Feeling frustrated with their homeowners association's management company, one Colorado resident went on Reddit to vent after being fined for breaking the community's strict lawn care rules.
"I received a fine while still moving in that the lawn wasn't green enough. Way to get started on a good note, eh? Apparently it needs to be nice and short to establish a new robust drought-resistant root system in the high desert of CO," the homeowner said sarcastically about the fine.
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Making the situation even more upsetting, the management company didn't have an issue with the lawn being a barren dirt patch when the owner bought the house.
The homeowner explained that the violation notice said there would be a "$10 fee assessed for processing costs," but not actually a fine.
"I hope they are making that up and I can establish a paper trail to rain legal hell on them," the infuriated homeowner said in the subreddit bashing HOAs.
However, the Reddit user said it wasn't the HOA board itself giving them a hard time, but rather the third-party management company that oversees the properties. According to the poster, the company told the homeowner the processing fee was part of an updated HOA bill recently enacted in Colorado.
But after reading the bill, they couldn't find anything about processing costs, leaving them confused and angry about the extra $10 charge.
Unfortunately, HOAs and management companies are notorious for tacking on unnecessary fees or fining residents who want to make planet-friendly changes to their properties, like planting a garden or installing solar panels. HOAs can also have pretty stringent rules on how lawns look, making it difficult for residents to make eco-friendly upgrades.
Despite many HOAs being resistant to positive changes, homeowners can still take steps to turn the odds in their favor. If you want to convince your association to modify community rules, you can get the scoop on how to get started with TCD's HOA guide.
If you can work with them to change the rules, perhaps you won't face needless lawn violations in your community. Commenters in the thread felt like the $10 charge was suspicious, to say the least.
"Sounds like they are using the law as a money grab, I would look into the financials to see how the HOA is doing?" one Reddit user said.
"IANAL [I am not a lawyer] ... but IMHO if the CCRs and the rules and regulations do not specify that you can be charged a 'fee' they can f*** right off," another user added.
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