Most neighborhoods love the time of year when twinkling lights adorn beautiful houses and create stunning views for blocks and blocks. Decorating the house is a fun and exciting group activity for many families.
In some neighborhoods, however, there are rules about what you can and cannot do. If you're part of a homeowners association, there may be some restrictions about how you can decorate your house, or when.
One man took to Reddit after a neighborhood HOA, which he isn't a part of, pressured him to abide by its rules.
The original poster started by explaining how he became entangled with the HOA.
"I've had a previous experience with this group as I live in a neighborhood that has an HOA but I was there before the rest of the houses were built and before they formed this group," he explained.
"I'm not a member in anyway and that has been verified by a real estate attorney."
The HOA hasn't gotten the message, though.
"So anyway apparently they have a rule over how many lights you can put up and what the earliest date you can put them up," OP continued.
"The woman who I deal with the most when I upset them came by on 11/30 and told me my lights were against the policy and that I was not allowed to have as many lights up as I do."
OP reminded the HOA representative that its rules don't apply to him.
"I told her that we been over this before that I am in no way beholden to their policies and don't care," he leveled.
"I told her out of respect to the people in the neighborhood I did like that I wasn't going to go full Clark Griswold on my house but that my nieces and nephews loved lights so I would be putting up a fair amount."
"I also told her that I didn't care about their rules that the lights could only be on during certain hours and that once done putting them up on the 30th I would likely turn them on and leave them on till Christmas," OP leveled.
The HOA lady tried to lay a guilt trip.
"She told me that me breaking the rules upset other members and that I should respect their rules even if I don't follow them because I technically live in the neighborhood," OP shared.
"She offered me a flyer which apparently had their rules for lights. I tossed it in the trash and told her to just get off my property. I probably could've entertained some of what she asked but I've just had enough of them."
People agreed with OP and encouraged him to mess with her.
Commenters got in touch with their inner petty as they suggested that OP put up another strand of lights for every time the HOA complains. Another suggested that OP take his lights down one strand at a time.
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