When moving into a new place, you can never know what neighbors you’re going to get; they might be the nicest people you’ve ever met or the biggest pain in the neck you’ve ever had.

This redditor’s neighbor initially seemed to be the former, but soon revealed herself to be the latter. The OP was looking for a house that didn’t belong to an HOA, but when they found one, they had to deal with a woman, who treated the property as if it did. Scroll down to find the full story below.

Neighbors can really make your environment a homey one, though, they can make it a living hell, too

Image credits: Thirdman (not the actual photo)

This redditor had enough of their aggravating neighbor and decided to take petty revenge

Image credits: Liza Summer (not the actual photo)

Image source: StevenAndLindaStotch

Americans seem to have a love-hate relationship with their HOAs

Image credits: RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)

Neighbors—can’t live with them, can’t live without them. When it comes to those living around you, you’re never really sure what you’re getting when relocating. And even when you do get the chance to meet them, some first impressions—which reportedly take around 33 milliseconds for a person to form—might not be representative of reality.

Upon moving in, the OP thought the woman living nearby was just being helpful, but her help soon got a little too much. She treated the property as if it was subject to an HOA, when in reality, it wasn’t, as the redditor made sure to let their realtor know that was one thing they didn’t want.

The exact reasons the OP didn’t want to be a part of an HOA are not clear, but, according to The Washington Post, Americans tend to have a love-hate relationship with them. Be that as it may, nowadays there are reportedly over 370,000 HOAs in the US, collectively representing more than 40 million households.

The majority of members don’t think their neighborhood is better with an HOA

Image credits: Matthias Zomer (not the actual photo)

The Washington Post pointed out that one of the reasons people don’t feel fond of their HOA is because of argumentative behavior at meetings. When it comes to this, the situation seems to be the worst during the condo association get-togethers, followed by single-family and townhouse homeowner meetings respectively.

Another HOA thing people are not necessarily thrilled about is the organization’s rulemaking authority. The three rules HOA members seem to dislike the most relate to lawn appearance, parking regulations, and pet restrictions. However, there are some rules people wished were implemented, with the top ones relating to improved parking, improved noise regulations, and requirements for residents to clean up after their pets.

Despite the love-hate relationship, the majority—53%, to be exact—of members don’t believe their neighborhood is better with an HOA, according to a recent survey by Rocket Mortgage. One in ten of them seemingly dislike the organization so much that they’re considering selling their property because of HOA-related reasons.

Loud noise is one of the most effective ways to drive your neighbor crazy

Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto (not the actual photo)

Another survey conducted by Rocket Mortgage revealed that people are annoyed not only with their HOAs but with their neighbors, too, making the OP far from the only one not that happy with either. Nearly four in five surveyed homeowners admitted they have had to deal with at least one annoying thing their neighbors do; the most aggravating of which seems to be loud noise.

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In the comments under their post, the OP pointed out that noise was what their neighbor often complained about, hence their choice of petty revenge—a symphony of contractors putting up a fence. (Cause who doesn’t love the sweet sound of construction work, especially early in the morning?)

Other frustrating neighbor habits include harassing, dog barking, frequent intruding of one’s privacy, and a messy yard. But it is important to note that nearly 64% of homeowners admit doing the same things they find most annoying themselves.

Bored Panda has reached out to the OP via Reddit and will update the article once we’ve heard back from them.

The OP provided more details in the comments

Fellow redditors shared their thoughts and similar stories

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