HOA provided the wrong color scheme

Started by XiaoW • 6 replies • 1393 views

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XiaoW (California)
Posts: 2

Posted:

HOA asked me to repaint the fascia and trim and provided the approved color scheme. And said if we use color other than approved color scheme, we need to get their approval.

So I bought the approved color from the approved shop (Vista Paint), which HOA also designated in the color scheme letter. The trim was painted and it went perfect. But the fascia color is completely different from the original color. The trouble is that the HOA no longer has document of what the color should be looking like. And nor is the color name (or number) available on Vista Paint online site. But Vista Paint gave us the color based on the name and color number provided by HOA.

Therefore I am now stuck with two cans of color that I cannot use. I couldn't even tell if it was the Vista Paint that made the mistake mixing the color or it was the HOA's fault. It is likely the HOA's fault but what can I do now? They just kept arguing that they didn't force us to use the "approved color". We already have to pay extra for the labor costs, now we are stuck with the two cans of paints too because of the HOA mistake.

What could I do now?

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814

Posted:

How much $$ are we talking about? There's always small claims court.

I don't understand your sentence "they keep telling us they didn't force us to use the approved color."
What other option did you have?

Be sure you saved all the letters, etc.

XiaoW (California)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Thanks for the response. It is only about $70 so I don't know if it is worthwhile to go to small claim court. They say we should just get a chip of the color and make the identical one at the paint shop but that is not what stated in the letter.
If we do go to the court, would the defendant by HOA or the property management company that runs the HOA office?

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

Here is the deal with the paint. Neither may be at fault. A similar issue happened to us. What happens is that the paint companies change their paint names and mixture ratio's every 7 to 10 years. If your HOA is recommending a color from 10 years ago, it may very well not exist. What should have happened is the HOA should have or needs to keep a record of the paint mix ratio's on hand. If not, then they have to vote to change to a newer color and start over for the future.

We had a paint color called "Sawyer's fence". It's an off-white color. Well the manufacturer doesn't make that named paint anymore. They may change the name later but it's basically a "retired" color. The HOA did not have a copy of the original recipe either. So what we did is took some paint samples of current similar colors and decided on the best match. That color now we have kept the ratio and sample of. This way one this doesn't happen again.

Don't feel bad. We had a guy who got a copy of the "approved" color. It was a Fuscia color. (Purple). We had 2 houses with similar paint. However, when first applied and new it was BRIGHT Fuscia and an eyesore. It does lighten up after a year or so. Luckily, the owner hated the color and changed it to another one. However, that color didn't work out. Long story short, he ended up changing his HOUSE color 3 to 4 times!!! It got quite comical for us all...

Former HOA President

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814

Posted:

They make small SAMPLES for people to use for such times. Ask your paint dealer.

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By XiaoW on 05/16/2016 1:51 PM
Thanks for the response. It is only about $70 so I don't know if it is worthwhile to go to small claim court. They say we should just get a chip of the color and make the identical one at the paint shop but that is not what stated in the letter.
If we do go to the court, would the defendant by HOA or the property management company that runs the HOA office?

Sue them both and let those idiots duel to the death in court. Before sending you the letter they had the opportunity to verify that the paint they insisted that you use was the correct color. Obviously they did not bother to do so. Yes, it's not much money but how else do you give them a wake-up call that they need to pay more attention when making demands of the members?

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814

Posted:

Sue for the costs of getting it corrected ACCORDING TO THEIR SPECIFICATIONS.

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