Homeowner sues association over dog waste drop-box fight

An Algonquin woman recently cleared of a theft charge for removing a dog waste receptacle from outside her townhouse is suing the homeowners association that put it there, saying it cost her thousands of dollars to fight the case.

Carrie Fosdale is seeking $4,328 through a small claims lawsuit filed Friday morning in McHenry County Circuit Court, the amount she says she spent to cover her legal fees, take time off from work and pay court costs.

"The message I want to send here is that the (stuff) that homeowners associations do should not be tolerated," Fosdale said. "The whole thing was insane."

The suit names as defendants the Old Oak Terrace Homeowners Association, its president, Shelley Walenga, and vice president, James Farrar. Walenga could not be reached for comment this morning. Farrar declined to comment.

Police arrested Fosdale in November 2008 on a misdemeanor theft charge after she took a dog waste receptacle the association had placed about 25 feet from the front of her home in the 900 block of Old Oak Circle and stowed it in her garage.

Fosdale said she took the action because she believed the receptacle - a small container hung from a post - was a health hazard. Association officials did not respond to her numerous requests that they remove it, she said.

McHenry County prosecutors dismissed the charge in September, saying there was not evidence proving an essential element of a theft charge - that Fosdale meant to permanently deprive the association of the container.

By that time, Fosdale said, she had missed at least 12 days of work to attend court proceedings and paid thousands in legal fees to defend herself.

Fosdale said Friday the whole situation could have been avoided if association officials had returned her calls last year and followed their bylaws concerning complaints against a homeowner. Those bylaws, she said, require the association to send her two notices and grant her a hearing before seeking legal remedies to any issues with a member.

The case is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 10 before Judge John Bolger.