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Article Courtesy of Tampa
Bay Channel 28
By
Adam Walser
Published December 20, 2025
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WATCH VIDEO |
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WESLEY CHAPEL — A Pasco County homeowner has been living as a fugitive for six
months, hiding in another state after her homeowner's association obtained an
arrest warrant over unpaid fines and fees stemming from lawn and property
violations.
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Ying Pang, who owns a two-story home in
the Northwood of Pasco County community in Wesley Chapel,
arrived at our newsroom for an interview in a borrowed SUV
that has served as her home at times over the past six
months.A Pasco County homeowner has been living as a
fugitive for six months, hiding in another state after her
HOA obtained an arrest warrant over unpaid fines and fees.
Pang said she cannot return to the home she has owned since
2010 in the community of 850 homes, where the median list
price is $580,000.
She worries neighbors will call law enforcement if she
returns.
"I don't think that if I go to the jail, I can still
survive," Pang said.
An arrest warrant signed by a judge in late June charges
Pang with contempt of court.
Pang, a licensed medical technologist who
immigrated from China more than three decades ago, is
currently hiding in another state.
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A Pasco County homeowner has been living as a
fugitive for six months, hiding in another state after her HOA
obtained an arrest warrant over unpaid fines and fees.
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"I'm very scared. I drive very slowly," Pang said.
Years of violations led to legal trouble
Pang's trouble started in 2018 when her HOA began citing her for parking
violations, holiday lights, garbage containers left out too long and
discoloration on her home.
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"It's 100 violations or about that for
last seven years," Pang said. "Every time I have to do
whatever they ask."
When Pang received the violations, she was renting her home
to tenants.
Neighbor Jen Lavelle said Pang's renters and their guests
caused problems in the quiet suburban neighborhood.Pang said
she repeatedly pressure-washed and painted her home, but the
violations continued. She believes the HOA targeted her.
"There was like naked women coming out of the house,"
Lavelle said. "Like to come and get the mail and
everything."
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Pang said she did not think there was a problem with her tenants, who moved out
at the beginning of this year.
By 2023, repeated violations led to $534.98 in fines and a lawsuit filed by
Northwood of Pasco Homeowners Inc.
Court documents show Pang agreed to settle the case in March 2024 and pay the
HOA's attorney fees of $5,500.
But Pang never paid the fines or fees, parted ways with her attorney and
countersued the HOA, alleging "a pattern of unfair and unlawful conduct"
including "harassment, discriminatory enforcement and abuse of legal process."
Court records show a judge ruled in the HOA's favor after Pang failed to attend
court hearings and mediations, resulting in a contempt of court order alleging
Pang failed to fill out a required fact sheet.
Not an isolated case
This case follows another HOA arrest that gained national attention in July when
Riverview woman Irena Green was arrested after missing a court hearing to prove
she replaced dead grass in her front yard.
"I sat in there for seven days. Seven days in the jailhouse. Like a criminal,"
Green said.
Stetson Law School Professor Paul Boudreaux said contempt orders are not common
in civil cases.
"One hears about it in like child support cases, pretty rare in other kinds of
civil cases," Boudreaux said. "It is pretty extreme. It certainly is."
When asked about the arrest warrant for Pang, neighbor Lavelle said she would
support legal action.
"I'm not a judge or anything, but I would be in agreement with any legal entity
that thought someone should be arrested," Lavelle said.
Property deteriorating without an owner
When Pang learned deputies showed up to arrest her, she left her home.
"I was homeless. For several months," Pang said through tears. "I cannot [go
back]. I'm really scared."
In the meantime, issues with her house are getting worse. The pool has turned
green and swamp-like without power or maintenance.
"It's because no power, no one lives there. And I have run out of the money to
take care of that," Pang said.
The Northwood HOA's attorney declined to be interviewed.
Court records show Pang can make the arrest warrant go away if she fills out and
returns the fact information sheet.
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