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We bought a house from previous owner that has zoysia grass.
HOA sent a letter last year stating we needed to RESEED with Fescue.
We did just that, it's coming in well and taking over but HOA not satisfied and sent a letter this week demanding we now RESOD in 7 days or they will start fining us. RESODDING will be expensive, quote I got was $5K.
HOA can not give explanation nor background why previous owner was allowed to have zoysia for all these years.
Is this HOA bullying practice common?
Is there a HOA board/process that I can state my case and work out a more reasonable resolution?
Are there lawyers that can fight for me?
What are my options? Is it fruitless to fight/work with the HOA?
HOA's.........when is their next meeting? Most will give you automatic extension if you ask or show up to a meeting.
The best way to deal with HOA's?? Get on the board.
Remind me never to buy property that has an active HOA. Ever.
I'm sure it says in the HOA docs that Zoysia isn't allowed, so it doesn't really matter if the previous owner was bothered about it or not. The OP I'm guessing looked at the HOA docs when they bought the house.
We don't know what type of neighborhood the OP lives in. If it's one of those cookiecutter postage stamp neighborhoods, then yeah a Zoysia lawn is going to look funny when the rest of the neighborhood has Fescue.
Yes, my next step is to ask them what the HOA process is, or some hearing I can go in front of.
Is there normally like a committee that can decide/vote? Hope they don't lie and tell me there isn't a process and I pretty much have to abide. Here's a picture of lawn after one year of reseeding. Also, worst case I can entirely tear up and reseed, just want to avoid resod since my impression is that resodding is $$$$$$, but that's what they want me to do.
Good grief Zoysia is a premium product compared to fescue. I'm seriously speechless.
FYI fescue won't spread. What you see is what you get this year.
It it were me and I was you. I would scalp the lawn and go to Lowes/HD post-haste and purchase the cheapest annual rye seed they have there. It won't look great and it won't last very long BUT it will grow almost instantly and cover your dormant grass. In the summer the zoysia will come out and look beautiful, your lawn will be the best in the neighborhood. In the fall follow through with more fescue or perennial eye.
Just a heads up. I've had minor run-ins with my HOA. What I've done is picked up the phone and talked to them. I told them what I was doing. I followed through. I would (hope) your HOA has some reasonable people in it. Tell them a plan and stick to it. I would never in a million years want to re-sod over zoysia with fescue and especially not now as it will just die in the summer.
Here's the NC planned community act, which I think may be your area. If you're into research, it's one more fun thing to read. But I also came across a short version with answers to a few quick questions when I was looking for this link. If I find it again, I'll link it too:
That said, look at the docs you got when you bought into the community. Also, check what may be separate rules. These are often online if you have misplaced yours.
Sometimes it may come down to asking for dates of communication with the previous owner and , if there were no letters sent, then asking what is the reason they are focusing on you. Nicely. Could give you more time although you'll still have to improve the grass situation.
Best work around I found for HOA's was to run for open positions. Get on the board. Nuked the tree and shrub policy, gave people more choice over their grass, allowed wooden swing sets, loosened deck requirements, allowed back yard vegi-gardens, located a much cheaper lawn maintenance company for the common areas, and reduced the dues in half by becoming self-managed and firing the management organization.
I was able to plant the trees, garden and deck I wanted.
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