Call The Police!

Have you ever felt as though someone is watching every step you make? That you are trying to live up to the expectations of so many other people? People who are obviously out to get you?

Today we received a violation letter in the mail from our HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION. Attached to this letter was a picture of our house. Can you tell what we were in violation of??



Okay, well maybe it is a little obvious from the picture but to us it was just hilarious! The letter stated:

This condition is not in compliance with the CC& R 4.12 Rubbish and Trash.

So now we have a CONDITION on our hands?? Apparently we only have 12 hours from the time of pick up to put our trash cans away. The garbage man comes at about 7am so we only have until 7pm to get the cans put back? What if we were on a weekend getaway or something? Do we get fined?

Upon further investigation on my part, the Northwest Community Management Co. states in a subsection of their FAQs:

4. What are violations?
Violations are essentially non-compliance with the governing documents. They might include architectural violations like having a basketball hoop affixed over the garage or painting your house electric blue with magenta trim. Or, they could be violations like leaving your trash can out, parking vehicles in unapproved places, or leaving your holiday decorations up too long. Your documents will detail what you may or may not do with regard to each of these situations, as well as many others. And in the case of any changes to your home (like the paint example), you must have prior approval before beginning any work; otherwise, the association may require that you reverse the change at your own expense.

Northwest Community Management will send you a friendly reminder about any violations they note when observing your neighborhood periodically and give instructions for when it must be corrected. If the violation continues, a penalty process may begin, so it's important to address the situation promptly.

So does this mean that the lady up the street who leaves a blue light glowing in her window long after Christmas is in VIOLATION as well?

What makes this situation even funnier is that the letter was dated on July 9th and we had already taken in our can the day before this. We were only in violation for 2 days.