Georgia Senate subcommittee to probe HOA abuses

Aggressive HOA boards under scrutiny

Complaints are stacking up against many home owner associations (HOAs) in Georgia. Property owners say HOA boards have been misusing their power to file liens and lawsuits and impose unfair fines.

ATLANTA - Several homeowners sounded off Tuesday about overly aggressive Homeowner Associations.

They complained that homeowners' associations are illegally filing liens on properties, imposing thousands of dollars in frivolous fines, and having unlawfully withheld records.

Georgia's Senate Rules Subcommittee is looking to reign in these unreasonable HOAs.

Your home should be your castle, a place where you can sit back and relax after a hard day's work.

However, some homeowners tell us, it's when they come home that the gloves really come off.

Nicole Reeves and her husband moved into a five-bedroom two-story house in the Walton Hill Subdivision in the city of South Fulton.

The wife and mother say everything was fine until a new self-appointed HOA president started harassing Reeves’ family.

"Just arbitrary fines. It's kind of ‘Do what I say and not do as I do,’ and certain people are allowed certain things to do, while others face scrutiny for just any minor infraction," homeowner Nicole Reeves explained.

Reeves says her HOA has fined her for her trash can supposedly being visible from the street, although it was hard to notice, and her shutters supposedly need painting.

Reeves and many others are asking the Senate Rules subcommittee to reform overly aggressive HOAs in Georgia.

"The HOA in my Fulton County property has placed a $21,000 lien on my second house claiming that I am renting the property," homeowner Latonya Hollis complained.

"When people get in these positions of power, there are loopholes they can exploit. And they become drunk with power," homeowner David Bazone exclaimed.

Back in South Fulton, Reeves and her husband refuse to back down. She is printing a monthly newsletter to educate homeowners and refusing to pay her frivolous fines until she receives an HOA budget to see where the money is going.

"I actually had to hire an attorney out of my pocket. I'm a schoolteacher, so everybody knows what schoolteachers make, but I just thought this was important enough," the educator exclaimed.

Mrs. Reeves says in addition to frivolous fines, the HOA president even called the police on her.

She is hopeful this Senate committee will reform the industry.