One family's warm welcome to a new condo came with a cold splash of reality about how quickly homeowners association costs can spiral.
As explained in a Reddit post, the user's parents had recently moved into a condo with an HOA when a dispute erupted over a relatively small interior repair costing about $2,500. One homeowner challenged whether the repair was their responsibility under the HOA's bylaws and decided to sue the association.
Instead of settling the matter quickly, the HOA chose to fight the lawsuit. That decision reportedly led to around $65,000 in legal fees.
"Special Assessment of roughly [$]3,000 per household, Merry Christmas to my parents. And it turns out that settling a suit as a cost-benefit consideration would not count as a precedent. I can't believe the inability of people to think" said the original poster.
While this story centers on legal fees, many commenters saw it as part of a much bigger HOA problem.
Across the country, HOAs are often responsible for managing essential systems like water, landscaping, roofs, and drainage. But, if they mismanage money, those systems can suffer, leading to higher utility bills, damaged property, or constant stress over surprise assessments for homeowners.
Poor HOA oversight can also lead to wasted resources, like leaking water lines, excessive irrigation, or delayed maintenance that causes bigger problems down the road.
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For example, one HOA kept watering a largely unused clubhouse lawn, wasting huge amounts of water and money, and another caused a homeowner to face unexpected fees just for trying to install solar panels.
"The HOA caused the damage, the HOA gets to pay to fix it. Seems like your parents should be pissed at the Board for spending the money on a meritless defense," one person replied to the Redditor.
"Carefully read the deed and bylaws before buying a condo. These days there is a "walls in" policy that makes the owner responsible for remediating damage from the common area," another warned.
If you or a family member are dealing with a troublesome HOA, especially after moving into a new community, understanding how the rules work, and even how to go about getting them changed, can make a big difference.
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