Never ever buy a home with a active home owners association.
You sign away your basic property rights the day you do.
I would have replied, “Sir, you have been misinformed. My home does not have debris.”
If they pushed it, I would fight them. To paraphrase Charlie Daniels who was talking about the stars and stripe but it still applies, ‘This ain’t no rag! It’s the flag! And it stands for the US of A!’
The Gadsden flag is tied to the American Revolution — not the Tea Party.
“the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona jumped in on Mr. McDonel’s side”
Well whadda ya know?
Home Owners Associations: the wrong way to go!
Tell them you’re an illegal alien - they’ll apologize and give you free stuff.
Wow, the ACLU is backing the guy! Good for them but I figure its the Blind Squirrel/Nut situation with them this time.
Did he read all the covenants and deed restrictions that were part of his “homeowners association” agreement that he signed when he closed on the purchase of his property?
While I can support this guy in terms of his sentiments, he may have signed-away some of his ability to do some things his way, on his own property, when he bought it.
I once bought a property north of Houston many years ago, in a five-year-old neighborhood. That purchase included a neighborhood “homeowners association” and a legal agreement to become part of that association, along with deed restrictions that governed the role of that association.
One thing we liked about the property was that in spite of the fact that it was in a “tract” neighborhood, the back of the lot bordered on a fifty acre parcel that had been purchased by a private outfit for a perpetual nature preserve - meaning it was also an undeveloped and tree covered space and always would be.
When we went to fence in our property we did not know we would have to go to court to build the fence we wanted and that when we did we would lose.
The homeowners association fence standards mandated that only one single type of fence was “legal” for any home in the development. That one type of fence was a six-foot high wooden “stake” fence. We wanted to use chain-link fencing across the back of the lot, to keep the open view of the nature preserve behind us. We lost.
I nearly ran into legal trouble when I removed two palm trees from the front of the house, because they would one day be twenty to thirty feet high and were planted no more than a couple feet from the front wall of the house. I had failed to ask anyone’s permission.
You are in a HOA and there is a reason certain people like being one. Community standards.
Would it be okay if your neighbor built a mini-mosque or minaret in his backyard, that towered over your fenceline?
Appreciate the emotion but take the flag off your roof.
Not until millions more Americans follow suit, will the message be understood.
Until them, he’s a domestic terrorist in this regime’s eye.
I proudly fly Old Glory, the Gadsden, the Bonnie Blue, and the Huntington.
We have no “homeowners association” in our neighborhood. We have instead, a neighborhood.
My neighbors have yet to say anything about my flags other than, “Where can I get one of those?”
Can I just say, “I love the South”.
I loathe my neighborhood’s community association (despite, or perhaps because, I used to serve on its board of directors). We are continually wrangling and disagreeing, mostly because they’re fascists and have no taste.
However, I have to point out that before you buy a house, there is more than ample opportunity to examine the neighborhood covenants. At settlement you have to sign paperwork saying that you have read the covenants and agree to obey them. No one is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to sign or to buy there, so it’s a little unfair when someone buys a house in a neighborhood with an active homeowners’ association and then decides the rules don’t apply to him because he’s different and special.
The way to handle a situation like this is to volunteer to work on the community association’s various committees. Get to know the board members, socialize with them, make friends. When you want some modification of the guidelines or covenants to accommodate your desires, it’s easier to get a change passed -before- you get into a legal battle.
And always remember, most of these organizations have a law firm on retainer. You don’t. They’re using your dues to fight you, and unless your last name is Buffett, they can spend more money on legal fees than you can. In my area, you’ll lose a legal fight like this because the judge will say, “Sir, you signed a document agreeing to adhere to these rules. This court considers your signature binding. Don’t sign things if you don’t mean them.”
In a case like this, the HOA may not actually mind the Gadsden flag, but they may be concerned that if they let this violation slide the next guy is going to want to put up a Soviet flag, and the guy next door to him is going to put up a black liberation flag, and the guy on the next street is going to put a big sign on his roof, etc. Legally, this is a legitimate point.