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HOMEOWNERS associations are meant to maintain a community standard that is applied evenly to all residents, but one member has said that is not the case where she lives.
Margie Love of the Young Ranch Subdivision in Katy, Texas pushed back against her HOA, claiming that they were enforcing the rules differently across residents.
She made the decision to stain her fence with BEHR Premium Transparent Waterproofing Wood Finish, sharing it with her neighbor for their fence.
But in 2021, a year after the change, she claimed she received notice that the stain color was a violation according to the Young Ranch Architectural Control Committee.
The kicker is that she claims her neighbor, who had used the same stain, we never cited for their fence color change.
“It is crazy,” said Love to a local NBC news affiliate.
“There’s no explanation for it. It’s just pick and choose.”
Other fences in her association were coated with protective stains, but Love claims that she had not received an explanation as to why her stain was not allowed.
“How do they approve one but not another when it’s the exact same thing, same materials?” Love asked.
To make matters worse, Love explained that her fence is barely visible from the street, meaning it is barely impacting the community aesthetic.
When she later sought approval to change the borders and pavers surrounding her flower beds, she said she was denied.
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According to Love, her HOA justified the denial by saying she had outstanding violations to address before they would approve further projects.
“They did say that we’re in violation and we have to fix the violation, but they don’t give us a clear thing of what fixing the violation is,” complained the homeowner.
Love scheduled an appeal hearing before her HOA to address the issue before it turned into a matter for civil court.
Texas law requires HOAs to have a hearing before their entire board to present evidence and to work towards a solution for any violations.
Houston Attorney David Kahne specializes in Homeowners’ property rights and weighed in on Love’s issue.
“The association does not have the right to pick and choose who gets to choose natural tone stain. If it’s good for one neighbor, it should be good for all neighbors,” said Kahne.
He said that even if the HOA ends up levying fines, they are unlikely to hold up in court, but took moral issue with Love even having to involve the legal system.
“They shouldn’t have to go to the consumer reporter and get on TV to be treated fairly and they shouldn’t have to hire a lawyer,” said Kahne.
Margie had a simple explanation as to why she had looked for both legal and media help.
“I don’t know what else to do or where else to go,” she explained.
Love has not yet brought the matter to civil court, but it is unclear how the situation was resolved following her scheduled hearing.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Young Ranch Subdivision for comment.