Elderly Woman Homeless & Living As A Fugitive After Racking Up $534.98 In HOA Fines
pixs4u | Shutterstock One woman learned the hard way just how ruthless HOAs can be when she collected a few hundred dollars in fines. Now, there’s a warrant out for her arrest, and she is living on the run.
Sadly, there are too many stories of HOAs doing pretty questionable things because someone broke a relatively minor rule or fell a bit behind on their payments. HOAs have a reputation for being less than reasonable organizations. Even if you pay their dues and do your best to follow their rules, there’s still a chance that the slightest infraction could get you into some pretty big trouble.
One elderly Florida woman is afraid to return to her home because she thinks she’ll be arrested.
Adam Walser, a reporter with Tampa Bay 28, shared the story of Ying Pang, a woman who owns a home in the Northwood of Pasco County community in Wesley Chapel, Florida. The problem is, she can’t stay there. Pang bought her home in 2010, but is now on the run in another state because her HOA is seeking to have her arrested.
buritora | Shutterstock
Pang immigrated to the U.S. from China over 30 years ago, and she believes that her HOA could be targeting her because of it. Over the course of seven years, she received 100 violations from the organization, ranging from parking on the street to the paint on her house becoming discolored.
In 2023, Pang had racked up $534.98 in HOA fines. Apparently, this small amount of fines and her supposed noncompliance was enough for Northwood of Pasco Homeowners Inc. to feel the need to file a lawsuit against her. In March 2024, Pang said she would settle the case and pay the fees for the HOA’s lawyers.
Pang failed to pay the fees, and the court issued an arrest warrant, making her a fugitive.
Even though she agreed to settle, Pang did not pay the lawyer’s fees or her HOA fines and launched a countersuit against the HOA. Unfortunately, Pang did not show up for court appearances and refused to fill out an all-important “fact sheet” required by the HOA, which led a judge to rule in favor of the organization.
An arrest warrant was issued for Pang in June because she was found to be in contempt of court. Now, she doesn’t dare go back to her home.
“Sometimes I live inside the car. Sometimes I just lay down on the street,” she said. “I don’t think that if I go to the jail, I can still survive.”
Ironically, because Pang has been absent from her home, it has fallen into a state of disrepair that the HOA surely can’t be happy about. She apparently has the power to end the entire saga by just filling out that fact sheet, which would cause the warrant to be rescinded, but she’s concerned about how the HOA will use her information.
“They have absolute power,” she said. “They control everything.”
HOAs have a right to enforce their rules.
Experts like attorney and real estate agent Christa Kenin pointed out that HOAs typically stick to fines when their rules aren’t followed.
“Typically, monetary penalties are handed out so that an infringing HOA member would be charged X amount per day while in noncompliance,” she said. “Harsher penalties could include restricted access to HOA amenities such as a golf course, swimming pool, or parking area.”
Kindel Media | Pexels
HOA attorney Matt Zifrony actually revealed that HOAs cannot enforce unreasonable rules.
“That’s subjective, but there is a requirement that all rules must be reasonable in order for them to be enforced,” he noted.
While Pang’s HOA would probably argue that their actions are perfectly reasonable, as an outsider, it seems they went a bit too far in seeking legal action against a woman who owed about $500 and refused to fill out a form.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
