For over a year, residents of Garden Park Village in San Jose have faced an onslaught of excessive and minor fines from their HOA board, with some accumulating thousands in penalties and experiencing financial strain.

Residents claim the board has taken extreme measures to enforce HOA rules, installing numerous surveillance cameras and even sending workers onto rooftops to spot violations in private patio areas not visible from the street.

“They’re imposing outrageous fines and disregarding our privacy,” said Liliana Alvarez, who purchased her condo in 2009. “These are our biggest concerns as residents. And it’s not just homeowners—renters are affected too.”

Even after addressing cited violations, residents report still being required to pay. They are given a chance to contest the fines via brief Zoom hearings, but few, if any, succeed. Over the past year, residents say the board has issued tens of thousands of dollars in fines across the 200-plus unit complex, leading some to move out due to the stress.

“This is supposed to be our home, and yet people are forced to choose between paying rent or paying fines,” Alvarez said.

Although the HOA board has been in place for years, enforcement intensified in early 2024 when surveillance cameras were installed throughout the community.

Alvarez has received 10 fines, mainly for parking violations but also for having a patio fence deemed too tall and a wooden cover over her window-mounted air conditioning unit. She noted that the fence was already there when she purchased the condo. Each parking violation costs $175—more than twice the $70 fine issued by the City of San Jose. In total, she owes over $1,800.

While Alvarez acknowledges the need for fire lane regulations, she believes the rules are overly strict, with residents fined even for briefly parking to unload groceries or tools. Limited street parking makes matters worse.

“My truck doesn’t fit in the garage,” she said. “I have to unload my groceries somehow.”

NBC Bay Area requested an interview with the HOA board, but a member declined and refused to provide a written statement.

Although HOA regulations allow fines for rule violations, residents argue the board has taken enforcement too far.

For months, dozens of Garden Park residents have held weekly meetings to explore their options. They have since gathered enough homeowner signatures to force a recall vote against the HOA board.

NBC Bay Area attended two meetings where nearly every resident present reported receiving fines in the past year.

“We are stressed, angry, and feel harassed,” one resident said in Spanish. “This has to stop!”

The group includes both homeowners and renters, many of whom are immigrants with limited English proficiency.

“Many tenants have had to leave,” said resident Alex Lopez, speaking in Spanish.

Residents shared copies of violations for issues such as leaving garbage bins out past the designated time, using umbrellas of the wrong color, or having an awning or canopy on their patio. One resident was fined for a tree that had been there before he moved in.

Longtime resident Tai Ly said excessive fines were never an issue in the past.

“I used to love this neighborhood,” Ly said. “Now it feels completely different.”

Everything changed, he said, when the surveillance cameras were installed. Since then, the board has used them to issue fines, often attaching screenshots as evidence.

Residents were not informed in advance that enforcement would increase, Ly added.

Ly himself received two $175 parking fines when someone else parked in front of his garage. In one case, he even told the driver to move, yet the board refused to revoke the fines. He is now suing the HOA board in small claims court.

Similarly, resident Alberto Hernandez has accumulated over $2,000 in parking fines. He said some tickets were issued when he briefly left his car unattended while unloading groceries, and in other cases, he was fined for vehicles that didn’t even belong to him.

“They weren’t my cars,” Hernandez said in Spanish. “It’s unfair that I got fined just because I own the property.”

Recently, the HOA hired a new management company to oversee operations, and the board has been more communicative in its newsletters about potential violations.

The recall vote is set for March, though only unit owners will be allowed to participate.

“This situation has brought our community together,” Alvarez said. “We are united in fighting for change.”