GASP! When I read the topic I thought it was you who stooped to this sort of behavior. Like you,I hope an attorney repersent's her pro bono,she can afford to hire one or at least represents her self before a jury. A few years ago,HOA cited a man for parking a commercial vehicle in his drive. The vehicle was a current year F-150 that had no advertising,company name or special equipment. Just a nice commuter and grocery getter like people drive in Texas.

Personally, I hate HOA's and would never live in a community governed by one for just this reason. They are arbitrary in the extreme and often have rules that make no sense whatsoever (like this one) just so they can be "in charge". I would love to see a ruling upheld where someone decided butterflies or their chrysalis were defined as "livestock"....that is ridiculous!! Even under the most detailed defintion of livestock, butterflies would NOT be considered such a commodity.

I also hate HOAs and similar "protective" entities. They all eventually become arbitrary in their rulings. Most people don't have the time to serve on these boards, so the positions are taken up by sociopaths who get off on the tiny bit of power and status they perceive in the position. Many times the position is a chance to steal HOA dues. Unfortunately, the position gives them the power to bully thier neighbors with the threat of fines and civil suits.

In my state, HOAs and such don't have any inspection power. Their rulings are limited to how something looks. Fortunately mine does not have any say over lawns and gardens. However, if you decide to change your roof from asphalt shingle to metal you have to get permission first. Since metal roofing is not prohibited why would you need permission, especially since the HOA has no inspection power?

The state had to pass a law to keep HOAs from preventing installation of solar panels. In another case, the state had to intervene because an HOA was fining members for not keeping their grass green even though drought regulations limited the amount of watering that could be done. HOA board members are too quick to punish, but the punishment is often random and arbitrary.

Sometimes you will see a comment on houzz where the person thinks a front yard with no lawn is a disgrace, no matter how well tended the plantings are. The saying "Live and let live" for these people has the unspoken "as long as I like it" caveat.

She may cannot do anything now, but I would sell the house and move, ASAP.

This is just crazy. Not a neighborhood I would move in. Hope this works out well for her.

Know a guy who moved into a new HOA neighborhood that had quite exacting standards and relatively high fees, because they were to have round the clock security.

Turned out out they couldn’t really quite afford the round the clock security, so they hired a HOA enforcement company that could really go to town for that kind of money. They hassle themselves day and night now.

It's this same story every time HOA is discussed. Lots of people approve,otherwise the neighborhoods would be vacant, but where are they in these discussions?

I admit not all HOAs are bad - you only hear about the really egregious cases.

koko: That's tragically funny, they're harrassing themselves!

I hope this lady just refuses to pay on the basis that butterflies cannot be classified as livestock in any conceivable universe, and let THEM sue HER. :-D

I have a friend who carefully disguises his front yard vegetables. So far zucchini plants and bright lights chard, mixed with flowers, have passed for ornamentals in the eyes of the HOA. But he dares not plant anything else for fear of losing it all.

This is either a publicity stunt, practical joke, or an attempt to get Ms White's attention for keeping her garden a mess. Some of the plants which attract butterflies are very weedy looking and look terrible unless they are covered in butterflies. There is something else going on, because butterflies are not livestock by any definition of the word.

Butterflies are livestock when they are raised or harbored. More questionable to apply the term when they are intentionally attracted, although attraction per se would not disqualify the term. Think of twenty bowls of cat food out there.

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HOA reported me multiple times to city (butterflies irrelevant). I ended up at a city code violation hearing before a magistrate. I displayed several butterflies in a net bag, said that I wanted my plants, invited magistrate to visit, he declined. At review hearing he suggested that he visit after the rest of the cases. Near end of inspection he asked officer whether he knew about the state code that supports preservation of wildlife habitat, followed minutes later by ruling that I was in compliance, conditioned on more cleanup.

"Butterflies are livestock when they are raised or harbored."

Sorry but that's not true. The definition of livestock is "domesticated farm animals raised for food or profit". Butterflies are neither farm animals nor domesticated and unless the woman in question was selling them, are not measurably profitable.

Dictionaries give the sense of words through the most common usage. Dictionaries do not seek to be all encompassing, and certainly not to circumscribe logic. Although it is not customary to refer to a wheelchair as a vehicle, that does not mean that it is not a vehicle. Captured wild pigs rasised in a corral not livestock? Please. The stock of commercial farm Shady Oak Butterfly Farm is their livestock (whether or not they use the term). And yes, the HOA is out of its element by asserting that the lady's front yard visitors are livestock.

But both of those examples include factors that the woman in the original news report did not. She was not eating the butterflies nor was she raising them for profit. Ergo, NOT livestock!!

So badly you want to fight that you argue in agreement?

Really??? Wanna try rereading that...........???

Four's last sentence was that s/he agreed they were out of their element so appears to be agreeing with us.

If someone thinks her garden is too messy, they should enforce the neatness section of the rules. If there aren't any they are SOL and should desist.

Did you look at the video? I also went to Google maps and found the house. It is ONE little flower bed in a sea of grass.

Harboring butterflies!

It's almost....aiding and abetting!