Article Courtesy of the The NEWS-JOURNALONLINE

By CINDY F. CRAWFORD
Published October 14, 2005

PORT ORANGE -- After months of battling a homeowners association over roof shingles of the wrong color, Joanne and Ken Robinson have decided to conform to the status quo.

Instead of going to court to keep their eight-month-old $11,000 beige roof, the Robinsons have taken a local roofing company's offer to replace it with institutional black shingles -- for free -- so they can comply with Waters Edge Homeowners Association's limited roof color rules.

"It's such a waste of materials," said Ken Robinson, who chose beige tiles because the roofing company didn't have any other color in stock and he needed to repair hurricane damage on the inside of his home.

R.J. Group roofers contacted the Robinsons in August after reading an article about their plight in The News-Journal. The company, which installed many roofs in Waters Edge as a contractor for ICI Homes, found suppliers to donate the shingles and offered to install them.

"We know they live on a fixed income and we felt it was the right thing to do," said Rick Johnson, owner of R.J. Group.

Since this summer, the Robinsons thought they were headed to court over their beige roof. In July, the retired couple received a letter from the homeowners association, threatening to sue if they didn't change roof colors.

They hired an attorney to fight it.

Meanwhile, dozens of neighbors circulated a petition urging the association to bend the rules for the struggling family.

Ken Robinson said he feels badly about throwing in the towel without a fight, but he also didn't want to spend the couple's savings on attorney fees. They already spent thousands repairing their water-damaged Florida room and replacing the carpet that grew mold after last year's hurricanes.