Jupiter homeowner faces foreclosure for flying U.S. flag

Defiant flag flier George Andres once again is facing the prospect of losing his Jupiter home after a Palm Beach County judge ruled Wednesday that his homeowners association could go forward with a foreclosure sale next month to collect legal fees.

Andres, a Marine veteran, said he was worried about losing his home, but he vowed to appeal the latest ruling in a legal saga that has spanned more than two years.

I think the problem here isn't so much that they are trying to foreclose on the man's home. I think they are trying to impose restrictions they can't impose in the first place. What's more is even if Hannity and the rest of us chip in and save the guy's home, then what? It starts all over again! They will go after him again for the flag pole because he won't take it down (and I wouldn't either, I'd burn the home down before I'd let them take the flag myself!)

Point is, that saving the man's home IS a priority, but the very next thing is to go after these leftist bastards that started this in the first place. Hurt them financially. Sue them for voilation of civil rights, freedom of speech, etc. If jack asses can burn the flag (like they did here in Colorado this past week) and probably get away with it, then by God that Marine has a RIGHT to FLY the United States Flag whereever and WHENEVER he wants! (I sure am glad this isn't happening in Colorado, I'd be standing in front of the Home Owners ASSociation leader's home burning copies of the contracts. lol)

I was in a similar situation, in an impossible condo complex where the Board broke every rule and the DBPR wouldn't do anything and neither would the Board of Compliance (although at least they believed me).

The last straw was when they painted the bldgs a horrid color and it literally looked like a giant crypt. I put my place up for sale the next day and found a wonderful new place.

If George is uncomfortable living there when this is all said and done and he could sell his place for a profit, there must be a better place he could live where common decency reigns.

Hannity was talking about George again today. I'm much happier since I left and the folks back at the old place, who socked it to me are in really big trouble. I can't go into detail but Boards and LCAMs and even their so-called expert attorneys, don't know jack about Federal Law.

Why someone would choose to subjugate themselves to even more authority with one of these groups I'll never know.

In California, a good homeowners association is practically mandatory. Why? Because they can pass rules that governments can't...like one family per house. We've had a recent phenomenon out here where Jose Farmworker will buy a house, and then move in 40 of his closest relatives in order to afford the house payment. This typically means 15 screaming kids keeping the neighbors awake at night, 10 cars parked in the street and lawn (usually 1 or two on blocks), a house that quickly looks like something out of a Tijuana slum, and the occasional live chicken.

The only way to avoid this is to A) buy in neighborhoods so expensive that the farmworkers could never afford to buy in. Or B) buy in a less expensive neighborhood with a HOA that restricts those things. My home is currently up for sale (buying up), but I live in a neighborhood with a HOA run by intelligent, normal fellow homeowners. We restrict the number of cars you can have (you can only have one parked outside at night...since we have three car garages, each house is effectively limited to four cars), the number of people you can have (four per bedroom), prohibit any outdoor animals other than dogs and cats, and require that everyone keep their home in a condition "comparable" to the rest of the neighborhood (that means: mow your lawn, trim your bushes, fix any seriously chipped paint, and no neon green paintjobs).

The trick to having a good HOA is participation...you need to participate and you need to convince your neighbors to participate. Our HOA doesn't have a "president", it has a governing board elected once a year with a two consecutive-term limit (based on the address in order to keep a single household from hanging onto a seat). We also have a "no-confidence" provision that will allow the residents to disband the board with a 2/3rds vote and hold new elections. All of this works to keep our board honest, and keeps the power mad ninnies from damaging the neighborhood.

Oh, and nearly everyone in our neighborhood flies the flag, and several have poles. There was a provision in the original HOA rules (drafted by the builder) that prohibited flag flying, but we scrapped it in our first meeting after taking the HOA over.

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