HOUSTON – May 9, 2024 – Homeowners associations, or HOAs, are a source of frustration for many Houston residents, as stories of overreach, petty rules, and costly fines reveal. The experiences shared highlight the often-absurd realities of neighborhood living, with some facing repercussions for seemingly minor infractions. With increasing legal and financial ramifications,many are seeking solutions to the HOA’s demands.

Houston Residents Share Their HOA Horror Stories

homeowners associations (HOAs) are frequently enough touted as a way to maintain property values and community standards.Though, for many Houston-area residents, they’re a source of frustration and bizarre regulations.We asked locals to share their most outrageous HOA experiences, and teh responses painted a picture of overreach, petty rules, and costly fines.

While some stories are almost comical, the underlying reality of facing fines, citations, or warnings for seemingly innocuous actions is no laughing matter. Imagine being penalized for displaying an American flag, using brown mulch, leaving Christmas lights up a few extra days, drawing with chalk on your own driveway, mowing your lawn shirtless, or even placing a pinwheel in your yard.

Here are just a few of the 70 grievances we received, showcasing the often-absurd realities of HOA life in the Houston area:

Note: Responses have been edited for clarity and content.

jonas Referente (pearland, Texas): “This is for a business… We’re not allowed to have an ‘Open’ sign hanging inside our store by the front door.If you want one, it has to be set back so far that customers can’t see it.”

teresa Contreras (Rosenberg, Texas): “The HOA ILLEGALLY broke into my backyard and replaced the bushes WITHOUT informing me…HOA then used the bushes they removed from my house to put into a backyard of another model home. I was told that because I had a “no trespassing” sign that they were allowed to go into my backyard without advising me.”

Veronica lynn Smith (Katy, Texas): “For Halloween I put out three skeletons done up like from the movie Human Centipede…after Halloween, I added Santa hats to them and called it my Santapede. It stayed up all of November and into the first week of December when they sent me a letter and said it needed to be “less offensive.”

Jenny (Brenham, Texas): “I just had to pay $1,920 to my HOA as of a $325 association fee that I entirely forgot about… All of the sudden we received 12 certified letters in ONE DAY from an attorney, demanding $1,900+ or else a lien would be placed on our home!!”

Natasha Jones (League City, Texas): “My house was built brand-new and trees placed… One [tree] was placed a half of a foot off my property on common area. I was sent a letter stating I needed a second tree… they had to come dig up the tree and move it over, 10 years after I purchased the house!”

Cyre (Spring, Texas): “My second day moving in, our cars were towed due to a no-parking on the side of the curb after midnight rule… I had to pay $252 to get my car back. That was my “welcome” to the neighborhood.”

Jennifer Seale (Conroe, Texas): “Things we got letters for from the HOA: 1. Having a water hose laying out in the lawn. 2. Not watering our lawn during a drought. 3.A flat bed trailer full of mulch sitting in the driveway while we re-mulched our landscaping… We finally got enough, sold the house and moved onto 80 acres in the country. No HOA.”

lesley (Kingwood, Texas): “I got a letter and a fine for having my bicycle in the yard when I took my kids inside to get a drink… But they ignore things like people piling trash in their yard for a month. Very confusing.”

Stephanie (Friendswood): “They will not allow us to replace a dead tree, unless we replace with a live oak… Also would not approve sidewalk from driveway to fence for person with disability. Had to hire a lawyer. Now, they are asking us to reimburse them for their lawyer fee, after a variance was granted.”

Jocelyn (Porter, Texas): “I bought five $1 dollar solar lights to line my sidewalk… in order to place them in my yard … I have to pay a $75 application fee…but will fine for having a dead tree.”

Nicole Puerta (Tomball, texas): “We have been harassed by our HOA due to my husband having his work vehicle in the driveway… at one meeting we were told it devalues a neighborhood. So apparently blue collar workers are beneath everyone.”

Ronald Scurry (Rosharon, Texas): “The homeowners association charges $1,700 per month and has promised a lagoon, amenities with restaurants and a fitness centre… No groundbreaking has taken place for over two years and they continue to charge $1,700 a year for the HOA fee.”

Aimee Casas: “Our HOA sent my neighbour a warning regarding too many birds on her roof. Birds. Wild freakin’ birds. Seems they were a nuisance and an eyesore. She was ordered to rid them or be fined. People are crazy.”

Adrienne Morales Rodriguez: “We got a letter from HOA that we were being fined because we did not ask them permission to cut down the tree [that fell during a storm]. After a call from us and our neighbor, they decided to waive the fine.”

Ron Wills: “I got a letter stating I didn’t get approval to install screens over all my windows. I wrote a letter back kindly telling them that the house had screens already installed when we bought it three years ago. I didn’t receive another letter after that.”

Kelsie Wilkins: “I got a letter that I needed to replace some of my boards on my chimney and in the same sentence told me to email into the board and get approval.”

David Green: “The requirement to pay an annual $200 gate fee for a gate that has been broken more than 90% of the time of the three-and-a-half years we have lived here.”

Jessica Salto: “Having to pick up my trash can the day of trash day before 5 p.m.!! Hello!! We get off work at 5 p.m. how is that doable?”

Kyle Dodd Bigley: “Barbecue pit was still out in the front. The pic they sent still had smoke coming out.”

Herbert Smith: “A friend of mine got 2 notices, one was because her condensing unit for her ac wasn’t tan like the original. The other was because she had a blue water hose,only green and yellow were allowed.She rounded up all the neighbors and they voted the entire HOA out and changed the more stupid rules.”

A.J. Abraham: “I got a letter that there was junk in the yard. October (Halloween decorations), November (Thanksgiving decorations), and December (XMAS decorations)… Just ridiculous stuff. Never had any proof.”

Gwen Sharp-Diggs: “Not being allowed to hang an American flag as I may offend someone that lives in America.”

Josh Diak: “I once received two letters on the same day. The first said my front yard needed to be mowed, the second said I needed to treat my front yard to promote growth.”

Michelle Schober: “I got a letter because my trash can fell over after it rained. It has a lid so nothing fell out. They said my garbage can is supposed to be upward.”

Dawn Molina: “Getting permission for a trampoline in my fenced-in backyard.”

David Dukeheart: “The HOA wouldn’t allow me to give out supplies [like toilet paper during COVID], I had to do it in a public spot, like the local Kroger parking lot.”

Heather Olsby Rich: “A neighbor got a notice for weeds in her planter. They were bluebonnets that hadn’t bloomed yet!! 🤣🤣”

Amy Schomer Halliwell: “I had to repaint my door after the paint the crappy builder used was chipping. Painted the closest color I could. 5 years later I got a letter telling me I never got the color approved. Navy…the navy door I repainted navy.”

Chris Marcantel: “When you sell your house, you have to give the HOA .1% of the sale.”

mary Walker-Hernandez: “We kept getting letters/warnings with pictures of a dog in our yard saying to keep our dog put up or on a leash. WE DON’T HAVE A DOG! 😂”

Cheryl Torres-Soto: “Christmas lights on house six days after Christmas.”

Ruben Rodriguez: “I like to water my plants and mow my yard with only shorts on. they said no shirt no boxers no watering.”

These stories offer a glimpse into the often-contentious relationship between homeowners and their HOAs, raising questions about the balance between maintaining community standards and infringing on individual freedoms.