Complaint from HOA

[observer53]

HOAs don't maintain YOUR yard. They maintain the landscaping in the common areas in the neighborhood that are not in anyone's individual yard. (areas outside back yard walls, along the street, neighborhood entrances, pool/tennis court areas (for those that have such areas)

[aiwei]

I would suggest if you know who is on the board of directors of your HOA, ask him/her to come and take a look at your yard, just so you have a witness. Then call your management company to straighten this out. You could always say if they need to verify, please contact so-and-so board member because he/she came and saw the yard.

[moxiefrog99]

I had this same thing happen to me. I called the HOA and let them know that they had made a mistake. (do this ASAP, otherwise the clock is ticking on fines, etc) and then mailed them pics of the yard (otherwise it's your word against theirs) and it was dropped. There wasn't really anyone near me that had weeds, so I'm not sure what the deal was, but definitely make sure you call them and let them know that you are disputing the letter, otherwise silence is acceptance in their eyes.

[MaxPower123]

Originally Posted by thegirlinaz

We got a letter in the mail from our HOA saying that we have "weeds in landscape gravel, please remove weeds from landscape". The thing is, we don't have ANY weeds in our front or backyard. We do yardwork constantly and I spray for weeds once a week, I love having a nice looking yard!

How can we get a complaint about something that isn't true? Plus, we have lots of neighbors that have TONS of weeds.. why would they choose us when we don't have any?

Anyways, I am very upset now. I am going to call their office monday, but will they erase their complaint in their records.. or should I set up a board meeting and fight it? Or should I just let it go? I am just wondering how easy or difficult will it be to prove that they are making things up..

It just doesn't make sense..

You probably look like an easy target. Don't give them the money they want otherwise they'll never leave you alone. Fight back and they'll move on to their next victim.

[kelsie]

I would definitely take pictures and make sure you have today's date on the picture. Good luck and stay calm.

Not to upset you more then you are but, "anyways" is not a word the correct grammar is "anyway".

[thegirlinaz]

This was our first letter of any kind so there was no fee.

I called them this morning and the lady was really nice and took the notice off our account. She just said that they must have made a mistake. That was easier than I thought, I am glad they weren't trying to fight me about it.

Thanks everyone for your responses, it looks like I don't need to get all crazy about it now

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by thegirlinaz

This was our first letter of any kind so there was no fee.

I called them this morning and the lady was really nice and took the notice off our account. She just said that they must have made a mistake. That was easier than I thought, I am glad they weren't trying to fight me about it.

Thanks everyone for your responses, it looks like I don't need to get all crazy about it now

Great news, TheGirl . . .

by the way, "Getting All Crazy" rarely helps anyway!

! ! ! !

[observer53]

Originally Posted by thegirlinaz

This was our first letter of any kind so there was no fee.

I called them this morning and the lady was really nice and took the notice off our account. She just said that they must have made a mistake. That was easier than I thought, I am glad they weren't trying to fight me about it.

Thanks everyone for your responses, it looks like I don't need to get all crazy about it now

Glad it worked out. . . as far as the "getting all crazy", look at it this way. You raised your heart rate for a while without even going to the gym. Free aerobic exercise!

[cactus-1]

I would definitely ask for an explanation! BUT dont stress about it. It isnt like their records are important anyway.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by thegirlinaz

This was our first letter of any kind so there was no fee.

I called them this morning and the lady was really nice and took the notice off our account. She just said that they must have made a mistake. That was easier than I thought, I am glad they weren't trying to fight me about it.

Thanks everyone for your responses, it looks like I don't need to get all crazy about it now

You did the right thing. The person who does the inspections has a very tough job because moste people who get the "friendly notice", which is the first letter, gets upset.

Just consider that the inspector is doing his/her job of enforcing the cc&r's in order to keey your community neat. If you really had weeds in your yard (obviously you didn't) the way to handle it would be to call and thank the person for sending you the reminder, and let them know that the weeds have been taken care of.

In your case, it was a mistaken address, so a friendly phone call, acknowledging the letter and letting them know it was an error, worked very well.

I'm on the board of directors of our HOA and I've gotten violation letters. Everyone is treated equally here. A couple of the other board members have also gotten letters.

Usually it's my knee wall (block wall) on the water front. The water seeps through the soil into and through the blocks and the moisture on the opposite side (visible from the lake) peels the paint away. I usually have to paint it once a year. Sometimes I forget and when the inspector goes down the lake she sees my peeling paint and sends me a letter.

I call and thank her for the reminder and let her know I'm taking care of it. It's as simple as that.