Homeowner warns against living in a neighborhood with an HOA

It’s no secret that homeowners associations are one of the biggest sellers in real estate. Property owners loathe them and the rules, fees and sense of low communal power they supposedly wield over the people. Social media is awash with horror stories of HOAs either harassing homeowners or levying petty fines for seemingly nonsensical accusations and accusations.

Now, a TikToker named Fokes (@that.dude.fokes) has shared a HOA post of his own in a viral video. In a TikTok that has garnered over 300,000 likes, he states that his HOA spends a whopping $65,000 on landscaping fees.

This surprising number leads many viewers to believe that some form of scam is involved and that whoever authorizes these fees is “pocketing” the difference, which unfortunately is all too common with homeowners’ associations.

The scam is simple: HOA members award contracts to companies they know or own. The work is then done for a fraction of the cost, and the remaining money given to these companies is then nabbed by the HOA. This work is of course funded by those who live on the properties.

And Fokes thinks he caught his HOA pulling that very hoax.

@that.dude.fokes HOAs were invented by racist NIMBYs and I want them all destroyed. #hoa #homeowner #scam #legal advice #what’s up #renovate #diy ♬ Circus – Color Clownies

In an almost 3 minute clip, he shows the HOA breakdown of that cost that many other TikTokers on the platform thought was lazy.

Fokes begins, “All right, I’m here to convince you never to move into a community or a home where there is an HOA, and if you live in a community where there is an HOA, you must you dissolve them as soon as possible.”

He then breaks down the annual costs his HOA claims to spend on maintenance and other amenities. After speaking to the camera, the video then switches to the document Fokes is referring to.

“This is the 2023 budget report that they sent us in the mail and as far as I know they are working with $259,842 from all fees,” he explains. “The quarterly fees, which were $145 when I moved in two years ago, $145 per quarter for the year, have now increased to $155, and now they are increasing them again to $170 per quarter . So the main problem I have is why are we spending $65,000 on landscaping?” He points to the number on the sheet.

“I’m not a landscaper, but the amount of land that’s mowed and not mowed like grass isn’t that much… 80% of the land in this area is maintained by the homeowners. Why are we spending $65,000?” he asks.

Fokes then brings up another point involving pool maintenance, saying, “Another thing, contractor services, right here, pool management, $45,000. How much does it cost to build a pool! No way does it cost that much money to manage the pool.”

“Another $5,000 here for pool supplies, repairs and maintenance. So that’s $50,000 for the pool so far, $65,000 for the landscaping. 45 for the pool 5,000 for the pool,” he says.

He goes on to explain why the numbers on the sheet sent by the HOA continue to defy financial logic, saying that the money remaining in the reserve, that is, how much money “remains,” was $58,000.

“But below that we have reserve spending, we have $61,000 on pools and spas. We don’t have a spa!” he claims. “We don’t have a hot tub, we don’t have a hot tub, we have a pool with no deep end. The deepest it gets is five feet. And it’s not an Olympic-sized pool, it’s like an average sized in-ground pool.”

He concludes, “How do we spend $61,000 plus $50,000 just on the pool that’s closed half the year? And we don’t do any landscaping in the winter either. So why are we spending… what’s going on? We’re in the red $16,000! What’s up?”

He writes in a caption for the video: “HOAs were invented by racist NIMBYs and I want them all destroyed.”

The Daily Dot reached out to Fokes via TikTok comment for more information.

Many TikTokers thought the collapse was a clear indication that the HOA was embezzling funds from homeowners. Several urged Fokes and other members in the community to attend HOA board meetings for a detailed breakdown of all the costs associated with those numbers.

“They are/are definitely embezzling/embezzling funds,” read one top comment. Another wrote: “I’m the VP of our HOA…go to the meeting and ask the questions. I didn’t approve of HOA spending, so I ran for the board. Be part of the solution.”

Another wrote, “The fact that all of these prices are nice round numbers makes it pretty obvious that someone is just pocketing the money.”

Another said he’s seen other TikTokers documenting their own issues with their respective HOAs, writing, “I’ve seen a woman dealing with the same somewhere on Tiktok. Management pocketed personal items and wrote them off. She could see the actual receipts, not a breakdown.”

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