friendly neighbors (NOT)

[huskernumerouno]

LARGO, Fla. — A neighborhood association here wants 3 1/2-year-old Kimberly Broffman to take her Big Wheel and hit the road.

 

The girl's grandparents, Judie and Jimmy Stottler, acknowledge the toddler has been living in the 55-plus community west of Tampa in violation of homeowners' association rules for three years. The community prohibits permanent residents under 18.

 

But the Stottlers say they live on a fixed income and can't afford to move until they sell their house.

 

"I am not going to get rid of Kimberly to stay in this house," said 59-year-old Judie Stottler.

 

The Lakes homeowners association filed suit to oust Kimberly last month. The association's president, Everett Conger, said he would not comment on the case outside of court.

 

"I'm not going to say anything," Conger said Sunday. "The only way you're going to get anything is to attend the hearing in court."

 

A phone message left for the association's attorney Sunday was not immediately returned.

 

(Story continues below)

 

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The association objected soon after Kimberly arrived. In 2005, Judie Stottler signed a mediation agreement that she and her husband would comply with the Lakes' rules by Oct. 1, 2006.

 

They planned to put Kimberly back with her mother, but Judie Stottler said their daughter has a drug problem and isn't capable of taking the child back. So far, there have been no takers to buy their house, even after they lowered the $189,000 asking price by $10,000 six months ago.

 

Judie Stottler said she can't afford an attorney. She isn't sure what will happen next.

 

"We don't have any family to take us in," she said.

[HuskerNCo]

I hate stuff like this...the only one hurt is the child.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

This is one of the reasons I'm moving from my townhome! To get away from those damn associations!

[NU fan in Denver]

Do HOA's ever do any good for people? I can only recall them preventing people from displaying certain holiday decorations, kicking people out of a home, telling people how to landscape their own home, etc.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. They are worthless just like most of the people who run them!

[hskrdedhed]

That's terrible! I hate homeowners associations. Bunch of mean spirited old people with nothing to do. I hope a hurricane wipes Florida out and helps to restore it to what it once was when I was growing up down there. It makes me sad everytime I go down there to visit and see a new neighborhood standing in the place of pristine wilderness that was there when I was a kid.

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

Damnit!! Now where am I supposed to ride my big wheel?