HOA Kept Charging Him For Keeping Goats So He Taught Them An Expensive Lesson

Fed Up With Everything

Anthony was sick and tired of being targeted. He moved into the new area thinking he would find a place he could retire one day, but things weren’t that way.

The local Homeowners Association had a lot more power and sway over his life than he initially thought. Drunk with power, they made his life miserable, but he had to hatch a plan to get them back.

Petty Fines

It started off with the pettiest things he had ever heard of. He received a letter detailing his misdemeanors and a $200 fine to go along with them.

The offenses were laughable – his grass wasn’t green enough in the middle of winter. He didn’t see many other people with good-looking grass either, but that’s when he realized the truth.

Paid Off

Something dawned on Anthony; he was the only one getting fined despite seeing other people’s houses in similar conditions.

He realized what was going on; the board responsible for making up the fines were paid off. But the next fine would be the last straw when it was something that wasn’t even in his control.

Goats

After getting a whopping $1000 fine for “keeping goats,” Anthony knew he had to make sure the HOA got what was coming to them.

That’s when a brilliant idea dawned on him; he already knew where all the board members lived. He got in contact with a local and did a bit of paying off himself.

Carnage

Anthony smiled as he knew what was coming. It was calm now, but he knew come morning, there would be carnage, and he’d be the one calling the shots.

He confronted the board members, tears in their eyes, and cleared his throat, “Ahem, aren’t you going to have to pay a $1000 fine for keeping goats?” Their hypocrisy was finally at an end.

Anthony Marshall

Anthony Marshall was a well-adjusted child growing up who loved cars like his dad. He’d go to track days in the local community and even learned how to drive at 13.

Birmingham was the place he called home, but he wouldn’t live there forever. Once Anthony became an adult, he knew he had to find a proper job and move out.

Saving Up

After graduating from high school, Anthony got a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and quickly found a job. After saving up all the money he could while still living with his parents, he could finally afford to move out.

Finally, he’d have his independence, or so he thought. He started house hunting, but he had no idea how things would turn out for him.

A Perfect Place

After a month of searching, he finally found a place. It looked perfect for what he was looking for. Owning a house at his age was a dream come true, but he was unaware of the sinister truth.

After the realtor told him that the community was run by an HOA (homeowners association), he dismissed it. But he should have taken it a little more seriously.

Moving In

Within a month, Anthony had moved all of his things into the small and comfortable house, but he had no idea that he had a target on his back from the moment he bought the place.

He was about to learn the pain of having someone else dictating things on his property. It started out like a regular day, but it wouldn’t be one.

An Email

Anthony woke up and looked forward to a nice lazy Saturday morning. That’s when he noticed that he had an email from the HOA. He thought that maybe it was a welcome letter, but it wasn’t.

He opened the email and saw the heading “multiple violations” in bold. His stomach dropped; what could he have done wrong so soon after moving in?

Absurdity

Anthony kept reading through the email. The HOA made claims that Anthony’s grass was dull and uncared for. He looked outside and saw it was yellow, but almost everyone else’s was too.

It was winter, and trying to keep grass alive was nearly impossible, not to mention he had only just moved in. But the second violation made him laugh even harder.

Trash

His trash was apparently “unsightly.” Anthony looked outside Angina and noticed that his trash was peeking out from beyond his wall by maybe five inches. Was that really fair?

He shook his head and kept reading the email. There was a lot of nonsense about keeping a good image in the community that he didn’t think applied to him. But then he saw how much he was fined.

$200?

He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw how much they wanted to fine him for such small offenses that he hadn’t even committed. He had only been there a week, and they were out for blood.

The HOA wanted $200 from him because of the violations, and he had to give it to him by the end of the month. That’s when he had an idea.

Going To The Next Meeting

Anthony decided to go to the next meeting and see if he could get the fine appealed. It happened to be the following Wednesday, which flew by in an instant.

Arriving there, he noticed that the board members were middle-aged or even older. Then he understood. They were just trying to exploit him because he was young. Then a plan formed in his mind.

Nominations

At the annual meeting, they wanted to hire a new board member. This is when Anthony saw his opportunity and nominated himself.

He won by a landslide after a made-up speech about looking after the community. Now that he was on the inside, he could figure out what was going on.

Learning The Truth

Anthony was a board member now and learned a lot about how the internals of the HOA worked. That’s when he felt disgusted. He knew it was no coincidence that he was getting fined for things other people violated.

It seemed that a lot of people in the community gave “donations” to the board members. This must have been a way of paying them off. But the biggest slap in the face was about to come.

Goats Everywhere

A week later, Anthony woke up to the strangest sound, it was 6:00 AM, and the sun had only just risen. He saw what looked like a few goats walking around in his yard.

They must have strayed away from their herd at the farmstead close by. It was no big deal, at least to Anthony. But that same day, he’d get another email.

An Email

After the goats were rounded up by the farmer, he apologized to Anthony and introduced himself as Fred. He was actually a nice man.

But once Anthony sat back down, he saw the email. It was from the HOA; what was it this time? He thought maybe it was relevant to his position on the board, but he was dead wrong.

Keeping Goats

Once again, the heading was “violation.” He sighed and read through it. But he couldn’t believe the charges. It seemed he was accused of “keeping goats” on his property and slapped with a significant fine of $1000.

He nearly spit out his coffee when he saw the fine. How did they even whip up the email this quickly? Were they spying on him?

Wanting Him Gone

It was clear what was going on. Anthony knew that the president of the HOA wanted him gone. This must have been an excuse to try and get him to move out.

But Anthony wasn’t going to give up so easily. He started hatching his plan to make sure the president would be the one that regretted messing with him.

A Perfect Plan

After a week of brainstorming, Anthony decided what he was going to do. Because he was on the board, he learned where the president lived. This was where he would turn the tables on him.

But first, he needed to make a call, one he never thought he’d actually make. The dial tone started, and a gruff voice answered.

Fred The Farmer

“Hi, Fred. This is Anthony from the other day. I wanted to ask a favor,” Anthony said with a smile forming on his face.

After hearing the plan, Fred was more than happy to help; after all, he said that he wanted to stick it to the HOA just as badly as Anthony. That’s when he learned the sad truth.

Fred’s Problems

Apparently, Fred had been hounded by the HOA ever since he moved to the farm. He was the one providing the local milk and vegetables, but he was heavily fined on a regular basis.

It was for things just as petty as the fines that Anthony faced. Together, they could take down the president once and for all.

Teaching Him A Lesson

Anthony and Fred were ready to teach the gray-haired old man some manners. They decided to do it on a Saturday morning, just like he had done to Anthony.

Anthony got a good night’s rest in preparation for the intense day he’d have. When morning broke, he heard shouting and decided to investigate.

More Goats

Anthony threw on some warm clothes and walked outside of his home. Just three houses down from his was the president’s. What he saw made his face contort into a grin.

All he saw before him was a sea of goats. There were far more than before, but the funniest thing was where they were.

One Yard

The goats that were causing chaos were only on one person’s property – it was the president’s. He was shouting at them hysterically for them to get off.

Fred quickly came by and got them off, but not before Anthony recorded the whole thing. Now he just had to arrange a board meeting to get his revenge.

The Next Meeting

Anthony thanked Fred privately. Now the ball was in his court. He called for an emergency meeting with the board members.

There were three other board members besides the president and himself. They weren’t especially loyal and didn’t seem to care that much about the violations. It was clear the president was the one with the vendetta.

The Evidence

Anthony showed the board members the evidence he had collected. As clear as day, there were a lot of goats in the president’s yard. “So? Who cares?” He tried defending himself.

That’s when Anthony piped up, “I believe it’s a thousand-dollar fine, right?” But he wasn’t done there.

More Violations

“I also couldn’t help but notice that all of your bushes and grass are in poor condition,” Anthony said smugly. “But that’s because of the goats!

They did that!” “No exceptions!” Anthony interrupted the old man, finally feeling like he had gotten his revenge. It seemed like it was too much for the president, he was about to leave.

Position Swap

Anthony had the old man backpedaling, and he wouldn’t give up ground now. He was ruthless and made the president storm out early. “Well, I don’t think our president is fit to handle his position if he is this hypocritical,” Anthony said to the other board members.

They all agreed to elect him as the new president since it was clear they didn’t really care who was in charge. Anthony dramatically changed the rules and made sure no one would ever be burned again.

In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, places, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.