RottenHOAs Community Guidelines

Our Mission

RottenHOAs.com exists to give homeowners, residents, and community members a clear, honest place to share real experiences with homeowners associations (HOAs), condo associations (COAs), and property management companies.

We believe transparency creates accountability. These Community Guidelines help ensure RottenHOAs remains a fair, informative, and trusted resource for HOA reviews, HOA complaints, and community feedback nationwide.

By using RottenHOAs.com, you agree to follow these Community Guidelines, our Terms of Use, and all applicable laws.

What We Stand For

RottenHOAs is built on three core principles:

1. Real Experiences Only

Reviews should reflect first-hand experiences from homeowners, residents, former residents, or others with a legitimate connection to the HOA or managed property.

2. Honest, Constructive Feedback

We support both positive and negative HOA reviews. Criticism is allowed — harassment, threats, or unfounded accusations are not.

3. No Pay-to-Play

HOAs, boards, and property management companies cannot pay to remove, suppress, or alter reviews. Financial relationships never influence ratings or visibility.

Review Submission & Moderation

To maintain quality and credibility, RottenHOAs uses a combination of automated checks and human moderation.

Verification checks

Reviewers may be asked to confirm their connection to a property or HOA. Some reviews may be labeled as Verified when sufficient validation is provided.

Moderation standards

Reviews are evaluated for relevance, clarity, authenticity, and compliance with these guidelines. Submissions that fail to meet standards may be rejected or edited for clarity.

Updated reviews

If you update a review to reflect a new experience, it may be re-reviewed before republishing.

What’s Allowed on RottenHOAs

✅ Honest HOA reviews based on personal experience

✅ Constructive HOA complaints focused on policies, enforcement, communication, or management

✅ Balanced feedback — both praise and criticism

✅ Fact-based descriptions of interactions with HOA boards or property managers

✅ Updates when situations improve or worsen over time

✅ Civil participation in discussions or comments

What’s Not Allowed

❌ Fake, misleading, or second-hand reviews

❌ Reviews submitted on behalf of someone else

❌ Personal attacks, hate speech, threats, or harassment

❌ Defamatory claims presented as fact without context or personal experience

❌ Calls for violence or illegal activity

❌ Attempts to manipulate ratings or pressure others to post or remove reviews

❌ AI-generated reviews that do not reflect a real, lived experience

Anonymity & Transparency

Users may submit reviews without displaying their name publicly. RottenHOAs may still request verification privately to ensure legitimacy.

Affiliated reviewers

HOA board members, vendors, employees, or contractors may submit reviews, but these may be labeled for transparency and may not be weighted the same as homeowner reviews.

Short-term or former residents

Feedback from renters, former owners, or short-term residents may be labeled accordingly to reflect the scope of experience.

Incentives & Fairness

RottenHOAs may occasionally offer neutral incentives to encourage participation.

Incentives are never tied to positive ratings or outcomes.

No HOA, board, or management company can buy influence over reviews or rankings.

Reporting Content & Safety

Users can report content they believe is inaccurate, abusive, or in violation of these guidelines.

Review disputes

HOAs and management companies may submit responses or request review reevaluation, but cannot demand removal simply due to disagreement.

Pattern detection

RottenHOAs may investigate suspicious activity such as review manipulation, coordinated posting, or abuse of the platform.

Important Disclaimer

RottenHOAs.com publishes user-generated content. Reviews represent the personal opinions and experiences of individual users and do not constitute verified factual claims or legal findings.

We do not guarantee accuracy, completeness, or outcomes. Users should conduct their own due diligence before making decisions based on HOA reviews or ratings.

Our Commitment

RottenHOAs is committed to:

-Giving homeowners a real voice

-Promoting HOA transparency

-Encouraging accountability without intimidation

-Protecting free expression while reducing abuse

By participating, you help build a more honest, informed, and empowered HOA community.