Posted on 05/27/2008 6:54:11 AM PDT by peggybac
CLERMONT, Fla. -- A Central Florida war veteran faces a lawsuit for flying the American flag in his front yard.
"I don't understand why it would bring down the values of our homes by flying the American flag from a pole in my front yard," homeowner Jimmie Watkins said.
Watkins and his wife, Ria, received a final notices from the Sussex homeowners' association in Clermont that they must remove the flag or else face legal action.
The former retired U.S. Navy communications officer said he refuses to back down for the American flag.
"Our people are serving today to give us freedom," Watkins said. "To do as we like here within the law of America. It is my right to fly my flag from my pole and until a court of law tells me to haul that down. I will not haul it down. I think about all of the people who have served our nation and all of the lives that it's costs and all of the friends that I've lost."
Local 6 reported that all surrounding subdivisions in Kings Ridge allow a flag pole display in a person's front yard.
Jim Hart, who handles property management for 1,500 properties, including Sussex, said it is the association's call and not his.
"Each sub-association has its own set of documents and they can differ," Hart said. "The rationale for that only exists within the minds of the folks that are doing it. I can't sit here and tell you why."
The homeowner's association is not commenting about their rules. But state law said anyone can display a flag in a "respectful manner" as long as it is removable, Local 6 reported.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
These Florida Homeowner’s associations are NAZI-LIKE!
Why anyone would want to live in these petty little dictatorships is beyond me...
Bring It On!
HOAs another layer of government.
Thats what happens when you live in an association.
He needs to run for the board and change the rules.
Having said that - do not take down the flag make then take you to court.
What has Happened to Florida?
Did he understand what it meant when he joined a "home owner's association"?
Not defending the anti-American group, just questioning anybody's sanity who is willing to sign away his freedom by joining a "home owners assocation".
Often times it is not a matter of choice, other than at the time of purchasing the home. The HOA is rarely considered when purchasing a home and yet controls virtually all aspects of external appearance.
“Why anyone would want to live in these petty little dictatorships is beyond me...”
Because the other choices are extremely limited. Almost all new houses are built by developers in deed restricted communities. Older houses don’t meet hurricane codes and generally haven’t aged well.
In parts of Florida it can be tough getting a building permit for a custom home because the developers control the building commissions.
Outrageous...are there no retired Floridian lawyers who can fight this????
‘Did he understand what it meant when he joined a “home owner’s association”?”
Maybe and maybe not. People from out of state usually have no idea and builders rarely comply with the law to provide full disclosure.
Liberals created hellholes in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and other places; then fled south. It takes a special kind of denial for these transplants to not realize they they were the problem.
Bottom line is the restaurant owner won. The day after the victory he put out another 100 or so Flamingos, and had the newspapers and TV there and also a gazillion people came by to see what the fuss was all about. The publicity was priceless and liberal heads exploded.
It was indeed a thing of beauty to witness.
If you move into a community that has one you haven’t any choice.
I have just one question:
“What this association rule in effect prior to his buying the house?”
One of the things that flag stands for is the right to put rules on your own private property, which the guy he bought from did, in order to get a higher price.
This moron needs to shut up, and follow the rules he agreed to.
Homeowners pay up to several thousand dollars a year in property taxes. They should legally be able to fly a USA flag in their yard anytime within reasonable guidelines. If I had to move it would be to a location without a HOA with their fee extortions and dictatorship mentalities.
Four years ago we built in a small sub (6 lots) with an HOA dominated by the developer.
Once the last parcel was sold, we threw the developer out and along with two others, broke the association by refusing to attend meetings: the bylaws requiring at least 4 out of the 6 being in attendance to have a quorum.
i live in florida and have almost all my life....florida has been infiltrated by the retirees from the northeast....need i say more.....
The Constitution trumps ALL Civil Law. Any Civil Law that violates the Constitution is non-enforceable.
go retired vet...hold your ground......!!!!
ALL HOA’s are Nazi-like.
You can do better than that. :-)
Didn’t we see a case like this a couple of years ago. I though the feds passed a law that said you could fly a flag.
Da*nYankee liberals moved there -- after they screwed up the Northeast...
The HOA is nothing more than a mafia group.
That was my point.
Fight it, fight it, fight it. Stay on it. Keep it in the public eye and forefront. Don’t back down. If you are legal within the rules...then stand tall and fight it.
But what if you are in fact the moron and need to shut-up? Last time I checked state law trumps an HOA rule, moronsky.
State and Federal Law trump HOA rules. Many older HOA rules forbid sales of the home to persons of non-white race, clearly in violation of Federal and State anti-discrimination laws. It doesn’t matter if the rules were written before the law was passed, these provisions are void.
If what is stated in the article is correct and the man is “respectfully” displaying the flag then it will be interesting to see if the HOA rules over-ride state law.
The display of the flag is not banned; it’s the flag pole. Federal law says you CAN display the American Flag, and this CANNOT be trumped by the HOA. End of discussion.....C
Old, old people, with nothing to do and no one to pay them any attention, will do anything, absolutely anything, just to make a nuisance of themselves.
No way of winning.Unless homeowners didn’t sign agreement(slim chance to none).
In some areas, there is nothing left but HOA’s. Often the facts aren’t disclosed (mine certainly weren’t!)then the HOA board arbitrarily does anything they wish. But no agency oversees these little tyrants or will act to control them.
Sussex homeowners’ association = commissar’s housing directorate.
Please somebody give those folks a life.
What an absolute waste of time for all concerned.
There such not be a restriction of any kind for flying the American Flag.
The association should “allow” American flags on Memorial day, Flag day and Independence day.
“He needs to run for the board and change the rules.
Having said that - do not take down the flag make then take you to court.”
Yes, that’s what we thought. So the Board changed the election rules. They won’t allow any statements on policy or anything regarding the HOA in an election. They just don’t have to follow the law, so they don’t.
This is the board statement: “Biographical statements may not advocate any particular position on any issue, nor can they contain campaign statements. The Association shall not edit or redact any Biographical statement content but will REJECT those statements that contain prohibited items”
And what the law says:
(1) Ensure that any candidate or member advocating a point of view is provided access to association media, newsletters, or Internet Web sites during a campaign, for purposes that are reasonably related to that election. Equal access shall be provided to all candidates and members advocating a point of view, including those not endorsed by the board, for purposes that are reasonably related to the election. The association shall not edit or redact any content from these communications, but may include a statement specifying that the candidate or member, and not the association, is responsible for that content.
We moved into a neighborhood that called the city code enforcement officer on us because while we were moving, we left boxes on our front porch for a few nights. Needless to say, we won’t be joining the neighborhood association.
Somebody needs a bigger flag
I pledge allegiance to the HOA
of city of Clermont of Florida,
and to the Fascism for which it stands:
one HOA under thumbs, monthly fundable,
with no-Liberty and Law Suits for all.
Oh, I will be. Best to slowly poke the finger in the eye ever harder each time than to just jab it in there all at once.
There are several of us, including members of the board (of which I am not) who are laying the groundwork for "Operation Bite Me" to really cheese off the management company, HOA board members, and pain in the ass neighbors with nothing better to do than seek out CC&R violations.
I don’t think those are HOA rules, but deed restrictions put in place by the owner way back when.
However in that process I learned that the past few house the builder had finished had several city code and CC&R infractions. Also most of my neighbors had violations as well. At this time I am trying to get an HOA formed for the expressed purpose of lifting the deed restrictions and then dissolving.
It’s interesting how some HOAs are so strict and some are not. I live in a very sought out subdivision and some of the lawns and homes look like crap. My neighbor hasn’t cut her back lawn (hidden by a 6’ wooden fence) but I’m noticing critters in my yard then running back over to hers when my dogs come out. There’s no telling what is living in that back yard. I’ve already found a dead mouse on my lawn and I cut it regularly.
The construction of the utilities owned by the MUD was financed by bonds, whose method of retirment is through a slice of the taxes paid by property owners.
Often, particularly when there's no effective HOA, the MUD has the right (according to Texas law, anyway) to enforce deed restrictions, on the theory that declining standards in the neighborhood leads to a decline in property values, which leads to a decline in tax revenues, which leads to an increase in the risk of the MUD being unable to service its bonds.
That's the theory, anyway. The practical problem, of course, is how, and how broadly/narrowly/stringently the restrictive covenants get interpreted and enforced.
The case at hand seems like OZ (overzealousness) on the part of some HOA rules enforcer. Did the restrictive covenant really mention the flying of flags and place restrictions thereon? Was the flag-flyer putting up a thousand-square-foot flag? (I confess in advance to having only skimmed the OP <}B^)
You might be right. I can’t remember.
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