Barrett called the HOA office immediately, and Jocelyn Pike arrived roughly 20 minutes later with two board members trailing behind her, and she did not look surprised in the slightest. When Barrett asked directly why an HOA pipe was tied into his private main, she answered that the system had existed for years, though she offered no permit when he asked for one, and no easement when he asked for that either, insisting instead that the HOA had a right to what she called "shared infrastructure."
Barrett reminded her that Stone Ridge did not exist when his main was installed, and her tone shifted immediately as she announced that he was standing on HOA utility property and needed to leave. Barrett simply pointed to the survey marker sitting a few feet behind her, showing that the shed itself encroached nearly four feet onto his own parcel. Jocelyn locked the door and walked away without another word, except to say that he had no right to open it.
Barrett watched the pipe disappear into the ground and told her quietly that he did not need to open anything to know it was taking his water. And that night, the master meter recorded its highest single-day usage on record.
Barrett refused to break the lock himself because Graham Whitaker, his real estate attorney, warned him that cutting the connection without proper documentation could let the HOA reframe the entire situation as a wrongful service interruption instead of what it actually was: a theft of private water.
Instead, they sent a formal written request demanding:
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The permit for the utility shed
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The connection authorization
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The easement
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The system drawings
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The supply contract
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Any board resolution approving the project
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A complete list of every meter attached to the system
The HOA's response came back through its own attorney, claiming Stone Ridge had rights through what the letter called a "historic utility easement." Graham asked the obvious question, wanting to know the recording number for that easement. There was no number, there was no recording date, there was no book and page reference anywhere in the county's land records. Barrett checked the recorder's office himself and confirmed that no such easement had ever been filed, historic or otherwise.