A Florida homeowner says she’s still in shock after being arrested for what she calls petty violations from her homeowner’s association.
On May 23, Irena Green was taken to jail after The Trowbridge Company Inc., her HOA management company in Hillsborough County, accused her of breaking community appearance rules. According to ABC Action News, the violations included “browning grass,” a dirty mailbox, and a commercial van parked at her property.
“The grass has started turning brown. So then they started sending notes,” Green told the outlet. “And it went from the grass being brown to there’s a dent in my garage.”
After the HOA filed a lawsuit, Green said a judge gave her 30 days to fix the issues or face jail time. She claims she did everything she could to comply. “I sold my van to comply. My mailbox was cleaned to comply. I bought seeds and watered my grass to comply,” she said.
But despite her efforts, she was later arrested for missing a court date in August 2024 — a date she insists she never knew about. “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 my court date,” Green explained.
She says her arrest happened while she was picking up her 15-year-old daughter from cheerleading practice. “There was no bond. So I couldn’t even go home to my family,” she told ABC Action News. “I sat in there for seven days in the jailhouse like a criminal.”
According to jail records obtained by PEOPLE, Green was charged with contempt of court and failure to comply with a court order to show cause.
Her family later presented proof to a different judge showing that she had, in fact, cleaned up her yard. That judge ordered her release.
The entire ordeal has left her shaken. “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,” she said.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and The Trowbridge Company Inc. did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Green’s case highlights growing frustration among homeowners who say some HOAs go too far in policing residents. While HOAs are meant to maintain neighborhood standards, critics say they often cross into heavy-handed territory, issuing fines and pursuing legal action over relatively minor infractions.
For Green, the situation was more than an inconvenience — it was humiliating. She says she’s still struggling to believe she spent a week behind bars for something she thought she had already fixed. “This is my home,” she said. “I pay my bills, I take care of my kids, and I try to be a good neighbor. To end up in jail over this — I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”