More than 2,000 homeowners in Sahuarita asked to repaint homes

SAHUARITA, AZ (Tucson News Now) - More than half the homeowners of the Rancho Sahuarita community are outraged after they received notices from their homeowners association's management company, saying they need to either repaint their houses or fix their landscaping.

Many residents say their homes don't need to be repainted, and they're demanding answers.

"You expect a bill to come in the mail because you've signed up and you've done things," Rancho Sahuarita resident Crystal Donnelly said. "But a letter coming in the mail saying, 'You need to paint your house?' No."

About 2,600 homeowners received the letter that says their homes do not meet the minimum community-wide standards for exterior paint.

Associa Arizona, the HOA's management company, said in a statement that it inspected each house in March and April.

The company said this is a follow-up to a compliance effort made in May 2013 in which 1,800 letters were sent to homeowners, resulting in more than 1,350 violations being corrected.

"These homeowners have been asked to correct the deficiencies as part of community-wide efforts to maintain the value and aesthetics of the neighborhood for the families who live here and the families considering to make their home in Rancho Sahuarita," the company said in the statement.

"It seems like harassment to me," said Crystal Donnelly's husband, Kevin, who said his house has a manufacturing defect near their garage that was already in the process of being fixed and repainted. "If they would've been more specific in giving us a warning to tell us what they were doing, then it would be OK. We knew that we had to fix that, and we had somebody lined up to fix it, but this just caught us off-guard."

Every homeowner who received a letter was also given a copy of the community standards that give specific details about acceptable exterior paint and also note deterioration of wood, excessive chipping and peeling of paint or stucco as infractions needing to be brought up to snuff.

For residents such as Michael Gray, the notice wasn't unexpected, and he said he was already in the process of repainting his home when he received his letter.

"It's that pride of ownership," Gray said. "That's what you pay for, and that's why you bought the house."

UPDATE: Associa Arizona spoke with Tucson News Now and says it has listened to resident's concerns. They said they're in the process of reassessing all inspections and will be in close contact with residents to discuss in further detail.