And now for the latest chapter in homeowner’s association versus homeowner drama, we present this story from Missouri.
A Lee’s Summit family is being threatened with jail time over a playground they put up in their backyard, with the family’s neighborhood HOA objecting loudly to the color of the playground.
According to a report from Kansas City’s KMBC, the Stout family built a playground in their backyard last year. The family’s children wanted the playground to be painted pink, but they settled on purple after negotiating with their parents.
And their HOA was none too pleased about the Stout’s color choice.
From the KMBC report:
The Raintree Lake Neighborhood Homeowner’s Association wasn’t happy about the compromise.
“We got a notice that we were being fined by the HOA," Stout said.
That was last year. The family fought it and won, but the dispute wasn’t over yet. The family received more letters outlining more serious consequences.
“(The letters said) that if we didn’t remove the swing set from the subdivision in a couple of weeks, we go to jail,” Stout said.
The Stound family apparently went to each of their neighbors to ask if they had a problem with the purple playground. None of them did and they each signed a petition declaring as much, but the HOA said that wasn’t enough.
Again from KMBC:
“I’m really perturbed that they would waste money pursuing something like this,” Dillen Steeby (who lives next door) said. “Money on court costs and lawyer’s fees to attack really good people like this and go after a swing set.”
