An Acworth Couple’s HOA Started Fining Them $25 a Day Over the Front-Yard Troughs Where They Grow Peppers, Tomatoes and Herbs, and the Bill Neared $750

Twenty-five dollars a day has been added to the HOA bill of Alexandrea Duarte and Shawn Richardson since Sept. 28, and the reason sits in their front yard in Acworth, Georgia: troughs of peppers, tomatoes and herbs. About a week before Halloween, Atlanta News First reported, the balance was close to $750.

The couple say the garden feeds their children and that the homeowners association’s own rules never mention gardens. The board and its management company say the beds are unsightly. Neither side has moved, and a new state law that could give homeowners a way to challenge fines like these does not take effect until January.

Fines of $25 a Day Since Sept. 28

According to the Atlanta News First Investigates report by Anastassia Olmos, published Oct. 22, the couple grow peppers, tomatoes and herbs in trough gardens at the front of the house. The family says its backyard gets too little sun for a garden. The family also says it is on a tight budget, that some of the children have special dietary needs, and that the harvest becomes homemade gifts such as pepper jams and basil salts.

The trouble began in June, when the HOA’s management firm, Community Management Associates (CMA), sent a notice that read, “Please remove garden from front lawn.” The fines of $25 a day started Sept. 28. The same report found no published fine schedule in the community’s governing documents that sets a $25 daily fine.

To mark the dispute, the couple put up a Halloween banner that reads, “Here lies a garden gone for good. Fined by the day, though no schedule stood.”

Four Complaints and an Answer of “All of It”

At an appeal meeting, the HOA president said the board had received four complaints from separate people, according to the report. The CMA manager called the garden not “esthetically pleasing.” Asked what exactly was wrong, the manager answered, “All of it.”

The association’s rules do not name gardens. They do let the board act against anything it considers “obnoxious or unsightly to the eye by the board,” and they require approval for exterior additions.

Compromises the Board Turned Down

On Oct. 2, CMA emailed Duarte that all of the galvanized steel garden beds had to be removed and that daily fines would continue. Duarte offered to take out the newer beds and to paint or surround the older ones. CMA replied that fines would keep running until every bed was gone.

She then offered to paint the trellises in a color the board chose and to build a brick or rock border. The board rejected those exceptions, reasoning that no other lawn in the neighborhood was considered similarly unsightly or unkempt, the report said.

The board also asked Duarte, who had been the association’s secretary, to step away from community meetings and from that role until the violation is resolved. Atlanta News First noted that the bylaws let the board suspend voting rights after notice and a hearing, but do not say a board member can be barred from meetings over an unresolved violation. The HOA’s law firm, Lazega & Johanson, which represents the HOA and CMA, did not respond to the reporter’s questions.

A Rulebook With No Garden Rule

Front-yard garden fights are not new. A story published earlier on this site covered gardeners growing food in the front yard for more sun while their HOA threatened fines, and Chester Perry of East Ridge, Tennessee, saw his native plant garden mowed by the city after his appeal landed in a spam folder.

What sets the Acworth case apart is the paper trail the report describes: a rulebook with no garden rule, a daily fine with no published schedule, and a board that, when asked for specifics, would name none beyond “all of it.” Whether the fines hold up is a question the couple have taken to the state.

What Georgia’s New HOA Law Changes in January

The couple have filed a complaint with the Georgia Secretary of State, and they hope the state will review their case once the Georgia Property Owners’ Bill of Rights Act takes effect. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the law, Senate Bill 406, on May 12, according to WTOC, and state Sen. Matt Brass sponsored it.

The Secretary of State’s office says on its Property Owners’ Associations FAQ that the owner-rights provisions, the registration requirement, the office’s enforcement powers and the due process procedures begin Jan. 1, 2027. Associations must then register with the office each year, and an association without active registration cannot collect fines or fees, record liens or start foreclosure. The office also says it will not act on complaints until Jan. 1, 2027. After that, owners can challenge an association’s actions through administrative hearings, and the results can be appealed to Magistrate Court for claims under $15,000 or Superior Court for claims over $15,000.

A summary by the law firm Freeman Mathis & Gary, published on JD Supra, adds that a resident who says an association’s action caused damage can file a written complaint with the Secretary of State within 180 days of the conduct, and that filing a complaint pauses the association’s collection of the fines or fees at issue. News4JAX reports the same pause and the 180-day window, and notes that the losing party in a hearing pays a $100 administrative fee.

Until then, according to the Oct. 22 report, the fines of $25 a day continue until every bed is removed.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Alabama Extension – CC0/Wikimedia Commons