Rose Cottage Ltd

We end this week with “Beware HOAs” (Home Owner’s Associations.)

++ Florida vet says ‘Bring it on,’ as he faces eviction over flower pot flag

“The fight started in 2011 and landed in court a year later where the two sides reached a settlement in which Murphree agreed to display his flag in compliance with association rules. But two weeks later, the board changed the rules, saying flags could only be displayed on a pole outside the garage and that flower pots were only for flowers.”

A good HOA is one that protects neighborhoods against residents who do things like leaving derelict cars on the street, painting their house lime green, and having loud parties with 100 guests on a quarter-acre lot every weekend. The goal SHOULD be that you paid good money for your house and you don’t want someone coming in and ruining YOUR property values because of their behavior.

The story above shows the dark side of HOAs – and this is certainly not the only example. In court, the HOA made an agreement with this homeowner about how and where he could display his US flag – and then they changed the rules – meaning going to court and agreeing to “terms” apparently meant nothing to them.

This is a small US flag the homeowner wants to display – in America – in his own yard, on his own property. So what does the “Association” now want to do? Foreclose on the man’s property because he’s not paying his “assessment” fees. Sounds good for them, but what he’s NOT paying are the fines the HOA is charging (illegally if you ask me) because he is abiding by the 2011 court ruling and they are not.

We, as American citizens are being bullied by HOAs, local, state, and federal governments, energy companies that want to frack or otherwise invade our property without our consent, and the really scary “eminent domain” crowd who will use old and or arbitrary ordinances to sometimes just take people’s property.

In the meantime, certain factions in the US Government have apparently been targeting people with certain political leanings or philosophies that don’t agree with the current regime, and then making sure they get audited by the IRS. Not only is this bullying, it’s illegal – as some are hopefully soon to find out.

It appears US citizens are going to have to become hyper vigilant about protecting our rights. We aren’t lawyers, and most of us can’t afford to hire one big enough to fight a HOA or the IRS. Courts are not just there to protect the rights of criminals – which it often seems is all they do. Courts are there to protect OUR rights as well. Know your rights and be prepared to defend them as this gentleman is doing or, we will continue to be stopped from enjoying the very properties we’ve worked so hard to obtain.