After hearing about how many disputes people can end up in when they don’t meet the exact rules laid out by a homeowners’ association, I can’t help but feel relieved that I live in an area that doesn’t have one.
Granted, my family have had neighbors come up to the house and complain about what they want us to paint and what color they want it painted etc.
Of course, we always took comfort in knowing that their requests weren’t actually enforceable by anyone.
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Yet, as one family had the misfortune of finding out, it’s not just other homeowners who have to watch their step in areas with one of these organizations set up.
And the video we’re about to talk about makes that very clear.
As far as they could tell, the Allen family had found the perfect spot to celebrate their one-year-old baby, Anya’s first birthday.
Not only did this Houston park look perfectly picturesque, but as ABC13 reported, the City of Houston confirmed that it and its streets are in the public right-of-way.
However, they discovered that their day would not go so smoothly when Houston socialite Franci Neely showed up.
She had confronted the Allens for blocking the empty walkway with their photo shoot, and her fury echoed issues her neighbors have had with commercial photographers.
They’ve posted signs in an attempt to ban photo shoots throughout the community and claim that the area isn’t public because it was deeded to the local homeowner’s association during the 1920s. The city and the HOA have yet to settle this matter.
Whether the Allens knew about this dispute or not, the fact remained that Neely was not necessarily legally empowered to shut down their shoot herself.
Yet, that is precisely what she did, as she reportedly slapped at the balloons they set up and dragged the baby’s blanket and other decorations off the walkway.
As Anya can be heard crying in the background, Neely then escalated the argument by slapping repeatedly at Isaiah Allen’s phone.
According to ABC13 , the Allen family has since filed a police report in connection with the incident.
Houston police are investigating the matter, but no charges have been filed at the moment.
Following the incident, Neely released a statement to ABC13 on Monday.
As she told the news outlet, “I am very sorry that I got upset on late Saturday afternoon. Putting it in context, however: I saw three commercial photography shoots in one block at the same time, something that happens frequently. When I explained the situation to the first and third groups, they were respectful. The couple whose photo shoot obstructed the walkway was not. It’s hard to remain composed when confronted by shouted threats of lawsuits and false, inflammatory accusations.”
However, it is worth noting that this does not mark the first time Neely has lost her composure in a similar fashion.
As ABC13 reported in a separate article, Neely had confronted a group of high school students taking prom photos on the same walkway as the Allens.
The father of some of the girls, Mario Montermayor, said, “I still feel violated that someone could just come up to you. They didn’t like where you were. It was a free space. It was disturbing. I don’t think she committed a crime, but she was very rude. I’m not asking for an apology, but it’s disturbing we can’t walk in a free space.”
The incident with the Allens was also not the first case in which a confrontation with Neely over the walkway turned physical.
Although she appears to address this video’s uploader politely, it only takes about four seconds before the camera violently shifts around, indicating some sort of struggle.
As for the confrontation with the Allens, scenes showing how that unfolded can be seen in the full video.
The city has instructed those who see a sign that shouldn’t be in the public right-of-way or photographers blocking sidewalks to call 311 so they can investigate the matters themselves.
h/t: ABC13
There’s just no reason for this reaction. This couple and their baby weren’t doing anything wrong.
What an entitled salty woman, tbh.
