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2 On Your Side: HOA Fines Widow For Upgrade Made 18 Years Ago - YouTube
Channel: CBS Los Angeles
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let's talk about homeowners associations
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some people love them other people not
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so much
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yeah well one Ventura County Senior says
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her HOA is going after her for something
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that was done nearly two decades ago CBS
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2 is investigated for sting Luzerne is
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here to explain this I think we've all
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probably at one point or another dealt
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with an HOA lived with an HOA or living
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with an agent and there's a lot of pros
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but there are some cons as well now the
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goal of an HOA is to keep a community
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looking nice but that does come at a
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price if you drive down this street in
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Oxnard one of the nicest homes you'll
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find belongs to retiree Francis Parnell
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she's often out front
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pruning her landscape I love my
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neighborhood I love my home so you can
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imagine her shock when she opened this
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letter from the HOA telling her that her
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home was upgraded without approval and
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she was now facing a five hundred dollar
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reoccurring fine I felt like the more I
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spoke with them or went to visit them
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that I was being bullied at issue the
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stone overlay on her front doorstep
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Francis and her husband had it installed
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when they moved in 18 years ago and had
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anybody over those 18 years said
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anything to you about it not once never
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but in the letter the HOA says the
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Parnell's didn't get the modification
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approved by the HOA nearly two decades
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ago so it has to go I want to keep it I
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love it you know everybody that comes to
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my house says I like what you've done so
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you certainly don't think it's an
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eyesore oh no Francis says the HOA told
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her that they used to drive the
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neighborhood so they didn't notice her
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stone patio and now they walk it but the
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distance between the road and the
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sidewalk is only about 10 feet and
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there's nothing obstructing their view
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in California the courts have ruled that
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HOAs must enforce violations of the CC
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NRS within five years from when the date
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of the violation was discovered or
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through the exercise of reasonable
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diligence should have been discovered
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the HOA had plenty of opportunity for
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years and years to identify
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this restriction or this violation agro
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lien is an attorney who represents
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homeowners in cases against HOAs you
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also have to keep in mind that this HOA
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board could have turned over several
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times there could have been boards that
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knew and didn't care and now there's a
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board that knows and might care the
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point is that the HOA is still one
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entity do you buy that they said they
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couldn't see it from the street don't
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see it from walking know Francis's
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next-door neighbor got the same letter
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he added tile to his patio at the same
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time she modified hers I don't know why
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after 18 years Francis says she got two
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estimates to rip out the stone each
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about twenty-five hundred dollars
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she's a widow now and lives on a fixed
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income
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I think that's outrageous for something
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to destroy something that looks so nice
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now the management company that works
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for the HOA Lord and did not return any
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of my phone calls or my emails and there
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were several but the attorney featured
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in this story is now working with
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Francis to help her fight what she sees
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as an unjust attack on her home you know
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say something and good luck to you miss
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Francis but in terms of the gentleman
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that lives next door with the son that
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has a disability disability I mean maybe
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that improvement was made to make it
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easier for his son to walk I don't know
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does that mean he made the improvement
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before his son I didn't mention that in
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the piece but the man next door has a
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son with a traumatic brain injury he's
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carrying for an adult son so these are
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people who don't have a lot of
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expendable income and you know the
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reason that they originally modified
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those French porches is they said the
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Builder who made their homes when they
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moved in 18 years ago didn't do good
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Cement work so it was kind of discolored
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and didn't look good so they were like
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well let's make an improvement it was 18
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years ago no one said anything and in
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fact Francis said her husband may have
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filed an architectural approval he's
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passed away so she can't check with them
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and the HOA can't prove that he didn't
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right and it's been 18 years so if you
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had a problem with it you should have
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noticed it 18 years ago so now she's got
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an attorney she's working with him and
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hopefully they back off because I will
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say it looks really nice I get it if she
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painted her house you know bright orange
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or something I hope it I hope it works
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out for both of them yeah thank you yes
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D Thank You Christine Kotori on your
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side help you
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email - on your side at cbs.com tell us
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about your problem or tweet us and you
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can use the hashtag - on your side
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Christina see what she can do to help
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you out
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