A scathing letter from your homeowners' association (HOA), evidently.
Last week, tech developer-turned-investor Lucy Guo posted a letter she received from her HOA, One Thousand Museum, Inc., the private corporation that enforces the bylaws at One Thousand Museum, the striking, 62-story ultra-luxury Park West condominium at 1000 Biscayne Blvd. designed by Zaha Hadid. The letter, titled "NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND DEMAND TO CEASE AND DESIST NUISANCE," describes how a party in her unit during Miami Hack Week spiraled out of control, violated a handful of association rules, and ultimately "resulted in a life-safety issue" because security was left "overwhelmed and understaffed" due to her lack of notice of the event.
The letter states that during Guo's rager — which included "approximately 120 people," a lemur, and a giant snake — guests were seen "smoking" and "placing feet on the foot rails in the elevator," interfering with "other residents' peaceful use and enjoyment of their properties." (The building is home to a slew of high-profile tenants, including David and Victoria Beckham, LoanDepot billionaire Anthony Hsieh, and Market America founder and CEO James "JR" Ridinger.)
"You were witnessed cramming the elevator with over 20 individuals (including yourself) and standing on the storage cart while in the elevator," the letter reads. "All the while your Instagram account provides evidence of the events of the night and your brazen attitude toward the Association’s policies are reflected in the caption of your Instagram Story "MY HOA HATES ME."
The letter declares that Guo is "hereby placed on notice."
Guo declined New Times' request for an interview, citing potential retribution from her HOA.My HOA did not appreciate my Miami Hack Week party and the wild animals 💀 pic.twitter.com/URD4xmfpsM
— Lucy Guo (@lucy_guo) February 1, 2022
It's unclear whether Guo has or will face any fines from her HOA. According to Florida law, HOAs can fine members $100 a day per violation, suspend their use of common areas and facilities, and in certain circumstances even place a lien on the property if payments are unpaid, which could lead to foreclosure and eviction.
Guo, 27, is the founder of two San Francisco-based companies: the venture capital fund Backend Capital, and Scale AI, a Silicon Valley "unicorn" tech startup now estimated to be worth $7.3 billion. She has been dubbed a "tech savant" and landed on Forbes' 30 Under 30 when she was only 23. According to her website, Guo "dropped out" of Carnegie Mellon University in 2014 after receiving the two-year $100,000 Thiel Fellowship, which was endowed by billionaire tech entrepreneur/investor Peter Thiel. She later worked at Quora and was the first female product designer at Snapchat.
According to Miami-Dade property records, Guo purchased Unit 3002 — a four-bedroom, five-bath, 4,600-square-foot space — in December 2021. She is part of the outsider tech wave that descended on the Magic City following Miami Mayor Francis Suarez's petition to turn the city into the country's next tech hub.
In 2020, Suarez tweeted a video with Guo and wrote that "Young, talented minds like [Guo's] are precisely why the City of Miami is the city of the future. If you’re like Lucy and looking to move to Miami, we’re here to help. DM’s open." Guo told Agence France-Presse that Suarez convinced her Miami "is most likely to become the next startup hotspot."
After sharing the HOA letter on Twitter last week, a few partygoers responded sympathetically.
"Sorry they got mad at you :(" one wrote, posting adorable photos with the lemur, an endangered species native to Madagascar.
"Best day of my life," wrote another.
One person called Guo a "hero."
best day of my life i wish this photo could capture my heart exploding pic.twitter.com/GlVB5NByeo
— 🎁 daliakatan.sol/eth is in palm springs (@daliakatan) February 1, 2022
Others, however, were more critical.
One person asked, "Are you proud of this?" Another remarked, "You kinda sound like the asshole."
Guo commented in the thread that she "gets the rules" but "didn’t expect so many people." She said she later gave "the staff" $1,000 for their troubles. She wrote that the party was "originally a dinner party for 30-40 investors and founders and it spread quickly." She maintains that her assistant "did inform HOA of my wild animals."
"Miami gets what Miami deserves," another person wrote in the thread.
