SAN ANTONIO — A front yard memorial led to $1,300 in HOA fines. The display, located in a southwest side neighborhood, was an attempt to honor a 2-year-old boy who suffered from a rare condition. Bradley Arguelles passed away in 2022.
“He had what’s called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy,” said Bradley’s mother, Ashley Arguelles. “It’s basically loss of oxygen to the brain due to a birth trauma. He also had a rare form of epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and he had a trach.”
Despite his condition, Ashley Arguelles remembers her son as a "joyful child."
“Even during one of his toughest times, whether it be a seizure or something like that, he would just smile at me,” she said. “It’s like [he was saying], ‘Thanks for being here mom.’ His smile was so contagious for everybody else. Everyone loved his smile, but he is someone who was brought into this world for change.”
The family thought they would have at least 10 years with Bradley, but on March 27, 2022, the toddler stopped breathing.
“I think he was just ready to go, and God was ready to be with him,” Ashely said.
The heartbroken mother says seeing photos of her son's smile helped with her grief.
“When I leave, I get to see my girls’ faces,” said Ashley. “I get to give them a kiss, I get to see them smile and I get to say ‘Bye’ to them. When I leave, I don’t get to see my son.”
A week after Bradley’s passing, his family made a memorial.
Weeks later, Ashley received a violation notice in the mail. The Hunters Pond Village Green Homeowners Association reportedly took issue with a banner tied to a front pillar, saying their rules prohibit front porch extensions. The homeowners were told to take the banner down or risk being fined $50 a day.
“Basically, they said we couldn’t put an extension on the home because that’s altering the outside,” said Ashely. “It was tied on, so it was temporary. They were telling us at one point that the sign couldn’t be bigger than basically a piece of paper.”
Spectrum Association Management, which operates the HOA, said they would waive the fees. But months later, they backtracked and said the homeowners “didn’t meet” their hardship requirements.
“I am an HOA-paying homeowner,” said Ashley, “and you can’t give me five minutes to explain to me why you said my son’s loss wasn’t a loss in order to waive the fees. If losing a child isn’t a hardship, then I want to know what is.”
A total of $1,300 in fines was added to the couple’s account. Ashely replaced the banner with a smaller one on their front lawn. Fearing a lien would be placed on their home, her husband paid the penalty.
“There was no sympathy for the loss of our child when it came to them telling us that we couldn’t have it up,” she said. “The leader of the HOA board lives two doors down. If they would have just come and knocked on my door and said, ‘Hey, I'm so sorry for your loss, but this is why you can’t have the banner up,’ it would have ended differently.”
Ashely is now pushing for a refund. However, she says the HOA has completely stopped responding to her emails and phone calls.
KENS 5 also reached out to Spectrum Management Association. We were told an HOA spokesperson would get back to us, but that hasn’t happened yet.