Hoa Designates My Private Pond As “Public Hoa Property”.. Unaware I Own The Land!
“No, it doesn’t. I own this land and I have the deed and I have a survey. This is my private property and you are trespassing.”
A woman in the group pulled out her phone.
She said
“I’m calling the police. This is ridiculous. We have a right to be here.”
I said
“Well, go ahead and call them. I would love for the police to come out and settle this.”
Yeah, she did actually call. I listened as she explained to the 911 operator that a man was threatening her and her family.
She claimed I was preventing them from accessing a so-called public HOA recreation space. She also claimed that the man was fishing illegally.
Within 15 minutes, a county sheriff’s deputy pulled up in a patrol car. He walked over to where we were all standing near the pond—me on one side, the group of trespassers on the other.
The deputy asked
“What’s going on here?”
Then everyone started talking at once. The deputy held up his hands.
He said
“One at a time. Ma’am, you called it in. Tell me what happened.”
The woman who had made the call launched into her version of events. According to her, I had physically blocked them from entering the pond area and threatened them with violence.
She said I demanded that they leave the property that rightfully belonged to the HOA. She claimed that me fishing there was illegal and disturbing.
She said I was mentally unstable and that they feared for their safety. I listened in disbelief.
I had not laid a hand on anyone. I had not threatened anyone; I had simply asked them to leave my property.
When she finished, the deputy turned to me.
He asked
“Sir, what’s your side of this?”
I said
“This is my property. I own the land including this pond. These people are trespassing.”
I added
“I’ve asked them politely to leave and they’ve refused. I never threatened anyone. I never touched anyone. I just want them off my land.”
The deputy looked confused.
He asked
“This is not part of the community property?”
I replied
“No. The HOA has been claiming it is, but they are wrong. I have the deed, I have a survey, and I have documentation from the county proving that this land belongs to me. It’s never been part of their development.”
The man who had led the group stepped forward.
He said
“Officer, we received an official documentation from our HOA board stating that this pond is community property and that this individual has been wrongfully claiming ownership.”
He added
“The HOA President specifically told us that we have every right to be here.”
The deputy scratched his head.
He said
“Look, I’m not a property lawyer. I cannot adjudicate a land dispute standing here in a field.”
He continued
“But here’s what I can do. Sir, do you have any documentation that proves you own this land?”
I replied
“Well, I have the deed and survey up at my house. Let’s go take a look.”
We all walked—the deputy, myself, and the group of trespassers who refused to leave—up to my house. I went inside and got the folder I’d been keeping with all the documentation.
I showed the deputy my property deed, the survey, and the county records proving my ownership. He studied them for a few minutes.
Then he looked up and said
“Yeah, these look legitimate to me. Sir, this survey shows the pond is on your property.”
The woman who had called 911 grabbed the survey out of his hands.
She said
“This has to be fake. The HOA President said…”
The deputy said
“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to let me do my job.”
He took the survey back.
He said
“Based on what I’m looking at here, this gentleman appears to have a valid claim to this land. Until the property dispute is formally resolved, I’m going to have to ask you folks to leave.”
The man shouted
“This is outrageous! We’re going to call our HOA President right now. She will sort this out.”
The deputy said
“Yeah, you do that. In the meantime, please vacate the property.”
Grumbling and shooting dirty looks at me, the group gathered their things and then left. The deputy apologized for the inconvenience.
He suggested I get a lawyer involved if I hadn’t already. Yeah, I told him I had, but here’s the thing: that wasn’t the end of it.
Decisive Action and Mowers
It was just the beginning. Word got back to the HOA President about what happened and apparently she was furious.
According to what I heard later from a sympathetic neighbor, she went on a tirade at the next board meeting. She said the deputy had been fooled by my fake documents.
She said the HOA needed to take decisive action to reclaim their property. Yeah, what she decided to do was absolutely insane.
Three days after the incident at the pond, I looked out my window. I saw a truck with a landscaping company logo pulling onto my property.
Two workers got out and started unloading equipment. They had lawnmowers, string trimmers, the works.
I ran outside.
I asked
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
The guy who seemed to be in charge looked at a work order on his clipboard.
He said
“We’re here to maintain the HOA common area. Got a work order from the board president.”
I said
“This is not HOA property. This is my land, my private property. You need to leave immediately.”
He looked skeptical.
He said
“Well, the lady who hired us said you might say that. Said you’ve been causing trouble for months trying to claim HOA land as your own.”
I replied
