One triumphant homeowner posted about their success against their homeowners association in the form of an open letter on an anti-HOA subreddit.
"Finally a win," they said before launching into the meat of their story. "Dear HOA (specifically 'B' and the busy-body mom squad), I've tried so hard to be in compliance with our bylaws and work with the HOA to get solar even when you overlook several violations in our neighborhood.
"You have blocked me for over almost 2 years even though I've jumped through several hoops. You have spent so much money on lawyers sending me notices to cease and desist it's unreal."
This homeowner's experience is not uncommon.
Solar panels are a frequent sticking point with HOAs. Though they save homeowners money, enable independence from the grid in the case of outages, and promote a cleaner, healthier environment, they also change the look of a home's exterior — something many HOAs just can't abide.
But this homeowner got the last laugh. "Well, as of 4/1 it's state law (Michigan) and you can't do s*** about it," they crowed. "My system goes in this month. Feel free to move out of the sub as you keep on posting on Facebook that you will."
Indeed, Michigan recently became the 30th state to bar HOAs from banning solar panels, giving residents the right to access abundant and clean solar power. That's great news for household budgets, grid resilience, and the climate, which will only improve if we reduce our heat-trapping air pollution.
Commenters loved seeing this win.
"Nice. Keep us posted here on this thread. Love to see pics and you shoving it at the HOA," said one user.
"When you do Xmas lights this year, just spell out 'powered by solar' with the lights," suggested another user.
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