guest blog by Nila Ridings
When will it end? The battle over a pink house rises again!
Bella Vita HOA on Lake Conroe, Texas has declared a legal battle with Frank and Anna Manzo. The Manzo’s dream home has a shade of pink that was added after the basic HOA beige was approved. Oh my gosh! You would think the color of the house was going to cause the lake to dry up.
One of the neighbors, Julie Dunaway Williams loves the house and she is standing up for the Manzo’s by creating a gofundme account to help pay their legal bills. The Manzo’s house is valued at $600,000. But as we all know, legal bills in an HOA battle can run into the hundreds of thousands because the goal is always to bankrupt the homeowners.
I’ve written about a pink house in my old non-HOA neighborhood before. I sent a copy of that blog to the owner. He located my number and called me. We had a wonderful chat about his pink house. It was his parent’s house and it was pink when he and his now deceased wife purchased it from his parents. The last time it was painted he asked his wife if she wanted to try a new color? She responded, “This house was born pink and it’s going to die pink!” And so, as long as he owns the house it will always be pink. And the value of the houses in the neighborhood all around it continue to rise.
I recall another pink house story. In my hometown, a plumbing contractor and business partner of my dad’s had a pink house, pink Mustang, pink Cadillac, and a fleet of pink trucks. Everybody in town knew and loved the Rinas family. Their trademark pink was a trademark that nobody forgot. And when they needed a plumber they knew to call the one with the pink trucks. They lived in a lovely neighborhood and to my knowledge no one ever complained about their pink and brick ranch style home!
I think it’s past time for the HOAs to stop with their “pink” phobia. It’s paint. It’s just paint. Get over it. If I ever escape this nightmare HOA I’m living in I hope to live with brightly painted houses all around me. I’m completely sick of the depressing HOA beige!
(link to ABC-13 story on the Pink Stink)
https://www.gofundme.com/2fgwarw
