The HOA Fined Me For A Flag That Was Legally Required
73% BELIEVED
CASE FILE #335
FILED: Apr 11, 2026
CLASSIFICATION: Entitled People Stories
WITNESS ON RECORD: allme
JURY OF 161 READERS HEARD THIS CASE: 118 believed it, 19 had doubts, 24 weren't buying it.
The flag was orange. It was in the strip of grass between the pavement and the road, which is not my property, and which I have never mown without resentment.
It was put there by the gas company. It is a locate marker. It is required by law before anybody digs, and there was digging scheduled, because our street is old and everything under it is older.
The HOA fined me ninety dollars a day for a "non-conforming decorative item in the public-facing zone".
I replied with a photograph of the marker, a photograph of the works notice, and a link to the state statute, and I said, politely, that removing it would be a criminal offence and also that I would prefer my house not to explode.
They fined me for the reply, under a rule about "argumentative correspondence".
I want to make it clear that this is a real rule. I have read it. It exists. Somebody wrote it, and other people voted for it, and they did that as adults in a room with coffee.
The fines ran for eleven days. Nine hundred and ninety dollars. The gas company came, dug up the street, fixed the thing that was leaking — leaking! actual gas! — and took their flag away with them, and the HOA sent me a final notice that included the phrase "we trust this resolves the matter".
It was put there by the gas company. It is a locate marker. It is required by law before anybody digs, and there was digging scheduled, because our street is old and everything under it is older.
The HOA fined me ninety dollars a day for a "non-conforming decorative item in the public-facing zone".
I replied with a photograph of the marker, a photograph of the works notice, and a link to the state statute, and I said, politely, that removing it would be a criminal offence and also that I would prefer my house not to explode.
They fined me for the reply, under a rule about "argumentative correspondence".
I want to make it clear that this is a real rule. I have read it. It exists. Somebody wrote it, and other people voted for it, and they did that as adults in a room with coffee.
The fines ran for eleven days. Nine hundred and ninety dollars. The gas company came, dug up the street, fixed the thing that was leaking — leaking! actual gas! — and took their flag away with them, and the HOA sent me a final notice that included the phrase "we trust this resolves the matter".
THIS EXCERPT ENDS HERE. The remaining 152 words of the testimony — and the reader jury — are on file at:
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https://www.swearithappened.com/entitled-people-stories/the-hoa-fined-me-for-a-flag-that-was-legally-required-335/
Votes on record: 118 believed · 19 unsure · 24 didn't · 73% of readers believe this story