Arizona homeowner fined by petty HOA for act of kindness during extreme heat

An Arizona man is facing hundreds of dollars in fines from his homeowners association after offering free water bottles to neighbors during the scorching desert heat.

David Martin, of Goodyear, first set up a free water bottle station outside his home in the Canyon Trails community at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic - a thoughtful gesture he and his wife hoped would inspire unity and offer relief during the blistering summer months, KPHO News first reported.

'It's really for the drivers, for the families, it's for the kids,' he told 12 News. 'It's to do something positive in a world that needs it.'

But in the five years since Martin began the gesture that endeared him to neighbors, he's also racked up several $100 fines from his homeowners association (HOA) - all for 'advertising' the free refreshments in his own driveway.

After petitions, board meetings and community votes, Martin is now preparing for a legal battle - one that he has all intentions to win.

'I stand firm on the fact that I'm not paying the fines. The cooler is not going anywhere, and I'll fight it,' Martin told 12 News.

In 2020, neighbors strolling past often paused at Martin's driveway, drawn to a cooler brimming with ice-cold water bottles - a welcome oasis against the relentless heat which regularly tops over 100 degrees in summer.

“…you can’t leave your garbage cans in the front of the house.”

And you have the have an HOA approved enclosure for your garbage cans,
(built of proper materials and painted the correct color) whether empty
or full, to hide them from view on the side or back of the house, etc., etc…

And don’t even ask what the canoe registration sticker costs per year.
And hey, you might be able to hide your unlicensed canoe under the big bushes
for a year or two, but they will eventually find it and issue you a fine.

If people want to live with such trivial absurdities that’s their problem…

“Even though it was a majority vote they still try to claim it was invalid or something.”

It wasn’t a majority vote. According to the video you asked me to listen to only 210 of the around 1000 votes living within the community and making up the HOA were cast. But don’t misunderstand what that vote was.

To have an HOA is the decision of the home owners. They are the HOA. In most cases a company is hired to maintain the wishes of the owners. They do not dictate the rules, the owners do. The maintenance company is required to follow the rules that they agreed to when they were hired by the HOA by contract. If they can’t supply the actions of their contract, then they can be fired and a new maintenance company can be hired. If you look in the phone book you most likely can find many of these companies.

So, since the water giving person is not fighting the maintenance company, then who is he fighting with and whose rule is he violating? He is violating the written contract he had to sign along with his neighbors when he moved into the community. They all had to sign it to be offered a membership in the community and getting such things as landscaping and watering, maintaining joint areas. And by signing it to move there they declared they would follow the rules to get these extras. He didn’t.

You can’t vote someone out of n HOA. You can take them to court and sue them for breach of contract. A breach of contract is not considered a crime or even a tort, and punitive damages are rarely awarded for failing to perform promised obligations. But like most of the incidents in this type of situation this appears to be a pissing contest rather than a serious law infringement. All the HOA has to do if they want to settle it is to add an addendum to the contract, for everyone, to either cease the rule of the water or go to court at which times the homeowner failing to follow the rules can get into legal problems like court costs, attorney fees and possible liens on his property. So, is it worth it? When it goes that far, it can get expensive.

wy69

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