It is my understanding that an HOA can’t take the house, but they can prevent it from being sold/transferred to a new owner until the debt is settled. So, if this guy hasn’t paid his HOA fees, one it takes years to it to get to this stage and two he brought this upon himself for non-payment. Appears that it is not about the flag at all. If that were the case he could have switched it to a non American flag and then challenged them when and if they didn’t make him switch it.
He did pay his fees and can prove it. The HOA is applying his fees towards the fines they imposed for his alleged violations of HOA rules regarding the flag flying.
So it is kinda about the flag, but really about power. The HOA is trying to pull a fast one. If state law trumps HOA rules, then the fines are specious. Whoever runs the HOA just wants to force the guy out for challenging their authority. I suspect they are trying the unpaid fees ploy to distract voting HOA members because the only thing worse than a dictatorial HOA manager is a member who shirks the membership fees.