Maricopa Lady Persecuted By HOA – Tellie Avila works hard, pay her bills, takes care of her family and, she gives back to the community. So much so that during the pandemic, Tellie decided to start a Free Library in front of her home. She felt that since the public libraries were closed due to the pandemic, this would be a way to help children gain access to books. A selfless and amazingly charitable thing to do, Tellie soon found that children near and around her were happily using this free resource to books.

But no good deed goes unpunished.

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Maricopa Lady Persecuted By HOA

Tellie’s Little Free Library, which is what it became known as, now faces possible removal after receiving violation letters from her homeowners association, Alterra HOA. The wicked witch of the west in this story (queue the Miss Gulch theme from ‘Wizard of Oz’).

Tellie Avila and her family’s library is located at 17415 N. Costa Brava Ave. in the Alterra neighborhood, the first and only officially chartered Little Free Library in Maricopa. It advertises being open 24 hours. The family put hard work and creativity into it. They were proud of their work and excited when the Maricopa community started using it the first day. It provided the community a way to be together while apart, bringing neighbor’s together.

Then the Wicked Witch (here played by the Alterra HOA), started threatening Tellie and her family with fines and demanded action.

The threats came in the form of HOA violation notices for the library, citing “architectural control,” (WTF???) and was told the family needed to comply within 21 days or another notice would be issued. Sounds like someone at the HOA is bored.

The HOA’s ‘architectural control’ states: “no improvements, permanent or temporary, including construction of a residential unit on a lot, alterations, repairs, excavation, grading, lighting, landscaping or other work that alters the exterior appearance of any property within the project or improvements from its natural or improved state” on the date of the violation and also stated – “no building, fence, exterior wall, residence or other structure shall be commenced, erected, maintained, improved, altered or made without the prior written approval of the Architectural Committee.”

REALLY? A kids library?

Avila sat in the meeting for an hour and a half waiting for the HOA to bring up the library, but they never did. When she spoke to the board, she said she was “rushed” and “interrupted multiple times” while trying to give her three- to five-minute testimony, and many of the board members seemed “noticeably distracted.” Sound familiar? HOA’s are notorious for just pushing their agenda, not wanting to help the residents that pay them.

Tellie indicated only one board member DID seemed as if he wanted to provide a “peaceful resolution” to this situation.

When Tellie finished, she said she was met with “disdain and disgust” and was immediately given a “laundry list of seemingly impossible requirements” to fulfill.

“I instantly was attacked, shot down and I am not being dramatic. It was just like a firestorm. I felt like I was literally in front of a firing squad.”

Tellie Avila

This ‘LAUNDRY LIST’ of crazy demands the HOA demanded include: getting city permits, passing inspections, getting over 75% of verified Alterra homeowners to sign a petition in favor of the library, having the HOA’s attorney review an amendment Avila would need to write that would be inclusive of similar book exchanges to her library and mailing ballots to all the Alterra homeowners for them to vote whether they approve of the library being in the neighborhood.

The board told Avila it could cost her around $4,000 to $5,000. Sounds like they just wanted to push someone around, bully them into submission, doesn’t it?

Representatives from the HOA refused TO ANY NEWS OUTLET’S request for comment. The cowards at the Alterra HOA refuse to comment or attempt to defend their actions at all. typical….

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Try and contact the Alterra HOA and see if they will agree to comment on the bullying tactics publicly:

• Alterra HOA Contact Information: 623.251.5260 (run by ‘J Squared’)

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Maricopa Lady Persecuted By HOA

Their first library structure didn’t receive approval from the HOA (although they were fine, to spec and easily passable), but for their second one, Tellie went all out and submitted plans and specifications.

However, after the family began work on the second library, they were harassed again. This time by a letter about a “wooden box” in her yard. She told the HOA it wasn’t a “wooden box” but a second library. Alterra HOA is SO easy to work with, aren’t they?

She AGAIN sent the HOA plans and specifications for the library. She never heard back from them and assumed they’d approved the library. After she received the “laundry list,” Tellie told the board she’d like to recap everything they wanted her to do since she planned on going through with it all.

“I think that they were surprised when I said that,” she said. “There was a visible and audible change of tone when I told them I was going to do this. … They were all just flabbergasted that I was going to do this.”

Tellie even started up a petition as requested by the Alterra HOA and a GoFundMe account to cover the expenses the day of the meeting. May the Alterra HOA just thought she’d “tuck tail,” and run but they were wrong. It’ll take a bulldozer to get her library out of the ground.

“I even joked that my house will crumble before that little free library does; that thing is solid,” she said. “It was very well built. After the first one was stolen, we wanted to make sure that thing was very sound and secure.”

Maricopa Lady Persecuted By HOA

Tellie indicated that she went into the meeting with an open mind hoping the board members would understand her situation, but now she’s going to “fight with everything” she has in her to defend her library. She hoped there would be more little free libraries in Maricopa, but now that she’s seen how the Alterra HOA will “throw the book” at people, she understands why there are not.

Maybe taking this fight on herself and taking the brunt of the initial process will make it easier for others who want to set up their own little free library or similar ideas.

When the first one was stolen, OH YEAH THE 1ST ONE WAS STOLEN, it was such a “blow” and broke her heart, especially since she made it with her kids and had to tell them it was gone. We here at BuzAz wonder if some over-zealous Alterra HOA board member is perhaps responsible for the library theft. Hm, inquiring minds wanna know….

It’s meant everything to her to receive support from the community to keep the library going after it was stolen the first time.

“Without them, the library literally wouldn’t exist,” Tellie said. “They wanted it. They asked for it. They made it possible, so this library even though it’s in front of my house, it doesn’t belong to me. It literally belongs to Maricopa.”

If YOU want to SIGN THE PETITION to FIGHT the evil Alterra HOA (queue Miss Gulch theme one last time) and get Tellie’s Little Free Library approved, protected and made official please click the image below:

To give to the Go Fund Me campaign to help with the Alterra HOA‘s extortion and supposed expenses, please click the Miss Gulch image below:

Maricopa is a community of people. We live together and we should help one another. We may be different races, religions, have different political ideas but we ARE ALL NEIGHBORS and neighbors reach out with a helping hand when it is needed.