Elderly Florida woman is arrested after refusing to pay HOA fines
An elderly Florida woman says she lived as a fugitive in a borrowed SUV and spent six months in hiding in another state after a dispute with her homeowners association led to a warrant for her arrest.
Ying Panga licensed medical technologist who emigrated from China more than 30 years ago claims she cannot return to her Wesley Chapel, FL home, which she has owned since 2010, because she fears her neighbors will call the police.
“I live in my car, I can’t go home, I can’t go anywhere,” she says Realtor.com®. “They want to put me in jail and convict me.”
Years of homeowners’ association violations led to a warrant
Pang tells Realtor.com that her HOA began citing her in 2018 for issues such as not removing holiday lights, on-street parking, leaving dumpsters out too long and discoloration of her home.
“I have found about 100 violations in seven years,” says Pang. “I would always respond and do things like do a load of laundry and paint the house several times.”
Pang was renting her home to tenants when she received the violations.
Neighbour Jen Lavelle told Tampa Bay 28 that Pang’s tenants and their guests were causing problems.
“There were naked women coming out of the house, getting the mail and stuff,” Lavelle told Tampa Bay 28.
But Pang insists her tenants were “very good and quiet” and had lived there for a number of years before moving at the end of last year.
Details of the lawsuit
In 2023, a lawsuit was filed against Pang by Northwood of Pasco Homeowners Inc. more than $534.98 in fines.
According to court documents, Pang agreed to settle the case and pay the HOA’s attorney fees of $5,500 in March 2024.
However, Pang never paid the fines or fees.
She later fired her attorney and filed a countersuit against the HOA, alleging a pattern of unfair and unlawful conduct, including harassment, discriminatory enforcement and abuse of the legal process.
Court records indicate that a judge ultimately ruled in favor of the HOA after Pang failed to appear at hearings and mediation sessions, leading to a contempt of court ruling for failing to file the required fact sheet.
An arrest warrant for Pang was signed by a judge at the end of June.
“Officers came to my house, but I wasn’t home,” she said. ‘Then I left. If I go back, I’ll be arrested. I’d rather be homeless than in prison.’
But according to court records, if Pang simply fills out the fact sheet, the arrest warrant will be dismissed.
“I don’t want to give them my social security number and my bank details because I don’t trust them,” says Pang. “So I turned that down.”
Future plans
Pang says she is now considering selling her house, which has deteriorated in her absence since she ran out of money.
“This ordeal has broken my heart and completely changed my life,” she says. “But I have to fight to let everyone know how the HOA treated me. I never thought something like this could happen in this country.”
The Northwood HOA did not immediately respond to questions from Realtor.com.
The proposed bill in Florida could give residents the power to dissolve HOAs
Meanwhile, a newly introduced bill from Florida’s state representative. Juan Porras Residents could vote to dissolve their homeowners association altogether.
The proposal would allow homeowners to dissolve an HOA by majority vote, which would represent a significant potential change in a state that has the second-highest number of HOAs in the country.
The legislation is still in its early stages, with no committee hearings scheduled and potential changes that could change how associations are dissolved or how related disputes are handled in a proposed legal system.
