HOMEOWNERS in Colorado have pushed back against their HOA by refusing to pay excessive fees to receive notices about potential fines.

Residents of the Moline Street Condominium in Denver were shocked when they realized that their homeowners’ association had begun charging them $35 to send them certified letters notifying them of potential fines for HOA rule violations, according to a report by CBS News.

“One weed and they charged me $35 just to send me the letter!” complained Jacinta Lobato, a 3-year homeowner in the income-controlled community.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous. Nobody should have to pay $35 to receive a letter,” said Lobato.

And that was not the worst of it.

When Lobato missed a payment, the company charged her $75 to receive a certified letter notifying her that she was behind on payments.

The HOA company, RowCal, already charged each resident $105 per month in management fees.

The fees come after new state legislation passed last year that was intended to strengthen management companies’ communication with their clients.

The HOA Accountability and Transparency Act requires HOAs to notify residents of various issues via certified mail and other means but does not specify who should pay for those certified letters.

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State House representative Naquetta Ricks, who helped sponsor the law, said that the assumption was that mailing costs would be picked up by HOAs from the dues already paid by residents.

“The HOA dues they pay on a monthly basis should cover those letters,” Ricks told CBS News.

The requirement was not supposed to increase profits for management companies, she said.

“That’s not the intent of the bill,” said Ricks. “This should not be happening.”

CBS News sent RowCal a request for comments by certified mail to compare the costs — for only $5.01.

After several residents of the Moline Street Condominium community refused to pay the notification fees, RowCal quit managing their property.

Their new HOA has promised not to charge additional fees for certified mailings, said Marni Schear, another condo owner.

But the experience was not all bad, she said.

“I’ve learned a community can be strong and come together and push back,” said Schear.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to RowCal for further comment.