Posted on 12/23/2017 9:15:51 AM PST by markomalley
A Pennsylvania couple was instructed to take down a Christmas display featuring a “Jesus” sign because it was reportedly “offensive” to their neighbors.
Mark and Lynn Wivell put some Christmas decorations in their front yard on Dec. 16. The centerpiece of their display was a sign with the name of Jesus Christ.
The couple was dumbfounded when they received an email from their homeowners association days after putting up the decorations asking them to remove the display. One neighbor even called it offensive.
“We know that Christmas was about the birth of Jesus,” Wivell said. “I was quite shocked it offended somebody, but I guess in today’s world I shouldn’t have been.”
The homeowners association said that it is not the content of the sign, but rather that the Wivell’s decorations were not in accordance to the association’s rules.
The Wivells have not been formally penalized for the sign, and they plan to keep it up through Jan. 15.
WATCH:
(video at link)
“There are still zoning and sanitation laws. This example is ridiculous.”
And of course those zoning and sanitation laws prevented the ‘rediculous’ example that is in the photo ...
I tried. The four pit-bulls chased me out.
“If you own property your neighbors have no right to tell you what you may do with it.”
I own fee title to my suburban three BR ranch.
By your lights, it’s OK for me to run a crackhouse out of it? Or store junk cars in the front yard? Take target practice in the backyard with my 7.62? Cool!
homeowners associations are like HOV lanes...totally unconstitutional....people should wake up.
Never live where there is a homeowners assoc. They are a haven for little Hitlers. One of the worst fascisms in America is a group of homeowners worried about their property values.
“homeowners associations are like HOV lanes...totally unconstitutional....people should wake up.”
And how are they unconstitutional?
HOA’s are run by the busiest busybodies in the development and backed by their cronies.
Most folks are happy to let the little Nazis run it - until their ox gets gored.
I don’t find that offensive.
It would make a difference if it’s a community with civic codes against signs in front yards. We may not like the laws of our community, but as Christians we should observe them.
Nothing says hypocrite like claiming to be a Christian and refusing to obey civil codes.
“Another good reason not to live somewhere that has a Home owners assn.”
Unless you are like me. I prefer my neighborhood to be free of basketball hoops on the street, cars up on blocks, purple houses and dead or overgrown lawns.
“HOA’s are run by the busiest busybodies in the development and backed by their cronies.”
Not ours. Nor the one from which I moved.
Both are considered one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the counties they are located in.
“Unless you are like me. I prefer my neighborhood to be free of basketball hoops on the street, cars up on blocks, purple houses and dead or overgrown lawns.”
These threads bring out the anti-HOA crazies. Where do they come from?
Well, happy for you.
They would be well advised to contact a Christian defense legal group, so they could act quickly in case they are hit with a big fine or an HOA lawsuit. This could slash a year long fight into just a few days.
It would also be good to try and find out who filed the complaint in the first place, though this is typically not easy, in case they want to give you grief in the future. You don’t want to confront them, you just want to know that they harbor ill feelings towards you, so not to trust them.
Vat is zis sign doing here?!
Or if you live where there is none, to work to prevent one from being put into place. Where I live is becoming a bedroom community for Tacoma, WA, and mostly rural. The "street" is graded gravel, and "maintained" by the property owners fronting it. One dude (owns a large acreage plot) wanted to officially establish an HOA, and gathered a group to establish an official HOA.
I pointed out that if all we want/need is a road maintenance result, we can simply set up a contract among ourselves that doesn't include all the legal baggage that comes with a "county-recognized" HOA. Fortunately, I prevailed, and no HOA resulted. Unfortunately, neither did a road maintenance agreement (which I would have welcomed and contributed to). Apparently the other neighbors wanted more regulation even less than I did.
The last HOA community I lived in was run by a lawyer hired by the board. It was a nightmare! The HOA board signed over full authority to the lawyer on any decisions regarding the community for 5 years. The HOA fees almost doubled within a year and the lawyer signed contracts with certain contractors who were the only companies authorized to do any work on any home. We moved.
I HATE homeowners associations. They’re nothing but glorified extortion rackets.
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