HOAs are known for having restrictive guidelines and generally making homeowners' lives much more difficult.
However, one HOA president in New York City took things too far by making a selfish request that affected an entire condo's worth of residents. The condo manager shared the story in the r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit.
They explained that an NYC law requires that buildings start using heat on Oct. 1. However, since temperatures fluctuate so much during that month, they wait until it's truly chilly before turning it on, so residents don't overheat — something residents are perfectly happy with.
However, as the Redditor wrote, "Last year, the board president … sent an email demanding we turn on the heating system immediately and that going forward, the heat must always be on by Oct. 1 — she didn't care if other units would be uncomfortably warm … she should be comfortable in her unit."
This year, condo management did just that, and at the next annual meeting, as the poster wrote that "tenants were furious."
Thankfully, the story ended well, with management sharing the HOA president's email on a projector at the meeting so all could see who was to blame, which led to the president losing the next election. However, this is far from the first time an HOA or one of its board members has taken steps that affect others.
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While there are occasionally benefits to living under an HOA, often its restrictive guidelines prevent homeowners from making money-saving and eco-friendly changes to their homes, leading to higher costs. Doing this also keeps homeowners from negating some of their home's impact on the environment, leading to more pollution.
Even worse, residents across the country have called out HOAs for neglecting or controlling homeowners' essential utilities. These oversights can increase a homeowner's utility bills, worsen their day-to-day quality of life (like in this case), or even put them at risk of harm.
Worst of all, these kinds of oversights can waste resources or increase the use of dirty energy sources, which increases pollution.
As for this situation, other Redditors had plenty to say about it.
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Definitely 😎 "Most HOA presidents are wannabe tyrants and will take that role to impose their viewpoints on everyone," one person commented.
Another Redditor added, "Actually saying 'I'm the president, so I should be comfortable' takes a decent amount of hubris. I'm glad she got voted out."
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