The first thing I would have done was file a complaint against the HOA attorneys license. Letters of legal intimidation and demand, and threatening with the law from an Lawyer can get them censured or disbarred. Yes, this can happen: there are two Lawyers in this world that are no longer permitted to practice law in the US - Ever, I am not an attorney, but I would have sent him a outline and copies of the evidence and then accuse him of filing a "frivolous law suit". That would be the first complaint if it went to court. HOA's are not all powerful and we have a local case that is similar. Those involved did jail time for mis-appropriation and misuse of HOA funds. There homes were seized and foreclosed on to compensate and pay for legal fees of those damaged.

This is the reason that when we moved into our current neighborhood, I ensured that they did NOT have a covenant.

There is something I learned after becoming a father. I don't know if many others have felt this. And, my experience was heavily impacted by having a disabled child. But, once you become a caring parent the system tries to get its hooks into you. From harassment from HOAs to threats of jail time. I could elaborate but I don't have the room here. But...it reminds me of the "white blackmail" in Atlas Shrugged. They will take what is most precious to you and threaten you with it. "We'll put you in jail and take your kids..." All for some f*&ing purple paint on a swing set. I'm saddened to say I'm not surprised by this one bit. There have been times in my life as a father when it was a good thing that I'm a large, somewhat physically imposing person, as I've had to really stand my ground against school bureaucrats, doctors, etc. I swear - once you have kids it's like the chicken-necked bureaucrats smell blood.

the funny thing is they were vindicated by the main board and the action is coming from a sub-committee. I think all that needed to happen was to pesent to the sub-committee the finding of the board. As well, the covenants are vague. Brightly colored swing sets are allowed by other homeowners, why this swing set? why now?

I intended to point to HOA covenants. People buy houses and never pay attention to these and then complain. However, this is apparently a different matter, entirely. It is a microcosm of "the fourth branch of government."

From the Yahoo Homes article: "We know now that it was reported by our codes enforcer, a guy who is not a resident and is a paid employee of the association. He brought it to the attention of the office manager, another nonresident paid employee, and it spiraled from there."

Another way to see it is in the conflict between a corporations's stockholders and the managers (who are employees). That was the origin of the leveraged buy-outs of the "junk bond era" when owners took back their companies. (It saved Disney from another remake of The Apple Dumpling Gang by launching Splash instead.) The HOA must have elections of its own: the boards must in some way represent the property owners.

In point of fact:
"Board of Directors
The Raintree Lake Property Owners Association is managed by a nine-member Board of Directors that governs and oversees the operations of Raintree Lake by enforcing the covenants and policies of the Association. The board is elected by the membership each year on the last Thursday of March. Each director is elected to a two-year term, while officers are elected to one-year terms. The terms are staggered so that either four or five directors are elected annually."
Far more than you care about here -- http://rlpoa.com/about/board-of-direc...

And it is a problem with "managed" anything, but homes in particular. Years ago, in Lansing, Michigan, my first wife and I lived in a large apartment complex where the managers and maintenance did, indeed, live there. But I have not experienced that since. When I moved to Austin in 2011, the complex of 285 units had about 1000 residents, but no managers on site. The office closed at 6:00 PM (sometimes 5:00 if they wanted to go home). Anything after hours went to an answering service that forwarded a message to someone. I rented a car, brought it home after 6:00, and it was towed that night for lack of a hang-tag. Getting it back cost $220, plus I still needed to get my wife to the airport, another $50 cab ride.