Part Two of the Story… 👇
HOA Dispute Resolution
The small diesel engine of the Caterpillar vibrated through my boots, a low, steady rumble that seemed to shake the very dust off Carol’s laminated violation notice. On the sidewalk, several neighbors had stopped pretending to water their lawns. Old Mr. Henderson from down the street actually brought out a folding lawn chair, setting it up at the edge of his property line with a look of quiet, vindicated satisfaction.
Carol’s face shifted from a mask of righteous authority to a mottled, dusty pink. She took three steps back as I nudged the joystick forward. The heavy steel blade lowered with a hydraulic hiss, stopping exactly two inches from the heavy iron padlock she had looped through my shelter’s handles.
“You wouldn’t dare!” Carol shrieked over the engine’s roar, her phone still pressed to her ear. “This is private property! This is an established residential zone! You are violating community standards of peace and quiet!”
“It’s my yard, Carol!” I yelled back, leaning out of the open-air cab. “And that’s my shelter! If you don’t have the key to this lock in your hand by the time I count to three, I’m going to see how much resistance this chain actually has.”
“One!” I called out, letting the engine rev slightly. The bulldozer gave a sympathetic thrum, its metal tracks settling into the soft spring turf.
“You are going to pay for every single blade of grass you displace!” she screamed, her voice cracking.
“Two!”
Carol looked wildly around the neighborhood, searching for an ally, but the few residents visible on their porches remained completely still, watching like spectators at a high-stakes sporting event. Even her usual loyalists from the gardening committee seemed suddenly very interested in their shoes….
