“HOA” Shut Down My BBQ & Forged My Signature — I'm Not Even Part Of The HOA!

This came to the knowledge of the HOA board, and a few weeks ago, some board members knocked on my door and told me they were not pleased with this at all. They told me people in the neighborhood felt unsafe knowing that "drug addicts" gather at my house.

I told them that our support group is not for people fighting addiction—or maybe some of them are, but they don't tell me—but for trauma survivors, and that this would stop as soon as we could go back to the church.

They were not convinced, called me inconsiderate, and asked me to stop. I did not, because I consider that I have a right to invite people to my house and talk to them.

Yesterday, I received a strongly worded letter from the HOA demanding that I stop inviting "drug addicts" to gather at my house because it puts everyone in danger and they are "not the kind of people we want in the neighborhood." They said I had a chance to make things right but didn't, so they are fining me $500. They said they will fine me for every meeting I organize from now on and threatened me with a lien on my house if I don't pay.

The reason they invoke is that our meetings are "breaching the peace of the neighborhood and making people unsafe." This is completely untrue. Our meetings are six to seven people maximum, we don't make noise, and we don't drink. People park in my driveway or in legal spots on the street. We cause absolutely no disturbance.

I checked the HOA rules, and I cannot seem to find which one I would be breaking. Does the HOA have any right to stop me from organizing meetings at my house? I don't see how our support group is any different from having a few guests over. The HOA is run by people who don't seem to know what they are doing, and I think that they would stop harassing me if I had real legal arguments to oppose them.

A user in the comments replied:

This is complicated, and a firm answer would probably require a detailed reading of your HOA's CC&Rs by a lawyer, but there is a decent chance that they can do this. The fact that the HOA is run by people who don't seem to know what they are doing is largely irrelevant. Many HOA rules are written in such a way as to exclude just the sort of activities you are engaging in—namely, bringing other people into the neighborhood on a regular basis.

I could run through a list of possible reasons they will feed you:

• It is a business run out of the home, even though you don't get paid.

• It is an unlicensed social club.

• You cannot prove that you are really practicing social distancing, etc.

At the end of the day, they don't want people with no clear link to a resident coming regularly into their space, and they will throw fines at you until you stop. You would need a lawyer to get a firm answer, though.

Update: I Pushed Back and My HOA Stopped Harassing Me About Hosting Support Group Meetings

I wrote back to the HOA to dispute the fines and sent a polite but firm letter asking them to show me precisely which rule I was supposed to be breaking, as I was advised by commenters. I also stated that I felt insulted that they were calling me and the group members drug addicts—I felt bad doing so, because I know that addiction is a disease and not a sin, but I stated that I would raise hell over this and call a lawyer.

As a result, the president of the HOA called me and basically confirmed that they had not found a specific rule I was breaking, but that it was more of a "general feeling" people had, that I was making them uncomfortable, and that it should not go on.

I asked why they were uncomfortable. He explained that they thought I was letting drug addicts gather at my home and that it would bring crime to the neighborhood. I explained again that the support group is not about addiction and the members are not drug addicts.

The president said he knew, but some homeowners had trouble accepting it. He confirmed, as I suspected, that there were other things they had trouble accepting about me, and that it was not truly about drugs.

Then I pressed my advantage a little by arguing that what they were doing amounted to discrimination against people who need mental health support, that they were infringing on my right to peacefully enjoy my property, and that I was adamant I would not pay a single cent in fines.

He said that I seemed passionate about the argument and that he did not want to be involved in a legal dispute over this. So we came to an agreement: I would move as many meetings as possible online and only have people at my place when there was no other way (which made sense during pandemic times anyway). In return, the HOA would drop their claim and leave me alone.

I have not heard from them again, so I guess I am fine.

This is probably the first time I've seen an HOA drop a dispute so quickly. Either this HOA president is not as big of a jerk as all the other ones, or the original poster was very intimidating.