Florida Mom Arrested After Allegedly Having Brown Grass and a Dirty Mailbox, Violating HOA Rules: I Was Treated 'Like a Criminal' By Escher Walcott 222

A Florida woman is speaking out after she was arrested for allegedly violating the guidelines of her local homeowner’s association (HOA).

Irena Green was jailed on May 23 after The Trowbridge Company Inc. alleged in a lawsuit that the homeowner had violated community appearance rules, ABC Action News reported.

The HOA management company, based in Hillsborough County, claimed that Green had “browning grass” on her lawn, a dirty mailbox and a commercial van, among other minor violations, which they said they ordered the woman to correct. 

“The grass has started turning brown. So then they started sending notes,” Green told ABC Action News. “And it went from the grass being brown to there’s a dent in my garage.”

After the lawsuit was filed, Green said a judge gave her 30 days to tidy up her lawn and to correct the violations, or she would be jailed.

“I sold my van to comply. My mailbox was cleaned to comply. I bought seeds and watered my grass to comply,” she told ABC Action News.

Despite her attempts at resolving the issue, Green was later arrested after missing a next court date in August 2024, the outlet reported. 

“I was supposed to receive documentation. Nothing was sent to my home. And I reached out to the courthouse several times to try to find out my court date,” she said.

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On May 23, while picking up her 15-year-old daughter from cheerleading practice, Green was pulled over and arrested, according to ABC Action News.

“There was no bond. So I couldn’t even go home to my family,” she told the outlet. “I sat in there for seven days in the jailhouse like a criminal.”

According to jail records seen by PEOPLE, Green faced two charges: contempt of court and failure to comply with court’s order to show cause.

Green was released from jail after her family presented evidence that she had cleaned up her yard to a different judge than the one who signed the arrest warrant, per ABC Action News.

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“It makes me feel horrible. I work hard to buy this home for me and my kids in a better neighborhood and environment, and to be taken to jail and to be treated like that for brown grass at my own home … that’s horrible,” she said.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and The Trowbridge Company Inc. did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, Aug. 2.