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HOA Called Cops as I Moved Out — Then Found Out I Owned the Entire Block — Transcript

by HOA Power Breakers · 7,711 words · 1,169 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Hey, put that box down. You are not
0:02loading one more thing onto that truck
0:04without going through me.
0:05>> Ma'am, I'm loading my own furniture into
0:07my own truck.
0:08>> That U-Haul has been rattling since 6:00
0:10a.m. Whole block's calling me about the
0:12noise.
0:13>> It's a rented truck parked at my curb.
0:16>> Your curb? I run this entire block.
0:18Every lot, every driveway, mine. Nothing
0:21moves without my say.
0:24>> I just need another hour to finish.
0:26>> You don't get an [music] hour. I already
0:27called the cops. 3 years of unpaid
0:30fines. You think you can just disappear?
0:32>> I'm not disappearing, ma'am. I'm moving
0:34out.
0:34>> Moving? With a truck full of garbage?
0:37Nothing you own is worth the gas to haul
0:39it.
0:40>> I set the box down. Tucked under the
0:42visor of that U-Haul sat a county deed
0:44my name on 14 lots. Every house on that
0:47entire block. 48 hours. Have you ever
0:50watched an HOA president find out she's
0:52been collecting fines on land she
0:54doesn't own? Because you are about to.
0:57Hit subscribe. You do not want to miss
0:59what happens to her. Let me take you
1:00back to how this started. 4 years ago,
1:03my grandfather Harlan Ingram passed away
1:05at 86.
1:06Worked 41 years as a pipefitter out of
1:09local 189.
1:11Never missed a day. Left behind a
1:13two-bedroom ranch at 814 Maplewood
1:16Terrace, a suburb about 30 minutes
1:18outside Columbus, Ohio. Nothing fancy.
1:22Vinyl siding, chain-link fence. The kind
1:25of house where the garage smells like
1:26motor oil and cut pine no matter how
1:28many times you sweep it out. I'm Curtis
1:31Ingram, 52, union electrician. When my
1:34marriage fell apart a few months after
1:36Grandpa Harlan died, I packed a bag and
1:38drove to Maplewood Terrace because it
1:40was the only place I owned outright.
1:42Moved in on a Tuesday. Didn't tell
1:45anyone. Didn't think I had to. The first
1:47thing I noticed was how quiet the block
1:49was. 14 houses lined up neat. Lawns
1:52trimmed to the same height. Garbage cans
1:55rolled out on the same morning. The only
1:57sound after 7:00 p.m. was the sprinklers
1:59clicking on and off that steady tick
2:01tick tick tick tick like a clock
2:03counting down something nobody was
2:05watching. The second thing I noticed was
2:07her, Deirdre Loomis, HOA president,
2:10self-appointed, reelected unopposed six
2:13years running not because anyone liked
2:15her, but because nobody wanted the
2:16headache of telling her no. She didn't
2:18even live on my block. Her house sat one
2:20street over on Ridgewood Lane, but she
2:23walked Maplewood Terrace every morning
2:24at 7:00 a.m. sharp. You could hear her
2:27heels on the sidewalk before you saw her
2:29click click click like a metronome set
2:31to the tempo of someone else's bad day.
2:34Two weeks after I moved in, I opened my
2:36mailbox and found an envelope with
2:38Maplewood Terrace Homeowners Association
2:41stamped across the top in red ink.
2:43Inside, two fines. $250 for roof
2:47discoloration and $150 for vehicle
2:50parked on driveway in excess of 72
2:53consecutive hours. My truck on my
2:55driveway at my house. I flipped through
2:58the CC&Rs every new homeowner gets a
3:01binder and Grandpa Harlan's was still in
3:03the kitchen drawer, dusty but complete.
3:05I read every page. There was nothing
3:07about how long you could park on your
3:09own driveway, not a word. The roof,
3:12fine. The only clause about exterior
3:14maintenance said visible structural
3:16damage. A few dark streaks from tree sap
3:19didn't qualify by any reading I could
3:20manage. I called the number on the
3:22letterhead. Deirdre picked up on the
3:24second ring. Mrs. Loomis, I got two
3:27fines in the mail. I don't think either
3:29one is in the CC&Rs.
3:31Mr. Ingram, those fines are issued at my
3:34discretion based on community standards.
3:36Community standards aren't in the
3:38document though. I've read it. Pay it or
3:40I'll lien your house. Your choice. She
3:43hung up. I sat there at Grandpa Harlan's
3:45kitchen table looking at $400 in fines
3:48for doing absolutely nothing wrong and I
3:50had a thought that I'm guessing some of
3:52you have had, too. Maybe she does this
3:54because nobody ever pushes back. Here's
3:56the thing most people don't realize, and
3:58I didn't either until I started reading.
4:00An HOA can only fine you for violations
4:03that are specifically written in the
4:04CC&Rs
4:06or the bylaws. If the rule doesn't exist
4:08in the documents, the fine doesn't
4:10exist, either. Doesn't matter what the
4:12president says, doesn't matter what
4:14letter she sends, no rule, no fine. I
4:17didn't pay, and that's when things
4:19started getting personal. 30 days after
4:21I ignored those fines, a letter showed
4:23up from a law firm called Kirkner and
4:25Floss, representation of Maplewood
4:27Terrace HOA, outstanding balance $400,
4:33demand for payment within 15 days or
4:36lien proceedings will commence. Looked
4:38real, sounded real. The letterhead had
4:40an address in downtown Columbus, a phone
4:43number, a bar registration line. So, I
4:45did what any reasonable person would do,
4:47I Googled them. Kirkner and Floss was a
4:49two- attorney office specializing in
4:51small residential closings, not
4:53litigation, not collections, just
4:56closings. The kind of firm that
4:58processes paperwork and charges you $300
5:01to notarize a stack of forms. They were
5:03not going to litigate a $400 fine
5:06dispute. This was a bluff, a
5:08nice-looking bluff on expensive paper,
5:11but a bluff. I didn't respond to that
5:13one, either. Two weeks later, I tried a
5:15different approach. The HOA held monthly
5:18board meetings on the first Thursday of
5:20every month at the community room, a
5:21cinder block building at the entrance to
5:23the subdivision that smelled like old
5:25carpet cleaner and the inside of a
5:27filing cabinet. I showed up at 6:58 p.m.
5:31with my CC&R binder under my arm. Here's
5:34what I found, three people. Deirdre
5:36Loomis, sitting at a folding table with
5:38a gavel, a literal gavel, like a judge.
5:41Her husband, Lyle, sitting next to her
5:44taking minutes on a yellow legal pad.
5:46and one homeowner, Glenn Acheson, 68,
5:50retired postal worker, sitting three
5:52rows back, looking like he'd rather be
5:54anywhere else on Earth. That was the
5:56board. That was the entire governing
5:58body of Maplewood Terrace. I stood up to
6:01speak. Deirdre cut me off before I got
6:03my name out. Homeowners with outstanding
6:05fines don't get a voice at this table.
6:08I'm not asking for a voice. I'm asking
6:10where in the CC&Rs it says I can't park
6:13on my own driveway. Sit down, Mr.
6:15Ingram. Lyle didn't look up from his
6:17legal pad. Glenn stared at the floor.
6:20The fluorescent light above us buzzed
6:22like a trapped wasp, and I realized this
6:25room had probably sounded exactly like
6:27this for 6 years. I sat down, but the
6:30next morning I did something Deirdre
6:32didn't expect. I sent a certified letter
6:34return receipt requested to the
6:36Maplewood Terrace HOA, formally
6:38requesting a full copy of the
6:40association's financial records, income,
6:42expenses, reserve fund, bank statements,
6:45every dollar in, every dollar out. See,
6:48here's something I'd read on an Ohio
6:50homeowners forum that week. Under Ohio
6:52Revised Code, any homeowner in an HOA
6:55has the legal right to inspect the
6:56association's financial books. The
6:58association has to provide them within a
7:00reasonable time. Most courts say 10
7:03business days. If they refuse, you can
7:06petition the court to force disclosure,
7:08and the HOA pays your attorney fees. I
7:11didn't know what I'd find. I just wanted
7:13to see if she'd hand them over. She
7:14didn't. 60 days, nothing. Not a bank
7:18statement, not a receipt, not even a
7:20letter saying we're working on it. But
7:22Deirdre wasn't sitting quiet during
7:23those 60 days. Oh, no. She was busy. A
7:27flyer appeared in every mailbox on the
7:29block, plain white paper, no letterhead,
7:31but everyone knew who wrote it. A
7:33reminder to all Maplewood Terrace
7:35homeowners. Recent requests for private
7:38financial information by a a
7:40resident are an attempt to destabilize
7:43our community. Any increase in HOA dues
7:46will be a direct result of legal costs
7:48incurred defending your association from
7:50frivolous attacks. She turned my records
7:53request into a threat against everyone's
7:55wallet. And it worked. The next Saturday
7:58morning, I walked out to grab my mail
8:01and caught my neighbor across the
8:02street, a guy I'd wave to every single
8:04day, standing in his yard watering a
8:06flower bed he'd already watered 10
8:07minutes earlier, just so he wouldn't
8:09have to make eye contact with me. The
8:11hose was running onto the sidewalk. The
8:13bed was drowning.
8:15He stared at those flowers like they
8:16owed him money. That's when I understood
8:18what Deirdre was really good at. Not
8:20rules, not management, isolation. She
8:23didn't need to beat you. She just needed
8:25to make sure nobody stood next to you.
8:27The fines kept coming. Every 2 weeks,
8:30another envelope, another invented
8:32violation. Trash receptacle visible from
8:35street on a non-collection day. I'd left
8:37my bin out 4 hours late. $100 fine.
8:40Unauthorized exterior modification. I'd
8:43replaced a broken porch light with one
8:45from Home Depot that wasn't the same
8:46shade of brass. Another 150. By the
8:50third month, my total outstanding
8:51balance had climbed to $2,400
8:54and every single charge was for
8:56something either not in the CC&Rs or so
8:59petty that enforcing it required Deirdre
9:02to be watching my house with binoculars,
9:05which honestly, she might have been.
9:08Then she went after my trees. Two red
9:10oaks stood in the front yard at 814.
9:14Grandpa Harlan planted them the year he
9:15moved in, 1972.
9:18They were 52 years old, same age as me,
9:21which is a coincidence I didn't
9:23appreciate until they were gone. I came
9:26home from a job site on a Wednesday
9:27afternoon and there was a stump grinder
9:30parked on my curb. Both trees had been
9:33cut to stumps. The sawdust was still
9:35wet. The whole front yard smelled like
9:37fresh-cut oak and diesel, that thick,
9:39sweet smell that sticks to everything. A
9:42landscaping crew was loading the last
9:44rounds of trunk wood into a flatbed. I
9:46asked the foreman what happened. "HOA
9:48lady called us. Said the trees were
9:51blocking a sightline for traffic. Paid
9:53half up front. Said to bill the
9:55homeowner for the rest." He handed me a
9:57yellow carbon copy invoice, $1,200,
10:01billed to Curtis Ingram, 814 Maplewood
10:04Terrace. She cut down my grandfather's
10:06trees and sent me the bill. I stood in
10:09the sawdust and stared at the two
10:10circles of pale wood in the dirt where
10:12those oaks used to be.
10:1452 years of growth, and it took one
10:16phone call and an afternoon to erase
10:18them. That night I went downstairs to
10:20the basement looking for Grandpa
10:22Harlan's old photo albums. I wanted to
10:24find a picture of those trees when they
10:26were saplings. I didn't find the albums,
10:29but I found something else. In the back
10:31corner, behind the water heater, there
10:33was a fireproof safe the size of a
10:35microwave. I knew it was there. I'd seen
10:37it when I moved in, but I'd never opened
10:39it. The key was on the same ring as the
10:41house keys, a small brass thing that
10:43looked older than me. Inside, folders, a
10:46lot of them. Tax receipts going back to
10:49the '60s, survey maps with pencil marks
10:51and Grandpa Harlan's handwriting in the
10:53margins, a bundle of documents held
10:55together with a rubber band so old it
10:57crumbled when I touched it. I didn't
10:59read through everything that night. I
11:01was tired, and the legal language was
11:03dense, but one thing caught my eye. A
11:06plat map from 1968
11:09with the word Ingram printed across 14
11:11individual lot lines. Not one lot, 14. I
11:15took a photo with my phone and dropped
11:17the folders into one of my moving boxes.
11:19I figured I'd look at it later when I
11:21had time and maybe a lawyer. That was
11:24the same week Deirdre filed the lien.
11:26$2,400 in outstanding fines, the phony
11:29ones, all of them filed as a lien
11:31against my property at the Franklin
11:32County Recorder's office, which meant I
11:34couldn't sell 814 Maplewood Terrace
11:37until the lien was resolved. I was
11:39trapped in a house I wanted to leave on
11:42a block where nobody would look at me,
11:44being fined for things that weren't
11:45violations by a woman who didn't even
11:47live on my street. I called a real
11:49estate attorney. His name was Nolan
11:52Pruitt, a solo practitioner out of
11:53Westerville who specialized in title
11:55disputes and HOA conflicts. He'd seen
11:58cases like mine before. "The lien's
12:00probably invalid," he told me. "Ohio
12:03requires the HOA to give written notice
12:06and an opportunity to be heard before
12:08recording a lien. Did they give you a
12:10hearing?" They hadn't. No hearing, no
12:13vote, just Deirdra and her red ink
12:15letterhead. "Then we can challenge it,
12:17but Curtis, it'll take time and she'll
12:19keep piling on while we wait." He was
12:22right about that. I decided to leave,
12:24not because Deirdra won, because I was
12:2652 years old, living alone in a dead
12:29man's house, spending every evening
12:31reading HOA bylaws, and filing
12:34complaints that nobody answered. I was
12:36tired. The kind of tired that doesn't go
12:38away with sleep. Nolan said he could
12:40fight the lien from his office. I didn't
12:42need to be on Maplewood Terrace to
12:44challenge it. So, I called U-Haul,
12:46booked a 26-footer for Saturday morning,
12:49and started packing. Thursday night, 2
12:51days before the move, my phone rang, a
12:53number I didn't recognize. "Mr. Ingram,
12:56this is Sergeant Billings with Franklin
12:58County Code Enforcement. We received a
13:00complaint about an occupied dwelling at
13:02814 Maplewood Terrace that may be in
13:05violation of county housing standards. I
13:07need to schedule an inspection." A
13:09complaint from who? "I can't disclose
13:11that, sir, but the report says the
13:13property may be housing unauthorized
13:15occupants." Unauthorized occupants? I
13:17lived alone. There were no occupants
13:19authorized or otherwise. Deirdra had
13:22called code enforcement and told them I
13:24was running some kind of unlicensed
13:25boarding house out of a two-bedroom
13:27ranch where the only living thing
13:29besides me was a spider plant I kept
13:31forgetting to water. The inspector came
13:33Friday morning. 6:45 a.m. I was still in
13:37my boxers. He walked through every room,
13:40checked the smoke detectors, looked at
13:42the water heater, counted the beds. One
13:44bed, one toothbrush, one cereal bowl in
13:47the sink. Looks like one person lives
13:49here. Mr. Ingram, that's because one
13:52person does. He left. But I found out
13:55later that same morning a video appeared
13:57in the Maplewood Terrace Neighborhood
13:59Watch Facebook group. A 30-second clip
14:01of the code enforcement truck parked in
14:03front of my house, filmed from across
14:05the street. The caption read, "County
14:08inspector at 814 this morning. Just
14:11saying." Deirdre didn't post it. She
14:13didn't have to. She told three neighbors
14:16about the complaint the night before.
14:18One of them held up a phone and pressed
14:20record. By noon, 46 people had seen that
14:23clip. None of them knew why code
14:25enforcement was there. All of them
14:27assumed the worst. I was no longer just
14:30the guy who didn't pay his fines. I was
14:32the guy who had county inspectors
14:34showing up before sunrise. In a
14:36neighborhood like Maplewood Terrace,
14:38that's one step below a police raid.
14:40Saturday morning, moving day. I had the
14:43U-Haul backed up to the garage by 6:00
14:45a.m. The October air was cold enough to
14:47see my breath. And the metal ramp of the
14:49truck rang every time I set a box down a
14:51flat, hollow clang that echoed off the
14:54houses like a bell nobody wanted to
14:56hear. By 8:00, I'd loaded the bedroom
14:58and half the kitchen. That's when
15:00Deirdre showed up. You already heard
15:02what she said.
15:03The curb. The garbage. The cops. What
15:07you didn't hear was the 22 minutes
15:09between her phone call and the cruiser
15:11pulling up. 22 minutes of Deirdre
15:13standing on the sidewalk with her arms
15:15crossed narrating my failures to anyone
15:18who walked by. Three years of fines.
15:21Never paid a dime. Now he's trying to
15:23sneak out like a thief. One neighbor
15:25came out to watch, then another. By the
15:28time Officer Tate stepped out of his
15:29cruiser, five people were standing on
15:32their lawns in bathrobes and slippers,
15:34watching Curtis Ingram get treated like
15:36a suspect for loading a couch into a
15:38rental truck. Officer Tate was
15:40professional, checked my ID, checked the
15:42deed. Sir, you're the homeowner here?
15:45Yes, sir. You're moving your own
15:46belongings into your own truck? Yes,
15:49sir. He turned to Deidra. Ma'am, this is
15:52a civil matter regarding HOA fines. We
15:54don't enforce that. He has every right
15:56to load his truck and leave. Deidra's
15:58face went the color of old brick. This
16:01is not over, Mr. Ingram. I will put a
16:03lien on everything you own. You already
16:06have, ma'am. Officer Tate left. Deidra
16:09left. The neighbors drifted back inside
16:11one by one, coffee cups in hand, like
16:14they just watched a car accident that
16:16turned out to be a fender bender. I
16:17loaded the last box around noon. And
16:20when I pulled the sun visor down to
16:22block the glare, a folder slid off the
16:24dashboard onto the passenger seat. The
16:26folder from the safe. I tossed it there
16:28Wednesday night and forgotten about it.
16:30I picked it up, opened it, and stared at
16:32that plat map again.
16:3414 lots. Ingram. Every single one. I
16:38took a picture and texted it to Nolan.
16:40Can you run a title search on these?
16:42Then I put the truck in drive and left
16:44Maplewood Terrace. I didn't look in the
16:46mirror. Three days after I left
16:48Maplewood Terrace, Nolan called. Curtis,
16:51I need you in my office. Bring
16:53everything from that safe. I drove to
16:55Westerville with a cardboard box full of
16:57my dead grandfather's paperwork on the
16:59passenger seat. Nolan's office sat above
17:01a dry cleaner on State Street, the kind
17:04of place where you could smell fabric
17:05softener through the floor vents, sweet
17:08and chemical at the same time. He'd
17:10cleared his entire desk. Spread across
17:12it were printouts from the Franklin
17:14County Recorder's Office, plat maps,
17:16deed transfers going back to 1965.
17:21He looked at me like a doctor about to
17:22deliver test results. Your grandfather
17:25bought that land in 1968.
17:27All of it. 14 lots.
17:30It was a hay field at the time, nothing
17:32on it but grass and a drainage ditch. I
17:35knew Grandpa Harlan had bought property.
17:37I didn't know it was 14 lots. In 1971,
17:41a developer named Crowell Buyers
17:43Construction approached him about
17:45building a subdivision. Your grandfather
17:48agreed to sell the land on a land
17:50contract, basically an installment plan.
17:53Crowell Buyers would pay him over 30
17:55years, and when the last payment
17:57cleared, the deed would transfer. Okay.
18:00Crowell Buyers built the houses, sold
18:02them to buyers with warranty deeds,
18:04deeds that guaranteed clear ownership of
18:06the land. So, the homeowners own their
18:08land? No. That's the problem. Crowell
18:11Buyers never finished paying your
18:13grandfather. They made payments through
18:151989,
18:18then declared bankruptcy in 1993.
18:21The company dissolved. The remaining
18:23balance, about 40% of the purchase
18:25price, was never paid.
18:27Your grandfather's attorney sent default
18:29notices, but there was nobody to send
18:31them to. Crowell Buyers didn't exist
18:33anymore. The fabric softener smell
18:35drifted up through the floor. I stared
18:38at the plat map. Because the land
18:39contract was never completed, the deed
18:42never transferred. Crowell Buyers sold
18:44houses on land they didn't own. The
18:46warranty deeds they gave those
18:48homeowners are technically defective.
18:50They warranted title they couldn't
18:51deliver. So, who owns the land? Nolan
18:54slid a single sheet of paper across the
18:56desk. County recorder printout. 14
18:59parcels. Every single one still
19:01registered to Harlan T. Ingram, deceased
19:04estate transferred to Curtis J. Ingram
19:06per last will and testament, probated
19:082022.
19:10You do. All 14 lots. Every house on that
19:13block is sitting on your dirt. I sat
19:15there for a long time. The building's
19:17heating system clicked on a low rattle
19:19in the walls and I thought about Deirdre
19:20Lummus standing on that sidewalk, arms
19:23crossed, telling me she owned my curb,
19:25telling me nothing moved without her say
19:27so, calling the cops on me while I
19:29loaded boxes in the dark, on my land.
19:33She was standing on my land. She called
19:35the cops on me, I said, on my own
19:38property. Technically, on your own 14
19:41properties. Did Grandpa Harlan know? He
19:44knew. He paid taxes on those parcels
19:47every year until he died. The homeowners
19:49title insurance companies should have
19:51caught the defect, but the plat name
19:53changed twice. Crowell buyers filed it
19:55as Maplewood Estates, your grandfather's
19:58deed says Ingram Farm, and the current
20:00subdivision is Maplewood Terrace.
20:02Different names, same dirt. It fell
20:05through the cracks. I looked at the box
20:07of folders on the floor. 58 years of tax
20:10receipts. Grandpa Harlan had been paying
20:12property taxes on 14 lots for over half
20:15a century and never said a word to me
20:17about it. What do I do now? Nolan leaned
20:19back. That depends on what kind of
20:21person you are. Here's what I didn't do.
20:24I didn't call Deirdra. I didn't drive
20:26back to Maplewood Terrace and knock on
20:28her door. I didn't post anything on
20:30Facebook or tell a single neighbor. What
20:32I did was sit in Nolan's office for
20:33another two hours and figure out what my
20:35options actually were. Option one, sell
20:38the land. Cash out 14 parcels in
20:41suburban Columbus. Walk away with a
20:43check. Let someone else deal with the
20:45mess. Nolan estimated the raw land value
20:48at somewhere north of 900,000, depending
20:51on zoning. Option two, do nothing. Keep
20:55paying taxes, let the homeowners stay,
20:57avoid the headache entirely. Option
21:00three, assert ownership. Notify every
21:03homeowner on the block that they were
21:04living on my land, offer to work out new
21:06agreements, and force the HOA, Deirdre's
21:09HOA, to account for 6 years of collected
21:11dues. I picked option three. Not because
21:14I wanted to fight, because Deirdre
21:16Loomis had cut down my grandfather's
21:18trees, filed false liens against my
21:20house, called the cops on me for moving
21:22a couch, and sicked code enforcement on
21:24a man who lived alone with a spider
21:26plant. And she did all of it while
21:28standing on land my family had owned
21:29since before she was born. Some things
21:32you can't walk away from and still look
21:34at yourself in the morning. First ally,
21:36Nolan Pruitt. He'd file a quiet title
21:38action, a legal proceeding that asks the
21:40court to formally confirm who owns a
21:42disputed property. It's not a lawsuit
21:45against anyone. It's a request for the
21:47court to look at the deed chain, the tax
21:49records, the land contract, and rule on
21:51ownership once and for all.
21:53He said it would take 4 to 6 weeks once
21:55filed. Second ally came as a surprise,
21:58Glenn Acheson, the retired postal
22:00worker, the guy who'd sat through 6
22:02years of board meetings staring at the
22:04floor, called me out of the blue.
22:06"Curtis, I heard you left. I wanted to
22:08say something I should have said a long
22:10time ago. Deirdre's been collecting dues
22:13from every house on this block, 200 a
22:15month. 14 houses for 6 years. That's
22:18over $200,000.
22:20She's never shown me a financial
22:22statement, not once. I signed whatever
22:24she put in front of me because I was too
22:26old and too tired to argue. I did the
22:28math later. 14 houses, 200 a month, 72
22:32months, $216,000
22:34total collected on paper. How much of it
22:37actually went to community maintenance?
22:39Glenn didn't know. Nobody did. Because
22:41Deirdre never opened the books. Glenn
22:44signed an affidavit for Nolan. Every
22:46word of it true. Third ally, Ramona
22:49Pratt, 44, ran a nail salon out of a
22:52converted garage on the corner lot at
22:54the end of the block. She'd leased that
22:56lot directly from Grandpa Harlan, a
22:58handshake deal at first, then a written
23:00lease that said Ingram Family Trust
23:02right across the top. Ramona was the
23:04only person on Maplewood Terrace who
23:06knew the land belonged to my family.
23:08She'd kept quiet for years because
23:10Deirdre had threatened to report her
23:11salon as an illegal commercial operation
23:14in a residential zone if she made
23:15trouble. Your grandpa was the only
23:17landlord who ever treated me fair,
23:20Ramona told me over the phone. Her voice
23:22was steady but tight, the way people
23:24sound when they've been holding
23:25something in for too long. Whatever you
23:27need from me, I'm in. The plan was
23:30simple, three steps. Step one, Nolan
23:34files the quiet title action at Franklin
23:36County Court. Step two, I write a letter
23:38to every homeowner on the block. Not a
23:41threat, not a demand, just the facts who
23:43owns the land, what a land contract is,
23:46what the quiet title action means, and a
23:48clear promise that I have no intention
23:50of removing anyone from their home. The
23:52land contract mess wasn't their fault.
23:55It was Crow Buyers' fault and they'd
23:57been bankrupt for 30 years. Step three,
24:00force a special meeting. Most CCNRs
24:03allow homeowners to call a special
24:04meeting if enough people sign a
24:06petition, usually between 10 and 25%.
24:09Maplewood Terrace had 14 houses. 25%
24:13meant four signatures. I had Glenn, I
24:16had Ramona. I needed two more. Ramona
24:19helped me photocopy 14 packets at her
24:21salon. Her copier jammed three times and
24:24by the end, the whole place smelled like
24:26hot toner and acetone from the nail
24:28stations, a combination that could
24:30probably strip paint off a car hood. 14
24:33letters, 14 certified mailings, return
24:36receipt requested. I dropped them at the
24:38post office on a Monday morning and
24:40waited. Deirdre received her letter on
24:42Wednesday. I know because Nolan got a
24:44voicemail from an attorney named Trent
24:46Garver at 8:15 Thursday morning, hired
24:48by Deirdre overnight, apparently
24:51demanding that Curtis Ingram cease all
24:53fraudulent claims of ownership and
24:55retract the defamatory letters sent to
24:57Maplewood Terrace residents. Nolan
24:59didn't return the call. He didn't have
25:01to. The quiet title action was already
25:04filed with the court, but Deirdre wasn't
25:06waiting for courts. Deirdre was a woman
25:08who solved problems the same way she ran
25:11board meetings, fast, loud, and without
25:13asking anyone's permission. Friday
25:15evening, six days after the letters went
25:18out, I drove back to 814 Maplewood
25:21Terrace to pick up a few things I'd left
25:23in the basement. Grandpa Harlan's
25:25toolbox, some old photo albums, a box of
25:28Christmas ornaments my daughter had made
25:30in elementary school. The front door
25:31wouldn't open. Not stuck, not swollen
25:34from humidity. The lock had been
25:35changed. Brand new deadbolt, shiny
25:38brass, still had the manufacturer's
25:40sticker on the face plate. I walked
25:42around to the back door. Same thing. New
25:45knob, new deadbolt. Taped to the back
25:47door was a notice on HOA letterhead.
25:50Property secured by Maplewood Terrace
25:52Homeowners Association per Article 9,
25:55Section 3, Abandoned Property
25:57Maintenance Provision. I pulled up the
25:59CC&Rs on my phone and scrolled to
26:01Article 9. Section 3 didn't exist.
26:04Article 9 had two sections. Neither
26:06mentioned abandoned property. Neither
26:09gave the HOA the right to enter a
26:10private home for any reason. Deirdre
26:13Loomis had hired a locksmith, entered my
26:15house without my knowledge or consent,
26:17changed every lock, and posted a fake
26:19legal notice to justify it. Standing on
26:22that back porch, I could smell the
26:24inside of the house through the mail
26:25slot, Grandpa Harlan's house. The motor
26:28oil and pine. Faint now, but still
26:30there, and I couldn't get to it. The
26:32evening was quiet. A lawn mower hummed
26:35two streets over. A dog barked once and
26:37stopped. I called Nolan from the
26:39driveway. "That's criminal trespass," he
26:42said, "and unauthorized entry. You can
26:44file a police report tonight." "Will it
26:46matter?" "It'll matter when the judge
26:48sees it. File the report, get the locks
26:51changed back, and document everything.
26:53Take pictures of that notice. I filed
26:56the report. Officer Tate, same cop from
26:58moving day, responded. He remembered me.
27:01"The HOA lady again?" he said. And I
27:03could tell from his face he wasn't
27:05surprised. He photographed the notice,
27:07documented the new locks, and wrote it
27:09up. I called a locksmith of my own. By
27:1210:00 p.m., I was back inside my own
27:14house, sitting on the bare living room
27:16floor because all the furniture was in a
27:18storage unit across town, eating a gas
27:21station sandwich that tasted like the
27:23inside of a plastic bag. The next
27:25morning, Deirdre went door to door. She
27:28hit every house on the block. Her pitch,
27:30according to Glenn, who called me that
27:32afternoon, "Curtis Ingram is claiming he
27:34owns all of your land. If the court
27:37agrees with him, he can evict every
27:38single one of you. Your house will be
27:40worthless. He will tear up your lease
27:42and sell the dirt to a developer." Six
27:45homeowners believed her. Within a week,
27:47they'd signed a petition asking the
27:49court to reject Curtis Ingram's
27:51ownership claim. Deirdre's new attorney
27:53filed it alongside a motion to delay the
27:55quiet title hearing. Glenn called me
27:57again. His voice was different this
27:59time, lower, like he was cupping the
28:01phone. "Curtis, she's turning the whole
28:04block against you. Half these people
28:06think you're here to bulldoze their
28:07houses. The worst part? I understood why
28:10they believed her. A stranger shows up,
28:12claims he owns the ground under your
28:14home, and your HOA president, the woman
28:16who's been running things for 6 years,
28:18the only authority you've ever known,
28:20tells you he's a threat. Of course you
28:22believe her. Fear makes sense when you
28:24don't have information." Nolan filed the
28:26quiet title action on schedule, but he
28:29warned me about something I hadn't
28:30considered. If enough homeowners file
28:32individual lis pendens claims, that's a
28:35formal notice of pending litigation
28:36against your title. It won't stop you
28:38from winning the case, but it'll cloud
28:40the title on all 14 parcels for years.
28:43You won't be able to sell, refinance, or
28:45develop any of it until every single
28:48claim is resolved. You could win the war
28:50and still be stuck. I thought about that
28:53for 3 days. 3 days of staring at the
28:55ceiling in a borrowed bedroom doing math
28:58I didn't like. Then Glenn called a third
29:00time. Boyd, Selby, and Colleen Drake
29:03signed the petition for the meeting, not
29:05Deirdre's petition. That's four. We've
29:08got enough. Four signatures, 25%. I
29:12called Nolan. File it. We're doing the
29:14meeting. Deirdre had one card left and
29:17she played it the same week. She called
29:19Franklin County Code Enforcement again
29:22and reported 814 Maplewood Terrace as an
29:25abandoned property, cited the empty
29:27rooms, the missing furniture, the fact
29:29that I hadn't been seen on the block in
29:31weeks. She wanted the county to condemn
29:33it, board it up, make it official. The
29:36inspector came back, same guy from last
29:39time. He walked through the house,
29:40turned on the kitchen faucet, flipped a
29:42light switch, checked the furnace. Mr.
29:45Ingram, the utilities are on, the
29:47structure is sound, and someone clearly
29:49changed the locks recently twice from
29:51the looks of it. This isn't abandoned. I
29:54know it isn't. I'm going to close this
29:56complaint, but if she calls again, I'll
29:58have to come back. That's how it works.
30:01He left. I thanked him and locked the
30:02door with my lock this time. That same
30:04afternoon, Deirdre posted on the
30:06Maplewood Terrace Facebook group, a
30:08photo of 814, my house taken from the
30:12street, empty driveway, curtains closed.
30:15Caption, "This is what happens when
30:17absentee landlords abandon our
30:19community. The board is exploring all
30:21legal options to protect your property
30:23values." 31 reactions, 14 comments, most
30:27of them angry at me. But while Deirdre
30:29was fighting on Facebook, Nolan found
30:32something that changed everything. He'd
30:34been digging through the HOA's
30:35incorporation records or trying to. He
30:38called me on a Tuesday evening and I
30:40could hear him smiling through the
30:41phone. Curtis, Maplewood Terrace
30:44Homeowners Association was never
30:45properly incorporated. Deirdre filed
30:48articles of association, which is
30:49basically a club charter, but she never
30:51filed articles of incorporation with the
30:53Ohio Secretary of State. She never
30:56applied for an EIN as a nonprofit. She
30:58never registered as a mandatory
31:00membership HOA under Ohio Revised Code
31:03chapter 5312.
31:05What does that mean? It means the HOA as
31:08a legal entity doesn't exist. It's an
31:11unincorporated voluntary association. It
31:14can't record liens. It can't levy
31:16enforceable fines. It can't file
31:18lawsuits in its own name. Every lien she
31:21recorded against you, against anyone, is
31:23legally void. I sat down on the kitchen
31:26floor. The linoleum was cold through my
31:28jeans. I could hear the furnace ticking
31:31in the basement, and I thought about
31:32Glenn signing documents for 6 years
31:35because Deirdre told him to. I thought
31:37about 14 families paying $200 a month to
31:40an organization that didn't legally
31:42exist. Nolan, how much has she collected
31:45total? I subpoenaed the bank records
31:47last week as part of the quiet title
31:49discovery. The HOA account at Heartland
31:51Credit Union shows total deposits of
31:53$216,000
31:55over 72 months. What's the current
31:57balance? 4200 and change. 216,000
32:02in,
32:034200 left. No financial reports, no
32:07receipts, no reserve fund, no pool, no
32:11clubhouse, no gate, no security patrol,
32:14nothing that would explain where
32:15$212,000
32:17went. Where did the money go, Nolan?
32:20That's not my area. But if four or five
32:22homeowners wanted to file a joint
32:24complaint with the Ohio Attorney
32:25General's office, that would be
32:27someone's area. I didn't say anything
32:29for a while. The refrigerator hummed.
32:31Outside, a car drove past with the bass
32:34turned up, just a dull pulse of
32:35vibration through the walls, there and
32:38gone. Everything was coming together,
32:40but I still had to get through the
32:41meeting. The special meeting was
32:43scheduled for a Thursday evening, 7:00
32:45p.m. in the community room at the
32:47entrance to Maplewood Terrace. Same
32:49cinder block building, same carpet
32:51cleaner smell, same fluorescent lights.
32:54Nolan had also told me the quiet title
32:56hearing was scheduled for that same
32:58Thursday 10:00 a.m. meter.
33:00Franklin County Court of Common Pleas,
33:03Judge Holloway. I asked him if we'd have
33:05the ruling by evening. Maybe.
33:07Judge Holloway is efficient, and this
33:09isn't a complicated case. The deed chain
33:12is clean, but I can't promise anything.
33:15If we don't have it by 7:00, then you
33:17walk into that meeting with everything
33:19except the final stamp. The deed, the
33:22tax records, the land contract, the bank
33:25records. It's enough. The ruling is
33:28confirmation, not revelation. I pressed
33:31my suit that Wednesday night, first time
33:33I'd worn one since Grandpa Harlan's
33:34funeral. The iron hissed and spit on a
33:37wrinkle near the collar, and the steam
33:39smelled like starch and something older,
33:41like the inside of a closet that hadn't
33:43been opened in years. Thursday morning,
33:4610:00 a.m. courthouse. The courtroom
33:50smelled like wood polish and recycled
33:52air. Judge Holloway heard the quiet
33:55title case at 10:08 a.m. Nolan presented
33:58the deed chain, Harlan Ingram's original
34:00purchase in 1968,
34:02the land contract with Crowell buyers,
34:05the default in 1993, 58 years of
34:08uninterrupted tax payments, the probated
34:11will transferring everything to me.
34:13Deirdre's attorney, Trent Garber, argued
34:15adverse possession. The homeowners had
34:17been living on the land for decades.
34:19They should be considered the rightful
34:21owners by occupation. Judge Holloway
34:23didn't hesitate. Adverse possession
34:25requires the occupants to believe they
34:27hold title without permission. A land
34:30contract is, by definition, permission.
34:33The occupants' predecessors purchased
34:35homes from a developer who was
34:36contractually permitted to build on this
34:38land. That's not adverse. That's
34:40licensed. Motion denied. Nolan squeezed
34:44my shoulder, but the judge didn't rule
34:46on the spot. He said he'd issue the
34:48order by end of day and that his clerk
34:50would email it to both parties. We left
34:52the courthouse at 10:41 a.m. I had 8
34:55hours and 19 minutes until the meeting.
34:59I spent most of that day in Nolan's
35:01office going over the bank records one
35:03more time. $216,000
35:06deposited into the Heartland Credit
35:08Union account over 6 years. $4,200
35:11remaining. No invoices for landscaping.
35:14No contracts for maintenance. No
35:16receipts for insurance. The only
35:18recurring expenses Nolan could identify
35:21were the P.O. box rental $84 a year and
35:25a monthly transfer of $600 to a personal
35:27checking account under the name D. L.
35:30Loomis. 600 a month. 72 months. $43,200
35:36transferred directly to Deirdre's
35:38personal account. That was just the
35:40piece we could trace. The rest, over
35:42160,000, was unaccounted for. Nolan
35:45printed everything. Two copies. 7:00
35:48p.m. Maplewood Terrace community room. I
35:51pulled into the parking lot at 6:48. The
35:53building looked the same as always. Flat
35:55roof, cinder block, a single overhead
35:58light buzzing above the door with a halo
36:00of moths circling it like they were
36:02waiting for an invitation. The carpet
36:04cleaner smell hit me when I opened the
36:05door and underneath it, the faint
36:07sourness of a room that never got enough
36:09air. 11 homeowners showed up. Out of 14,
36:1311. Some I recognized from moving day.
36:16The bathrobes were gone replaced by
36:18jeans and polo shirts, but the
36:20expressions were the same. Cautious.
36:23Quiet. The kind of faces people wear
36:25when they know something is about to
36:27happen, but aren't sure whose side
36:28they're on. Deirdre sat in the front
36:30row, Lyle next to her. She wore a blazer
36:33and had a leather folder on her lap. She
36:36looked like a woman who had prepared a
36:37speech. Glenn, Ramona, Boyd, and Colleen
36:40sat together near the back. Glenn gave
36:42me a nod so small you'd miss it if you
36:44weren't looking. I stood at the folding
36:46table. Same table where Deirdre had
36:49banged her gavel and told me homeowners
36:51with outstanding fines don't get a
36:53voice. No gavel tonight. My name is
36:55Curtis Ingram. Most of you know me as
36:57the guy from 814 who didn't pay his
37:00fines. Some of you know me as the guy
37:02who had code enforcement at his house
37:04before sunrise. A few of you might know
37:06me as the guy whose trees got cut down
37:08without his permission. Nobody laughed.
37:11Nobody moved. I'm here tonight to tell
37:13you something about the ground under
37:15your houses.
37:16In 1968, my grandfather, Harlan Ingram,
37:20purchased 14 lots, this entire block,
37:23when it was still farmland. A developer
37:25built your homes on his land under a
37:27contract that was never completed. That
37:30developer went bankrupt in 1993.
37:33The deed never transferred. The land
37:35still belongs to my family. It belongs
37:38to me. Deirdre stood up. That is a lie.
37:41This man is trying to steal your homes.
37:43My attorney. Mrs. Loomis, you'll have
37:45your turn. She sat down.
37:48Not because I told her to. Because 11
37:50pairs of eyes turned to look at her. And
37:53for the first time in 6 years, those
37:55eyes weren't afraid. I want to be clear.
37:58I am not here to evict anyone. I am not
38:01here to tear down your houses or sell
38:03your land to a developer. Your homes are
38:05yours. The land contract mess was caused
38:08by a company that doesn't exist anymore.
38:10That's not your fault. I laid out the
38:12documents on the table. Deed chain, tax
38:15records, land contract, bank statements.
38:18What is your fault, Mrs. Loomis, is
38:21this. I held up the bank printout.
38:23$216,000
38:25collected from 14 families over 6 years.
38:29Current balance, $4,200.
38:32No financial reports, no maintenance
38:34contracts, no reserve fund, and a
38:36monthly transfer of $600 to a personal
38:39checking account under the name D. L.
38:41Loomis. The room went dead quiet. I
38:44could hear the fluorescent light ticking
38:45above us. I could hear someone's phone
38:47vibrate in a back pocket. I could hear
38:50Lyle Loomis shift in his metal chair, a
38:52long slow creak, like a ship settling.
38:55Deirdre's face didn't move. Her mouth
38:58opened, closed, opened again. That money
39:02was for those were administrative costs.
39:04I have records at home. Glenn Acheson
39:06stood up. 68 years old, retired postal
39:10worker, 6 years of silence. His hands
39:13were shaking, but his voice wasn't. I
39:15was on that board for 6 years. She never
39:18showed me a single bank statement. I
39:20signed whatever she put in front of me,
39:22and I am sorry for that, but I never saw
39:24$1 accounted for. A woman in the third
39:27row, I didn't know her name, said, "I've
39:29been paying 200 a month for 4 years.
39:32Where's my money, Deirdre?" Then a man
39:34behind her, "Is this true? She's been
39:36taking our money?" Then another voice,
39:38then another. The room cracked open like
39:41a dam. Deirdre grabbed her leather
39:43folder and stood up. "You people have no
39:45idea what I've done for this block."
39:47Nolan's phone buzzed. He looked at it,
39:50looked at me, and held up the screen.
39:53"Ruling just came in." He read it out
39:55loud, steady and clear. Franklin County
39:58Court of Common Pleas, case number
40:002026CV04418.
40:03Curtis J. Ingram confirmed as owner of
40:06record. All 14 parcels, Maplewood
40:09Terrace subdivision. Judgment entered.
40:12Deirdre stared at Nolan,
40:14then at me,
40:15then at the 11 faces staring back at
40:17her, "You can't do this. I built this
40:20community." "You built it on my
40:21grandfather's land, Mrs. Loomis, and you
40:24charged people rent to live on it." Lyle
40:26took Deirdre's arm. She pulled away. He
40:29took it again, harder, and walked her
40:32toward the door. Her heels clicked on
40:34the linoleum, click, click, click, the
40:36same sound I'd heard every morning at
40:387:00 a.m. for 2 years. But this time the
40:40sound got quieter and quieter and then
40:44it stopped. Nobody followed them out.
40:47Ramona had brought cupcakes.
40:49The tray sat on a folding chair near the
40:51door. Next to it, untouched, was a plate
40:54of lemon bars Deirdre had brought. By
40:56the end of the night, every cupcake was
40:58gone. The lemon bars went into the
41:00trash. Deirdre and Lyle Loomis listed
41:03their house on Ridgewood Lane 9 days
41:06after the meeting. Sold it in under 3
41:08weeks. No forwarding address. No
41:11goodbye. Four homeowners, Glenn, Ramona,
41:14Boyd, and Colleen filed a joint
41:16complaint with the Ohio Attorney
41:17General's Consumer Protection Division
41:19regarding the missing funds. Last I
41:21heard, the state had opened a
41:23preliminary inquiry. I don't know where
41:25the 160-some thousand dollars went. I'm
41:28not sure Deirdre does, either. But
41:30someone's going to ask her, and this
41:32time she won't be able to hang up the
41:34phone. The liens disappeared. Every
41:37single one Deirdre had filed, mine and
41:39three others I didn't even know about,
41:41was voided the day after the court
41:42ruling. An unincorporated association
41:45can't record liens. It's like getting a
41:47parking ticket from your neighbor's kid.
41:49Looks real, feels scary, means nothing.
41:52Nolan helped me draft new land
41:54agreements for every homeowner on the
41:55block. Simple terms. Fair rent on the
41:58land well below market with 30-year
42:00leases and a right of first refusal if I
42:02ever decide to sell. 12 of the 14
42:05homeowners signed within the first
42:06month. The other two are still thinking.
42:09That's fine. I'm not going anywhere. The
42:11HOA got rebuilt from the ground up.
42:14Glenn Acheson, the man who stared at the
42:16floor for six years, is the new
42:18president. Ramona Pratt is treasurer,
42:20which means the books are open and the
42:21numbers are real. Boyd Selby is
42:23secretary. Their first official act was
42:26to rescind every fine Deirdra had ever
42:28issued. Their second was to plant two
42:31new red oaks in front of 814 Maplewood
42:34Terrace. They're saplings, thin as
42:37broomsticks, but they're in the ground.
42:39I moved back into Grandpa Harlan's
42:41house. Took me a weekend to get the
42:43furniture out of storage and another
42:45week to fix the railing and straighten
42:46the mailbox, the two things code
42:49enforcement had actually flagged. The
42:51garage still smells like motor oil and
42:53cut pine. I don't think that smell will
42:55ever leave and I don't want it to. One
42:58thing I did with the first year of land
42:59lease payments, I set up a scholarship,
43:02the Harlan Ingram Trade Scholarship,
43:04$5,000 a year for a graduating senior
43:07headed into a skilled trade program.
43:09Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, pipe
43:12fitting, the trades that built this
43:14block in the first place. The first
43:16award ceremony was held in the community
43:18room at Maplewood Terrace, same cinder
43:21block building, same fluorescent lights,
43:23but someone had brought in folding
43:25chairs with cushions and Ramona had hung
43:27a banner that read Harlan Ingram Trade
43:30Scholarship Class of 2026.
43:35The carpet cleaner smell was still
43:36there, but so was the smell of Ramona's
43:38cupcakes vanilla buttercream and fresh
43:41coffee from a pot Glenn had brought from
43:43home. I stood at the same folding table
43:45where Deirdra used to bang her gavel. A
43:4717-year-old kid named Tyler from the
43:49next town over shook my hand and held up
43:52a certificate and I thought about
43:53Grandpa Harlan sitting in this same room
43:5558 years ago signing a land contract for
43:58a hay field he thought might be worth
44:00something someday. He never told me
44:02about those 14 lots, never mentioned
44:05them once, but he paid the taxes every
44:07year, kept the receipts in a fireproof
44:10safe, and left me the key. I opened my
44:12mailbox last Tuesday. First time in a
44:15long while that I didn't flinch when I
44:16reached inside. No red ink, no fines,
44:20just a water bill and a coupon for oil
44:21changes. It felt like a normal Tuesday,
44:24and I can't tell you how long it's been
44:26since I had one of those. But, Maplewood
44:28Terrace wasn't the last surprise Grandpa
44:30Harlan left me. 3 weeks after that
44:32meeting, Deirdre's attorney filed a
44:34motion that put every single house on
44:36that block back in jeopardy, including
44:38mine. That story's coming, and it's
44:41worse. Drop your HOA horror story in the
44:43comments. I read every single one, and
44:46hit subscribe so you don't miss what
44:47Deirdre Loomis did next, because she is
44:49not done.

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This page contains the full transcript of HOA Called Cops as I Moved Out — Then Found Out I Owned the Entire Block by HOA Power Breakers, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 7,711 words across 1,169 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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