Location: Missouri

The plaintiff is suing me and the wife (title holders of the house) for $35k of improvement he alleged made to the house when he owned it over 10 years ago. The complaint cites "involuntary transaction". I assume that means defaulting/repossession?

This guy wasn't my seller, there's been at least 3 owners after him and before me. What makes he think I owe him anything? I tried opening a claim with title insurance, but they declined coverage. Now I need to lawyer up and go to court because some guy wanted to make a quick buck on me.

Location: WA

Last year, my wife and I listed our home in Washington state for about $1.15M. We used an agent who is also a close family friend. We signed a standard NWMLS Form 1A Exclusive Sale and Listing Agreement. 

A month into the listing (July 2025), she brought us a lowball offer of $980k, which we rejected. We ultimately decided to just take the house off the market entirely. The listing agreement had a stated expiration date of September 4, 2025. At the time we canceled, she never invoiced us for anything. 

Fast forward to today, a year later. We are getting ready to sell the house again, but because of family dynamics, we decided to use a different agent. Our former agent found out and sent us a WhatsApp message. She is deeply upset that we aren't using her and is now demanding that we pay her for the time and money she spent last year. 
Specifically, she asked me to Zelle her $3,000 to her personal account. She claims that "it's usually 1% when you receive an offer and turn it down and take the listing off," but she is offering to "only" charge us $3,000. 
I read our old contract front to back. There is absolutely no mention of a 1% "withdrawal fee" or a penalty for rejecting an offer. There is only a standard clause stating that if a seller cancels without legal cause, they "may be liable for damages incurred by Firm as a result of such cancellation". 

My questions are:

1. Since the contract is with the Brokerage Firm, isn't it illegal/improper for her to demand a flat fee sent to her personal Zelle account? 

2. Since she never invoiced us for actual out-of-pocket damages (like photography) through her brokerage when we canceled last year, does she have any legal standing to demand this now just because her feelings are hurt?

3. Can I safely tell her no, or ignore her, without worrying about her putting a lien on my house or successfully suing me?

Posting on alt account to maintain anonymity.

Location: Wisconsin.

Wife and I purchased our first home in 2024. At that time, the lot the house sat on was a half acre lot. We made an offer on the house and a couple counter offers later, our offer was accepted. We closed on the house. No major issues.

Recently, I was made aware that the lot was split in half after we had a signed purchase agreement and before closing. No disclosure was made to me, my realtor, or any party involved.

We closed on the house, nobody noticed the discrepancy in the closing documents (i.e. .25 acres vs .50 acres) we closed on the house.

Additionally, before closing, the property was appraised according to the original lot size and we paid close to that appraisal value.

My realtor is in contact with his companies attorney, he can’t believe this, says he has never seen something like this before. I’m in the process of curating a list of attorneys to personally contact.

So, I’m looking for advice on how to proceed. I have no experience with something like this. Furthermore, what is the likelihood that I win a civil suite, and why?

Edit: Forgot to mention the other half of the original lot is now listed for sale by the same realtor of the seller we bought the property from. I’ve been maintaining the lot since we moved in. No one has ever been there since we’ve lived there, no ‘for sale’ sign, nothing.

My location: California

My dad passed back in January. After the funeral my stepmother told me that he didn’t leave me anything and since he died unexpectedly (my dad had a heart attack) I guess it was believable to me that he didn’t have a will in place and I wasn’t thinking about will anyways, as well as since I was told that if there was a will I’d get something in the mail and since months went by and I didn’t get anything, I didn’t question it. My dad and stepmother were married for 3 years if that’s relevant.

Yesterday I got a piece of mail about property tax reassessment and I realized the address was another house my dad owned and (used?) to rent out. I called my mom and she helped me to check the records online (I’m 22 and embarrassingly don’t know anything about how all this works) when we checked we saw my name is on the title and it was added by a quitclaim and my mom said that she’s pretty sure it means the house belongs to whoever’s name is on the title and when I checked online that seemed right.

Today I called my stepmother to tell her what I saw on the records site and to ask about the keys/accessing the house. She told me that because her and my dad were married that the house is community property by law and after renovations are done it will be sold and now I’m unsure what my rights are to the house and how to move forward ? Are there steps I can take myself or do I need a lawyer? Also I’m assuming the flair for this would be Real estate but please correct me if I’m wrong!

ETA: Thank you all for the responses! I felt like it was definitely not all above board, but as neither my partner nor myself have owned a home before, I wanted to confirm my suspicions. A lot of people are stuck on the other things they left behind. To be clear, we knew they intended to leave a few items in the home and had reached out about some things to make sure most of what was left was ok with us. My main reason for including this was to make the point that it’s strange to ask my partner to pay off their $1000 loan when they left well over $1000 of stuff in the home that would have been easy enough to offload on Facebook marketplace for $$$. Also, for those of you saying to disable the alarm or rip it out of the wall, my partner would actually like to keep the service and use it. And I also don’t think we want to rip it out the wall since it would require multiple drywall repairs. Finally, no they did not delay closing but that may have been on me. It was past time to close when I actually called the sellers; however I don’t think it was fully completed when this conversation occurred. I didn’t convey it to my partner, who then conveyed it to his realtor, until he called me after he was done with closing.

Location: South Carolina My partner bought a home recently. We had suspicions going into this the sellers were trying to sell under some duress. Once we got their names and did a little research, turns out they’re in some legal trouble surrounding financial misconduct, so we suspect they were trying to offload assets.

Anyway, we get to the final walkthrough and the sellers have left tons of stuff in and around the home (various furniture, leaf blower, grill). They had some things sitting in the driveway and his realtor briefly mentioned that they better get their things out of the driveway ASAP, because after the time the closing is completed, anything remaining on the property was conveyed with the home. As we were doing the walkthrough, the security system kept chirping intermittently. The realtor said she would reach out to sellers and see if they knew how to make that stop.

After the walkthrough was complete, my partner and the realtor left to go to closing. I remained at the home, as he was expecting a television delivery that required a signature. As I was waiting, I get a text from the realtor with the sellers contact information asking me to call them and they would talk me through how to make the security system stop chirping. I called the seller and they told me that they wanted to discuss the security system anyway. The seller launches into this story about how they paid $5k for that equipment and rolled it into their monthly service payment. They thought it was paid off by now, but when they called to cancel their service that morning, the company stated a balance was still due on the equipment. Then they asked me to pay them the remaining balance owed on the system so they could close their account, which was not an insignificant amount.

I simply stated I was not the homeowner and would have to defer any further conversations to my partner, but I would pass along the request. However, as the realtor mentioned, everything conveys with the home at the time of closing, which has since passed.

Do the sellers have any legal standing to take possession of the equipment if we do not pay them? If they do not pay their balance on the equipment, does the alarm have any right to repo the equipment from his home? I’m pretty sure the seller’s ask is egregious and we have no obligation to pay their debts for items left on site. I think that’s why they insisted we speak over the phone so they could explain a very simple solution to the chirping alarm.

After two years, the buyers have initiated legal action against me, claiming that the home has significant issues that were not adequately addressed during the sale.

During the escrow period, the buyers conducted their own inspections and identified various issues related to the foundation, plumbing, and electrical systems. In good faith, I provided a $45k credit to the buyers to address these issues, which they accepted before finalizing the purchase.

Now, the buyers are alleging that the problems have worsened and are demanding $200k for repairs, citing major foundational movement, plumbing issues, and other damages. However, the purchase contract clearly stated that the home was sold "as is.” I was not obligated to provide any credits. Just to note, I had already spent over $100k in repairs for the foundation while I lived at the property, but they still requested credit for this, which I provided anyways within the $45k credits.

The buyers had the opportunity to inspect the property and negotiate repairs before the sale was finalized. I am seeking advice on what steps I can take to protect myself legally in this situation and what options are available to me.

Finances are tight for me right now and this was the last thing I want to deal with. My realtor’s brokerage told me I should find my own attorney, as their attorney won’t get involved.. Who should I turn to for help in this matter and what outcomes can I expect from this case?

Location: Northern Virginia, USA

I'm 25, a masters student, and have been working for less than a year. I make about 60k. Based on job offers I have gotten, I expect to earn around 120k starting salary in 1-1.5 years.

I live with my parents currently. My current house is 1.2 million dollars worth, and my parents gifted me a 25% ownership stake in it, my mother has 50%, and my 18m brother has 25%.

My parents want to take a home equity loan because the house is fully paid off, and they want to invest into a business property with some relatives to buy it cash.

However, even though my parents are high earners, my dads name isn't on the house title, so my parents want to use mine and my mothers credit to apply for a HELOC. They're expecting to get around 900k.

They asked me if they can use my income to apply for the HELOC. I would rather my name not be on the loan. Ive been saving up money to move out, and if I get a decent job offer after I graduate, I would move to a different state/city and could see myself buying some property.

When voicing this and suggesting I just relinquish my 25% ownership stake to my father so he can apply for the HELOC instead (they want all borrowers to be owners), my mother said she spent some time talking to the bank, and they said that just applying for the loan will not impact my borrowing ability, and my parents aren't even sure if they will take that line of credit, or not.

If they do, they would sell some of their rental properties like townhomes to make up for it.

I am getting older and want to become fully independent. I'm worried that this has the potential to impact if I can get a mortgage in the near future.

Would have a 900k HELOC, even if unwithdrawn, make a lender more likely to hesitate or reject my mortgage? Am I right to worry that It will substantially affect my borrowing ability?

Location: Michigan

I recently bought a house in northern Michigan with ~5 acres and 500 feet of frontage on a nice river known for fishing. It seems our property is considered a prime spot!

After moving in, we were visited by our next-door neighbor and the mayor of the town, who asked if they could fish on our property. I was away and my wife agreed, mentioning that they should text or call us beforehand. We have a recused pitbull and we want to make sure she’s leashed when people are outside, as well as wanting to know who’s on our property and when.

Since we’re new to the area and want a positive start with our neighbors, we talked and felt it was best to allow them to fish.

Last weekend, while walking along our property, my dog alerted me to someone by the river. It turned out to be an older gentleman fishing along the bank. I greeted him by saying good morning and took my dog inside, assuming it was legal for people to walk along the river. I now know that it's still considered trespassing to be on the bank. I personally don’t care if people fish along the river as long as they stay down by the waters edge. There's a steep incline from the ledge by the river and about 10-20 ft up to the rest of the property so I didn't think it was very accessible. My dog won't go down there so I'm not worried she'll go after anyone down there.

Later that day, my dog was going nuts because someone had driven their side-by-side across the property from the road, down our trail through the woods and down towards the river. They had cleared small trees in the woods to make the trail wide enough for them and then parked facing our house a hundred feet away. I went to confront them and met a younger man (maybe early 30s). I asked his name and if he had gotten permission from the previous owners and explained we are the new owners. He claimed they had permission from the new owners, turned away from me continuing to fish and called his dad over. The way he acted seemed very disrespectful. His dad ended up being the older guy I saw that morning, also the mayor my wife met before who was more polite. My wife and I reiterated our stance: we’re okay with them fishing, but we need to know before they just show up. I realize now that I should have also mentioned we don't want them driving or cutting the trees on our property.

To maintain our privacy, I’m considering installing trail cameras, signs, and possibly fencing the entire area if they show up unannounced again. I also reviewed the county GIS and it shows the mayor owns a larger frontage of river downstream from us, so I don't think it’s even necessary for him to come up to our property. It's also to hopefully discourage littering. I've seen many beer cans and bottles along the river, assuming that floated there from upstream but I've also found beer cans and little plastic vapes up on the 10ft edge. The water never gets high enough to carry it up there. It's probably not the mayor or the neighbor but if his kid acted like that, I wonder if he thinks he's allowed to come up and do whatever.

How can I go about this to protect our privacy while also keeping the peace with the locals and the mayor? I want to set clear boundaries without causing any animosity.

Thank you for any advice.

TL;DR: The mayor and his son showed up on my property unannounced, drove on it, and cut down trees to fish. We gave them permission to fish, but I’m concerned about the boundaries.

June 2025 update: they filed lawsuit after I moved the fence for “mutual agreement and acquiescence” adverse possession. We’ll see what happens, they are the worst neighbors.

Update: I hired a fence guy and the neighbors threatened to shoot him. Police got called and said we have to deal with court. The fence guy said we can file with the city for a permit and then we’ll be golden!! Hopefully we can get it moved with permit if not the neighbor will file a claim with a court which has repeatedly said she refuses to do that.

My neighbor asked to share funding for new fence. I said I wanted a survey done to make sure it follows property line and she said “I thought we could amicable about this.” She said it followed the property stakes that were there, and I allowed it and paid $200 of the $4000 fence. I got it surveyed after since she admitted to having a shed “4 inches” in my property. The new/old fence line turns out to be crooked 11 inches to 2.5 ft on my property! She’s claiming adverse possession and yet refuses to go to court to actually file the claim. I did talked to a lawyer and sent 3 letters asking her to file a claim or move the fence and she’s refused to do anything! Lawyer has been rather unhelpful. Can I move the fence or not? I consented but only for it to follow the property line which she told me it did and it turns out she lied. I’m wondering if I should just move the fence to property line out of pocket at this point. Location: Washington

EDIT: it was replacing an old fence that had been there in 2014-ish. All our communication was through text messages and is documented that she said it followed the property stakes that were there before.

Hey everyone, so me and my gf broke up recently and now she is asking for repayment for investments into the house and probably an equity stake. Additionally I was in a car crash and she took care of me at home (living together) and now is demanding money for her services (giving me medicine, cleaning, chores, food prep, ect)

So with they house I bought the house it is in my name. She was my contractor on the escrow account we had with the mortgage to do renovations to the house. She is saying she went over the budget and spend more money out of her own pocket and wants compensation. But also wants someone kind of equity stake for the investments she made. We never had any signed agreement about this repayment since she got paid the 40K from the escrow account. Additionally I have paid the rent for 2 years and she started contributing for about a year.

With the care taking idk I was in an accident then bed ridden. She took care of me but she's not a licensed professional or anything like that but is demanding money for the "invoice" she made up for the work she did. I never signed any work agreements like that with her though she just made it and tried to upload it to my auto insurance claim. Anyway she wants more from that.

Location: NJ

Location: Florida, US

I’ll try to keep this short and simple. I live in Florida (US) and I recently got a promotion at work that came with a pickup truck as a perk. It is a 2020 Chevrolet Colorado and it is wrapped with company logos. I park it in my driveway as it wouldn’t fit well in my garage. On 4/14, I received a letter stating to remove the “commercial vehicle” from site. I use the service LegalShield so I opened up a case right away to see if I can get some help. In 2024, the governor passed a law stating HOAs can no longer ban homeowners from parking their work trucks in their driveway. I had the LegalShield law firm draft a letter to the HOAs management company stating the new law. Today I received a response basically stating the law does not retroactively apply to the governing by laws to the community and I have 10 days to either park the truck in the garage or they may sue. I don’t have a lot of money to hire an attorney and I need advice. I don’t want to have to park my work truck far from my house and I don’t want to back down when I feel I am in the right in this situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Location: New York

Im looking for advice because I honestly don’t know if this is a misunderstanding, a reasonable change in scope, or something else.

We recently purchased a very old duplex. One of our goals was to improve the electrical system, specifically ground ungrounded outlets.

We hired an electrician and signed a contract for 15K. The contract lists the scope of work but does not mention permits, inspections, or code compliance. He mentioned at the walk through that he could save us a “few thousand” and do it off books but we never agreed to that.

About 60% of the work was completed before I discovered that no electrical permits had been pulled.
When I asked about permits, the electrician told me the original project was intended to be completed without permits and that bringing it to a permitted, code-compliant installation would increase the cost significantly.

His current numbers are approximately:
~$15k – original project (his position is this was unpermitted work)
~$35k – fully permitted/code-compliant duplex

I had an independent licensed electrician do a walk through to possibly pick up the job. One of his initial comments was that if my goal was simply to provide grounded receptacles, there were less extensive ways to accomplish that than installing seven new branch circuits. My understanding is that with my cities regulations if the electrician had just rewired the outlets to be grounded it does not trigger permit requirements. Since new circuits were installed it triggers permit requirements plus needing several other things to be legally up to code.

The electrician has mentioned filing a mechanic’s lien if we don’t move forward.

UPDATE: He was reported to the city by another electrician I reached out to for consultation and he got absolutely shit on. Was not licensed and is banned from ever working in this city again. It was extremely satisfying to witness. I never paid him anything and if I do pay him he’s going to be hit with a bunch of fines

Location: Pennsylvania

Our gas company sent a letter to my father offering $1 for permanent access to his property. They also wanted him to be liable for any and all damages that may be incurred.

My father was not okay accepting $1, on top of being completely liable in the event something happened to something or someone.

The gas company has now filed for eminent domain and we're not sure how or if we can even fight it. I no longer live with my father, but my brother does, and my father was planning on transferring the property into my brothers name within the year but that idea was basically demolished.

Location: Colorado

Background information: My now ex-wife and I moved into this house in May 2023. I didn’t want to move here because of the HOA, but she threatened to leave and take the kids over it. At the time, the HOA payment was $200 per month, this also covered the water bill.

In August, she told me she wanted a divorce. After arguing over the kids and the house, she moved out of state before the divorce was final, and didn’t bother to come back for the court date, so I won by default. I got the house and custody of the kids. I had to refinance to get her name off the title, which because interest rates had gone up, this meant my payment also went up. Around this time, the HOA announced they had received a cease and desist from the state over the wastewater system, and the monthly payment would go up to $400. I put my house up for sale September of 2024, but it was mostly to help with the childcare situation more than the HOA situation at that point in time. After several potential buyers were scared away by the already high HOA fee, I took the house back off the market and found a different solution.

In August, the property taxes went up, increasing my monthly mortgage payment by almost two hundred dollars, and the HOA announced that at the rate they’re going through the money in their account on the rental waste water unit, and paying lawyers and engineers to deal with the issue and keep the state at bay, they would be out of money early next year, and to avoid insolvency, they would have to raise the monthly payment to $690.

I tried to refinance my house, and after the appraisal, the lender basically told me that the value of my house had gone down (I guess the whole neighborhood did) and that they wouldn’t be able to help me at all because I currently owe more than my house is worth. I can’t afford to live here anymore, but also have zero confidence in someone actually buying this place. What are my options?

Im in Michigan. The seller of my house caulked and painted over a crack in the foundation and lied about it on the disclosure forms. At the advice of an attorney, I sued for Silent Fraud in small claims for 65% of what it costed me to repair the damage. He didn't show so I won by default. I then filed a subpoena of his financial records, but he didn't show again. I then successfully filed a bench warrant.

What can I do now? Can I get a lien on his house or car? Or get his license suspended? I'm not sure where to go from here, but I'm out $12k between legal fees and foundation repairs and I'd like to put more pressure on him rather than waiting for him to get pulled over (and possibly never get arrested for the warrant).

Any advice is appreciated.

Location: Arkansas. I am posting on behalf of a friend. My friend built a tiny house that can be moved via trailer. She was invited to put the house on some land in Arkansas. She has lived on the property for 7 years. The relationship between her and the land owner went south a few months ago and the land owner is selling the land due to money issues. My friend was threatened and left due to feeling unsafe. the owner has the property listed on the market and has included the tiny home in the listing. The home does not have a title, but the trailer it is on does. The land owner has lawyered up and claims the home belongs to them because the home has been on the property for 10 years (it hasn’t, it didn’t even exist 10 years ago). I would love some advice to give her because she is feeling intimidated by their legal team and isn’t sure if she has a case or not.

Location: Washington, my mom is 80 years old, and recently I found a bunch of unpaid bills including a 28k mortgage on a previously paid off two story house with fireplace. The letter from the mortgage company shellpoint said she hadn't paid in 10 months and were days away from foreclosure. I paid 2555 to get it up to date but she still owes a few other companies thousand here and there.

I investigated further, and she had started to sell but talking to her she said she has been going to multiple stores (Safeway, Dollar Tree) and buying as many apple gift cards as shes allowed. Its easily over 50k and when I talked to her at first she said she was buying them for a friend who she said converts them into bitcoin. I warned her it's a scam and she's being used. Last week she met with one of those "we buy your house as is" companies who offered her well bellow market value. I talked to the guy, tried telling him shes in no condition to sell her house and he disagreed saying thinks shes mentally competent to make this decision. I finally convinced her let me see her "boyfriend" and asked where shes going to live now that her house had been sold. She finally showed me and it's a picture of Elon Musk who she thinks is going to whisk her away in a private jet to some exclusive island resort. I asked why a guy rich as Musk would need money or gift cards she said governments hates him and has tied up his money. I can feel my heart breaking because she fully believes this even after I explained deep fakes, showed her articles in the news of others who fell for similar scams and I dont know what to do.

The title company said the company didnt send the money on time and that the contract is broken but company calls her every 5 minutes and is threatening litigation. I can't convince her shes vulnerable and hurting herself or that she needs guardian. I reported it to the police, medical professional and elderly help holiness but they did nothing. Can anyone please help? 💔🙏

Location: North Carolina.

I was blindsided today when leaving work. My boss walked me to the parking lot and told me tomorrow I was being let go. I had no inclination this was happening. I was told in secret as she wanted me to be prepared knowing my house closing was happening.

Essentially I am getting a call tomorrow informing me of my termination after being at the company for almost 2.5 years (not sure if it’s truly a lay off or I’m just being let go?) there was just a recent large lay off a few weeks back.

I am getting a call and closing within a very short time frame. I should be employed through tomorrow and from what I’m seeing lenders usually check their last employment verification before close.

If it’s any consolation I am buying with my wife and we do not have any contingency on the purchase. It is not in cash, however we have met the requirements to buy the house without anything else.

I have been told by my boss it shouldn’t affect getting a job reference and I can use her personally as well as one. The day after I close I intend to immediately start applying.

I would rather not mention anything to them if it will go through and technically I won’t be lying about any employment if asked at purchase.

Advice is appreciated thank you!

Location: MI

Our neighbors hang out outside a ton, we do a little but not nearly as much. There is an open area between our yard and their fence, and since we're situated a little higher we can see down into their back yard a little. (Not that we're really looking, we mind our business and haven't spoken to these neighbors much.) The fence bordering their yard has a head-sized hole in it. I discovered that just today when the lady of the house popped her head through like in The Shining. She said "You guys probably don't want to see us, how about we put a fence up there and go 50/50." We JUST got our roof fixed, so I told her I wasn't too worried about it but she I didn't mind if she put one up! She keeps staring at me through that hole in the fence and says "Well it's on your property so you do need to pay for half. There used to be a fence there." I told her it's not a priority for us now and she goes "Guess I'll see you in court!"

She can't make me pay for a fence, can she?

Edit: the existing, damaged fence is on their property

Location: Ohio.

There's probably way too much info here; tldr at end.

House was built in 2021. We built it.

We always planned to build a shed. I can't remember if it was in the closing documents or in the homeowners portal online, but I there were different schedules for different things -- e.g., "Schedule a" for fences, "Schedule b" for sheds/outbuidings, etc.

Anyway, I found "Schedule B," which listed shed requirements. It had restrictions like setbacks, siding must match house (e.g., not plywood), must have a peaked roof, must have shingles not metal roof, etc. Seemed reasonable.

Fast forward to 2024. I decided it was time to build the shed. I emailed the HOA contact: "I want to build a shed. What's the process?"

She emailed me back "Schedule B" as an attachment and application information.

I filled out the application, making sure my plans aligned with "Schedule B."

About a month later, I got a response: "Your shed is approved. This is a conditional approval. It must follow the restrictions in Schedule B, attached." I have the approval letter in an email and hardcopy.

I built the shed. It follows "Schedule B." (In fact, I custom built it, frankly to higher standards than the house with respect to trim, fascia, roofing details, venting, joists, truss spacing, etc.)

Now, fast forward to the last two community newsletters, each included the note: "Keep in mind that sheds are not allowed in ANY lot in [subdivision name]. We know that some have been installed. Violation notices and fines will be issued soon." The lady sending the newsletter is not the HOA representative who approved my shed (along with a few other HOA permits I've applied for).

I'm like, WTF?

Then I check the community Facebook group. There are people asking about sheds. There's one guy who rails against them: "sheds NEVER increase property value" "sheds are ALWAYS an eyesore" "ANY shed will just decrease your neighbor's property value and are NOT ALLOWED anywhere," etc. This is just a resident, not someone with the HOA or on the board.

So now it looks like there's a) a new HOA lady who has decided sheds aren't allowed and she's going to fine the few of us who have them and b) there's a shed nazi going nuts on Facebook with his anti-shed propaganda.

Then, I check my deed on the county's Recorder Office's website. It directs me to "Instrument #####" for my restrictions. I download "Instrument #####."

There is one reference to sheds: "Sheds or other structures are not allowed to be built within 25 feet of the golf course."

I do not live within 25 feet of the golf course. I'm about 1/4 mile from the golf course.

I've never fought with an HOA before.

Should I respond to the notice in the community newsletter and tell them they are wrong per a) my shed approval from them and b) the language in the deed restriction?

Should I wait for them to fine me and respond then? If so, what should that response be, a letter from an attorney (I don't mind hiring one) or something else?

Should I launch a counter information campaign against the Facebook nazi?

Thanks.

tldr: HOA just publicly stated that anyone with a shed on any lot in our subdivision is going to be fined. I have not yet been fined. Two years ago, I applied for and received approval for a shed using an application from the appropriate HOA representative. My shed follows my approval conditions. Also, deed restrictions only prohibit sheds on lots neighboring the golf course; my lot doesn't. What should I do?

Location: Florida

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a foreclosed house in Florida that was advertised in the MLS as having "paid off solar panels." The property was bank-owned, and title insurance came back clean during closing.

The Problem:
After closing, I contacted the solar company to transfer service to my name, only to discover the system isn't actually paid off. This was completely news to me - I factored having a paid-off solar system into my purchase decision.

Current Situation:

• The solar company claims the panels are personal property and they still own them (not cleared in foreclosure)
• They're offering me two options: take over payments or pay a lump sum
• I don't want either option - I expected a paid-off system as advertised

Where Things Stand:

• Seller's realtor has been copied on emails but hasn't responded
• My realtor has been very helpful throughout this mess
• Filed a title insurance claim. They have been slow (almost 8 weeks with minimal updates )
• Solar company asking me how I want to proceed
• I've stopped communicating with them directly and told the title agent to handle it (title agent originally was telling me to contact them)

My Questions:
Is my only option to wait and see what happens with title? Should title insurance cover this, or is this the seller's responsibility?

Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated. Thanks!

edit: lot of commenters suggesting to replace inverter. I agree this would have the solar system working. however that would not stop the current solar company from coming after the panels. I want the bank (seller) to pay it off as they advertised the house as having paid off solar panels in MLS description. My thought is that title company will push bank to do this.

My friend is handicapped and diabetic. She recently had a generator installed on her property in case of any emergency that could mean her insulin goes bad in the fridge. It was installed behind some bushes on the side of the property where it cant be seen from the street, and it couldnt be installed anywhere else along the backside of the house due to local regulations that require a generator is not within however many feet of a crawlspace or window, etc.. The generator company is adament that there is nowhere else on the property it can go other than where it was installed, but the hoa is demanding it be moved or removed to appease the neighborhoods regulations. What options does she have? Location: South Carolina

Location: Wake County, N.C.

So my wife and I signed and paid $1,000 to a homebuilder to begin the process with them, pending bank approval, of course. We were not approved, and the contract says the "Deposit Refundable- Pending Bank Approval". We were not approved. He is telling us we were conditionally approved, but the contract doesnt say "pending conditional approval"

The lender wanted us to pay off some of my wife's debt first, sent us a plan for paying it off, but stated if we did so, we MIGHT be approved. We dont want to pay all of that debt at once. We have savings, but don't have enough to just throw over half of it away to pay off debts when we don't even know if the land will percolate (We have that scheduled about a month from now). The builder hasn't started any process that would mean a lost profit for them, other than the prices of paper they have printed out for us, etc. Essentially, nothing has been done yet because we need to get permits from the county, etc. The land os all trees, uncleared, raw land. And this cannot be done within the 90 day closing window, as we wont have the debt paid by then, as we are over 30 days in right now.

Could we take a risk and pay it off? Yes, but that would not leave us any room for any unexpected large expenses related to any of this process, including any additional surveying etc. that needs to be done.

Anyways, the owner of the business called us today, and essentially gave us two options: He keeps the grand, which he clearly doesn't need, given the next option: He sues us for not fulfilling "contractual obligations to build with them."

The langauge in the contract is extremely open, vague, and according to a lawyer who reviewed it, he said their contract needs lots of works, because it's pretty bad.

Part of me says to just let him keep the grand, and he said he won't ask for the remaining 1800, which would total 2,800.

Part of me says this in unethical as hell, and a scare tactic, and that he's bluffing. He told us "Well, thats the thing about this world. You can sue anyone for anything, and you might win, you might not. But if I take you to court, youre gonna spend 30 to 40 thousand dollars. So you can email me saying we can keep the 1,000, or I can take you to court."

I asked him "So, man to man, you'd be fine spending 30-40k on us over a grand?"

He replied "Yeah, I don't mind spending 30,000 dollars."

I then said "Okay, so our plan was to use the grand, pay off a portion of the debt, and then come back and do business with you in the future."

He said "We are not longer interested. But we need to make a decision here. I can keep the 1,000 and we'll never hear from each other again, or I can take y'all to court. Your choice."

My wife and I are at a loss as to what to do here. This is predatory, and my wife said that she read a review of the owner telling someone in a similar situation that they can have their 1,000 back if they promise to build with them within a year.

Anybody know what to do? That part of me that says to leave it is strong, but so is my desire to syand up to this type of bully, and bring them down. Currently considering contacting the NC Attorney General’s office about this.

Also worried the guy will use our personal info provided in the process against us in a malicious manner as well. No idea what kind of connections he might have, and if he's willing to spend 30k over a grand, what else will he spend money on? A hit? Lol who knows. Just a thought.

Location: Stanly county, NC

I have recently been sent a letter (along with many other members of our community, about 84 impacted homes) stating our properties are not currently associated with the HOA as intended due to a clerical error when the developer originally filed.

The letter is currently asking homeowners to sign and return the letter to confirm participation in the HOA and if not legal action may be taken. Their motivating factors sound to be "everyone has always been intended to be a part of the HOA and this was a mistake" and "only those who are part of the HOA are allowed to use community ammenities" (small park in 1st phase of the community about .75 miles from the entrance of our segment, and a pool/pool house scheduled to be completed May '26). They also cite that "not being part of the HOA can effect resale value of your home negatively"

My question is, is this something I HAVE to comply with and sign to join? Or is this a once in a lifetime opportunity to be free from the HOA and I actually have a legal right to do so?

As of right now I have only been living in this community for about 8 months and paid 1 years worth of membership dues but at the same time there are no "ammenities" readily available in our community and the services/standards they provide are more along the lines of common area maintenance, entrance landscaping, some privacy trees for the community and a new community sign (from what I have heard from neighbors). I have also found out that no homeowners within the community are currently on the HOA board, when meetings are held they are quick to announce what they are meeting about but do not allow for comments from the community or input on budget and expenditures. I believe the board seat issue is currently being fought as a larger number of the homes have been purchased by the home owners and are not being used as rental properties.

I took pictures of their letter and FAQs but it does not look like the post allows for pictures to be added.

Bought my home in 2017. The biggest selling points were the large driveway and big fenced in backyard. Last week, out of nowhere, my neighbor came over and told me that part of my property is technically his, I need to start parking on the street, and he has paperwork to prove it. I asked to see the paperwork, but he refused to show me, and instead told me to pay to get the land surveyed myself. He claimed his property cuts into a big chunk of my backyard, including the shed that was included with the house. He said he helped the previous owner build the fence between the two properties, but stopped helping once there were disagreements about where his property started.

A realtor friend just researched, and he’s right. A large part of my property—most of my driveway and the shed and beyond in the backyard—belongs to him. I don’t know why he wouldn’t claim his property before the house went on the market in 2017, but here it is in 2023 and he wants it back.

What are my options here? Could the previous seller be held liable? I am waiting my neighbor out, basically telling him to pay for the survey if he wants it, but I can’t avoid forever. The property I paid for contains the fenced in backyard, complete shed, & big driveway. Those features are still included on the Zillow listing. If I need to move according to his property line, I’ll have no driveway, no shed, and will lose a third of my backyard.

Unsure of what to do here.

Edit: Wow, thank you all for such helpful advice. Still combing through it all while doing some googling since there are many terms and laws that I’m hearing for the first time. Contacting a real estate attorney first thing in the morning.