American homeowners can often have a fickle relationship with homeowners associations.
Sometimes an HOA can help keep a neighborhood clean and proper. Sometimes an HOA tries to fine Americans for flying an American flag.
(And sometimes they do much, much worse.)
One woman in San Antonio, Texas, is very much not a fan of HOAs after a grueling, years-long battle with hers.
According to KSAT-TV’s reporting, Elizabeth Luna refused to back down from an apparently very confrontational HOA — and won.
It just happened to take three years.
The New York Post reported that when Luna first purchased her home in an 11-unit community, there were no restrictions on her ability to rent it out.
In 2023, however, HOA president Terri Thomure began a push to ban short-term rentals like Airbnb.
At first, Luna tried to play by the HOA’s rules and sought out a long-term renter. She would eventually find a 12-month renter.
But then, in a bizarre incident, Thomure allegedly harassed that long-term renter.
“When I got the long-term renter, the HOA president started interrogating the tenant and causing her to terminate her lease,” Luna told KSAT.
Thomure also allegedly jumped all over the renter’s assistant one day while the assistant was in the parking lot, demanding to know who the assistant was and what they were doing there.
The prospective tenant would back out of the lease just days later.
When Luna decided to ultimately sell the home, the HOA intervened with a legal claim that sought to prevent her from doing so.
Luna would eventually sell the property in May 2024 after a judge threw out the HOA’s claim.
The homeowner was understandably frustrated with everything that had transpired lately, and this time, she herself took the HOA to district court.
And now a judge has finally ruled in favor of Luna, ordering the HOA to pay over $33,000 in damages, per the New York Post.
(Luna says all payments have been made.)
“And if you find that your board members are not following the rules, hold them accountable,” Luna said. “Hold them to a higher standard because, often, they abuse that power.”
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