Action 9

Stallings woman upset with brightness of fence her HOA put up

STALLINGS, N.C. — Joyce Hartis's HOA put up a fence a few months ago.

"I didn't know it would be so bright and reflective," she told Action 9's Jason Stoogenke. "It hurts your eyes extremely."

So she keeps the blinds on the back side of her house closed and puts paper on the windows that don't have blinds.

[ALSO READ: HOA says parking lot near Plaza Midwood townhomes will not turn into a street]

She thought about tinting the windows, but "to do most of my windows, it's over $1,000."  And it still wouldn't help if she’s outside.

She wears a sun shield on her glasses when she goes in the backyard.

She told Stoogenke her eye doctor even gave her a note.

It says "excessive light amounts could theoretically damage" her eyes and that "it is reasonable to ask her homeowners association to rectify the situation so that the glare is no longer an issue for her."

[ALSO READ: Soldier in Texas fighting HOA over right to display American flag]

But her HOA won't budge. It told Stoogenke it won’t take down that part of the fence or paint it a duller color. It did offer one solution: It will let Hartis plant bushes in front of the fence. The neighborhood's bylaws prohibit that, but the HOA would make an exception for Hartis. Still, she'd have to pay for the bushes herself.

A lot of viewers complain about HOAs. If you don't like a proposal, spend your time and energy fighting it on the front end, before the board votes. Treat it like a political campaign: Line up your neighbors and lobby each board member ahead of time. You can go about it the same way after the vote, but it’s usually much harder to win at that point.