Tried turning my attic into a grow room for peppers and now the HOA wants me in court

I put up some cheap LED strips and plastic sheeting up there last March, but three neighbors complained about the heat shimmer coming off my roof, and now I'm staring at a $500 fine for unauthorized structural changes - anyone else deal with HOAs over home experiments that got out of hand?

3 comments

3 Comments

hollyg593d ago

unauthorized structural changes" - man they really make it sound like you built a second story instead of hanging some mylar blankets. i tried a similar "experiment" with a hydroponic setup in my garage last year, ended up flooding the neighbor's driveway because i didnt seal the reservoir right. got slapped with a $300 fine and had to write a formal apology to the board. honestly at this point i just tell the HOA im "exploring sustainable agriculture" to make it sound fancy.

hollyg593d ago

oh god the flooding thing is so real lol. i once tried to set up a little propagation station with some grow lights in my utility closet and ended up shorting out the building's fire alarm system because i used the wrong extension cord. the HOA sent me a letter that said "electrical system tampering" which made it sound like i was trying to hack the power grid or something. honestly i think they just love using big words to scare us into compliance. my favorite is when they call my balcony plants "vegetation overgrowth" because i let my basil get a little tall. next time im just gonna tell them im conducting "atmospheric modification research" and see if they fine me for that too.

knight.mason3d ago

$300 fine for that? Brutal. HOA boards seriously have nothing better to do.