If you’re considering adding a splash of color to brighten up your drab home décor, you normally don’t bother consulting with your neighbors first. Unless, of course, you belong to one of those pesky homeowners’ associations that likes to tell you what you can and cannot do to your own property.  For some, the urge to become masters of their own domain might be undeniable. Those homeowners might decide to make small modifications to their property in hopes that no one will notice. After all, isn’t it easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission? That might have been a big mistake for a Naples, Fla. man who went a little overboard with his choice of artistic enhancements.

Jeffrey Leibman covered his once-beautiful $500,000 Il Regalo community home with what can only be described as a technicolor yawn of the brightest psychedelic mixture.

The “artist” spent several days splattering every inch of his home with colorful paint, including the roof, the lawn, the trees, and his van, which received four different colored wheels. Not even his mailbox went unscathed, as it sported a splash of pink, orange and blue!

Not surprisingly, Leibman’s neighbors are less than thrilled.

“The guy wanted to take something out on the home instead of getting help. I don’t get it. I don’t get it at all why someone would go to this extreme.”

Indeed, to call the property an eyesore would be an insult to eyesores everywhere. The damage is estimated to be into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s quite the extreme makeover.

But why did he do it? What was he thinking? Neighbors were drawing their own conclusions. We may have to wait a little while to find out. Liebman is already facing drug charges, including smuggling contraband into a detention facility. Coincidence?

“I can’t believe it. I absolutely can’t believe someone would do something like this. I haven’t seen the inside yet!’ said Alan Klawans to NBC 2. ‘Obviously he has a drug issue or something going on. I’ve just never seen anything like this in my life.”

Thankfully not many of us have.

The 30 foot tall palm tree in front of the house is now painted blue, pink and yellow.

The homeowners’ association is suing Liebman for trashing the home, but the city says there is nothing they can do as he is not currently living there. The local housing code enforcement division is investigating, and said that violations have been found, but they will not be taking any action at this time. 

Neighbors are seeing red. This chaos took days to complete. It’s unclear what role the homeowners’ association played while Leibman was experiencing his creative outburst. Typically an HOA (homeowners’ association) makes and enforces rules for their properties and their residents and would become involved prior to the completion of the upgrades. The purpose of these rules is to protect the value of the property for all homeowners. They are self-governed bodies, meaning that residents who live in the area are the ones who comprise the board.

The rules imposed by an HOA can be very strict, including restrictions on the types of fences, landscape, and color of homes. Clearly, in the case of the Il Regalo community, the HOA did not approve these changes. Why, then, was Liebman able to complete his masterpiece over the course of nearly a week? 

This, and other questions, remain unanswered.

For now, it looks like the neighbors are going to be treated to the cartoonish disaster until this mess can be straightened out. 

Liebman is due back in court February 25, 2020 to face charges.