One Florida homeowner had to do a frustrating amount of pushing to get their homeowners association to deal with an invasive species in their yard.
They posted about their experience in the r/HOA subreddit. "I posted a picture of a rapidly growing tree on a different Reddit site, and several people told me it was the invasive Brazilian pepper tree," they said. "We have 2 growing behind my home. … I contacted the HOA president, to advise her of this. She got back to me saying that her arborist told her it was a species of holly plant."
Despite the original poster sending proof of the species identification, the HOA president dragged her feet, delaying action on the plants for months and making empty promises. "I have left messages for the president as well as her assistant, but neither one of them will return my calls. I have emailed them and the emails go unanswered," said the OP.
While this seems unreasonable, it is not unusual when dealing with an HOA. The damage done by invasive species — which can crowd out native species and even damage structures in some cases — is often of less concern to these associations than enforcing rules about paint colors or preventing the installation of solar panels. It is sometimes possible for residents to change the rules, which can result in more reasonable outcomes for money-saving and eco-friendly home upgrades.
Finally, this frustrated homeowner got the authorities involved.
"I contacted my county Commissioner who referred me to the Director of Resources Protection - Department of Environmental Resources Management, who referred my situation to Code Enforcement," the OP wrote. "They in turn, called my HOA to suggest that they remove the trees before they got any bigger, since they were Brazilian Pepper Trees -aka Florida Holly. (Who knew it was known by both names??) The HOA President (apparently properly motivated) called the board and they approved immediate removal. They will be gone within the next 10 days!"
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