Couple Face $746 Fine for Not Watering Lawn

[Peikko 1,575]

And you think I need to lighten up? Just goes to show that trying to judge the mood of the poster is somewhat futile.

Edited July 22, 2008 by Purple_Hibiscus

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Sorry Purple Hibiscus, I just got back to this thread.

A citation means you are given a certain amount of time to correct the problem (3 days, I believe) and if you fail to correct the problem you will be fined. If you still fail to correct it, they will come in and correct it for you and send you the bill. Some items are fined right away, and some are given a citation. A weed lawn or cars parked on the street are given fines. Not mowing your lawn is given a fine.

Our HOA website is ablaze with complaints about people being cited and fined for ridiculous things. For example, a public right-of-way that was maintained by the landscape company employed by the HOA was recently deemed to fall under the responsibility of the adjacent homes - even if they are across the street. The trouble is, no one bothered to tell the home owners and they knew nothing about it until they were all fined for failing to mow the grass on the right away. That really raised a stink. Our next door neighbour had their house up for sale - they had the for sale sign and then they had the little rack sign where you can pick up information about the house. Then, the HOA Landscape Committee decided to award them the "Most Beautiful Yard of the Month' so put up their own sign announcing the award. The Violations Committee then sent then a notice fining them for having more than 2 signs up in their yard!

The really ridiculous thing is that they are nit-picking about small little things with the responsible home owners, yet the rental properties in here are going to rack and ruin - missing siding, broken garage doors, bare weedy lawns and lots of extra vehicles parked all over the road. The owners of the buildings receive the citations - often realty companies or someone trying to make a profit through real estate - and they don't bother to correct the problems. The tenants don't receive the citations and they are the ones who need to. These properties look terrible, but the responsible home owners who are maintaining their property and end up behind a week mowing their lawn or not having enough mulch around a tree - or not edging the grass along their driveway are getting cited and fined. That is what I think is really ridiculous. So do many of the residents by the conversations currently going on on the HOA website.

Edited July 22, 2008 by Kathryn41

[Peikko 1,575]

Thanks for responding Kathryn, appreciated.

Gosh, that really sucks! I can see that in your case the system is really messed up. I just wondered if this 'green' couple is really as clear cut as the article portrays or was the 'green' thing an add on just to get more news coverage?

Regardless, it is madness to keep on citing people for minor violations etc and it's not suprising that there are people getting agitated about it.

[MrsCat 6]

Kathryn its time for a coup of the HOA.

My friend at work got a $300 fine from her HOA for putting out the trash one day early (aka, the night before). Apparently, you can only put out the trash first thing in the morning before work.

I live in the hood - where cars, fridges and shopping carts are welcome on the lawn. I like that way better.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Here in NJ they fine you if you don't cut your front lawn.

Is the "cut till you see dirt" idea acceptable in joisey?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Here in NJ they fine you if you don't cut your front lawn.

Is the "cut till you see dirt" idea acceptable in joisey?

I have no idea. Sorry.

Kathryn its time for a coup of the HOA.

My friend at work got a $300 fine from her HOA for putting out the trash one day early (aka, the night before). Apparently, you can only put out the trash first thing in the morning before work.

I live in the hood - where cars, fridges and shopping carts are welcome on the lawn. I like that way better.

Yeah you can get that here too. It doesn't help that they messed up the pickup schedule. Now if you put bottles and cans in a ratty cardboard box, they'll take the contents and leave the box

[Saddle Bronc 124]

When you are cited, does it definitely mean you have to pay a fine, or are they like warnings? Just curious.

Maybe one can use the "DC parking shuffle" on them--give one refusal to pay the fine, then if the chopf##ks send any further notices bin them.