‘Proud’ Woman Spends $250 on Front Yard Makeover—Gets HOA Violation

A new homeowner has shared their frustration after their front yard makeover resulted in a violation notice from their Homeowners Association (HOA).

The 29-year-old moved to the area with her fiance around eight months ago, and spent $250 on marble chip rocks to revamp the flower beds at the front of their home—only to discover that the rocks were against HOA regulations.

In a TikTok video that has since been viewed more than 9 million times, Adrianne, who lives in Alabama, shared her frustration. The video’s text overlay read: “POV: You added 1,360 lbs of rocks to your flowerbeds and were so proud of your first homeowner project, just to receive an HOA violation and 10 days to remove the rocks because white isn’t ‘neutral.'”

Adrianne, who chose not to reveal her last name, told Newsweek: “My fiance and I are first-time homeowners and have never lived in an HOA neighborhood before. We chose the house because it was conveniently located close to family, we loved the idea of a new build that we were able to have a hand in designing, and it had a nice yard for our dogs.”

Determined to spruce up their overgrown flower beds, the couple had eagerly undertaken the project themselves, inspired by the varied landscaping styles in their neighborhood. “We noticed a few different colors of rocks used nearby, including white,” Adrianne said. “We thought the white would match and complement our white house.”

The project seemed successful at first, with no immediate objections from the HOA. However, after laying all 34 bags of rock, they received a violation notice, which came as a shock. Despite the support from TikTok users, Adrianne acknowledged their oversight: “It is obvious we neglected to check the 68-page Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions before starting the project.”

Homeowners Associations are private organizations governing residential communities, and about 30 percent of the U.S. population, or roughly 75.5 million Americans, live in HOA-governed communities.

Despite so many people living in HOA neighborhoods, a new study by Rocket Mortgage revealed that 57 percent of those who live under HOAs say they don’t like it, with one in 10 saying they have considered selling their home to get away from it.

The TikTok community rallied behind Adrianne, flooding the comments with support and disbelief. One user, Fishrfriends, remarked: “I’ll never understand why people live in HOA neighborhoods,” while another, Autumn, suggested, “Spray paint the rocks a neutral color.”

Others questioned the HOA’s stance. Viewer ari exclaimed: “White isn’t neutral!?!” and Em added: “The way I would pull out a color chart and info on how white is a neutral color lol.”

The couple are appealing the HOA decision and working hard to find a solution. “My TikTok comment section is flooded with suggestions to paint the rocks,” Adrianne said. “While tempting, we’ve learned from our first mistake and don’t want to waste more money and time on a solution they won’t approve of.”