actually, if you’re not white , I’d even insinuate that in the letter too.
Example:
“Is this selective enforcement happening because I’m Asian?”
Just kidding. well sort of.
I do have another story to tell you about the HOA. One time, both me and my property manager got thrown out of an HOA board meeting, shortly after the HOA Karen President said my property manager couldn’t be there and turned to me and ask me something to the effect “why can’t you speak for yourself, do you speak English?”
I smiled and said no thinking “I got you now , you idiot bitch. because of what you just said in front of everyone, including property management company’s rep and a Vietnamese homeowner that was also there to witness it.
My property manager the next day crafted a very nice letter to the HOA’s management company’s rep about discrimination and lawsuit and oh boy were they nice to me for awhile. And every opportunity I could, I would bring up that incident again. When they cited my tenant for using a removable cloth drying rack outside the patio because it looked unsightly and apparently against his rules, I whipped up the CA law that said drying racks are legal now and HOA rules can’t ban them, no different that satellite dishes. And I kept asking them was their illegal enforcement because I was Asian? It went on like this for a year lol…
And there was a time when they wrote my tenant up for a violation notice, and I got fed up and used the “is it because I’m Asian?” line.
But what really helped was the last letter I sent to them
“By continuing to harass me and my highly professional tenant, you are causing irrevocable damage as my tenant is considering terminating the lease. I will be holding the HOA financially responsible and if that happens, I will have no choice but to lower my income standards for leasing out my unit and opening up the possibility to tenants who can only afford my lease with a lesser amount from a Section 8 voucher. I will also consider removing my smoking restriction and consider allowing recreational use of MJ…. And since I am not a residence there, that is not of my concern.”
That shut them up for awhile too.
I have an awesome property manager that will go to bat for me all the time. It’s not the tenants that are usually the problem and why I need a property manager. My tenants generally are trouble free. It’s usually the HOA or the neighbor that refuses to pay a shared cost that is a problem and my property manager is a great advisor on what I should do in certain situations because he isn’t afraid of dealing with difficult situations.
