🚨NO WHITE SUPREMACISTS INVOLVED🚨
🚨NO ISLAMIC JIHADISTS INVOLVED🚨
I came across this story after sharing my last post that included a news story by Atlanta News First. This is crazy. I hope the homeowners sue that woman who used to be their HOA president and the management company she worked with for causing them emotional distress. (emphasis mine)
Atlanta News First published March 20, 2025: Gwinnett homeowners facing thousands in fines oust HOA board. Residents say they’re fed up with ‘bullying’ and ‘harassment’ from their HOA.
Atlanta News First, Atlanta, GA local
written by Anastassia Olmos
Thursday March 20, 2025
LOGANVILLE, Georgia - Homeowners in a Loganville neighborhood claim their HOA president is retaliating against residents who think she is mishandling their dues as some face fines that could cost their houses.
“I’m fearful when I leave my home,” said Jacques Boyd, echoing others living in the Greighfield community in Loganville, east of Atlanta.
“I always check my camera in and around the house,” said Yaran Wen.
Many homeowners said they’ve installed cameras not because of crime, but because of their homeowner’s association president, Melanie Downing.
“Over the last three years, she has been terrorizing every homeowner here,” said Frank Bosah, who recently received a debt collection bill from the HOA for $137,768 with no explanation.
“I have no idea,” Bosah said, adding “my attorney also said there’s no indication of any violation.”
Bosah believes Downing wants his house.
According to Georgia law, a homeowners association can get a lien on a property and foreclose on the home if unpaid assessments or fines exceed $2,000 and the homeowner has been given a 30-day notice.
Bosah’s house has six bedrooms for all of his kids and an additional mini-apartment in the basement with a large backyard.
“I will fight for my house,” he said. “It is a dream for me and my family.”
Downing lives down the street, next to David and Hattie Williams, who are both elderly and battling cancer. Their son and his family, John Coleman, moved in to help care for them.
“Me and my wife ... wish we had never moved in and just asked our parents to do something else,” Coleman said. “Our property is at risk.”
After arguments over property lines with Downing, Coleman filed a police report alleging she kicked him. Police said there wasn’t enough evidence to verify the claim, but soon after, they received a debt collection of $10,150, with no explanation.
Coleman said the stress is taking a toll on the family. “As a result of what’s been going on, my mom has been hospitalized as well as my dad and even myself,” he said.
HOA dues and fees
Homeowners said they began asking for financial ledgers when their dues went up $500 this year.
In 2019, when the first homes sold, HOA dues were $500 through a management company. When Downing took over in 2022, dues rose to $745. This year, dues are $1,316.
Homeowners said Downing elected her own board of two people and has only shared proposed budgets for 2024 and 2025, and has never provided receipts.
In 2021, grounds and maintenance costs were budgeted for $4,000. In 2024, that budget increased to $18,000.
Greighfield is 28 homes along a 0.2-mile street. Homeowners said they’re responsible for mowing their own lawns, which leaves HOA grounds to the entrance, the mailbox area, and a retention pond.
“I feel like there could be something bad behind the scenes,” said homeowner Billy Fan.
This year, the board hired a management company and a law firm to collect debts for a total cost of $17,000.
The HOA also added a $200 “special assessment” fee, and said the fee was to address “past-due fees and resolving violations that were not previously accounted for.”
Atlanta News First Investigates reached out to the management company, SMGmanagement. They responded saying they terminated the contract with this HOA, referencing “serious conflict among the homeowners.”
SMGmanagement no longer provides management services for this HOA. Our company was hired in January 2025 to provide property management services for the HOA. At the direction of the Board, correspondence was sent to homeowners as part of the management agreement. However, after receiving information about a serious conflict among the homeowners, SMG felt it could not continue to provide management services, and the Board of Directors was notified that the management contract was terminated
We also reached out to the law firm that has issued the debt letters to residents. At time of publish, we had not received a response.
What does the HOA president have to say?
Atlanta News First Investigates made several attempts to talk with Downing about residents' concerns. When reached via telephone, Downing said she cannot comment due to “pending litigation.”
But residents shared a video of Downing in a HOA meeting.
In that video, Downing told the homeowners they have 10 days to fix any issues they’re notified of or they would be fined $3,500.
She then went on to explain homeowners need written permission from HOA to make changes to their properties.
Using herself as an example, she said she doesn’t have to comply with rules regarding rocks in the front of her home and not on the sides because she is “grandfathered in.”
Referring to when she added rocks she said, “That is when we started, coming up a little bit off of the covenants and what the restrictions were and we grandfathered some people in at that time which would be like myself, because you cannot see the side of my home.”
Atlanta News First Investigates went through the Greighfield Homeowners Association covenants and bylaws. We did not find any documentation for homeowners who are “grandfathered in.”
Ousting the HOA board
After several residents legally requested financial documents, neighbors scheduled a special meeting on Feb. 1, 2025, to vote for a new HOA board.
Fan said Downing told the group they had to pay a $200 special assessment fee in order to vote, as well as a late fee of $50.
Under Georgia’s Property Owners Association Act of 2024, homeowners cannot be denied the right to vote based on outstanding fines and a late fee can’t be more than 10% of the fine.
“We held the election, we got the majority vote and here we are,” said Takesha Allen, who is now the legal HOA president after receiving 16 votes at the meeting, along with a new secretary and treasurer to complete a new board.
“We are in the battle of trying to take it over,” Allen said, adding that Downing hasn’t acknowledged the change.
The new board is now taking the battle to court asking a judge to declare the vote valid and mandate a financial audit.
However, the homeowners who voted for Allen have since begun receiving more fines.
“I received a notice saying you have a unicorn in your garden, and that I should remove it,” Fan said. “I don’t have a unicorn. I have a garden gnome,” a pastel-colored ornamentation that has been in his garden for the past two years.
Fan and another neighbor, Krishan Bhakri, also received notices to remove religious and cultural decorations including the Chinese New Year and Hinduism.
The homeowners said fines keep coming for things like dented garage doors and faded shutters.
“It is unjustified,” Boyd said. “It is unlawful, and this community is tired of it.”
Fighting for their homes
One family has filed a lawsuit against Downing for harassment. The new HOA board has also filed a complaint requesting a judge assist with the transfer of HOA dues.
“I have worked so hard to achieve what I have,” Bosah said. “It’s not by a crooked way; it’s not by stealing; it’s not by fraud. It’s by hard work.”
The Georgia Property Owners’ Association Act states homeowners have the right to view their HOA’s financial records.
However, the state attorney general’s office tells us that no agency enforces the act. They advise homeowners hire a private attorney to file a lawsuit to pursue an audit, a proposition that can be expensive.
In January 2025, state Rep. Sandra Scott (D- Rex), along with state Reps. Viola Davis (D-Stone Mountain) and Kim Schofield (D-Atlanta) introduced the Georgia HOA Accountability and Community Empowerment Act to enforce more oversight on HOA practices, but the bill never made it out of the governmental affairs committee.
State Sen. Jason Esteves (D-Atlanta) also proposed an HOA oversight bill earlier this month for disclosure of HOA financial documents to a new homebuyer, but the bill did not make it through Crossover Day.
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