Kerrie Collins, who has lived with her husband and four children in the Windmill Estates subdivision of Magnolia for three years, recently filed a complaint against city council member John Bramlett, alleging he unlawfully harassed her family for Homeowner’s Association (HOA) fees.

Bramlett, a longtime council member and former mayor of Magnolia, is a board member of the HOA of Windmill Estates.

Collins claimed in the complaint that Bramlett has harassed and intimidated her and her family over HOA dues, which he claims she hasn’t paid.

The dispute began in 2009, when Collins was sent several late notices after failing to pay HOA fees that were due January 31. By May, HOA board members filed with the Justice of the Peace to collect the required yearly fee, which is $234.60, said Bramlett.

Collins requested a judge other than Matt Masden consider the case because she believes he and Bramlett are “friends.”

A visiting judge ruled in favor of the HOA and additional interest and fees were added to the bill.

Collins said she has paid all her dues to the HOA and the disputed money in question is interest fees illegally added to her bill.

“They were calculating the interest that they claimed we owed for the interest they claimed we owed. The judge said, ‘No, you can’t do that.’

Collins claims the HOA was calculating new interest charges on top of older interest fees they owed.

“I have canceled checks for all three years I lived here,” Collins added. “I have documented proof that I’ve paid all three years.”

Since the court’s decision, Bramlett said Collins has paid this year’s dues, but still owes from last year.

Bramlett said HOA board members and himself followed what their attorney advised them to do and sent a letter to Collins saying the family could not use common area privileges, such as the subdivision’s pool, for 60 days. But if they paid the fee, that would go away.

After a May 1 confrontation between Bramlett and Collins, where Bramlett called police to her home when he attempted to take back a key to the pool facilities, Collins filed the complaint.

“He (Bramlett) shouldn’t be both city council and HOA president at the same time, especially if the subdivision is in the city limits, because he has and is using his status as city councilman to his advantage,” Collins said. “He was illegally trying to obtain an alleged debt by using his position as city councilman.

“I’m tired of the harassment and I’m not going to pull up stakes and move out. What needs to happen is this man needs to be removed from city council and removed as HOA president, because he doesn’t deserve to be either one. And that’s what I want.”

Bramlett said he disagrees that he harassed Collins and her family.

“We write letters to everyone in that subdivision. We don’t consider it harassing; we’re just doing what we’re supposed to do,” said Bramlett.

He added that the HOA offered the Collins alternatives to paying the fee.

“We just want to work with the people,” said Bramlett. “We had one of those people who were delinquent, they painted the whole clubhouse for their maintenance fee. I offered (Collins’) husband to clean up all limbs after Hurricane Ike to resolve the bill.”

Bramlett said the family declined the offer.

“We’re not treating her any different than any homeowner,” said Bramlett, who has been an HOA board member off and on since 1975. “It’s kind of being blown out of proportion. Maybe she felt everyone was on her, but when you live in a subdivision with deed restrictions, you have to follow the rules. I didn’t make the rules, they were there when I moved there.”

Phil Grant, who heads the Public Integrity Unit of the DA’s office, said that the complaint “is under investigation,” and due to that fact, he could not release any more details regarding the case.

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