Homeowner outraged at $150 HOA fine after a paper bag was blown onto the street: ‘Feels like a money grab’

Other neighbors told reporters that their dumpsters are often completely filled with trash

A single mother living in Arizona says she was slapped with a $150 fine by her Home Owner's Association after trash blew into the street.

Jessica Ensley, who lives in the Hayden Farms community in Surprise, Arizona, told KTVK that she left a paper bag from a takeout order next to her dumpster, as the dumpster was already full.

“I’m a very clean person, and I respect the rules,” Ensley told the outlet. “I’m not one to just blatantly throw trash around, so yes, it was so full that even that brown paper bag couldn’t fit into it at that time.”

The wind blew the bag away from the dumpster and onto the street. A receipt in the bag had her name on it, which allowed a member of her HOA to link the bag to her. The HOA notified her in a letter that the bag violated the HOA's rules, and said it was fining her $150.

She said the fine "feels like a money grab."

Jessica Ensley,a resident at the Hayden Farms community in Surprise, Arizona, said she was fined $150 by the community's Home Owner's Association after a bag she'd placed near an over-filled dumpster blew into the street (Google Maps)

“I thought it was absurd because it seemed so extreme for such a small object and a first time infraction," she said.

The notice she received justified the fine by saying it was meant to discourage future violations and to reimburse the cost of enforcing the rules, and was not intended to be solely punitive or to generate revenue for the HOA.

“They nitpick, they find small little issues and then, they find ways to fine you for them,” Ensley said. “It makes no sense to me at all. Feels like I’m being taken advantage of.”

She said that the dumpsters provided by the HOA are only emptied twice a week, and that she finds trash blown into her yard "constantly" because of the excess trash piling up in the bins. Other residents questioned by the broadcaster said the dumpsters are frequently filled to capacity.

“Nine times out of 10 that I come out here, there’s gonna be mattresses or just trash built up on the side,” a neighbor, who did not want to give his name, told the outlet. “So, a lot of times, even myself, I’ve had to leave trash next to the bin.”

Ensley said she spoke to a property manager about the issue and was told to keep her trash in her home if the bins are filled.

The Independent has requested comment from Hayden Farms.