HOA threatens $250 daily fines for Facebook criticism, Arizona residents say
Sharing unfiltered thoughts over Facebook is getting expensive in this Arizona community.
Residents at the Val Vista Lakes in Gilbert say their Homeowners Association (HOA) sent letters threatening to fine them over disparaging social media posts about HOA board members — with a lawyer writing in the warning notice that they will owe $250 for each day the posts remain up, as well as facing “a suspension of facility privileges,” FOX 10 Phoenix reports.
“They’ve utilized our money to hire the lawyer, to draft these letters to send out to members of the community,” resident Ashley Nardecchia told the TV station.
According to the Arizona Republic, the letter that one former board member received, which was sent in January, reads: “The comments you have posted specifically defame and negatively impact others in the community. The Association demands that you cease posting any disparaging, speculative, or defaming comments that negatively impact specific individuals in the Association or on the Board.”
Nardeccia is one of the administrators for a community Facebook page where the allegedly “disparaging” posts appeared, 12 News reports.
The letter “said I had 10 days to remove the disparaging, negative comments towards the board members,” she told 12 News.
Nardeccia says “about 11 residents received letters for their posts and comments,” the Republic reported.
Joe Nardecchia told FOX 10 that the HOA’s leaders “also know that they have a lot more money, and can spend a lot more on lawyers than residents in the community, so they’re just trying to bully people. It’s just a move to push people around and get people to stop talking if they want them to stop talking, and it’s meant to scare the community and it has.”
But what started the social media controversy in the first place?
Ashley Nardeccia told ABC 15 it was Facebook comments around the time of an HOA board election.
“It was disagreements about how certain members of the board run the board, where they’re spending our money, things of that nature,” she said, according to ABC 15.
ABC 15 reported that “following elections, the board proposed a social media policy restricting opinions about the board on Facebook. It was vehemently opposed by the community and quickly tabled. Then a letter from a law office representing the board showed up at Nardecchia’s home.”
Another resident agreed with Nardeccia that the HOA went too far.
“Clearly it’s an overreach by the board,” Keith Faber, a former board member who’s lived in the community for a decade and also received the letter, told ABC 15. “It’s improper and they need to address [it], and maybe there should be some resignations.”
Faber also said the comments that apparently triggered the letters weren’t all that negative.
“Compared to what you see on the national level, it was pretty moderate,” Faber said, according to the Republic.
So what does the board have to say for itself?
ABC15 reported that reporters with the TV station “spoke to a board member over the phone who said he would speak with others on the board and get back to us with a statement or comment regarding our story. They never called us back.”
Daniel Francom, the attorney from Goodman Holmgren Law Group who signed the HOA letters, also declined to comment, according to the Republic.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 4:07 PM with the headline "HOA threatens $250 daily fines for Facebook criticism, Arizona residents say."
