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Matter for Mallory: Homeowner fined $40,000 for a few inches of fence takes HOA to court - YouTube
Channel: WMAR-2 News
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well disputes between homeowners and
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their homeowner associations aren't
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uncommon but a local woman says her
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board took it a little too far
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a disagreement with her hoa ended up in
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maryland's second highest court wmar 2
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news's mallory safasday has more on that
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legal battle and how to end those feuds
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before they escalate because if it
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matters to you it's a matter for mallory
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this fight involved defense and its
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boundaries the fence cost the homeowner
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roughly 8 thousand dollars the
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litigation that followed amounted to
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more than 40 thousand dollars and as
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you'll hear it was all over a few inches
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betty hooker lives in the autumn hills
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neighborhood in waldorf this is her
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backyard and this is the fence that
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nearly cost her her home this dispute
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started like in 2017.
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that's around the time she put up the
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fence after being granted permission by
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the autumn hills homeowners association
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but in march 2018 the hoa board
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president said her fence encroached on
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the community's common area this wooded
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area behind betty's home exactly eight
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inches by his measurement a few months
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later the h-o-a sent a letter letting
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her know the board would take legal
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action if the fence isn't moved betty
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obtained an estimate and went back and
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forth with the h-a on who would pay for
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it the hoa then filed a complaint in
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circuit court in march 2019 asserting
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the fence was still encroaching and
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they're seeking a fine of 25 dollars per
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day dating back to november 2018 plus
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costs and attorneys fees at the hearing
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betty represented herself i felt like it
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was a
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it was a frivolous case and the judge
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will hear me but she lost judge danine
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carrington martin ordered the hookers to
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pay more than 22 thousand in fines and
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17 thousand in attorney's fees when i
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heard the ruling from the judge i just
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it was unbelievable i immediately got up
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and left the courtroom she then sought
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legal help to file an appeal i believe
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it was around the time when the warrant
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had been issued for the sheriff's and
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come and try to seize their house
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january of this year the court of
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special appeals heard her case instead
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of helping the appellants the hoa
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doggedly pursued litigation against them
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racking up attorney's fees and by the
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end of this case we're pursuing fines
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and fees for over a year for an
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encroachment of under one inch in one
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corner of the property so you're saying
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the whole dispute is over an inch
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yes at the end of this case the dispute
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was over an inch lesson is your honor it
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only matters that they are encroaching
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and if they are encroaching they are
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encroaching this april the court ruled
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that the hoa did not act in accordance
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with its governing document the
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declarations for the h.o.a say very
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clearly different notices that
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homeowners should get and the due
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process that they deserve before any
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further steps happen against them and
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that was not followed here so the case
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has been completely reversed and the
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hookers all of the fines are taken away
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of the attorney's fees they will owe to
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the hoa are taken away and actually they
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were awarded costs we tried speaking
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with board president william henderson
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about the decision
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he didn't answer but his attorney sent
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us this statement the hoa board in good
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faith pursued the matter to fulfill
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their duty to enforce the community
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covenants the hoa was naturally
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disappointed with the outcome of the
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appeals case however the hoa respects
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the decision of the court and is
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complying with its mandate i feel
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somewhat whole but not totally whole
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because it's like it's been a lot of
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stress we asked betty's attorney what
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could have stopped this case from
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spiraling again if they just go back to
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their governing documents there's a lot
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of due process already in those you know
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a
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six hour training session for boards you
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know know your rights leaflet to
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homeowners something that simple could
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really help a lot we've reported on
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legislative attempts throughout the
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years to require licensing and training
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for these community managers but they've
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failed jessica added that lawyers can
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help by settling the issue before it
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goes to court for wmar 2 news i'm
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mallory safasday
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all right so if you want to take out
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your phone open the camera and scan that
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qr code there on your screen that's
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going to take you to mallory's report
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and there she has more information on
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the steps that you can take if you do
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have a dispute with your hoa or condo
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association and you can see her previous
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reporting on legislative proposals to
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require licenses for community managers
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and if you have a matter for mallory she
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would like to hear from you you can
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email her at mallory wmar.com or find
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her on facebook and on twitter
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