Cornelius veteran fighting HOA to keep flying American, Marine flag

[28173]

Originally Posted by amploud

That's easy to say, but difficult to accomplish. It's not like there's much of a choice in many areas. In many areas in the US, 90%+ of all new and recently built homes are built in HOA-controlled communities. The "pickins" get "slim" very quickly if a buyer isn't open to an HOA. My wife and I spent 2 years looking before we purchased a home!

We live in one of the few neighborhoods in the Lake Norman area that doesn't have an HOA, and it has been great! All the homes have been well-maintained since we've lived there with the exception of 2 homes while they were going through foreclosure. After the new owners moved in, the homes are back to looking great! We've had far fewer problems/issues with neighbors in this neighborhood than we did in our previous KGB-styled HOA controlled neighborhood.

ha, ha...I guess we are among the 90% who love to live under the "boot of KGB" in a HOA environment.

We'd hate to live among neighbors with awful "house decoration" taste, or even worst: sloppy, messy home run "businesses", aka junk backyard.
I for one don't miss the pink flamingoes and garden gnomes that goes along with falling apart bright color sheds larger than the house....

In a non-HOA neighborhood, even if your street looks great now, there is nothing stoping a "visionary" from purchasing the house next to you in the near future. And there will be nothing you can do!
No mater if your house is top shape, its market value will be drastically reduced once the new person starts to "decorate".

[bs13690]

Originally Posted by 28173

ha, ha...I guess we are among the 90% who love to live under the "boot of KGB" in a HOA environment.

We'd hate to live among neighbors with awful "house decoration" taste, or even worst: sloppy, messy home run "businesses", aka junk backyard.
I for one don't miss the pink flamingoes and garden gnomes that goes along with falling apart bright color sheds larger than the house....

In a non-HOA neighborhood, even if your street looks great now, there is nothing stoping a "visionary" from purchasing the house next to you in the near future. And there will be nothing you can do!
No mater if your house is top shape, its market value will be drastically reduced once the new person starts to "decorate".

That's one side of it, the other side is that my co-worker had to shell out a bunch of money because the HOA decided everyone should have a certain type of shutter. I live in a voluntary HOA neighborhood and while it would be nice to get the "witch house" in the development to mow their yard, for God's sake, I am glad I don't have a bunch of regulations.

[Feltdesigner]

I don't live in a HOA and our houses are interesting. There are 1 or 2 less then stellar yards but 95% of the homes on the block are respectable.

My wife knows a friend who was threatened/sued by their HOA in Mint Hill over something juvenile.

[GCharlotte]

Originally Posted by kby1108

To my point, they did

HOA lawyer says veteran will be able to fly both flags | www.wsoctv.com

The HOA violation process is typically 1. homeowner A complains about homeowner B 2. property company sends letter to homeowner B 3. homeowner B either fixes or appeals 4. appeal goes to Board 5. Board comprised of homeowners makes decision about waiver. The HOA board doesnt patrol the neighborhood looking for violations, althought thats not totally unheard of... so yes, one of his neighbors singled him out and complained. CCRs are usually subject to interpretation - what's a flag? is it the ones people wrap on their mailbox? is it one of those little stake garden flags, is it a flag on a pole, or a flag on a stick stuck to the side of the house, or all of the above? Can you have only one of the above or does it depend on how big it is?

Who's the bonehead now? As far as patrols go, management companies do this all the time. The untrained (previously) managers for my neighborhood didn't know squat about anything including CCRs so they would threaten to fine people for non-violations anytime the manager switched. It seems better with the HOA having Facebook and e-mail so there's more communication though it's mostly about cats.

As far as what a flag is, I went through several (there are dozens) of the CCRs for Oakhurst and couldn't find flags mentioned at all. I didn't go through all of them but I'm guessing there never was a violation. Why? Because the HOA MUST enforce the rules equally and Tim Sellers was the lawyer quoted in the article you linked to. Tim wrote NCGS 47E and he would not say it was OK unless it was legal under the CCRs.

The only thing I saw was "outdoor ornamentation" but I don't know if that was what they were trying to nail him on or if there is a CCR I didn't see that forbid flags specifically.

My guess is the HOA got some bad advise from a management company and was straightened out by the lawfirm.

[GCharlotte]

Originally Posted by saralee

Thanks for the update. Looks like he won. But did the HOA do anything wrong by seeking to enforce its rules? How many other rules will the HOA be forced to bend due to public outcry? Who gets to decide which rules are worthy of bending?

I still maintain if you don't want to follow the rules set forth by an HOA, then don't move into an HOA community.

There's no way a Sellers/Hinshaw represented HOA would bend the rules. If rules were bent and then someone else got fined for something else they'd have grounds to sue.

It's not up to the HOA to decide which rules to enforce.

[ADA_NC]

He should be allowed to fly what he likes as long as he is following the rules...

But most of the times.. HOA folks don't themselves understand legal language from rule book, so they keep sending stupid warning notices..