10421 Henbane Court (White House / Black Door)…read more
1. Invasion of Privacy from the Neighbors
If you are facing the house, the neighbors on the left were extremely intrusive.
One incident in particular really crossed the line. I had guests over for an upcoming birthday celebration and asked some of them to leave through the back door so my Ring camera wouldn't record them leaving through the front. Why I chose to do that is nobody else's business. Unfortunately, the neighbors decided to make it their business and called the police.
It is broad daylight. 1-2pm in the afternoon on a bright sunny day.
I was still asleep when my guests were leaving and I woke up to loud banging on my front door that literally shook the house. I went downstairs while one of my guests was still inside preparing to leave. When I opened the door, there were two police officers questioning me about who lived there and what was going on. I told them I was confused about why they were there, and they explained they had received a call about "possible squatting activity."
Apparently, the neighbor called the police because they "hadn't seen me in a few days" and assumed someone was squatting in the house. At the time, I had a backyard tent that had been destroyed in a storm. I left it in my backyard temporarily so I could break it down and throw it away. Because the damaged tent sat in my backyard for several days, they assumed my friends were squatters.
What made the situation even more frustrating was that the other neighbor texted me afterward explaining that they thought someone was squatting. If you truly thought something was wrong and you already had my phone number why not simply text me first and ask if I was okay, still living there, or at home? Instead, they immediately involved the police.
Our daughters had even played together before this happened, which made the entire situation even more confusing and disappointing.
I was extremely embarrassed because it was the first time those guests had visited my home, and suddenly the police were pounding on the door.
After that incident, both neighbors constantly watched our house as if they were waiting for something to happen, despite us never causing disturbances.
They would remove decorations from our mailbox, the neighbors to the right would open our mail and then return it, and they would monitor us constantly.
If I was outside doing yard work, one neighbor would suddenly walk over from the other neighbor's house just to observe what I was doing.
Whenever we had family over and sat in our backyard, one of the neighbors would immediately come sit in his own backyard tent and watch us the entire time. Yes, people are free to sit outside, but it always felt very intentional and uncomfortable. The tent was dark enough that you couldn't easily see him unless you looked closely, which made it even creepier. My daughter was genuinely uncomfortable around him.
Also, be aware that there seemed to be a strange sense of competition. If you cut your grass, they would suddenly cut theirs the next day. If you enjoy decorating for holidays, expect them to quietly compete with your decorations as well.
2. HOA Communication & Maintenance Issues
The house is white and there is no grass along the side of the home, whenever it rained, the dirt would turn into mud and splash onto the siding, leaving orange-colored stains on the panels.
We purchased a pressure washer and tried cleaning the siding ourselves, but the stains would not come off completely. I contacted the HOA and explained that we were attempting to resolve the issue, but the panels were stained and, since we were renting the home, I wasn't sure what else could be done if our efforts weren't working.
About a week later, a random truck appeared parked in our yard. The worker connected a long hose from his truck directly to our outdoor water spigot.
We received absolutely no notice about when they would arrive or what time they would be there.
At first, I genuinely thought someone was stealing water until I went outside and asked what he was doing.
Afterward, I took photos of the cleaned siding and emailed them in as proof that the issue had been resolved.
Later, we received a bill for over $400 stating that we were responsible for paying it. When we called to ask why we were being charged, they explained that our lease stated we were responsible for exterior maintenance.
While I understand that responsibility may fall on us according to the lease, the issue was the lack of communication. Why weren't we informed about the cost beforehand to see whether we could afford it or possibly hire someone less expensive ourselves? Instead, the charge was simply added onto us without warning.
This felt very blindsiding, especially because the issue was mainly being pushed by the HOA not something we personally considered urgent enough to immediately spend $400+ on.
