Southeast
'Stop the nonsense': Lawmakers in one state move to give homeowners more rights in HOA disputes
Lawmakers in Georgia are taking aim at homeowners associations after hearing horror stories from residents who have been fined, sued and threatened with foreclosure.
“It’s not just here in Georgia. It’s all over, and it’s a national problem right now,” state Sen. Donzella James told Fox News Digital. “It’s just Georgia is one that people are furious over some of the things that’s happening.”
State Sen. Donzella James, a Democrat representing Atlanta, has long pushed for limits on homeowners associations’ powers. (Left, iStock. Right, courtesy Sen. James/Facebook)
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More than 20% of the Peach State’s population lives in neighborhoods governed by community associations, according to 2021 data from the Foundation for Community Association Research. The foundation estimated HOAs collect almost $3.2 billion each year from Georgia residents.
Dues payments can cover shared facilities like gyms and pools, as well as maintenance, and HOAs can fine homeowners if they violate association covenants or fall behind on their dues.
James noted that HOAs began as a way to improve “quality of life” in communities. But homeowners across the state have complained that their associations unfairly hit them with fines, cut off their water after they fell behind on dues and even foreclosed on their homes.
“There are some predatory HOA fees and they have nothing to control them,” James, a Democrat representing Atlanta, said. “And so our biggest problems with that is that people are being … abused and losing their homes over petty things.”
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One woman told lawmakers she faced a $25,000 lien after installing a rock garden in her yard, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported late last year. A realtor said a client was threatened with $84,000 in arbitrary fines, which dropped to just $600 after they got a lawyer.
“Most people don’t have that extra $5,000 for an attorney,” the realtor testified.
This spring, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed House Bill 220 requiring community associations to notify a home or condo owner in writing of any covenant violations and give them time to fix them before pursuing legal action. That law takes effect July 1.
The Senate also passed a resolution creating a study committee to look into HOA rules and potentially pass more legislation protecting property owners. James, a Democrat, pushed the bill for two years before it finally passed, now with bipartisan support.
“We want to make sure that we just stop the nonsense, take care of the people and not put people out of their dream homes,” James said.
But other bills that would have created an ombudsman’s office to investigate HOA and homeowner disputes, as well as strip HOAs of their ability to foreclose on homes once a member owes $2,000 or more, failed to pass this year.
Tricia Quigley lost her home of nearly two decades after a prolonged battle over dues payments. Attorney fees and interest spiraled out of control, so even after she paid the original debt, she was thousands of dollars in the hole.
Her HOA foreclosed on her house and bought it for $3.24 at auction, according to an 11Alive investigation.
“I don’t even know when I’m going to be able to retire now,” Quigley told Fox News Digital. “I can’t buy another house. It just has totally changed my life.”
Georgia law allows HOAs to put a lien on a member’s home and file for foreclosure as soon as they owe $2,000. House lawmakers plan to refile a bill next year that would take foreclosure off the table. (iStock)
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Julie Howard, an Atlanta-based attorney who represents homeowner and condominium associations, said there are already “due process” requirements before HOAs can foreclose on a home.
“The governing documents are there for the benefit of everyone in the community and the owners elect the members of the board of directors that enforce … the documents that everyone agrees to abide by when they buy in the community,” Howard said.
And when people don’t abide by those rules, their HOA is entitled to levy late fees, fines and even foreclose on members’ homes under the Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act — drafted in part by one of the main Atlanta law firms that represents HOAs.
Howard said residents are usually allowed to request a hearing before their HOA board to challenge fines and that owners should be notified every step of the way.
“It’s just not possible for someone to have been foreclosed upon out of the blue under Georgia law,” she said.
James’ colleagues in the state House have already announced plans to refile their version of the bill that would bar HOAs from foreclosing on homes because of unpaid fees.
“My commitment has always been to ensure that property owners have their rights safeguarded and that we foster a fair and transparent system,” Rep. Viola Davis said in a May news release. “The end results must protect the American Dream of Homeownership.”
Davis and her two co-sponsors, all Democrats, hope to get the bill to a vote when the legislature returns to session in January.
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A 17-year-old boy who had been missing from Flint, Michigan, since May has been located after he randomly appeared on a live-streamed video Wednesday.
Troy Coleman, who was last seen leaving his house in Flint and possibly boarding a public bus in late May, spooked popular Twitch streamers FaZe Lacy and Clix when he came up to the streamers while they were recording a live video at an outdoor table at a Miami restaurant.
“Bro, are you good?” a man in the video can be heard asking Coleman, who wanders around the outdoor tables talking to people throughout the course of FaZe Lacy’s live-streamed video.
Coleman was wearing a neon-green bathing suit and did not appear to have any other belongings with him besides a sweatshirt.
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Troy Coleman, a 17-year-old Michigan boy with schizophrenia, was found safe in Miami on Thursday after he appeared in a popular Twitch streamer’s live video. (Flint Township Police Department)
Dozens of people watching the live video left real-time comments when Coleman entered the scene, calling him a “crackhead” and a drunk.
Afterward, FaZe Lacy shared an email on X from Trent Coleman, who identified himself as Coleman’s brother.
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“Hello my name is Trent [C]oleman and my missing little brother from [M]ichigan was on Clix and [L]acy’s stream in Miami, he was wearing green shorts and they were making fun of him, he is not on drugs he is scizhophrenic and 17 years old if someone can contact me about this [I] would be so thankful he has been missing for 3 months and this case was put on homicide in [M]icigan,” the email states.
FaZe Lacy noted in a post on X that he “wasn’t sure” whether he should make the email public but was “hoping somehow this helps [Coleman] be found for his family.”
The streamer said in another post that Coleman had mentioned the hotel where he was staying on the live recording.
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“We got into contact with his brother and told him what hotel he said he was staying at on stream. He has been found and placed in a holding cell in Miami until he gets transferred back to Michigan with his family,” FaZe Lacy wrotebo on X. “The power of the internet is insane thank you guys.”
On Thursday, the Flint Township Police Department announced that Coleman had been “found safe in Miami,” adding that Michigan police were working with Miami authorities “to arrange his safe return to Michigan to be with his family.”
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Four people and one suspect are dead after a shooting in Kentucky early Saturday, the Florence Police Department says.
The shooting took place at around 2:50 a.m. at a home on Ridgecrest Drive, located in the city of Florence, in northern Kentucky, Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery said at a press briefing Saturday.
A 21st birthday party was taking place at a residence there which suddenly turned deadly, Mallery said.
Police were called to the scene after receiving calls about an active shooter and when they arrived they still heard shots being fired, he said.
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Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery speaking at a press briefing Saturday (WKRC )
They found at least four people dead at the scene and others injured.
The suspect, identified by Mallery as 20-year-old Chase Garvey, fled the scene southbound in a vehicle, sparking a police chase, but it crashed into a ditch on Dale Heimbrock Way near Hicks Pike after Garvey shot himself.
He was found by police with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The four deceased victims were all adults and named as Delaney Eary, 19, Hayden Rybicki, 20, Melissa Parrett, 44, and Shane Miller, 20.
The party was being held at Parrett’s home for her 21-year-old child, according to the chief.
Garvey was not invited to the party, but did know those celebrating, a visibly shaken Chief Mallery explained.
“We’ve never dealt with this before and now it’s going on through the nation, but this is the first time we’ve had a mass shooting in Florence, so yeah, it’s very emotional.”
“We train on this, hoping it would never happen, but unfortunately, we’ve been touched like so many departments and cities,” Mallery said.
A motive for the shooting is unclear.
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The other three victims were transported to a local hospital and currently listed as critical but stable, Mallery said. He said they are expected to make a full recovery.
Florence Police Department tells Fox 19 that there is currently no threat to the public.
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Ridgecrest Drive is about 15 miles southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio.
A Google Earth image of Ridgecrest Drive, Florence, Kentucky, where the shooting took place. (Google Earth)
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New Orleans police believe a teenage girl may be a victim of human trafficking after she vanished from a group trip to a downtown museum.
Kristhal Chinchilla-Canizales, 14, was in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) on May 22 when they took a group trip to a museum in New Orleans’ Central Business District, New Orleans police told Fox News Digital.
Chinchilla-Canizales “left the group” at some point and has not been seen since, police said.
Investigators are concerned that the 14-year-old girl may be a trafficking victim, but police could not say what exactly led authorities to make this determination.
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Kristhal Chinchilla-Canizales, 14, was in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) on May 22 when they took a group trip to a museum in New Orleans’ Central Business District, (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
Little information is available at this time due to Chinchilla-Canizales’ age.
She was last seen wearing a black Harley-Davidson pullover and a blue yoga-style jumpsuit. She is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs about 135 lbs, police said.
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Kristhal Chinchilla-Canizales was last seen wearing a black Harley-Davidson pullover and a blue yoga-style jumpsuit. She is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs about 135 lbs, police said. (NOPD)
Authorities are asking anyone with information about Kristhal Chinchilla-Canizales to call the NOPD Special Investigations Division at 504-658-5267. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
Authorities are asking anyone with information about Chinchilla-Canizales to call the NOPD Special Investigations Division at 504-658-5267.
DCFS did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.
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