41 KSHB: Northland HOA sues family over backyard swimming pool
By Josh Helmuth
December 18, 2015
LIBERTY, Mo. – A northland family who installed a swimming pool in their backyard last summer may soon be drowning in court fees and repair costs following a lawsuit from their own HOA.
Emilie Gaudin has lived in Auburndale Estates in KCMO with her family since 2008. At first they were happy using the community pool they help pay for with their Home Owners Association dues.
But several times, Gaudin says she witnessed inappropriate conversations in front of her kids.
“We’ve had a group of men who’ve been up at our pool that are vulgar, obscene, they talk about sexual things they want to do to small children that are there,” she said.
Gaudin says her requests to have the men removed weren’t addressed. Therefore she and her husband decided to build their own backyard pool so their children could swim in private.
Although their HOA covenant doesn’t allow above ground swimming pools, Gaudin says they got verbal approval from an HOA board member and didn’t think twice about it.
Gaudin also said another neighbor already had a pool installed in their backyard years ago while dozens of other HOA covenant violations had been persistent for several years without consequence.
However Gaudin says the day her pool was finished, HOA members were at her doorstep demanding for it to be taken down. Read more: