Your homeowners’ association (HOA) could be a great friend to you. It can protect your neighborhood’s appearance while safeguarding the property value of your own residence. At the same time, your HOA could be a tremendous foe by instituting unfair standards, hitting you with massive fees and even trying to get you physically kicked out of the neighborhood. At our firm, we represent homeowners in HOA disputes.

In many cases, an HOA dispute is nothing more than a misunderstanding that got blown out of proportion. However, if this misunderstanding persists, it could evolve into an all-out legal battle. In fact, it’s not unheard of for a homeowner to face lawsuits for using the wrong color paint — even the wrong shade of paint color — on the exterior of their home. Yes, homeowners have gotten sued for using “royal blue” instead of “dark blue” on their doors in some communities.

In one case from Georgia, a homeowner used paint chips collected from the outside of the residence to match the paint for a renovation project. However, the shade of paint was not on the list of approved colors, so the homeowner had to repaint the home. In another case, an Idaho family put six pink flamingos up in the front yard in order to protest the neighborhood association’s strict rules. Later, they were forced to remove the contraband items.

Not all HOA legal battles can be won. However, if you’re facing an unfair situation in your neighborhood, you might want to review your legal rights and options with the experienced real estate litigation staff at our law firm. Especially if unfair HOA standards are going to cost you and your family an egregious amount of money, it could be worth your time to discuss your problem with a qualified attorney.