
Renter Bails on $20K Bill, Not Prepared for Landlord's Revenge: 'Thought She Got Away'
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A New York City landlord has been applauded for their years-long online campaign to expose a former tenant who stopped paying rent and left their apartment "filthy".
The landlord and original poster (OP), user Buddhany, shared their story on Reddit, explaining how they had rented their furnished Manhattan apartment to a woman from Queensland, Australia.
Although she lacked previous landlord references, the OP noted, "She was gainfully employed, met the financial criteria to qualify, and provided some solid letters of reference."
Seven months into the lease, however, the tenant reportedly stopped paying rent, skipped Housing Court hearings, and then left the country.
"She arrogantly and callously cost me $20,000 in unpaid rent and damages," the OP wrote.
So, the OP plotted their revenge.
Stock image of a residential lease agreement.
Stock image of a residential lease agreement.
Photo by JJ Gouin / Getty Images
The OP explained, "She has a very unique name, so I bought her domain name - let's say her name is Jane Smith, I purchased Janesmith.com - and built a website.
"I proceeded to post the details on said website: her photo, an official copy of the financial judgements I won against her (she owes me $16,000 in unpaid rent + $7,000+ in damages) including photos of the filth left in the apartment, the damaged furniture and broken microwave, the notice from the Marshall posted on door with eviction details, details about where she worked and the club she frequents in Queensland to play bridge."
They added that they were very careful to only include facts "so as not to be accused of slander".
'Publicly unmasked'
"I focused on the SEO of the website and managed to have the website be the #1 result when you google her name," the OP wrote.
"Then I sat back and looked at the stats of the website visits, which showed her employer had visited the site."
The OP also said they notified the people who wrote the tenant's letters of reference and received tips from people who had spotted her at conferences.
In a message to Newsweek, the OP said their revenge on the former tenant has been "satisfying".
'Most people are decent human beings'
"I am very surprised that I have not heard from her," the OP noted. "She has outstanding debts with me, and she can run, but she cannot hide...I have been patiently waiting for any attempts at restitution for more than 2 years."
They wrote that the "overwhelmingly positive" comments on Reddit have been "heartwarming".
"Most people are decent human beings, and they despise it when others take advantage and flagrantly violate the law and social norms of human decency," they added.
Reddit Reacts
Reddit users flocked to the comments to weigh in, with many applauding the OP's tenacity.
One wrote, "While we may never be able to become friends, I most assuredly hope to never be your enemy!"
Another added approvingly, "This isn't too far, this is exactly far enough. [People] like her count on the fact that landlords or victims won't have the time or money to fight back. And you said bet."
"This is LITERALLY the VERY BEST revenge outcome I have ever heard of," one Redditor noted. "And you served it cold and aged perfectly."
More Landlord Coverage
Disputes between landlords and tenants are not uncommon, and there are plenty of examples that have attracted online attention.
Newsweek covered a post detailing a young tenant's dispute with their landlord over a security-deposit deduction that went viral on Reddit.
The tenant said the landlord was "super nasty over email" when they asked about the issue: "I sent her the pictures and she ignored them, mentioning that she 'also has picture proof of the uncleanliness'. She must have used a spyglass..."
Not all landlord-tenant relationships end in acrimony, however.
'I was really taken aback'
A landlord in Maine shared a rare find after one of his tenants, who had lived in the same apartment since 1992, moved out and left behind a perfectly cared-for home that stunned him.
"I was really taken aback because it does not look like this place was lived in for 32 years," the landlord, Syed Zafar, told Newsweek.
"It was in such great condition for its use and age."
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, click here.

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From Smoking Passes To Hazing — People Over 50 Are Sharing The "Normal" Aspects Of Their High School Years That Were Actually Suuuuper Problematic
As we all realize, the "good old days' were incredibly toxic, and high school was no exception. From corporal punishment to outdated rules, simply attending school was a nightmare for many... That's why when Redditor u/return_of_da_biscuit asked, "What aspects of your high school experience would be shocking today?" thousands of older adults shared the "normal" parts of their high school experience that are incredibly problematic. Here are 18 of their most enlightening responses: If you're over 50 and remember your toxic high school experiences, feel free to tell us about them using this anonymous form! 1."Teachers openly made fun of students and called them fat, stupid, etc. At graduation practice, the vice principal announced that we were the worst class in recent memory, they couldn't wait for us to go, and none of us would ever amount to anything. The teachers who were there whooped and clapped in agreement." —u/Expert_Potential_661 "A teacher once told one of my friends that he wished he could squeeze his neck until his head shriveled to the size of a pea that he could flick off his neck — complete with relevant hand gestures." —u/themarko60 Related: 2."Shotguns were often seen in gun racks in the back window of trucks in the student parking lot — hunting took place before and after school." —u/PirateKilt "When I was in high school (1984), I bought a shotgun from my biology teacher, who brought it to school with him and gave it to me in the faculty parking lot. This transaction was not secretive or hush-hush in any way because nobody thought it was strange or problematic. In retrospect, I can think of a few classmates (one in my friend group) who definitely wouldn't have been trustworthy enough to purchase a firearm from a teacher on school grounds." —u/CKA3KAZOO 3."First-year high school kids smoking in plain sight of the principal — on school property, no less." —u/nevadapirate "1980: We were allowed to smoke with a smoking pass. I went to a vocational school for the last two years of high school, and we would sit in circles and pass joints. The principal and a lot of teachers smoked too, and used the same smoking area. They would turn their backs on us so they couldn't see us and wouldn't have to get us in trouble. It got so bad that the principal made an announcement. He told us that visitors saw us smoking marijuana and complained. If we kept it up, he said he would have to close the smoking area. A week later, he made an announcement that he saw four people smoking pot; if they came to the office, all would be fine, but if they didn't, he would have to close the smoking area. We went to the office, and there were about 50 people there. He just told us to get back to class." —u/Rosie_Hymen 4."I attended high school in Detroit from 1972 to 1976. During that time, all first-year students were required to take two semesters of swim class. The pool was large with a removable divider across the middle separating the boys' and girls' classes. The only time the divider was removed was on Fridays, just prior to a weekend swim meet. Those few Fridays were the only days that we were allowed to wear swimsuits." "During every other class, we were forced to swim naked. The coaches were fully clothed, but every student was stark naked for the entire class. Their excuse was that since no girls were in the room, there was no reason to wear swimsuits and have to launder them afterwards. I was raised in a house with four sisters, no brothers, and practically Victorian morals. We were never even allowed to exit our bedrooms in underwear, let alone naked. So, needless to say, high school was a bit of a shock, but I got used to it quickly. In hindsight, I realize how genuinely creepy it was." —u/donpreston 5."My grandfather told me when he was in school in the '50s that teachers punished him for using his left hand and forced him to use his right hand." "He said, 'My teachers would swat the back of my hand with a ruler to make me use my right hand.'" —u/iammonos 6."I (female) tried to take shop class instead of home economics. The shop teacher told me, 'I'd be happy to have you in my shop class, but you still have to take home ec because it's state law.'" "Sure enough, it really was state law in Florida. And no, I never got to take shop because I HAD to take home ec." —u/GiggleFester Related: 7."Teachers dating students: It wasn't technically public, but it was an open secret." —u/neoprenewedgie "Our principal dated a student, and everyone knew it. I think it started when she was a junior, but some people claim even earlier. At the time, the principal was married with several children, and a couple of his kids were close to the students' age. In our senior year, the principal was still dating this girl when she became pregnant. She graduated, ready to pop, and the principal left his wife of over two decades to marry her. The principal was never disciplined, and he stayed in his position until he decided to retire in 2005. He and the student stayed married and had more children together." —u/cantyoukeepasecret 8."Girls had to wear skirts or dresses to school, and the hems couldn't be higher than knee level." —u/Bay_de_Noc "Teachers stopped us in the hall and made us kneel. If our skirt touched the floor, we were sent home. In my junior year, we were permitted to wear nice pants, no jeans, then in my junior year, jeans were okay, as long as they were unripped. I went from mandatory skirts and dresses in first grade in 1960, and if you wore slacks in because it was 10 degrees, you had to change in the bathroom to a skirt, to wearing jeans in 1972." —u/HeadCatMomCat 9."Bullying wasn't taken seriously." —u/The0Walrus "In fourth grade, a kid bullied me. He would walk down the aisle and slap me on the back of the head, among other things. Eventually, he did it one too many times, so I stabbed him in the arm with my pencil. We had a conference with the teacher and our parents. The gist was, 'You don't bully him,' and 'You don't stab people.' There was no expulsion or psychotherapy, but he never bullied me again — that wouldn't fly today." —u/The_Camera_Eye 10."Getting 'whacks': The principal, who was also the football coach, had a bat shaved down to about a quarter-inch thick with holes drilled all over it. If you were late to class or did anything out of line, you were sent to the principal's office. Once there, you were expected to bend over and grab your ankles while he smacked the hell out of you — it kept order for the most part." "Parents, for the most part, liked him, and most didn't object to him abusing their kids. I thought he was a sadistic a-hole. If you didn't want to play football, you were on his sh*t list, and I couldn't play because I had farm work to do after school. This was at a small public high school in the 1960s, and there were 45 kids in my graduating class. I was glad to get out of there. I went into the military when I was 18 and never looked back." —u/cg40boat Related: 11."We were all wasted at school dances, and nobody cared. I remember watching a guy talk to the principal while actively wetting his pants because he was so drunk. We'd step just outside the cafeteria doors, where the dances were, and smoke joints." "I had a key to the band room, which was connected to the theater, and I took my girlfriend in and we fooled around on the stage. I'm pretty sure all of the chaperones were drunk, too." —u/Plastic-Sentence9429 12."Class of '75 here: We never heard of students getting pregnant, at least not in open conversation. They would just 'disappear' for long periods of time. Only after I started college did I realize what had happened with some of them, or the news would finally leak out." —u/CanAny1DoItRight "Students were kicked out of school if they got pregnant, yet their male partners were permitted to stay. This happened to a girl in my junior high class in the early '70s, and it was quite controversial in our small town. By the time I graduated in '76, pregnant students were no longer required to leave." —u/DeeDee719 13."When I was 13, my school band went on a trip to England. On sightseeing days, we were dropped off in the morning, someplace like the city center of York, without any chaperones and told to be back at the buses by 3 p.m. and 'Have fun.' If we needed a teacher, they'd probably be hanging out near the maybe not. Just don't be late for the bus, or you may be left behind." —u/pixel_dent "Around 1980, my class went to NYC on a field trip. We were told, 'Be back at the bus by 2 p.m.' We were just kids walking around Central Park. We also went on overnight trips with clubs — one or two chaperones for dozens of kids. We went wild." —u/Better_Metal 14."Boys used to make and set off pipe bombs. The school would be evacuated, and the fire department would be called, but everyone just rolled their eyes and said, 'Kids, what can you do? This is how they are.' It wasn't seen as a big deal." "Today, it would be all over the news and declared an act of violence." —u/Salty-Ambition9733 15."I remember kids bringing pocket knives to school and using them during shop class. When I was growing up in the '90s, it was common for many students to carry them. I went to a small, rural school, and nobody thought much of it, but they really cracked down after Columbine. They installed cameras and started searching backpacks, and the school code of conduct was changed to ban anything that could be used as a weapon." "Flash forward to 2021, my nephew was expelled for accidentally bringing one to school. It was forgotten in his pants pocket. He mentioned it to a friend like, 'Oh no, I forgot I had this in my pocket.' As he was trying to decide whether to confess and turn it in or just keep quiet, his 'friend' ratted him out, resulting in an instant expulsion. He had to finish his last two years through an online program." —u/kmill0202 Related: 16."Drivers' Ed in high school, mid 1970s: We were shown very graphic movies from the '50s — Signal 30, Red Asphalt, Mechanized Death — but they didn't stop anyone from driving like a fool at times, after all, we thought we were invincible." —u/reesesbigcup "We homeschooled our son, so the only place that would teach him Driver's Ed was the Seventh-Day Adventist boarding school. Their teacher did a phenomenal job of scaring the sh*t out of the students about drinking, drugs, and not paying attention while driving. He also told traumatic true stories that my son would retell me on the way home. My son, who is now 36, was so traumatized, as was I, that we've rarely gone over the speed limit since! He never lets anyone except me drive him, and only on rare occasions." —u/CompleteSherbert885 17."Flashback: I was the new kid in school, coming in for the second semester from a very warm part of the country to freezing temps. The English teacher was a devout Baptist who enforced her rule that any kid she called on had to stand up and recite any Bible book, chapter, and verse she requested." "She got me on my second day there. I had no idea how to recite the Bible or where to find the verse she wanted, so I eventually told her, 'I don't know how.' She went off, called me a heathen, the devil's spawn, etc. Just ranting, raving, and asking, 'What is WRONG with you?' (I was not a Christian). I was never happier than the day mandatory school prayer was banned in schools." —u/LimpShop4291 18."Hazing the new guys: My dad told me that back in the day, when he tried out for high school football, the older guys on the team would initiate or 'welcome' the new players who wore briefs with 'Gatorade wedgies.'" "Basically, the seniors would force the new players to drink a FULL bottle of Gatorade, then hang them on a hook in the locker room by their underwear. Within 20 minutes, they would be peeing their pants, and the seniors would be high-fiving and laughing at them. The newbies who experienced this would tell their moms to buy them boxers and wear them from then on out. My dad said his butt was sore for a week afterward, and he had to put ointment on it. The senior guys called this process 'turning a boy into a man' because it was a way of welcoming the new guys to the team and making men out of them. I thought this was mean. I don't know if this type of thing was common on sports teams in the old days." —u/Sufficient-Cost1685 Did any of these stories surprise you? Older adults, what aspects of your high school experience are completely unacceptable now? Tell us in the comments or answer anonymously using the form below! Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Solve the daily Crossword
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From Smoking Passes To Hazing — People Over 50 Are Sharing The "Normal" Aspects Of Their High School Years That Were Actually Suuuuper Problematic
As we all realize, the "good old days' were incredibly toxic, and high school was no exception. From corporal punishment to outdated rules, simply attending school was a nightmare for many... That's why when Redditor u/return_of_da_biscuit asked, "What aspects of your high school experience would be shocking today?" thousands of older adults shared the "normal" parts of their high school experience that are incredibly problematic. Here are 18 of their most enlightening responses: If you're over 50 and remember your toxic high school experiences, feel free to tell us about them using this anonymous form! 1."Teachers openly made fun of students and called them fat, stupid, etc. At graduation practice, the vice principal announced that we were the worst class in recent memory, they couldn't wait for us to go, and none of us would ever amount to anything. The teachers who were there whooped and clapped in agreement." —u/Expert_Potential_661 "A teacher once told one of my friends that he wished he could squeeze his neck until his head shriveled to the size of a pea that he could flick off his neck — complete with relevant hand gestures." —u/themarko60 Related: 2."Shotguns were often seen in gun racks in the back window of trucks in the student parking lot — hunting took place before and after school." —u/PirateKilt "When I was in high school (1984), I bought a shotgun from my biology teacher, who brought it to school with him and gave it to me in the faculty parking lot. This transaction was not secretive or hush-hush in any way because nobody thought it was strange or problematic. In retrospect, I can think of a few classmates (one in my friend group) who definitely wouldn't have been trustworthy enough to purchase a firearm from a teacher on school grounds." —u/CKA3KAZOO 3."First-year high school kids smoking in plain sight of the principal — on school property, no less." —u/nevadapirate "1980: We were allowed to smoke with a smoking pass. I went to a vocational school for the last two years of high school, and we would sit in circles and pass joints. The principal and a lot of teachers smoked too, and used the same smoking area. They would turn their backs on us so they couldn't see us and wouldn't have to get us in trouble. It got so bad that the principal made an announcement. He told us that visitors saw us smoking marijuana and complained. If we kept it up, he said he would have to close the smoking area. A week later, he made an announcement that he saw four people smoking pot; if they came to the office, all would be fine, but if they didn't, he would have to close the smoking area. We went to the office, and there were about 50 people there. He just told us to get back to class." —u/Rosie_Hymen 4."I attended high school in Detroit from 1972 to 1976. During that time, all first-year students were required to take two semesters of swim class. The pool was large with a removable divider across the middle separating the boys' and girls' classes. The only time the divider was removed was on Fridays, just prior to a weekend swim meet. Those few Fridays were the only days that we were allowed to wear swimsuits." "During every other class, we were forced to swim naked. The coaches were fully clothed, but every student was stark naked for the entire class. Their excuse was that since no girls were in the room, there was no reason to wear swimsuits and have to launder them afterwards. I was raised in a house with four sisters, no brothers, and practically Victorian morals. We were never even allowed to exit our bedrooms in underwear, let alone naked. So, needless to say, high school was a bit of a shock, but I got used to it quickly. In hindsight, I realize how genuinely creepy it was." —u/donpreston 5."My grandfather told me when he was in school in the '50s that teachers punished him for using his left hand and forced him to use his right hand." "He said, 'My teachers would swat the back of my hand with a ruler to make me use my right hand.'" —u/iammonos 6."I (female) tried to take shop class instead of home economics. The shop teacher told me, 'I'd be happy to have you in my shop class, but you still have to take home ec because it's state law.'" "Sure enough, it really was state law in Florida. And no, I never got to take shop because I HAD to take home ec." —u/GiggleFester Related: 7."Teachers dating students: It wasn't technically public, but it was an open secret." —u/neoprenewedgie "Our principal dated a student, and everyone knew it. I think it started when she was a junior, but some people claim even earlier. At the time, the principal was married with several children, and a couple of his kids were close to the students' age. In our senior year, the principal was still dating this girl when she became pregnant. She graduated, ready to pop, and the principal left his wife of over two decades to marry her. The principal was never disciplined, and he stayed in his position until he decided to retire in 2005. He and the student stayed married and had more children together." —u/cantyoukeepasecret 8."Girls had to wear skirts or dresses to school, and the hems couldn't be higher than knee level." —u/Bay_de_Noc "Teachers stopped us in the hall and made us kneel. If our skirt touched the floor, we were sent home. In my junior year, we were permitted to wear nice pants, no jeans, then in my junior year, jeans were okay, as long as they were unripped. I went from mandatory skirts and dresses in first grade in 1960, and if you wore slacks in because it was 10 degrees, you had to change in the bathroom to a skirt, to wearing jeans in 1972." —u/HeadCatMomCat 9."Bullying wasn't taken seriously." —u/The0Walrus "In fourth grade, a kid bullied me. He would walk down the aisle and slap me on the back of the head, among other things. Eventually, he did it one too many times, so I stabbed him in the arm with my pencil. We had a conference with the teacher and our parents. The gist was, 'You don't bully him,' and 'You don't stab people.' There was no expulsion or psychotherapy, but he never bullied me again — that wouldn't fly today." —u/The_Camera_Eye 10."Getting 'whacks': The principal, who was also the football coach, had a bat shaved down to about a quarter-inch thick with holes drilled all over it. If you were late to class or did anything out of line, you were sent to the principal's office. Once there, you were expected to bend over and grab your ankles while he smacked the hell out of you — it kept order for the most part." "Parents, for the most part, liked him, and most didn't object to him abusing their kids. I thought he was a sadistic a-hole. If you didn't want to play football, you were on his sh*t list, and I couldn't play because I had farm work to do after school. This was at a small public high school in the 1960s, and there were 45 kids in my graduating class. I was glad to get out of there. I went into the military when I was 18 and never looked back." —u/cg40boat Related: 11."We were all wasted at school dances, and nobody cared. I remember watching a guy talk to the principal while actively wetting his pants because he was so drunk. We'd step just outside the cafeteria doors, where the dances were, and smoke joints." "I had a key to the band room, which was connected to the theater, and I took my girlfriend in and we fooled around on the stage. I'm pretty sure all of the chaperones were drunk, too." —u/Plastic-Sentence9429 12."Class of '75 here: We never heard of students getting pregnant, at least not in open conversation. They would just 'disappear' for long periods of time. Only after I started college did I realize what had happened with some of them, or the news would finally leak out." —u/CanAny1DoItRight "Students were kicked out of school if they got pregnant, yet their male partners were permitted to stay. This happened to a girl in my junior high class in the early '70s, and it was quite controversial in our small town. By the time I graduated in '76, pregnant students were no longer required to leave." —u/DeeDee719 13."When I was 13, my school band went on a trip to England. On sightseeing days, we were dropped off in the morning, someplace like the city center of York, without any chaperones and told to be back at the buses by 3 p.m. and 'Have fun.' If we needed a teacher, they'd probably be hanging out near the maybe not. Just don't be late for the bus, or you may be left behind." —u/pixel_dent "Around 1980, my class went to NYC on a field trip. We were told, 'Be back at the bus by 2 p.m.' We were just kids walking around Central Park. We also went on overnight trips with clubs — one or two chaperones for dozens of kids. We went wild." —u/Better_Metal 14."Boys used to make and set off pipe bombs. The school would be evacuated, and the fire department would be called, but everyone just rolled their eyes and said, 'Kids, what can you do? This is how they are.' It wasn't seen as a big deal." "Today, it would be all over the news and declared an act of violence." —u/Salty-Ambition9733 15."I remember kids bringing pocket knives to school and using them during shop class. When I was growing up in the '90s, it was common for many students to carry them. I went to a small, rural school, and nobody thought much of it, but they really cracked down after Columbine. They installed cameras and started searching backpacks, and the school code of conduct was changed to ban anything that could be used as a weapon." "Flash forward to 2021, my nephew was expelled for accidentally bringing one to school. It was forgotten in his pants pocket. He mentioned it to a friend like, 'Oh no, I forgot I had this in my pocket.' As he was trying to decide whether to confess and turn it in or just keep quiet, his 'friend' ratted him out, resulting in an instant expulsion. He had to finish his last two years through an online program." —u/kmill0202 Related: 16."Drivers' Ed in high school, mid 1970s: We were shown very graphic movies from the '50s — Signal 30, Red Asphalt, Mechanized Death — but they didn't stop anyone from driving like a fool at times, after all, we thought we were invincible." —u/reesesbigcup "We homeschooled our son, so the only place that would teach him Driver's Ed was the Seventh-Day Adventist boarding school. Their teacher did a phenomenal job of scaring the sh*t out of the students about drinking, drugs, and not paying attention while driving. He also told traumatic true stories that my son would retell me on the way home. My son, who is now 36, was so traumatized, as was I, that we've rarely gone over the speed limit since! He never lets anyone except me drive him, and only on rare occasions." —u/CompleteSherbert885 17."Flashback: I was the new kid in school, coming in for the second semester from a very warm part of the country to freezing temps. The English teacher was a devout Baptist who enforced her rule that any kid she called on had to stand up and recite any Bible book, chapter, and verse she requested." "She got me on my second day there. I had no idea how to recite the Bible or where to find the verse she wanted, so I eventually told her, 'I don't know how.' She went off, called me a heathen, the devil's spawn, etc. Just ranting, raving, and asking, 'What is WRONG with you?' (I was not a Christian). I was never happier than the day mandatory school prayer was banned in schools." —u/LimpShop4291 18."Hazing the new guys: My dad told me that back in the day, when he tried out for high school football, the older guys on the team would initiate or 'welcome' the new players who wore briefs with 'Gatorade wedgies.'" "Basically, the seniors would force the new players to drink a FULL bottle of Gatorade, then hang them on a hook in the locker room by their underwear. Within 20 minutes, they would be peeing their pants, and the seniors would be high-fiving and laughing at them. The newbies who experienced this would tell their moms to buy them boxers and wear them from then on out. My dad said his butt was sore for a week afterward, and he had to put ointment on it. The senior guys called this process 'turning a boy into a man' because it was a way of welcoming the new guys to the team and making men out of them. I thought this was mean. I don't know if this type of thing was common on sports teams in the old days." —u/Sufficient-Cost1685 Did any of these stories surprise you? Older adults, what aspects of your high school experience are completely unacceptable now? Tell us in the comments or answer anonymously using the form below! Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds: Also in Internet Finds:
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HOA President Tried to Ban Halloween Because It Was Against Her Religion, Calling It 'Satanic'— 'Thought She Was Cool, But It Was an Act'
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Every neighborhood has "that one HOA story." It's the tale that gets passed around block parties and over backyard fences — the one where a single decision flips the whole community upside down. In a post on Reddit, a homeowner described how their community's beloved, over-the-top Halloween celebration nearly disappeared overnight when a new HOA president took control. For 25 years, the holiday had been a highlight of the year. Under a retired shoe cobbler and Korean War veteran, the HOA "meetings" amounted to him asking, "Anyone have any questions? No? Okay, let's eat," before treating everyone to Cracker Barrel on his own dime. Every October, the streets filled with skeletons, vampires, and elaborate lawn displays. Even the local special needs school bused in students for trick-or-treating. Don't Miss: The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — That all changed when the president passed away. A 35-year-old newcomer from out of state won the election, and at first, she seemed friendly. "We thought she was cool, but it was an act," the homeowner wrote. Soon after taking office, she declared Halloween "Satanic" and banned it. The backlash was swift. At the next HOA meeting, residents moved to vote her out. She reportedly threatened to have everyone arrested and even called the police — who, according to the post, laughed and left. The removal vote passed. Reddit users didn't hold back. "Glad y'all solved the problem pretty quick without too much melodrama. [Forget] her and people like her," one wrote. Another added, "Honestly this is the best HOA story I've come across. Chill for years, then community comes together to oust the non-chill in short order." Others criticized the power structure itself, noting, "Unless you had truly terrible bylaws, neither the Karen or the new president should have had those powers." Trending: 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. An elderly man was elected president and quickly restructured the rules: no single person could cancel events without a community vote, terms were limited to two years, and fines for minor infractions were banned. HOA attorneys say this kind of drama often comes down to vague or outdated governing documents. "It would be an unusual case where the president has the ability to act entirely unilaterally," attorney Raymond Daniel Burke told adding that authority must be explicitly spelled out in the bylaws. Condominium Associates notes that unclear terms — like "nuisance" or "unappealing" — can create loopholes that allow leaders to push personal agendas. Experts recommend periodic legal reviews of HOA rules to ensure compliance with state law and prevent overreach. In this case, the changes worked. The neighborhood's jack-o'-lanterns, cobwebs, and candy hauls are safe once again — a reminder that when homeowners stick together, even the scariest HOA power grab can have a happy ending. Read Next: Kevin O'Leary Says Real Estate's Been a Smart Bet for 200 Years — , which provides access to a pool of short-term loans backed by residential real estate with just a $100 minimum. Image: Shutterstock This article HOA President Tried to Ban Halloween Because It Was Against Her Religion, Calling It 'Satanic'— 'Thought She Was Cool, But It Was an Act' originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data