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December 4, 2005

I can do whatever I want!

A local HOA made the national news the other day when an owner received a letter telling him to take down a nativity scene in their front yard. What followed is predictable:

- An owner in an HOA put up a large, lit nativity scene in their front yard.
- Another owner complained and the manager sent a letter telling them to remove it, citing a rule prohbiting outdoor statues, art or lawn ornaments
- The owner said "No way" and complained and called the media
- The owner stated he never signed any documents about deed restrictions, so they obviuously didn't apply to him.
- The owner's church claimed religious persecution
- A local legal group that specializes in defending conservative Christian causes jumped in threatening all sorts of legal action.
- It made the front page of one of the major news dailies and was its lead editorial, and was written about by one of the leading national columnists in the other daily newspaper.
- The association, still developer-controlled, caved, stating that it has "misinterpreted the rule", that it only prohibited "permanent structures". The manager "fell on the sword".
- The owner and the media claim victory for religion and the American way of life.
- a local syndicated columnist, that I happen to like, wrote the following:

"But the story brings to light a larger issue about what rights neighbors have to dictate how you keep your property.

I am going to anger every homeowners association president here, but I have to say I never liked those things. To me, they often end up being run by people with too much time on their hands and too big a sense of their own power.

I am not against the idea of a neighborhood chipping in for, say, snow plowing or neighborhood watches or even a block party. It's when these groups turn into the Property Value Police that I get worried.

Because let's face it. When a neighbor complains about another neighbor's paint color or awnings or front-lawn display, it usually has to do with one thing: the value of his own home. Everyone is so crazed that his or her "property value" might go down. "You're affecting my property value!" We have come to view making a fortune off our real estate as some unalienable right.

Besides, what these worried homeowners associations often overlook is this: The neighbors paid for their house, too. They worked hard. They wrote the checks. And part of what they get for owning the house -- not leasing, not renting, but owning -- is the right to determine how it looks and how they want to live in it.

I'm not talking about running a crack house in a cul-de-sac. I'm not talking about leaving broken windows or burned-out porches.

But not liking a paint color or a building material or a religious symbol is your problem. Not theirs."

A few thoughts:

I hope that the developer likes running that association. I can't imagine any homeowner ever wanting to sit on that board, knowing that they will take it in the ear whenever an owner doesn't get whatever they want.

The media still doesn't understand what a community association is. They write about it as if it is some monolithic entity separate from the owners. The fact that it is the owners seems to always escape them, (as it often escapes many of the owners).

I think we need a national community association referendum on "hot-button" issues, i.e. patriotic, religious and political displays, (or whatever is hot in your area) and just come up with some basic policies that can be shared, like "Do whatever you want, we're getting tired of getting beaten up for doing what we were elected to do and what the law requires us to do - enforcement of the rules you agreed to." At this point I'm not really sure how facetious I'm being. I do know that I'm getting tired of reading the stories.

Posted by joewest at December 4, 2005 3:32 PM