Lesson to be learned: Never EVER buy into a community with a mandatory home-moaners’ association. Ever!!
They own rights your home - forever.
Easy to say. There are regions in which almost all the housing is part of an HOA. If you try to find one of the rare outlying areas that don't have an HOA, you'll find yourself living next door to people who are outcasts for a reason--the people with rusted-out trucks on blocks in the front yard, a disembowelled camper next to the house, goats chewing the vegetation, wormy coonhounds chained up on the porch, screams coming from the house, six squad cars pulling up whenever the neighbors have a "party", etc.
We have a great HOA. Flags are flown in many yards - one neighbor has 4, the American flag, Texas flag, Marine Corps flag and one from Notre Dame. We have nativity scenes and angels all over the place at Christmas and a huge celebration on 4th of July as well as other holidays. We certainly have had a number of complaints about nativity scenes but the Board’s position is that if you don’t like them, don’t put one in your yard.
There is simply no accounting for people’s taste and some kind of uniformity really is an advantage, particularly if you ever need to sell your home. But people should read the HOA rules before they move into a subdivision and also be willing to serve on the Board. I did and was simply amazed at some of the bizarre things people wanted to do.