Hey, so I’m helping out an older lady who’s being taken to court by her HOA over a branch that fell over a county road. The branch isn’t even on her property, it’s over the county road, but the HOA is saying she has to pay up for it. Has anyone dealt with something like this? What should she do? She’s really stressed out about it…
Wow, that sounds like a mess. The HOA can’t really make her pay for that if it’s on a county road, right? The county should be responsible for removing it.
Zander said:
Wow, that sounds like a mess. The HOA can’t really make her pay for that if it’s on a county road, right? The county should be responsible for removing it.
Exactly! The county is usually in charge of clearing those things. She could start by contacting them to confirm it’s their responsibility.
@Amory
Yeah, that’s what I thought too. I already had her contact the county, but they said they’d look into it. Not sure what else to do at this point.
If the HOA president is being a bully, I’d suggest having her write a formal letter back saying they need to prove she’s responsible. It can’t hurt to ask for a written explanation of the law or rule they’re citing.
@Wynter
That’s a good idea! She’s so stressed out though, I’m worried about her dealing with all this. Hopefully, they’ll back off once she stands her ground.
Does she have a lawyer yet? If not, maybe look into local legal aid. They might help for free or at a low cost. I’ve heard some law schools offer free legal clinics too.
Devin said:
Does she have a lawyer yet? If not, maybe look into local legal aid. They might help for free or at a low cost. I’ve heard some law schools offer free legal clinics too.
She doesn’t have a lawyer yet, but I’ll suggest looking into that. Thanks for the tip!
The HOA sounds like they’re just trying to pressure her into paying. She needs to keep pushing the county to take care of the branch. If the HOA keeps bothering her, she might need to get a lawyer involved.
@Clay
Yeah, exactly! I told her to keep going after the county first. But I’m not sure if she should wait for a lawyer’s letter or just handle it herself for now.
Honestly, it sounds like the HOA is out of line here. I’d recommend her writing a letter demanding they stop harassing her and then pushing the county to do their job. If the HOA doesn’t back off, then she can consider getting legal help.
@Jules
I’ll definitely have her do that. She’s just really overwhelmed by the whole situation, but hopefully, we can get this sorted out.