Daniel set down the drill.
“Nice to meet you.”
“I like to personally welcome new homeowners.”
She looked around the garage while speaking.
Not casually.
Inventorying.
Daniel noticed.
Lorraine handed him a folder.
“Community guidelines.”
“I received the covenants during closing.”
“These are easier.”
Daniel opened it.
A checklist.
Trash schedules.
Holiday decorations.
Parking reminders.
Landscaping expectations.
Exterior maintenance.
Nothing alarming.
Lorraine pointed toward the garage shelves.
“Just be careful about storing visible commercial materials.”
Daniel frowned.
“Commercial?”
“Boxes.”
“They're moving boxes.”
“I know.”
She smiled.
“Just mentioning it.”
Daniel looked toward the street.
The garage door was open because he was moving.
He said nothing.
Lorraine continued.
“We value consistency.”
“Good.”
“You'll find we're stricter than some communities.”
Daniel nodded.
“Rules are fine.”
Her smile brightened.
“That is wonderful to hear.”
Daniel continued.
“As long as they're actually rules.”
The smile changed slightly.
He noticed that too.
Lorraine stayed twenty minutes.
She asked whether Daniel had children.
No.
Married?
No.
Work from home?
Sometimes.
Travel?
Frequently.
Daniel answered politely at first.
Then less so.
When she finally left, he closed the garage and forgot most of the conversation.
He remembered one part later.
Lorraine paused beside the driveway.
Looked back.
“You'll find Fairmont Ridge takes community participation seriously.”
Daniel smiled.
“I'll keep that in mind.”
At the time, it sounded harmless.
It wasn't.
The first violation arrived eleven days later.
Trash container visible from public roadway.
Daniel read the email twice.
The attached photograph showed his trash bin near the garage at 5:42 p.m.
Collection day.
He checked the rules.
Bins could remain outside until 8 p.m.
Daniel replied with the rule highlighted.
Violation withdrawn.
No apology.
Two weeks later:
Unapproved garden border modification.
Daniel had changed nothing.
The garden border existed before purchase.
He sent closing photographs.
Violation withdrawn.
Then came a parking notice.
His sister visited overnight and parked in the driveway.
Perfectly permitted.
Withdrawn.
By June, Daniel had received six notices.
Five were wrong.
The sixth involved grass slightly over the allowed height while Daniel was traveling.
He paid the small fine.
That should have satisfied Lorraine.
Instead, it seemed to encourage her.
At the July board meeting, Daniel attended for the first time.
Eight homeowners sat in folding chairs inside the clubhouse.
Five board members occupied a long table.
Lorraine sat in the center.
Pink.
Of course.
Daniel waited through pool-budget discussions, sprinkler complaints, and a forty-minute argument about mailbox paint.
Then homeowner comments opened.
Daniel stood.
“Can someone explain how violations are verified before they're issued?”
Lorraine looked toward him.
“We have a compliance process.”
“I understand.”