Should This Man Be Jailed For Not Keeping His Grass Green?

It's true that rules should be followed, esp if there's some sort of contract involved, but isn't jailing a bit too harsh? Of course, we don't really know the complete story, but if the reason is financial as what the original post says, then I think a little compassion may have been called for. This is an unusual time where money is concerned because of the economic crisis. Also, if the source of complaint has already been fixed and the man has already served two days in jail, why can't they drop the fine thing? Is it because they don't want this incident to be a precedent for future rule breakers? Overall, it sounds petty, but there's probably more to the story.

I've noticed that for a lot of people, unless you spend a lot of money/time taking care of your lawn, more likely than not it is going to die. We have even installed sprinkler systems at our house, which can sometimes shoot the water bill through the roof (although we've been getting a lot of rain lately so we have been able to shut the system off for certain periods of time). Yet, I still notice that we have dying grass. I find it ridiculous that they actually jailed this man over GRASS. Grass that can die because Florida's weather can be miserable. It's not like he took a four-wheeler and did donuts in the neighbor's yard.

I agree with some HOA covenants. No paining your house odd colors, weird lawn ornaments but, arresting him for his lawn care is ridiculous. I do think that some HOA boards let the power get to their heads. Mine is like that. We have been asked to clean up the leaves in our yard when there was barely any. Our neighbors two houses down got in trouble for painting their fence without submitting a color chip first. The color was nice. Nothing unusual. Very natural and pretty. But, they got into trouble for not submitting the color chip first. Heaven forbid.

That is a little ridiculous... If the man can't afford to pay the mortgage of his house, what makes them think he can afford to put time and money into fixing his yard up? If they're so addament that he fix his yard, why don't they do something to help him out? Harassing him and throwing him in jail isn't going to change anything...

Green Grass. 1000 bucks. JAIL Jesus :D I live in Romania. We here have nothing like that, though I understand the need for HOA's. Still when viewed from an outside perspective, at a first glance, that sort of response to GRASS not being GREEN enough, seems 100% crazy. I'm talking padded rooms and jackets here :D

well it depends, if he truly couldnt, or just truly wouldnt... personally I really thought the homeowners association was just to keep us "safe" from people who were truly menacing their yards and not caring about the effect on everyone else.... if he couldnt afford it, and people fixed it, I dont think he should have to pay... it would be just silly. but then, if that is, you really got to wonder where the line is... thats always the question, where is the line.

while i think this whole thing is beyond stupid...he DID sign the damn contract. whats even worse is that he already couldnt pay his mortgage and is now gonna have to try and come up with the fine money..which will put him further behind on his mortgage..which could very easily lead to him LOSING HIS HOME ENTIRELY! why didnt the Association gather some volunteers and OFFER to help him fix it BEFORE they spent the time and money on taking it to court? if they new before hand that he was in financial troubles, wouldnt it be in their best interest to have helped him out than letting a home in their community go into foreclosure? cause having houses in foreclosure near your house can sometimes bring your homes value down..well thats what i heard on the news at least. and helping him out would have made the home "presentable" MUCH FASTER than the time to take him to court etc.!