"Within the governing documents."
For a moment, the room became quiet.
Then the president looked toward me.
"Is the car operational?"
"Yes."
"Is it currently registered?"
"It has the documentation appropriate to its collector status and use."
She leaned forward.
"So you admit it isn't an ordinary road vehicle."
I took a slow breath.
"I'm not claiming it is."
The president looked toward the other directors.
"Then you understand the concern."
I shook my head.
"No. I understand that you don't like the vehicle. That's different from a rule violation."
The younger accountant lowered his eyes to hide a smile.
The president noticed.
Her cheeks reddened.
For several seconds, she stared at me.
Then she announced that the matter would be reviewed privately.
I asked for the decision in writing.
She gave me a tight smile.
"Of course."
I left thinking the problem would be resolved once someone examined the documents.
Instead, the president began treating me as though I'd challenged her personally.
The next few weeks brought a series of notices.
One concerned the temporary placement of a contractor's trailer during a garage repair.
Another alleged that my exterior lighting was too bright.
A third accused me of leaving tools visible from the street, even though the tools were inside the garage and visible only when the door was open.
I answered each notice politely.
I included photographs.
Dates.
Relevant sections of the governing documents.
And requests for correction when the allegations didn't match what had occurred.
I also began keeping a record of every interaction.
My father had taught me that memories could become unreliable when people were angry.
Paperwork didn't solve every problem.
But accurate notes made it easier to reconstruct what happened.
I created a folder.
Stored the correspondence.
And saved copies of every notice.
Then I learned I wasn't the only homeowner having trouble.
An older couple on the next street had been fined because their grandson parked a work van in the driveway for less than an hour.
A single mother received a warning about a basketball hoop that had stood beside her garage for years.
And a retired teacher was threatened with a landscaping penalty after planting flowers in a color the president disliked.
Some residents paid the charges simply to avoid conflict.
Others complained privately but refused to challenge the board.
They said the president made life miserable for people who questioned her.
I didn't know whether that was true in every case.
But I was beginning to understand why people avoided her.