Quoted from zr11990:I have never seen a HOA that wasn't a total PITA. Mine sends their kids around saying they are looking for a lost dog while they are really looking for something to send a letter about. They were demanding that anyone who had a cracked driveway have it fixed because someone in the HOA made a deal with a driveway company. If someone got a new driveway and it wasn't through their buddy they would look to see if the company pulled a permit to get them in trouble. If there was something they could find out of code they would turn them in to the city, say some had a smooth transition from the street to the driveway where the city requires a lip, yep redo. I shorted them 10 bucks last year and they turned it in to a lawyer and it cost me 700 bucks. Fucking assholes. everyone hates them but no one will go to the meetings and say anything because they are afraid of them.
You need to find other people to do it, then vote the current ones out. That is the hard part, as very few people are willing to deal with it. I would report the activity you are describing to the ombudsman. If they are really doing that, it is illegal.
I have owned two condos now, and have been a board member at both. It isn't very fun as pretty much no one is satisfied with anything you do. They won't bother to help, but love to complain. I am getting tired of taking pics of cars parked where they aren't supposed to be. I actually really like condo living, but there are always about 10% of the people who refuse to follow the rules, and create more than 90% of the work for the association. The other 90% spend way too much time complaining about the 10%. It is a never ending cycle.
So, as you can probably tell, I do not mow my own lawn. I don't like it, and it is not worth my time to do. In the house we sold last year, I paid $25/wk to have it done. I have probably mowed a lawn 10 times in my adult life, and I hated it every time. Recently, I have included just about all handyman work, most cleaning, and pretty much any other chores to my no thank you list. I will take out the trash, do dishes, change light bulbs, and turn on the roomba once in a while. Everything else is either done by the association, or I pay to have it done. I will never mow a lawn or clean a bathroom again in my lifetime.