According to a rule laid about by the HOA in our planned community, homeowners need to keep the HVAC equipment from view. All residential HVAC has to be screened from street level view or be in the back of a fenced in yard. Why? This is what I’ve been asking myself for the past couple of months as I try to help my neighbor deal with an obstinate HOA board. I just can’t seem to get an answer as to why our heating and cooling equipment has to be hidden from view. I mean, we live in the south so it’s no secret that we all rely on air conditioning. And while our Winter weather is quite mild, some heating from the heat pump sure does come in handy at times. But this HVAC equipment has to be hidden from view and I’m stumped. My neighbors are older and they use a lawn service to take care of their property. It’s usually quite lovely but this Spring, the lawn crew cut back a privacy hedge that was screening the HVAC equipment. And they cut it back a bit too short. It didn’t take 24 hours before these poor folks were being threatened with fines from the HOA. That was almost two months ago and the issue is almost moot now that the hedge has new growth. But instead of being logical or reasonable, the HOA wants to force these people to pay. And as a lawyer, that makes me crazy. I told my neighbors not to pay a dime and that I’d be their advocate. There is a public HOA meeting next week and those HOA board members are going to get an earful.