Property (mis)Management

In my housing area, the home-owners association is outsourced to a management company - let's call them "RM". 

I haven't had any prior dealings with them, so I can't really speak for their work, other than the lack of snow removal when it snows.  In that particular instance the city claimed that the HOA does that, and the HOA claims the city does that.  End result?  Snow remains on the street.

Alas, that's not my gripe.  My story begins with a bad tree-lawn.  The tree-lawn is the section of grass between the sidewalk and the street.

When my house was built, I ended up with a lot of large rocks and clay there, and that ultimately lead to the death of the grass and cost the life of a tree.

After a few months of wondering when I'd get a notice from the HOA for lack of upkeep (that's Section X, article 7, for those who care), I decided to fix the problem.

The dead tree was pulled out, the dead grass removed, and I went to town with the roto-tiller and removed thick layers of clay and many large rocks.

While my tree-lawn was in upheaval and dirt was spread all around, I got a notice saying that I have to fill out an ARC (Architectural Review Commitee) request for altering my landscaping.

Since they drive around once every two weeks, I figured that when I was done replacing the tree and grass, they'll see that I didn't ALTER the landscaping, I merely replaced dead vegetation.

A few weeks later I get another notice of violation, so I email RM via their webpage and explain that I am following Article X, Section 7 by removing dead vegetation and replacing it.

The answer a few days later says that I have to fill out an ARC request for landscaping modifications.

*sigh*

So I reply to the email and again I explain that I am complying with one rule which shouldn't mean that I am breaking another.

This email gets forwarded to Marla, the person who actually drives around the neighborhood and looks for violations. She calls me and tells me the same thing about the ARC form and I explain my case again.

She agrees that since I am not changing anything and merely replacing dead stuff, I am not violating any rules and she'll email me to confirm this and also close out the issue on their computers.

Two weeks go by and I get a $25 fine in the mail for the same issue!

On 7/28 at 15:30, I call their office and speak with I call up their office and speak with Craig. After explaining my situation, he tells me to hold off on any action and wait for Marla to call me back. She is the one who is dealing with this issue, so apparently I have to deal with her.

A couple of weeks go by and no phone call, and now I get a letter saying that I have a $50 fine!

I hang on the phone immediately and this time get Mike on the phone. I give him the cliff notes version and ask to get in touch with Marla. He tries to connect me but she's not in her office, so on my request he connects me to her voicemail.

I leave my name and number twice, then a very brief summary of my situation and ask her to please call me back.

A few days go by and I get a letter saying that due to late-fees and such, my fine is $110!!

Now I've sent another email to them explain all that I just wrote above and it's been three days with no reply.

At what point does it constitute harassment when a company levy fradulent fines and refuse to return calls or emails when they're put on the spot for it?

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