Appeal violation

We have received notice last yr of our committing a violation , of blowing leaves in neighbors yard, of which i knew my neighbor had setup her neighbor to get involved in by coming out while i was cleaning my yard, him telling me i should not blow leaves in their yard, of which i was not doing. The accusing neighbor sat in her car down the street watching. Did she take a video of this or a picture - of course not. So her neighbor who is on the board gets with president, and of course, i am automatically guilty. A yr goes by and dec 22, im blowing leaves in my backyard, and they complain again, i am blowing leaves through iron fencing of our connecting yards. I was not made aware of that complaint, but assumed something was up, as they have now put up bamboo fence onto iron fence. A few weeks go by and im again cleaning my yard, and the neighbor comes to what is now iron fencing with a bamboo liner, screaming at me im blowing leaves into her yard. Thats on a monday, and by friday i have a certified letter to be signed for at my door. I have appealed this and have ad ised the president of my information, and even apprised him of this last event, but by mistake sent to wrong email address. I noticed the president at my neighbors house that got involved in the setup last yr., and i received a email something to the affect - the leaves that blow into your yard are yours and that they told my neighbor to be courteous. I requested a meeting before board to appeal all. He cant accomodate a meeting till mid feb., although a meeting would take less than hr. There have never been any investigation - as ccr’s state should occur, and there is total bias happening. My neighbor seems to have a hot line to both the hoa member and the president. All allegations are false. Ive contacted hoa atty here in texas, , but cant meet till january, and was curious if any members here have gone through an appeal with their board and/or received frivolous violations.

Gene

To clarify, is the property located in Texas or Arizona?

If in Texas, based on the description of the property, your HOA is a Texas Property Code Section 209 association, correct?

If so, there should be one or more association documents which describe the process the association must follow in an out-of-compliance situation such as you describe. Are you aware of the documents and the processes? If you do not have a copy, request one from the property manager and read it thoroughly.

From your description, it sounds as if the association has dotted some I's and crossed some T's, but apparently not all.

I recommend you stop communicating via email and do so only via postal mail, preferably Certified with a return receipt requested. You refer to communications with the President, is your association self-managed? If not, communicate with the property manager and not the Board.

It may be far less expensive for you to simply say, "Sorry, it won't happen again", forego the attorney, have someone video you blowing the leaves going forward, and get on with life.

This was REALLY hard to read – please use paragraphs next time! Periods and commas, and perhaps a semicolon or two would also help.

Now then – last year you were accused of blowing leaves in your neighbor’s yard by another neighbor – while neighbor #1 was down the street watching all of this. If that was what happened, why didn’t you ask the neighbor why HE was getting involved in all this. Or go down the street to the person who reportedly encouraged him to do all of this and ask HER if there was a problem? When you got the notice, did you blow that off or go to the board with your side of the story? Perhaps all of this could have been squashed right then and there.

Leaves do have a tendency to go where they want and I know there have been conversations on this website as to the best way to address it. To wit, are there other trees around the area – if so, how does this neighbor know the stuff coming in her yard came from your tree? If she’s going to accuse you, she needs to prove that’s what happened (good luck with that).

It seems to me you’ve made a lot of assumptions about what the neighbor did since then, and perhaps it is true she’s persuaded the board president to come after you, but that’s when YOU stand up and ask for an appeal with the board. If you had witnesses to all this, they need to come with you – and then the board president, or neighbor #2 (or whoever spoke to you that day) can explain themselves.

You may think all of this is a frivolous complaint, and elements of it certainly sound like it, but this time, you need to attend the violation hearing and give your side. You can also ask questions to put the neighbor on the spot like

• Why did you ask Mr. X to talk to me – we’re next-door neighbors and the first time I heard anything about this was from him. This could have been resolved a year ago and you certainly could have said something this year
• Please tell me which days you saw me in the yard “blowing leaves” into your yard. Was I raking the leaves or using a leaf blower? Was it a windy day?
• There is X number of trees in the area – where is your proof that the leaves in your yard came from my tree?
• How many leaves are we talking about – one or two handfuls, a large trashbag’s worth, or more than that? Where’s your proof?

If she doesn’t have time and date-stamped photos of anything, point that out as well

Hopefully, the rest of the board will see this your way.

You also said there hasn’t been an investigation, which I take to mean no one came to your home to discuss any of this, but it could be someone stopped by and took photos of your yard and your neighbor’s yard or talked to other people. Listen to what’s presented and ask them questions to see if the responses make sense or if they’re also making up stuff and/or are simply biased against you.

I know you want to get this out of the way now, but Christmas will be here next week as I write this - do you really want to spend the last few days at a CCR violation hearing? I'm sure your neighbors don't (I wouldn't), so I’m not surprised there’s a delay in scheduling the hearing. That doesn’t mean this is a done deal – use the time to prepare your case and good luck! And hold off on the attorney for now - you won't need one if you win. If you lose, the punishment may influence the more practical step. Maybe you can request an alternative dispute resolution hearing where you and the board would present your side to an independent arbitrator, who'd render a decision. Usually, both sides have to agree in advance to comply with the decision and the loser has to pay the winner's expenses in bringing the hearing. It can be a great way to avoid a court hearing, which would be the next step - and I don't think you or the neighbor want to take the time and expense for that (it would be easier if the lady had the leaves picked up and sent you the bill and then you can haggle over that).

As for 2023, one way to prevent this is to monitor your trees – when there’s a good pile on the lawn, that’s when you’ll want to start picking them up. Depending on how much is shed, you may need to do this over a few weeks. You might also consider getting a leaf blower or lawn mower that can mulch the leaves into fine particles – this works as an excellent fertilizer for the grass or you can bag it for trash pickup, or even find an organization in your community that might pick it up to make compost. There are also containers you can buy to store the leaves and compost them yourself for your own garden. Imagine enraged the neighbor would get if you did this and wound up with the prettiest yard in the neighborhood (that would be fun to watch!)

Yes, texas. Yes the codes say the violation will be investigated. The initial notice was not investigated nor the second which for either i did anything, and the neighbors im certain will yet complain again, of which the board takes their side, and there begins the fines. I have no problem moving on, but i do have a problem with the boards bias.
We are not managed by property management and think this situation would not even exist if we did, as i live in a 43 home community and appears its just easier for their taking quick sides instead of reviewing unbiased. Ive lived in this neighborhood many yrs., and for a little more information on this situation, my neighbors tree overhangs my drive and home by around 15 feet and i trimmed it very lightly in the spring. Thats when their frivolous complaints began. Its a silly yet serious matter, and i do believe, the wife and husband have some mental issues. Ill move on, no doubt,.

Yes, we do have an appeal meeting in feb sometime. I have no trees in my yard. The neighbor is complaining about my blowing leaves into her yard, from her tree that overhangs my property by 15ft. Also my backyard has no trees. Its lunacy!!! We live where one yard “bleeds” into another. We have yard service provided by hoa and in addition i have my own personal yard person. Might i add, i trimmed my neighbors tree lightly this spring and they were told prior to my doing so, and thus the revenge has begun, as the hoeowner advised me he had right to use my property for his limbs and i better not cut his tree. This is a very messy oak tree that they have never trimmed in the 13 yrs ive lived here. Its special.

Gene,
So, you have added things every time you comment. If I am reading this correctly you said this is the complaining owner's trees dropping leaves on your yard.

In my mind the leaves belong to the owner of the trees. You are just moving them into the yard that has the trees.

Honestly, this sounds like a neighbor neighbor issue that the HOA shouldn't get involved with.

I would type out a lengthy letter describing the animosity between you and your neighbor starting with when you wanted to trim his tree and then he got annoyed with you, but you trimmed it anyway and now he's mad, etc.

Personally, the longer and more drawn out you can make the issue seem, the less likely the Board will want to get involved. At least, that would work with me. We don't get involved in neighbor-neighbor issues.

That is my take but of course I don't know your Board or your community.

Yes, we have made them aware of the entire situation. I have no option other than an appeal, and would have liked to keep it neighbor to neighbor, but these are very revengeful people. The cycle will never stop as i have to cut tree periodically. Its a very large oak. The majority of it, overhangs my property. I also have the aggravation of the ccr’s addressing encroachments, and the HOA not enforcing their own restrictions.