Many homeowners have taken to social media to vent about their struggles with homeowners associations, including one Redditor who posted to r/HOA recently about their association's repeated inaction.
The poster listed three separate issues they'd been dealing with since moving into a townhome community in North Texas.
Their first complaint was that garbage trucks constantly ran over a corner of their yard and tore up the grass, as evident in the photo they uploaded.
"The HOA keeps saying they're figuring out what to do, but there's no transparency. The city deflects back to the HOA when I call them," they said in the post.
They also mentioned that water often pooled in their yard after a rainstorm or when the sprinklers were on, causing mosquitos and gnats to swarm. The property manager apparently said they would check on installing a French drain or moving the sprinkler, but the homeowner never heard back.
Their final grievance with the HOA was that, despite community rules about having to park in the garage overnight, the OP's neighbor parked their truck in the driveway, obstructing their view of oncoming traffic.
"I emailed the HOA, and they said they can't make anyone park in their garage or out of the driveway, which contradicts the CC&Rs," they said.
They pleaded with the Reddit community for advice, writing: "My questions are: what can be done? Am I asking for too much here?!"
From preventing homeowners from installing rooftop solar panels to ripping out native plant lawns, HOAs are sadly notorious for having draconian rules about eco-friendly, money-saving upgrades proposed by residents.
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However, if your HOA allows it, or if you negotiate to change rules about making climate-conscious improvements to your property, planting low-maintenance grass alternatives such as a rain garden or clover is an excellent solution for soaking up standing water, like the OP was dealing with.
One commenter offered another suggestion, writing, "Your best course of action is probably to attend a meeting and possibly run for a board position."
"Regarding the water drainage, I would look at my paperwork from the developer regarding warranty. You seem to be within two years [of] purchase, so hopefully, there's some coverage for you. I'd also try to locate documentation of the first time you reported it so that you can prove you've been working on it," another said.
"Can you place a decorative boulder there?" another asked, referring to the area torn up by the garbage trucks.
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