Homeowners accuse HOA of overstepping after ABC Action News report

TAMPA, Fla. — In early 2024, Shantashia Stevenson said she came close to buying her "dream home" within the Townhomes of Wexford community but claimed its HOA got in the way.

We sat down with her in May, where she explained what was behind the hold-up.

"Previously, the townhome had a[n] [HOA] Violation due to the garage. The garage had been converted into a room. After that, the seller was made aware of this, so the seller converted the garage back, and then I had the interview," she said. "Even though there was no more violations, he ordered a new estoppel letter stating that the garage had been converted. Even though it had been converted back."

Stevenson went on to say that neither she nor the seller could get the HOA's president to commit to reinspecting the home.

"The title company said that I had to have a letter of approval from the HOA to close on the home," she said.

Instead, she said lawyers got involved.

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Stevenson provided email exchanges from March 27 and April 2, which included the HOA president, her realtor's office, and the community management company.

As we've previously reported, the group discusses missed inspection dates and some miscommunication about rescheduling.

At one point, Stevenson's realtor calls the back-and-forth "nonsense" and says she will share her concerns about the process with the "city."

The HOA president responds by accusing that realtor of threatening to "defame the board."

By the time our story aired, Stevenson had pulled out of the deal and eventually bought a home somewhere else.

But that report proved to be just the beginning.

Since the story aired, more than a dozen people who own or previously owned property in that community contacted ABC Action News.

They're people like Isoraida Lorenzo—who tried to sell her home to Stevenson.

She lives in South Carolina and said she had no idea converting her garage violated the HOA's bylaws.

"The garage was converted back within days of being alerted to the issue. Again, I hired an attorney, and for a month and a half, two months, I could not convince them to do an inspection," she said.

But once Stevenson withdrew her offer, she claimed things had changed.

"I spoke with my realtor, and we worked to find a cash buyer who could assume the violation, but it turned out to be unnecessary because when he interviewed that cash buyer within days, he was willing to inspect the home, clear the violation, and provide a clear estoppel. And that left me with a loss of $20,000 on the home," she said.

Lorenzo is now weighing her legal options.

"I checked with my attorney, and I do have a case for it. So that's something I'm considering. I can sue [the HOA] for damages for the difference in what I sold my home for," she said.

But the concerns didn't stop there.

Rodney Scott also contacted ABC Action News.

Court documents accuse him of hosting a barbecue last Labor Day at the community pool, which violates the HOA bylaws.

But he claimed all he did was gather with neighbors who offered him food.

"Next thing I know, I see people coming up to the pool area, and you know we [were] just talking, mingling, talking about the community, talking and about life. And next thing I know, I get an email saying I violated some pool rules. I'm like, 'I ain't know we had them.' [Because] I done seen previous [people] going to eat food, having drinks, having parties," he said.

The HOA is asking a judge to bar Scott from "hosting parties with food and beverages" by the pool.

They also want him to pay the HOA's legal fees in this case.

Scott is concerned the community's rules are selectively enforced.

We also spoke with Ngozi Eze, who told us she's been locked in a lengthy legal battle over tenants.

"Around 2023 is when we suddenly found that there was an issue in regards to my tenants," she said.

Emails show that the HOA president was aware of Eze's tenants as early as 2019.

But in mid-2023, she was asked to resubmit the lease for her tenants.

Email exchanges between Eze, the HOA president, and the community's former management company, Associa, show she resubmitted the lease.

But it was denied.

The HOA president claimed she didn't give them a 30-day heads up before moving her tenants in, as outlined in the community bylaws.

However, according to Eze, these were existing tenants looking to renew their lease.

In the end, her tenants were forced to move out.

"I was instructed that my tenants were to vacate, which they did within two weeks of the request by the HOA board to vacate," she said.

She said things didn't end there.

"And unfortunately, a lawsuit as a result, a lawsuit was hurled against me, both for my tenants and also for the barbecue," she said.

Eze and her attorney told us that the HOA is taking her to court over "unauthorized tenants" and for attending the same barbecue that Rodney Scott is accused of hosting.

During the proceedings, the HOA also filed a lis pendens or "notice of a lawsuit" on her property, which could impact the future sale of her home.

She has since filed to dismiss both the lawsuit and that notice.

"It was shocking. It's frustrating and it's really confusing even now. I'm just wondering how did we get here?" she said.

In November 2023, Eze also filed a formal complaint with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development against the HOA.

"We requested an investigation. We just weren't sure exactly what was behind and what the premise was behind having my tenants removed, but we felt that an investigation was due," she said.

We took these homeowner concerns to local attorney Eric Appleton—who specializes in HOA law.

Ultimately, he said that if the community is unhappy enough, they may have grounds to remove the entire HOA board.

"If they're really dissatisfied, and things are not turning around after airing their grievance to a board in either written communication or in a meeting, owners have the ability to recall a board. Basically, by petition, they can call a special meeting, or they can even just do a written petition to remove the board members from office and appoint replacement directors. They need not wait for an annual meeting or election to do that. They have that interim measure available to them by statute in both condos and HOAs," he said.

ABC Action News has called and texted the HOA president—and called and emailed the HOA's attorney throughout both investigations.

We have not heard back from the HOA president.

And we are waiting for a call back from the HOA attorney.