What Happened, in Brief
After burst pipes, a broken car, and the pandemic's financial strain left a Texas homeowner displaced from their home, the HOA sent violation and collection notices by certified mail — which came back unclaimed because no one was home to sign. The HOA knew this.
They sued. A process server documented an empty house — covered car, disconnected utilities, a note untouched for a week — yet swore to the court that posting on the door and certified mail were the best ways to serve the owner. A remote server in Houston signed the return without witnessing anything. The court entered a default judgment. The house sold for 18% of its appraised value. The buyer changed the locks himself, dumped the owner's belongings, and renovated before title was ever settled.
Along the way the owner discovered the assessments themselves rested on a fraudulent 2015 amendment vote, the fines were charged under a schedule never recorded with the county, federal CARES Act money had been paid on a debt that was never lawfully owed, and every notice, lien, and affidavit carried its own independent defect.
This series documents all of it — for other homeowners, and for the public record.