Lawns & Landscaping In our Community

During the September HOA meeting there was a great deal of concern over the condition of some of the lawns in our neighborhood. It is an unfortunate fact that a poorly maintained lawn hurts the property value of the homes around it.

What this means in essence then is that members of our community that refuse to keep a neat and healthy lawn are actually hurting their neighbors financially. Furthermore it is a simple fact that every homeowner signed an agreement when purchasing their property and promised to do their part in caring for their lawn.

Unfortunately the problem only begins with people that just don't seem to care. We are also dealing with the issue of too many properties in foreclosure, which too often leads to an overgrown lawn.

So this raises several questions:
"What should we as a community do when a homeowner refuses to maintain their lawn?"
"How many warnings should the HOA provide before considering a fine of some sort?"
"Are their creative ways to address the problem of unkempt lawns at properties that are in foreclosure?"

So tell us fellow neighbors... what should the board do? How should we proceed? How strict should we be?