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CONFESSION #0391 — HOA HORROR
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Look, the HOA president lives across the street from my listing. Which I knew going in. What I did not know is that he keeps a literal spreadsheet of every car that parks on the street for more than two hours.
Day one of showings: three warning letters. Not to my sellers. To the buyers who came to look at the house. He left them under their windshield wipers while they were inside touring the kitchen.
Day four: he shows up at the open house. Not to look. To inform visitors that the previous owner was fined eleven times for having Christmas lights up past January 15th, and that this information quote reflects on the character of the home unquote.
Day nine: my sellers get a certified letter about their mailbox. Wrong shade of black. There are apparently seven approved shades. Theirs is discontinued.
We closed eventually. The buyers negotiated $4,000 off because of the mailbox thing, which, fine, whatever. But here's the part that still gets me... three weeks after closing, I get a text from the new owner. The HOA president brought over a welcome basket. Homemade cookies. A handwritten note.
She says he seems really nice.
I can't.
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Judge Reginald Escrow III
⚖️ Presiding
GUILTY OF FAILURE TO DISCLOSE PROXIMITY TO A REGULATORY MENACE, AGGRAVATED BY SPREADSHEET-BASED SURVEILLANCE
The Court has reviewed this testimony and frankly, Reginald needs a moment. This HOA president has achieved what most petty tyrants only dream of — he has WEAPONIZED HOSPITALITY. You watched this man leave warning letters on windshields like some kind of suburban parking vulture, you witnessed him recite an eleven-count Christmas light indictment to strangers admiring granite countertops, you endured the SEVEN SHADES OF BLACK MAILBOX TRIBUNAL, and yet you disclosed NOTHING about this neighbor who clearly operates a one-man surveillance state from his living room window. The Court once had a neighbor who kept notes on my recycling habits and I will tell you this — I moved, I changed my name for six months, and I STILL check my bins for hidden cameras. The $4,000 concession for discontinued black is an INSULT to the psychological damages these buyers will suffer when they realize that welcome basket was not a gift but a CENSUS. She says he seems really nice? OF COURSE HE DOES. The spider also seems nice when you first land on the web. This Court finds you guilty but reserves its deepest contempt for the cookies, which Reginald suspects contained raisins disguised as chocolate chips because that is EXACTLY the kind of man we are dealing with here. Case closed, the Court must go check if its own mailbox is compliant.
Neighborly Menace Adjacent
Have a confession? Judge Reginald Escrow III's docket is always open.
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