‘It’s a nuisance’, smoke driver facing $9,600 in HOA fines despite never joining – neighbor argued it was ‘safety issue’

A HOMEOWNER has been sued for nearly $10,000 in road maintenance and selective landscaping fees by his neighbors.

His reluctance to join the subdivision saved him from paying.

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Mary and Kirk Ferentz built their rural home in Iowa City, Iowa, on a single-lane gravel road in 1999, before he accepted the head football coaching position at the University of Iowa.

That same year, John and Ann Marie Buatti, another couple who worked at the college, built their home nearby — and in 2001, two other couples built homes on the same road.

Neighbors agreed to subdivide their properties and attempted to form a homeowners association to help maintain and repair the main gravel road, retain property values, and govern landscaping.

The association was founded by the Buattis in 2015.

Gary and Becky Watts, Elayne Sexsmith and Fred Page were other neighbors who formed the association.

Kirk and Mary, however, refused to join the association, saying there were more requirements for the agreement than they were comfortable with.

In 2016, the HOA decided it was time to pave the gravel road and attempted to charge Ferentz his share of the cost, which totaled $9,600.

As he was not a member of the association, he refused to pay.

So the association took him to court in hopes that a judge would force him to pay the fee.

The HOA also hoped a judge would order Ferentz to remove the fence and landscaping, citing restricted access to the main road.

“You could see into our backyard,” he said during the 2016 trial, quoted by Iowa City Citizen Press.

“We’ve lost any sense of privacy.”

The HOA also alleged that guests at the Ferentz home regularly blocked access to the road, which they said would block access for emergency vehicles if necessary.

However, the Ferentzs added parking on the side of the property that would open the road to all traffic in 2014.

Mary said her neighbors never mentioned this being a problem.

“We didn’t know anyone was blocking the road,” she said.

What is an HOA?

One in five Americans lives in an area with a Home Owners Association – or HOA. But what exactly do they do?

• An HOA is a homeowners association – an organization that aims to maintain a clean, cohesive place for its residents to live.
• Entire neighborhoods, subdivisions, condominiums, single-family homes or townhouses within “a planned development” will often constitute an HOA.
• They also serve as a regulatory body for the tenants, who manage and finance the HOA through monthly fees.
• Its main goals are to keep the community functional and visually appealing and maintain property values.
• They focus primarily on a neighborhood’s common areas, like roads, parks, and pools — but they can also stipulate what residents can do with their property, like yards and sidewalks.
• These restrictions often impose uniformity on properties, for example, ensuring that most houses look the same and that all sidewalks are free of weeds.
• An HOA Rule Book of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&R) is distributed to all residents, and an elected volunteer board of directors enforces these regulations.
• Violating these rules can result in penalties such as fines and even litigation – as most HOAs are incorporated and subject to state law.
• HOAs are often the subject of controversy, with some members feeling that the rules are too punitive and restrictive, or that the leadership has too much power.
• But other HOAs like this give communities the power of self-government and can ensure a degree of harmony among residents.

“We would have told them not to block the road.”

His neighbors also filed a lien against the house for $1.2 million.

In 2019, Judge Chad Kepros ruled in favor of the Feretzes, saying their refusal to sign the HOA did not make them liable for the nearly $10,000 in road maintenance fees.

To the dismay of the HOA, it did not require the couple to remove the landscaping as it determined that it did not impede travel along the main road.

He also rejected the lien on his house.