Game Over at Hacienda Real HOA

The last straw came on Thursday (just coincidentally with the return of the nasty Maus household).

First, a little background:

A few years ago, there was a lovely little tangelo tree planted behind my unit. The leaves didn't look altogether right, but the fruit was tasty and plentiful. I was a board member at the time. The board president, Sue Doyle, commented that there was something wrong with the tangelo tree. I volunteered to contact the county extension service to find out what was wrong and get back to the board at the next meeting.

But that was not enough for Suzie. Did she research it herself? Oh no. Did she ask me to be quicker about finding an answer? Oh no. Instead, at a community cleanup day, she saw an opportunity to use free labor to destroy the tree. No discussion. No permission. She made an "executive decision" and simply ordered it cut down.

That tree shaded my bedroom and provided nice fruit, so I complained. The board did nothing except Dale Maus went around and slandered me to neighbors and solicited enough signatures to get me kicked off the board. I offered to replace the tree at my cost. The board refused. I took them to city mediation, where the board "conceded" and backed down all the way to letting me replace the tree they erroneously cut down. At my cost, of course. If they had a clue they would have made Sue Doyle liable for that tree in the first place. Idiots.

What the board failed, and still fails to realize is that trees add value to the community. They do not understand that being on a board gives them a fiduciary duty to maintain the property and by cutting down trees right and left without any replacement plan, they are failing that duty. If they had waited until the next board meeting as was originally intended they would have learned what I learned from the county extension office: that the tree had thrips, a non-fatal pest common to citrus, and the tree could still be there, providing shade and growing nice fruit.
There have been many more trees cut since then yet none have been planted.
Idiots.

Next, a large planter was stolen from my property.

A new hose was stolen and replaced with an older one.

Another hose was cut in half.

Hundreds of dollars of plantings have been torn out or mowed over.

A vine I planted was ordered to be removed, even though I asked for and was given permission to plant around my unit.

A tree shading a west-facing window had a large limb shading that window cut off by a "community volunteer". When I complained to HOA Board member Don Abbott he told me a woman had hit her head on the tree limb and was threatening a lawsuit. I commented that she must have been a very tall woman. He replied that she was indeed quite tall. Turns out it was a completely different tree - right next to Beverly's garage. That particular tree has since been removed. The tree which used to shade our window has continued to have even more branches cut off by these idiots, and now has had so many branches removed there is now no shade at all for that window. See photo.

Then, last Thursday, my property was trespassed. My property was vandalized. My plants were destroyed. Keep in mind that all of these are climbing plants, and they were climbing up a garage wall, helping to shade the garage. The plants that were vandalized were not interfering with access, as we walk through here everyday. Some nasty "community volunteer" maliciously cut down all the climbing plants in the middle of the garage wall for no good reason at all. These plants included climbing roses, clematis and wisteria still in bloom. As you can see in the photo, their intention was not to clear away any of the dead leaves, but merely to destroy something living, pleasant, green and flowering which covered a boring off-white wall.

The Hacienda Real HOA Board is responsible for this activity and from now on, they will be held accountable as well. If plants were blocking access, which they were not, the board would have been correct in requesting that I trim my plants. That did not happen. The HOA board bypassed that process. No notice is ever given the homeowner before these acts occur. Sneaky "community volunteers" wait until homeowners are absent before they vandalize homeowners' property, cut down trees and commit other atrocities.

Yet around the community there are not one but TWO dead trees which need to be removed. Yes, that tall tree with the brown needles next to the gate is dead.







There are walkways that cannot be walked down because hedges have not been trimmed in months.




In the tennis court area we have what looks like a fountain of weeds which has been neglected for at least as long.


One would think they would have enough to do to maintain common area problems before vandalizing private property.



1. All damages from last week's brutal attack on my personal property will be fairly remedied, either voluntarily or through litigation. This time I will not back down from this issue. Ignore this at your risk. I will take you to court. No mediation.

2. Dorothy Maus must be removed from the board. There is a troubling conflict of interest that Dorothy can control the money of this HOA and at the same time her hubbie Dale Maus is treasurer of Biltmore Lakes Neighborhood Association, an organization to which Hacienda Real HOA pay money. Sure hope these people are bonded.

3. Maureen Watrous must be replaced by a real property manager, preferably one on-site. She has a felony assault charge, and that makes her unbondable. Do you really want your dues money to be turned over to someone who cannot be bonded? What that means is she can steal our money and we wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. That is a risk I do not want to take.

4. Concrete steps and real action must be taken to eliminate selective enforcement by the Hacienda Real HOA Board. If that means the whole board is to be replaced, then so be it. It's high time there was some proper housecleaning in this HOA. Let's get rid of the corruption and the complacency.

If these things do not happen, life will go on as it always has at Hacienda Real HOA. Residents who suck up to Dorothy and Dale Maus will continue to do whatever they want, while those who do not will continue to be persecuted. An HOA which behaves in the way Hacienda Real HOA has is no HOA at all, and will be treated accordingly. So if you are on the Hacienda Real HOA board and you don't want to be personally named in a lawsuit, you'll have make some serious changes. It is high time the Hacienda Real HOA Board accepted some responsibility for its unthinking actions.