Florida Woman Jailed by Her Homeowner’s Association for Brown Grass

By greatbritton

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From endless meetings to random mandates about everything from the kinds of plants you can have in your yard to the color of your mailbox, dealing with homeowner’s associations can be a pain. However, one Florida woman claimed that her HOA escalated an unnecessary dispute with her, which ultimately landed her in jail.

Irena Green told ABC Action News that she received a notification from her HOA’s management company, The Trowbridge Company, about dead grass in front of her home. Although she’s tried her best to maintain her lawn, she says she’s faced challenges that were outside of her control, including a large tree in front of her property and watering restrictions imposed by the county because of a drought. She added that she’s not the only homeowner in her Creek View subdivision who doesn’t have a picture-perfect lawn.

“If you drive around my neighborhood, you’ll see there’s plenty of yards not up to par,” she said.

But the patches of brown grass were just the start. Soon, Green says, she received notices about violations of “community appearance rules,” including a dent in her garage, a dirty mailbox and a commercial cargo van in front of her property.

According to ABC Action News, the HOA asked for a mediation with Green, but when she didn’t respond, they filed a lawsuit in Hillsborough County Civil Court. A judge gave Green 30 days to fix all of the violations. Although she says she cleaned her mailbox, seeded her grass and sold her van, she missed her next court appearance and was arrested by a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy and held without bond for seven days before a judge ordered her immediate release. Green maintains she never received a notice about the follow-up court date.

Green says the incident was embarrassing, and she doesn’t understand why she was treated like a criminal over the condition of her lawn.

“I think they have way too much power. I’ve never heard of anything like this in my life,” Green told ABC Action News.

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