One homeowner suspected retaliation from their homeowners association when they suddenly received a notice of violation years after creating a beautiful display of flowers on their balcony.
They posted seeking guidance in r/legaladvice. "HOA bullying me," they explained. "In the past three years, I have never been cited or warned by my HOA about the flowers, but all of a sudden received a notice."
According to the original poster, they did their due diligence. "I have very well-manicured and well cared for flowers on my balcony that cascade through the balcony railing, similar to the way many people in Europe beautify the exterior of their buildings," they explained. "Before planting these flowers three years ago, I carefully checked my HOA's CC&Rs to ensure they would not be in violation."
However, the HOA argued that the flowers were against the rules — except the original poster is baffled by their interpretation. They quoted the specific rule the HOA accused them of breaking, which was called out in their notice: "'Residential Common Area. Except as otherwise required by law, no sign, poster, banner, flag, notice, nameplate, card or advertisement of any kind shall be installed, posted or displayed to the public view in or on any Residential Common Area, without the approval of the Board.'"
Obviously, flowers aren't signs or banners of any kind. "I think it is absolutely absurd that the Board could legally consider my flowers to fall under any of the things mentioned in the section above," said the original poster.
But they suspected there was a motive behind the notice. "I also believe this to be retaliation by one of the board members who recently decided she doesn't like me because I asked her if I could unplug her car from the EV charger to plug mine in since her car was already done charging," they said.
Unfortunately, HOAs often come down against gardens and other eco-friendly yard improvements. Despite how gardens beautify the space, bring joy to residents, and support pollinators, HOAs can be very strict about anything that alters the appearance of the neighborhood.
Commenters thought the original poster had avenues to push back, however.
"If your flowers have been unchanged for three years, and two weeks ago you got into a spat with a board member, and now the board is claiming your flowers are an impermissible banner or flag, then I think that is worth mentioning," said one user. "I also think you should ask them [to] clarify if they [are] claiming the flowers are a sign, a poster, a banner, a flag, a notice, a nameplate, a card, or an advertisement."
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Should homeowners associations be able to determine what you grow in your garden?
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Yes 💯 If you're up against a strict HOA, you can sometimes improve the neighborhood for everyone by changing the bylaws.
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