOA dinged her because it didn’t have a candidate’s name on it. So she went out with a Sharpie and wrote, “Vote Jane Smith and John Jones for Library board!”.

#20

The neighbor next to me had to sign off that they approved the color of my new floors… inside the condo. (Both neighbors).

#21

No car older than 2005 was allowed to be parked visible in your driveway or in front of your house including guests cars.

#22

The thing I don’t get is the rules that don’t seem to have any real rhyme or reason to them other than someone’s twisted sense of aesthetics.

My condo prohibited welcome mats outside the doors, but they were able to articulate that because the hallway was open-air, water was getting under them and damaging the paint. They were also potential trip hazards and, because most of the units are short-term rentals, the luggage carts were catching on them.

So it sounded absurd on its surface but at least there was an explanation. Two, actually.

#23

They tried to enact a change to no more than 3 houses being used as long term rentals at any one time. In a neighborhood of 130+ homes. The reasoning was, verbatim, “people that rent are typically lower income, lower education, and don’t care about the look of our neighborhood. So they will drag down property values.”

#24

I lived in an HOA that required your garage be free of clutter. The interior of your garage. Presumably this was to keep you from parking in guest spots.

This was even enforced on a neighbor who was running a small, quiet import/export business. He had to move everything to a storage unit.

#25

My dad had an old car which he used regularly cause it ran it was also an ugly color that stood out. It didn’t fit in the garage they tried to hit us with abandoned vehicle in the driveway. We responded that the car was usable and it just didn’t fit in the garage. They still threatened fines and tows. Well the day someone physically showed up my dad was out in his car. They thanked us for getting rid of the eyesore and my dad pulled into the driveway. They left us alone cause yes it was the ugliest el Camino I had ever seen but it ran.

#26

I was in one that had zero lot homes with just small patios at the rear of the house facing the alleyway, where the garages were at (owner’s garages faced each other). You could put up an ugly umbrella that didn’t match the house color or aesthetic of the neighborhood, but in order to have a non-permanent BBQ canopy I had to provide a request to “Alter the house structure”, and said canopy had to match the house colors, or compliment them. (Note, it wasn’t attached to the house, nor was it a structural change as it dismantles in less than 20 mins. And it looked 1000% better than some of the ugly, faded, torn, and broken umbrellas on patios).

#27

No parking in driveway OVERNIGHT. Can park all day but NOT overnight bc overnight parking makes the community look bad and lowers property values, you see.

#28

Turned down a house because one of the HOA rules was that only vehicles were allowed in the garage, nothing else and there was a 100 dollar fine every instance they noted something but a car being in it.

#29

My HOA tried to say that we needed to submit a request for any overnight guests. On top of that, the request needed to include the reason for the visit, and they could only stay for 3 nights.

I live in a neighborhood of single-family homes with 2 and 3 car garages and good-sized driveways. A group of Karens didn’t like that some houses are closer to the common area parking and often use it for their guests to prevent street parking.

#30

Maximum number of wind chimes and plant pots on the balcony of a ‘condo’ (glorified apartment complex) yes we did receive a notice for both lol.

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