HOA companies have come under fire in recent weeks, with many homeowners questioning whether or not HOAs overreach. A resident of Barton Oaks Drive is in a dispute with his HOA because no one can come to an agreement on whether or not the home is gray or purple.
“Beautiful homes in different styles are in every neighborhood. How important is curb appeal and home maintenance? Pride of ownership aside, a well maintained home is money well spent,” claims painters Toronto.
Residents claim “it’s the neighborhood image,” when discussing the resident’s issue.
The resident, Dan Swann, claims that he has received fines and notices from his HOA claiming that he was never given permission to paint his home. Swann disagrees, claiming that his house is gray and that it has been the same color since 2006.
Swann claims “I think my house is gray,” but the HOA, and some residents, claim that the home is purple. Swann claims that he first started receiving notices last year and has called the Sterling Association Services office to argue his case. He has emailed, visited and called the office to fight the fines. He has even held up shades of purple against his home and sent pictures to the association to prove his home is gray.
The association fines him $100 every 15 days that his home, which has been the same color since 2006, is not repainted.
He claims that he isn’t the first person in the neighborhood to receive notices and fines. He says the problem first started two years ago when neighbors began receiving notices and fines. One neighbor, Barbara McNeill, moved into the neighborhood in 2016 and has received notices demanding that her trees be trimmed. The 78-year-old claims that she has had her trees trimmed twice since moving in, but the association won’t stop sending letters and fines to her home.
Swann questions how the association has the power to fine him every 15 days for a home that has been the same color for over a decade. He has been issued nearly $1,000 in fines and his son claims that the association is “kind of out of control.”
Experts claim that an agreement, or compromise between the homeowner and association, is often the only form of recourse.
HOAs often get a bad reputation, but some are favored by residents.
Two families in need of house painting received a welcomed surprise under the FirstService initiative. The initiative, started by FirstFamily Residential, the leading HOA management company in Arizona, issued community-wide housing painting notices.
The families, both of which live in different communities managed by the HOA, could not afford to paint their houses.
FirstService Residential worked on behalf of these families, contacting trusted vendors, and arranged for the homes to be painted. Several painters are donating their labor, while Dunn-Edwards Paints and PPG Paints have donated the paints for both projects.
“Whether for an individual resident or for the greater community, we are always driven by our core value of being genuinely helpful,” claims Lisa Hoyer, regional director of FirstService Residential.