One Florida woman was blindsided by what happened when the HOA came after her brown grass

A hardworking mother just wanted to provide a better life for her children.

She never imagined her American dream would turn into a nightmare.

And one Florida woman was blindsided by what happened when the HOA came after her brown grass.

Irena Green’s grass nightmare spiraled out of control fast

Irena Green thought she was doing the right thing when she bought her home in the Creek View subdivision in Riverview, Florida.

Like millions of Americans, she wanted to provide a safe, clean neighborhood for her children to grow up in.

But Green discovered that homeowners association rules can turn homeownership into a prison sentence – literally.

Her ordeal began with something as simple as brown patches in her front yard.¹

Green blamed the drought conditions and mandatory watering restrictions that plagued Florida last year for the condition of her grass.

A large tree near her sidewalk also created shade that prevented proper grass growth.

“If you drive around my neighborhood, you’ll see there’s plenty of yards not up to par,” Green told local media.²

But somehow, Green became the target while other homeowners with similar lawn issues were left alone.

The Trowbridge Company, Inc., which managed the HOA, started sending violation notices.

First it was the brown grass.

Then they found a small dent in her garage door that was barely visible from the street.

Next came a citation for mildew on her mailbox – caused by moisture from that same tree creating the grass problems.

The final straw was when they cited her for having a commercial cargo van in her driveway.

The ironic part? Other residents had similar vans parked in the neighborhood with no consequences.

Green tried to comply but the system was rigged against her

When the HOA filed a lawsuit against Green in Hillsborough County Civil Court, she tried to represent herself.

Green prepared a handwritten response to the lawsuit explaining each violation and providing photos as evidence.

The judge and the HOA rejected her handwritten response outright.

During a hearing last July, the judge gave Green an ultimatum that should shock every American homeowner.

“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 recalled.³

Green took the judge’s threat seriously and got to work immediately.

She sold the cargo van to comply with the HOA’s demands.

She cleaned the mildew off her mailbox.

She bought grass seed and watered her lawn religiously.

“I sold my van to comply. My mailbox was cleaned to comply. I bought seeds and watered my grass to comply,” Green explained.⁴

But the system was stacked against her from the beginning.

Green missed her next court date in August because she claimed she never received official notice of the hearing.

She even contacted the courthouse multiple times trying to track down her court date.

“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,” Green said.⁵

The judge didn’t care about her explanation.

At the request of HOA attorney Francis Friscia, the judge held Green in contempt of court and issued a warrant for her arrest.

Green spent seven days in jail like a hardened criminal

Green’s nightmare reached its peak on May 23 when she was picking up her 15-year-old daughter from cheerleading practice.

A Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy pulled her over for what seemed like a routine traffic stop.

“He asked me can I get out. When I got out he said ‘Ms. Green, did you know that you have a warrant for your arrest?’” Green remembered.⁶

She was handcuffed in front of her teenage daughter and taken to the Orient Road Jail.

At the jail, Green received devastating news that would separate her from her family for a week.

“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,” Green said.⁷

The suburban mother was fingerprinted and had her mugshot taken like a violent felon.

She had to navigate interactions with hardened criminals while wearing a jail uniform.

One inmate asked Green what she was in for, and when Green explained it was about her grass, the woman assumed she meant marijuana.

“One girl, she kind of came over and asked me like ‘Hey, what are you in here for?’ And I told her it was for my grass. And she’s like ‘Oh grass, they should make that stuff legal’. She’s thinking that I’m talking about weed and I’m talking about my front yard grass,” Green recounted.⁸

Green’s sister-in-law, who works as a paralegal, filed an emergency petition six days into Green’s incarceration requesting an immediate hearing.

When Green appeared in court, she was shackled from head to toe and was the only person in civil court wearing a jail uniform.

Even at the hearing, the HOA’s attorney opposed Green’s release because they wanted her entire lawn resodded.

A different judge than the one who issued the warrant reviewed photos of Green’s yard and ordered her immediate release.

Green was finally freed after seven days behind bars.

Legal experts say HOA abuse is becoming the norm

Bruce Ailion, a real estate agent and attorney, says extreme HOA disputes have become commonplace across the country.

“The last several years have seen significant abuses. It seems like almost every day, I am contacted by someone with a very serious situation with their HOA,” Ailion explained.⁹

Part of the problem stems from consolidation in the property management industry.

As larger companies have taken over HOA management, responsiveness and quality of service have declined dramatically.

What might start as a $50 per day fine can quickly balloon into thousands or tens of thousands of dollars if homeowners decide to fight on principle.

These fines become liens against the property that must be paid before the home can be sold.

“More times than not, the homeowner is at a disadvantage—they will usually lose and be assessed the HOA’s attorney fees as well as their own,” Ailion warned.¹⁰

Paul Boudreaux, a professor at Stetson Law School, said contempt orders in civil cases are extremely rare.

“I think it’s pretty rare in a civil case for someone to have a contempt order,” Boudreaux noted.¹¹

“To be incarcerated without bond is certainly an extreme measure and is pretty rare,” he added.¹²

David Lehr, a Palm Beach attorney who represents homeowners against HOAs, said while the judge had the legal right to jail Green, there could have been more lenient remedies.

HOAs wield unchecked power over American families

Green’s case highlights how HOAs have evolved from community organizations into quasi-governmental entities with the power to destroy lives.

More than 40% of Floridians live under HOA or condominium association rules.

In 2024, Florida led the nation with 3.9 million of its 8.9 million homes falling under homeowners association control.

That’s nearly 45% of all residences in the state.

When families purchase homes in these communities, they sign contracts agreeing to abide by association rules.

The enforcement mechanisms available to HOAs would make authoritarian governments jealous.

They can impose fines, place liens on properties, and as Green discovered, even have homeowners thrown in jail.

“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,” Green said.¹³

Green admits she should have hired an attorney earlier in the process to better understand her rights.

The Creek View HOA has since hired a new property management company to handle enforcement.

But there are millions of Americans who live under an HOA.

“Sometimes they act in a petty manner, but if they decide that you need to do something, you need to follow the rules. And when a judge tells you to do something, you have to do it,” Boudreaux explained.¹⁴

David Kim, an association attorney in West Palm Beach, recommends homeowners try to find amicable resolutions from the onset of any dispute.

¹ Anna Baluch, “Florida Woman Arrested and Jailed for a Week Over Brown Grass—and Her HOA Was Behind It,” Yahoo Finance, July 16, 2025.

² Adam Walser, “HOA violations involving woman’s brown grass led to her being arrested and jailed for 7 days,” WFTS, July 14, 2025.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Baluch, “Florida Woman Arrested and Jailed for a Week Over Brown Grass—and Her HOA Was Behind It.”

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ Walser, “HOA violations involving woman’s brown grass led to her being arrested and jailed for 7 days.”

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Ibid.

¹⁴ Ibid.