What is HOA? Single mom Ariel Barner speaks out against local authorities for allegedly threatening to take legal action against her son

Ariel Barner is going viral after the HOA sent her son a legal notice for swinging on a Magnolia tree. She is currently documenting her experience with the HOA and one particular neighbor on her TikTok account.

HOA stands for homeowners' association. Ariel, who is a single mother, said that she and her children have been living in the Riverchase community in East Orange County, Florida, for nearly six months.

Barner showed a woman in one TikTok video and claimed that she was the HOA president of the University Pines Property Owners Association, the neighborhood HOA. The unidentified woman allegedly watched her five-year-old son closely every day.

Ariel noted that her children are the only minority children who ride the school bus. One day, she received a call from her daughter, who stated that the president had scolded her son for swinging from the magnolia tree near the bus stop and touching a rock.

A few days later, the University Pines Property Owners Association sent Barner a legal letter, claiming her son violated community rules. The letter also demanded that Ariel pay $382 to cover the lawyer's fee.

Barner shared that she told her children to ride the school bus and attend their classes.

Meanwhile, she visited the president of the homeowners' association on September 23, 2025, to discuss the matter. The next day, she was given a legal notice.

Ariel then shared that she is in talks with her attorney and said that the legal notice felt "prejudiced, abusive of power, and discriminatory."

According to Yahoo News' October 4, 2025, report, Tennille Shipwash, the attorney representing the association, claimed that the legal notice was sent due to liability concerns if Ariel Barner's son fell from the magnolia tree.

The TikToker has launched a GoFundMe to cover the legal fees and to defend a "child's right to play."

So far, the fundraiser has surpassed its target of $60,000, with a total of over $62,000 collected.

HOA went back and forth with a family in Indiana to approve a ramp and deck for their disabled son

This month, the homeowners' association in the Morse Pointe community in Noblesville, Indiana, came to a compromise with the Phillips family.

Last year, Corban Phillips, a 16-year-old, fell from a trampoline, causing him to be paralyzed from the waist down.

The Phillips family wished to remodel their house and add a ramp so Corban could easily access the front door, as well as a deck so he could enjoy the front yard.

However, the remodeling was not approved by their community's homeowners' association.

After months of back-and-forth negotiations between lawyers and revised sketches of the house, the Morse Pointe HOA decided to approve the remodeling.

Corban's mother, April, told 13News that she was angry that it took so long to come to an agreement.

Notably, Ariel Barner's legal case is ongoing, and she is sharing the updates on her TikTok account. Stay tuned for more updates.