HOA fined couple $25 a day for a garden that fed their kids, and voted mom out as secretary. She hit back with a tombstone and a Halloween poem
'I also don’t want to lose one of the ways I feed my family.'
Sometimes HOAs go overboard with their rules. Acworth couple, Alexandrea Duarte and Shawn Richardson, have been fined $25 a day by their HOA since September 28, 2026. All because they had a vegetable garden in their front yard. Since then, fines have piled up to a total of $750. But that was not it, Duarte, the HOA's secretary, was asked to step down until the "violation" was resolved. Right before Halloween, Duarte decided to retaliate with an on-theme "decoration." Atlanta News First reported the story on October 23, 2026, and it reached over 4,400 views and received 22 likes, and 11 comments so far.
Self-sustaining garden
Alexandrea Duarte and Shawn Richardson received a notice from their HOA community manager in June 2026. The letter stated that they violated the community's governing documents. The HOA asked them to "remove [the] garden from [the] front lawn." Duarte's garden was in the front yard because the backyard did not receive enough sunlight. She told the news outlet that the trough gardens had been there for two years, and nobody complained. She suspected it was the cucumber trellises she added this year and removed them, but the HOA was not satisfied.
As per the rules, the HOA was allowed to remove "anything determined to be obnoxious or unsightly to the eye by the board." This included the residents' external additions to their homes. Duarte did not want to destroy the entire garden because it helped feed her children. They also used vegetables from the garden to make Christmas gifts. Duarte tried to negotiate with the board. "Anything I could do to keep my garden," she said, but the board insisted her garden was not "aesthetically pleasing." Duarte said, "I can’t afford to keep racking up fines, but I also don’t want to lose one of the ways I feed my family because three people decide they didn’t like my yard."
Poem for the HOA
On October 2, Duarte received another letter from the Community Management Associates (CMA) demanding she remove all the galvanized steel garden beds. If she refused, the fines would continue. One more time, Duarte offered a compromise that got rejected. She was asked not to attend any community meetings as long as the violation was not resolved. The HOA president refused to consider Duarte's reasons because no other lawn was "unsightly" and "unkempt" as hers. Duarte then responded with a "tombstone-styled" poem. It read, "Here lies a garden gone for good. Fined by the day, though no schedule stood. No flowering tomatoes that summer for the bees. Closed now forever. The HOA to please."
The dispute is unfolding just months before major new HOA protections take effect in Georgia. The state’s Property Owners’ Bill of Rights Act, signed in May 12, 2026, will allow homeowners to file complaints with the Secretary of State and can pause collection of disputed fines while a complaint is reviewed. Most of those provisions take effect January 1, 2027. Duarte and Richardson have already filed a complaint with the Secretary of State, hoping their case can be reviewed once the new process begins.
Controlling HOAs
Residents have mixed views about HOAs, but cases like Duarte and Richardson's are reasons people don't like them. A 2026 nationally representative survey of 3,000 U.S. residents living in community associations found that 82% said their board generally serves the community’s best interests. The same report found that 65% believed their community’s rules protect and enhance property values, while 23% said the rules made no difference. Duarte's front yard garden was not just for decoration. It was an important source of food for her family too. She said, "We don’t have a lot of money... Some of our kids have special dietary needs, and we use [the garden] to help them learn how to be self-sustaining and grow your own food."
Several netizens expressed that they would never choose a house in a neighborhood with an HOA. @Elaine-ee6fy commented, "Do not ever move into an HOA. It’ll be the worst mistake of your life." @KiraAntoinette added, "If the only option I had was to buy in an HOA, I’d rather stay a renter."
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