A Single Mother Was Fined $150 by Her HOA. The Reason Is Garbage 

Homeowners who answer to HOAs have to follow a litany of rules and regulations. A single mother who rents a townhome in Arizona found out the hard way that every little thing matters to your association, including your trash. 

Jessica Ensley, who lives in a community in Surprise, AZ, was shocked when her HOA fined her $150 over a paper takeout bag.

Ensley explained to local news outlet KTVK that she had taken her trash out to the dumpster when she found it unemptied and overflowing. She ended up leaving a brown paper bag from her dinner, with a receipt still attached, beside the dumpster because it was already full. 

The receipt became her undoing as after the HOA board found the bag blown out into the street, it sent her a letter insisting she violated the HOA agreement and fined her $150 as a warning. 

The ordeal has been incredibly frustrating, to say the least. “Feels like a money grab,” Ensley told the outlet. “I thought it was absurd because it seemed so extreme for such a small object and a first time infraction.”

“I’m a very clean person, and I respect the rules,” Ensley said. “I’m not one to just blatantly throw trash around, so yes, it was so full that even that brown paper bag couldn’t fit into it at that time.”

Ensley’s situation is a reminder of the pitfalls of living with an HOA, and why it’s so important that homeowners read their bylaws carefully to avoid being hit with fines like these. 

HOA fees—and fines—are on the rise 

Belonging to an HOA is more commonplace than ever before for homeowners. 

In 2024, 41% of homes listed for sale on Realtor.com® had some kind of HOA fee, up from 39% the prior year, according to the yearly report from the Realtor.com economic research team.

The median HOA fee also rose 14% last year to $125 per month, up from $110 in 2023, the report found.

For many, the trade-off of paying for an HOA is peace of mind. 

"Homeowners association fees often cover benefits that you might choose to purchase anyway, and pooling resources into a larger purchase—bulk landscaping services for the neighborhood versus your individual property—can mean that the association gets a good deal because it is marking a large purchase," explains Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.

The real drawback is that being part of a community means following a set of rules that you may or may not wish to follow. They can dictate anything from exterior paint colors and home renovations to even how many pets a resident can have.

Which brings us back to Arizona. The HOA notice Ensley received states the goal of the fee is to “discourage violations and reimburse the cost of enforcement.”

Ensley says the complex’s garbage bins are emptied only twice a week and she, plus other residents, say the bins are constantly filled to capacity. Though she did not share exactly how her HOA phrased the violation, HOA regulations tend to focus a lot on maintaining a "clean" aesthetic outdoors. This can apply to cleanliness, but also to holiday decorations and even vehicle parking. 

How to fight an HOA fine

As of KTVK's reporting, Ensley had not yet been able to address her concerns directly with the HOA or dispute the charge. But for anyone looking to fight an HOA fee, working with the association directly would be the first step.

The situation could potentially be resolved amicably, and it is not uncommon for an HOA to waive the fee once it feels it has compliance from the association member. 

But if a resolution cannot be reached, your best next step is to comb through the HOA’s governing documents carefully. Did your HOA give you an adequate warning or a cure period? Is there any language pertaining to progressive enforcement? If it's skipped any required step in the process, that gives you a bit of leverage. 

With that, you could request a formal hearing and appeal, preferably in writing. Make sure to state the violation, attach any evidence like photos to support your claim, and ask that the fine be waived or reduced due to compliance. This keeps things formal, but also provides you with a paper trail. If that fails, you have the right to escalate the matter to the management company and see if it can get the fee waived.

But the one thing you absolutely should not do is ignore the fine entirely, no matter the cost. Silence helps the HOA, not you, in this matter. Unpaid fines can quickly turn into late fees, credit damage, and in worst-case scenarios, liens on your home that could fester into a foreclosure. 

In short, you need to decide whether the fine is worth fighting over. For a $150 fine, enlisting a real estate attorney might not make sense to scare your HOA into backing down.