Why My Faith In HOA Dropped Even Further: Another Absurd Experience

A while back, I wrote a post about a truly horrible experience with my homeowners association (HOA). It was one of those situations that makes you wonder who exactly is running the place—and whether they have any idea how to do their jobs. Unfortunately, today I’m here to tell you about yet another experience that pushed my patience even further and made me question, once again, whether people who work at HOAs are even remotely qualified for the responsibilities they have. If I thought the previous situation was frustrating, this one took incompetence to a whole new level.

The Clubhouse Rental That Should Have Been Simple

In my community, there’s a clubhouse we can rent for special occasions—birthday parties, celebrations, small gatherings, you name it. It’s supposed to be a perk of living in the community, one of those amenities we pay our HOA fees for each month. The idea sounds great on paper. But as with many things involving HOA, the execution is a different story entirely.

My sister’s daughter had a birthday coming up, and I figured it would be nice to rent out the clubhouse to celebrate. I wanted the party to be convenient, close to home, and accessible for family members. Since the clubhouse is practically down the street, it made perfect sense.

Double-Checking Everything: The Calm Before The Storm

Before submitting anything, I took extra precautions. I didn’t just assume the clubhouse was available—I checked the calendar listed on the HOA’s website. The weekend we wanted was wide open. No events. No pending reservations. Everything looked good.

To be even more thorough, I contacted the HOA directly. I emailed them to confirm the date before I submitted the rental forms. They responded saying the day was indeed available. So, with that confirmation, I filled out all paperwork, signed all necessary forms, and even mailed them a check for the rental deposit. Everything seemed straightforward. I thought this would be the easiest part of planning the birthday party.

Little did I know this was just the beginning of a massive headache.

The Silence That Spoke Volumes

Weeks went by. Not days—weeks. I didn’t receive a single update, confirmation, or follow-up. No email. No phone call. No notification. Absolutely nothing.

At first, I assumed they were just slow, maybe a bit behind or dealing with a backlog. But after enough time passed, I realized something wasn’t right. So I emailed them again, politely asking for an update and confirmation on the clubhouse rental.

That’s when things quickly went downhill.

“Sorry, It’s Already Reserved.”

I finally received a response from the HOA. They acknowledged they had received my forms and my deposit check. But then, without any sense of remorse or accountability, they told me the day I wanted was already reserved.

Let me repeat that:
They confirmed the day was available when I submitted the forms. They accepted my paperwork. They accepted my money. And only after I followed up did they bother to check the actual reservation calendar—at which point they discovered it was already booked.

According to the HOA representative, they “just tried to enter it” into their system and found out the date was taken. Just tried? Just? It had been weeks. What exactly were they doing during all that time? Holding onto my forms like a decorative paperweight?

I was completely shocked. Their job is to manage community services like clubhouse reservations. And they didn’t even bother doing the bare minimum until I chased them down.

The Dumbest “Solution” They Could Offer

As if the situation weren’t frustrating enough, the solution they offered was unbelievably clueless.

They suggested—without hesitation—that I could instead reserve the clubhouse for the day before, which was a Friday.

A Friday.

Who exactly was supposed to attend a birthday party on a Friday afternoon? Was I supposed to tell the entire family to take the day off work just because the HOA messed up? How was that a reasonable solution?

But it gets even worse.

Their backup suggestion—one that somehow passed through someone’s brain without being filtered by common sense—was that I could reserve the clubhouse on Thanksgiving Day.

Yes, Thanksgiving Day.

Why would anyone attend a child’s birthday party on Thanksgiving? Why would anyone even think that was a logical alternative? Did they expect people to skip their family gatherings to attend a birthday party because they messed up the reservation?

That was when I realized just how disconnected from reality these HOA employees truly were. It was beyond laziness. It was a total lack of awareness.

My Complaints (And Their Lame Excuse)

Obviously, I complained. I called out how ridiculous their suggestions were and how unacceptable the situation had become. I stated plainly how idiotic it was to offer Friday or Thanksgiving as “solutions” to their mistake.

Eventually, a supervisor reached out with an explanation. They claimed there had been “a system issue” of some sort.

I’ve worked for companies before. I’ve heard that excuse used countless times whenever an employee wants to avoid responsibility. “System issues” are the corporate version of “the dog ate my homework.” It’s an easy way to dodge accountability without actually addressing the root cause.

Their excuse did nothing to ease the frustration. But they tried to smooth things over by offering me one free clubhouse rental in the future. Fine. It wasn’t going to fix the fact that my niece’s birthday plans were messed up, but at least it was something.

Or so I thought.

The Frustration Continues: The $200 Surprise Charge

Just when I thought the chaos was behind me, HOA managed to mess up yet again.

A few weeks later, I noticed that my monthly HOA bill was $200 higher than usual. Confused, I checked the statement and saw that the extra charge was listed as a clubhouse rental fee.

Yes.
They charged me $200 for renting a clubhouse that I never even got to reserve.

Somehow, despite acknowledging their mistake, despite admitting that someone else had already booked the date, despite offering me a free rental to make up for it—they still charged me.

So I called them again. And after some digging, they admitted the charge was an error. Yet again, another mistake on their part. Another example of their incompetence.

Seriously, how dumb can HOA be?

Why I Avoid HOA At All Costs Now

I still have to pay my monthly HOA fee, unfortunately. That’s the price of living in a community with shared amenities, rules, and supposedly “managed” services. But I can tell you, I avoid dealing with them at all costs now. Unless something is absolutely necessary, I won’t call them, email them, request anything, or try renting anything from them again.

This entire situation—from the initial confirmation to the weeks of silence, from the ridiculous alternative dates to the bogus $200 charge—proved to me that HOA is not just incompetent, but astonishingly disorganized. And the worst part? They don’t even seem to realize how poorly they handle things.

The Bigger Issue: Why Do HOAs Operate Like This?

My experience might sound extreme, but anyone who’s dealt with HOAs knows this isn’t uncommon. Many HOAs operate with very little oversight and even less accountability. The people in charge aren’t necessarily customer service experts or trained administrators—they’re often just hired to fill a position and follow a checklist.

But when they don’t follow the checklist—or don’t even check the reservations calendar—you end up with situations like mine.

People rely on HOA for essential functions in the community. Communication, record-keeping, property maintenance, and amenity management all fall under their control. So when they mishandle even the simplest task, it creates ripple effects that impact real families and real events.

Final Thoughts

This experience wasn’t just frustrating—it was disappointing. Something as simple as renting a clubhouse shouldn’t snowball into weeks of silence, a botched reservation, absurd alternative suggestions, and an incorrect $200 charge.

If anything, this whole ordeal reinforced the idea that HOAs can sometimes feel like untrained gatekeepers of the community—people with authority but little competence. And when those two things come together, chaos is almost guaranteed.

I’ll continue paying my HOA fees because I legally have to. But will I ever trust them with anything beyond that? Definitely not. After everything I went through, I’m convinced that avoiding them is the smartest decision I can make.