01-25-2017, 09:35 AM
1-24-2017
Man spends $33,000 to beat HOA over $500 Mailbox
In a community of million-dollar homes, a fight over a $500 mailbox ends in court
The $35 wooden mailbox Keith Strong bought in 2009 seemed charming and functional for the home he shared with his wife in a posh golf community in the suburbs of Washington. It was a newer version of the mailbox the homeowners association previously approved and had sat at the end of their driveway since the couple moved to their Bowie-area home four years earlier.
But no more than two months after Strong installed his new mailbox, he received an order to dump it — for a $500 mailbox upgrade.
The board of the homeowners association voted to require all residents in the Woodmore golf community to buy metal mailboxes, monogrammed with the letter “W” and mounted on a decorative post.
The $500 mailbox mandate angered Strong and others in the community, launching him into a seven-year fight that finally ended this month when a Prince George’s County judge signed, sealed and delivered a ruling that the board of the Pleasant Prospect Home Owners’ Association overstepped its bounds with its postal pronouncements.
It’s a victory that cost Strong $33,000 in legal fees — roughly the price of 66 of the new bronze-colored mailboxes.
But the battle was worth the expense, according to the solar physicist who works with NASA.
“It wasn’t just about a mailbox,” Strong said. “The issue really here is property rights. If they were granted this power, where does this stop? It also opens up the whole community to other possible abuses of that power.”
Strong and his wife, Yvonne, who had just had solar panels installed on the roof of their home, worried that if the association went after the mailbox, the solar panels could be next— improvements that cost thousands of dollars.
Ruth Wright, a real estate agent who fought the new mailbox rules, also filed a lawsuit against the board. She said she was certain the association didn’t have the right to tell her to pay for the new mailbox, but she eventually relented, fearing the $100 monthly fine would mount and blemish her financial record.
Strong kept his wooden mailbox, argued at community meetings that the board did not have the authority to enact the change and began racking up fines for being out of compliance.
The homeowners association offered to buy his mailbox and waive a portion of the fines. Meanwhile, Strong wanted to take the fight to a mediator in the Maryland attorney general’s office.
After years of back and forth, the case wound up in court, with a three-day trial before Green in May and his decision months later.
Man spends $33,000 to beat HOA over $500 Mailbox
In a community of million-dollar homes, a fight over a $500 mailbox ends in court
The $35 wooden mailbox Keith Strong bought in 2009 seemed charming and functional for the home he shared with his wife in a posh golf community in the suburbs of Washington. It was a newer version of the mailbox the homeowners association previously approved and had sat at the end of their driveway since the couple moved to their Bowie-area home four years earlier.
But no more than two months after Strong installed his new mailbox, he received an order to dump it — for a $500 mailbox upgrade.
The board of the homeowners association voted to require all residents in the Woodmore golf community to buy metal mailboxes, monogrammed with the letter “W” and mounted on a decorative post.
The $500 mailbox mandate angered Strong and others in the community, launching him into a seven-year fight that finally ended this month when a Prince George’s County judge signed, sealed and delivered a ruling that the board of the Pleasant Prospect Home Owners’ Association overstepped its bounds with its postal pronouncements.
It’s a victory that cost Strong $33,000 in legal fees — roughly the price of 66 of the new bronze-colored mailboxes.
But the battle was worth the expense, according to the solar physicist who works with NASA.
“It wasn’t just about a mailbox,” Strong said. “The issue really here is property rights. If they were granted this power, where does this stop? It also opens up the whole community to other possible abuses of that power.”
Strong and his wife, Yvonne, who had just had solar panels installed on the roof of their home, worried that if the association went after the mailbox, the solar panels could be next— improvements that cost thousands of dollars.
Ruth Wright, a real estate agent who fought the new mailbox rules, also filed a lawsuit against the board. She said she was certain the association didn’t have the right to tell her to pay for the new mailbox, but she eventually relented, fearing the $100 monthly fine would mount and blemish her financial record.
Strong kept his wooden mailbox, argued at community meetings that the board did not have the authority to enact the change and began racking up fines for being out of compliance.
The homeowners association offered to buy his mailbox and waive a portion of the fines. Meanwhile, Strong wanted to take the fight to a mediator in the Maryland attorney general’s office.
After years of back and forth, the case wound up in court, with a three-day trial before Green in May and his decision months later.