Homeowner Associations, or HOAs, get a pretty bad rep. Some of that is understandable, as a recent Vox article notes.
“In Tennessee, a man returned from vacation to discover his car was missing; he thought it had been stolen, but in reality, his HOA had towed it because it had a flat tire,” writes author Emily Stewart. “A Maryland HOA fined a homeowner $40,000 because the fence she built was 8 inches too long. A Missouri HOA threatened a family with jail time because they’d put up a play set that was—gasp!—purple.”
However, a competent HOA can also serve some of the neighborhood’s needs that the city itself does not, such as garbage collection and several forms of maintenance.
Occasionally, the problems of an HOA stem not from the association itself, but from its members, as TikTok user and HOA president Claire (@surfwithclaire) recently shared.
In a video with over 58,000 views, Claire shares that one of her guests parked in her parking spot, touching an overgrown bush in the process. After one of her neighbors discovered this, the neighbor sent several texts to Claire demanding that the situation be resolved, as the car was parked “almost [through] my patio.”
“The car’s tires were touching the bumper stopper and the front end was in the bush,” Claire explains. “The bush looks fine to me!”
@surfwithclaire Cutting down my karen neighbors bush for harasssing me #greenscreen #karen #karenneighbor ♬ original sound – Claire Lutz | Surfing
Claire also notes that the bush does not belong to the resident—rather, it belongs to the HOA itself. There is also a fence in the middle of the bush.
Claire then shows herself cutting some of the branches off of the bush to appease the resident.
“If you text me one more time about a car touching your bush through your porch…I will cut the whole f*cking tree down,” the TikToker concludes.
Immediately, many commenters were supportive of Claire, agreeing with her assessment of the neighbor as a “Karen.”
“HOA presidents gone wild,” a user wrote. “I’m here for it.”
“I would have done all the way to the fence but I’m petty,” another added.
“Now you know she’s gonna be so mad you cut it. Never ending HOA shiiiiiii,” shared a third.
Claire later posted an update in which the “Karen” neighbor confronted her.
@surfwithclaire Replying to @user3733282482610 So many annoying weird things lol #karenneighbor #karen #fyp ♬ original sound – Claire Lutz | Surfing
In this video, Claire responds to the neighbor by calling out the number of texts she sent about this, in her view, minor issue. She then says that she’s cut the bush back to prevent issues like these from arising in the future.
“You’re just being really dramatic about it,” Claire says. “It was completely unnecessary.”
Commenters remained supportive.
“I am pretty sure some people live in HOAs just to have these interactions,” a user stated.
“We need more younger hoa managers,” a second claimed.
“Some people are just wayyy too invested in other peoples business,” detailed another TikToker.
We’ve reached out to Claire via Instagram direct message.
