A condo owner took to Reddit to discuss an outrageous demand made by the building's HOA. On an anti-HOA subreddit hardly predisposed to give HOAs the benefit of the doubt, the condo owner outlined the grievance.
The opening post explained that the HOA demanded that everyone replace their windows by September, regardless of their current condition. Then, they added the stipulation that came with the order: "This is the best part - if we don't do this by September, the HOA is going to charge people $8000, to manage the replacements on their behalf!?!"
The post generated the sort of comments, a mix of sharing outrage and a few suggestions to counter the move.
One poster commented on how wasteful the idea was: "It seems crazy inefficient to have each owner arrange to replace their own without standardization."
Another added: "This strikes me as excessive. You may want a consult with a real estate lawyer."
Several comments suggested organizing other condo owners to push back against the HOA's ultimatum.
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One commenter said, "Get many condo owners together and hire a lawyer to examine the HOA contract documents to determine if the board can even legally make that demand. If not, have the lawyer draft a letter telling them to go pound sand."
The lively discussion highlights an important part of instituting environmentally friendly home solutions: the opposition of neighbors. Some HOAs view things like solar panels, vegetable gardens, and replacing lawns with wildflowers unfavorably.
Around 84% of newly built homes sold in the United States in 2022 belonged to an HOA. Overcoming entrenched opposition may seem daunting, but several states have introduced legislation to empower homeowners to make eco-friendly choices on their own property. See here for a comprehensive guide to push back against HOAs that overstep their bounds.
Another aspect of this discussion was how wasteful it is to replace a perfectly good set of windows. While installing new, environmentally friendly improvements is helpful, the optimal move is to reduce unnecessary consumption where possible.
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Yes 💯 As one of the comments suggested, in this case, the demand to replace windows might have had an ulterior motive: "So who on the board is profiting from this? Is the window installer someone's brother-in-law? Probably."
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