July 16, 2025 | Mark Luis Foster

It’s a juicy one. And it certainly can be considered “all wet.” It’s definitely put the HOA neck deep in trouble.

Now comes more news in the continuing saga of the Arizona HOA resident who was handing out water from his driveway and was slapped with $650 in citations from his HOA for advertising said water. We blogged about it HERE.

Turns out he’s now raising $50k to pay for legal fees to sue the association. He’s making a splash.

The saga began in 2020, when Martin placed the cooler on his property to help passersby beat the heat, but his HOA said the ice chest violates bylaws about unsightly junk.

“There are kids, delivery drivers, people walking outside in the heat, and I want to do something to help them,” Martin told The Post. The citations began rolling in last summer, first for $25, then going up to $100 when Martin neither paid them nor moved the cooler.  Martin believes the cooler doesn’t break any rules. Plus, it provides an invaluable service in his neighborhood, which is currently roasting under 100+ degree daily highs, he said.

Legal fees are expected to be $50k, so the man has taken to selling t-shirts and other paraphernalia to raise the funds.

Martin can’t afford to pay lawyers out of pocket, but he has begun selling T-shirts, banking on his new virality, on the website for his custom sneaker business, Candy Man Kicks. The shirts say “Free. Cold. Water.” on the front with an image of a bottle on the back, and all proceeds will support his fight to keep the cooler in the driveway, he said.

A special HOA meeting was held on July 10 to settle the matter of removing three of the board members who were troublesome in the issue. Out of 210 ballots cast, 190 voted for the removal of the three members, with the board recognizing the supermajority vote.

There’s now a fight as to whether the vote was valid based on timeframes and a lack of a quorum. But no matter what, this is another example of HOAs not exactly living the dream.

Read the update HERE.