$750 Fine Need your expert HELP!

Say, Kathy, did you send only a pic of a weed product? And no pic of your weed free yard?

Yu'll get sme good replies, I'm sure but none of are lawyers & so don't know your legal "rights."

Kathy,

I suspect that the issue was too many weeds in the yard.
The indication of a weed treatment was likely a suggestion on how to address the issue.

Sometimes, it requires a couple of treatments to address the issue.
Then you need to remove the dead weeds and, perhaps, add soil and seed to reestablish the grass.

As John asked, is your yard still full of weeds?

If it is, or if it now has a lot of bare spots, you need to take steps to address.

My suggestion is to ask for a hearing and politely explain the situation, the steps you have taken and are still taking to address the issue along with the desire to comply. Then ask that the fine be waived or be waived upon remedy of the situation by mm/dd.

Take Tim's advice and throw yourself at the mech of the board. If, od g f course, you have time-stamped pics of an weed-free years with grass replacing the weeds, by all means show the Board.

Whether it's legal for the board to charge you $25/day for not fixing the violation I can't say. You'd have to turn to GA law or your wine governing documents to see what the Board must do to fine you so heavily.

It seems to me, that you should have received a 2nd and third warning after, say, 10 days and 20 days or some such. But the Board may not be required to send follow-ups or reminders.

This isn't an issue over a couple years. My yard has always looked the same, and pretty well the same as all the others. I've never gotten a letter until we changed management this summer. We mow it, keep it neat and trim. We weed treat. We still have a few weeds as everyone else does, but it's not infested. So I was shocked that we received a letter in October about weeds in the lawn. My neighbors removed their yard to plant seeds that didn't take this summer, and their yard is literally all weeds and mud. They haven't gotten a single letter!! I almost feel singled out for some reason. But whatever, we wanted to be cooperative. The letter stated, to remedy the situation, please treat your lawn for weeds. We bought a weed treatment, applied it, told the Property Management Assistant, she said we were good!!! Then the next month we get a $750 fine. If that wasn't going to suffice, they should have said something when I asked what they wanted me to do! This time I have formally requested a hearing and no one is even responding!! Legally they can fine me this every month, then lien my property. Without getting a response on my hearing request, I don't know what to do. There isn't a whole lot I can do in December; the yard is brown! Thank you for all your thoughtful replies. It's ruining our family's Christmas season :-(

I attached a picture of our yard from October, if you wanted to give more advice. I'd appreciate it.

You may want to review the Associations contract with the MC.

Some contracts state that the MC keeps all or a portion of any fines. This can represent an additional revenue stream which can make an MC a little more aggressive on enforcement. However, even if there is no additional revenue stream, some MC's can be over zealous in enforcement simply to show that they are doing something.

Pictures of neighbors yards and, perhaps a shot of multiple yards showing that yours is no different or better, yet you appear to have been singled out can be helpful as well (if properly presented).

I hope you utilized e-mail vs. the phone.

With e-mail, there is additional documentation.
With a phone conversation, it becomes an I say, you say argument.

With due respect to Tim & JohnC, Kathy put everything in writing. JohnC's last remark, in fact, has nothing to do with helping YOU! But....he cant resists!

PiTA is right, Kathy! (Except fleeing an HOA--I like ours!)

Go to your next board meeting. Get as many neighbors to go with you as possible. During homeowners concerns stand up and plead your case. Make sure you say that you have not gotten a response about the requested hearing. Bring all your documentation. It's possible management has not contacted the board and is doing this on their own.I am a firm believer in the power of numbers. The more homeowners at the meeting the better.