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HOA complaint about brown grass led to Florida woman being arrested and jailed for 7 days

Carlos Garcia

4–5 minutes

A Florida woman says she was arrested and jailed for seven days over HOA complaints that began with brown grass in her front yard.

Irena Green said the harrowing journey began when an HOA management company sent her a complaint about the grass in front of her home in Riverview, which is near Tampa.

'There was no bond. So I couldn't even go home to my family. I sat in there for seven days.'

Green told WFTS-TV that the HOA told her to reseed her lawn or install sod to respond to the violation, but she said the problem was partly caused by shade from a large tree as well as watering restrictions in the city from drought conditions.

"If you drive around my neighborhood, you'll see there's plenty of yards not up to par," Green said.

The HOA then hit her with other minor violations, including a small dent in her garage, a dirty mailbox, and having a commercial cargo van. WFTS noted that other residents had similar vans.

Green failed to respond to a request for mediation, so the HOA company filed a lawsuit against her. When she appeared in court, her handwritten response was rejected by the judge as well as the HOA company. Green said she was given instructions on how to fix the complaints.

"My grass had to be brung up to par. He said you can get seed, you can do something, but you've got 30 days to get it corrected. So I said fine. He said, 'If it's not done in 30 days, you're gonna go to jail,'" Green said.

She said she sold the van, cleaned up the mailbox, and bought grass seed and watered the lawn to comply.

However, she failed to show up in court for the next hearing in August. She said she did not receive a notice about the hearing and had tried to get information about it.

“I was supposed to receive documentation. Nothing was sent to my home. And I reached out to the courthouse several times to try to find out when was my court date,” she explained.

Because she failed to show up, the judge held her in contempt of court and issued a warrant for her arrest. She was pulled over in late May by an officer as she was driving her daughter to a cheerleader practice. That's when she found out about the warrant for her arrest.

She was arrested and placed in jail. Then she got even worse news.

"There was no bond. So I couldn't even go home to my family. I sat in there for seven days. Seven days in the jailhouse like a criminal," she said.

The warrant for her arrest was made at the request of Francis Friscia, an attorney for the HOA.

RELATED: Entire HOA board resigns after outrage over vote ordering each homeowner pay $60K assessment in Florida

Green says a paralegal relative asked for an emergency hearing to request her release and provided pictures of the lawn. She said she was shackled from head to feet during the hearing. The attorney for the HOA opposed her release because they wanted the entire lawn resodded.

Instead, she was released the next day.

Video of the WFTS interview with Green can be viewed on the news report on their YouTube channel.

The attorney released a lengthy statement that said in part that Green was at fault for not responding to legal requests.

"Ms. Green received notices of violations. She disregarded them. Legal action was filed by the association after she failed to accept the offer to mediate the matter, pre-suit, as is required before a lawsuit can be filed," he said in part.

Green says she was humiliated over very minor issues and thinks HOAs have too much power.

"It makes me feel horrible. I work hard to buy this home for me and my kids in a better neighborhood and environment, and to be taken to jail and to be treated like that for brown grass at my own home ... that's horrible," she said.

"thinks HOAs have too much power"

Exactly where is this Gestapo HOA located?

Exactly where is this Gestapo HOA located?

I picked up on the irony that Plenty did. Green lawn request and her last name was Green.

The HOA did NOT have her arrested. She was not arrested for having a brown lawn, for having a commercial van, for having a dented garage. She was arrested for contempt of court, for not appearing at a court hearing.

Why she did not know of the court hearing, I do not know. But if her handwritten pleading was rejected by the court, and if she failed to file a corrected pleading, maybe the Court did not have her address to give her notice of the hearing. She needed an attorney.

The judge in my area asks about current address every single time he speaks to someone.

He also gives a card or paper for the follow up hearing if needed.

Locally, official process service (delivering court summons) by the sheriff is to roll it up and squeeze it between the doorknob and jamb. No tape. Served.

Ok if it falls to the ground and blows away.

"Failure to appear" is arrestable.

I DO think an arrest warrant, SEVEN days in jail for ANYONE, chains...is too much.

That atty and judge should be ashamed.