Homeowner says HOA took down her political sign | News - Home
A Colorado Springs resident says a member of her homeowners association took down a political sign she made because of the sign's political affiliation.
Dianne Soto made a sign supporting President Barack Obama. She said it has either been taken down, or attempted to be taken down several times. One of the people she saw tearing down the sign told her he was a board member of her HOA.
"He said that he was from Warren Management, which is our property management company for the HOA, and that he was within his rights to take it down," Soto said.
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Yet another election season political sign set to in Privatopia. Film at 10.
3 comments:
Professor,
You may want to have this homeowner look at Colorado law on this subject. I believe barring of political signs, in by HOA's, etc., in CO was prohibited.
Entire blog and posts:
http://forum.freeadvice.com/us-supreme-court-constitution-25/hoa-political-presidential-sign-434780.html
"Six states (Washington, California, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, North Carolina) have passed legislation protecting homeowners from HOA regulations that completely prohibit the display of political yard and window signs, and other states have introduced similar legislation. Although the First Amendment generally protects people from only government interference with speech, and there is a distinction made between state law, municipal ordinances and association covenants, a Homeowners Association Board can only make rules that are reasonable as to time, place and manner, and cannot prohibit free expression entirely.
In Washington State, the conclusion was drawn that the state has a legitimate purpose in protecting the free speech rights of all of its citizens. A contract, the State Senate Bill report said, may not be unconstitutional if it is "reasonable and necessary to achieve a legitimate public purpose advanced by the law."
In 1943, Justice Robert Jackson wrote the opinion for the court in West Virginia Board of Education v Barnette, U.S. 624: "The very purpose of the Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty and property, free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote, they depend on the outcome of no elections."
Also, a correction to racer's comment that Florida law only addresses HOAs in 720.304. Florida's Title XL Chapter 720 on Homeowners' Associations discusses the limits placed on an HOA in enforcing violations of rules and regulations - including limiting the amount of fines to $100 per violation and/or $1000 total, and the fines cannot become a lien on the property. Especially pertinent, however, is 720.304 (4)(a)(b)(c).
Last edited by quincy; 10-23-2008 at 02:42 PM.
If she doesn't like it, she's free to move elsewhere.
In "The Dysfunctional HOA of the USA" (February 23, 2012), a libertarian writing under the nom de plume Mencken's Ghost wrote that
HOAs should be libertarian paradises...
HOAs are based on the libertarian principle of voluntary
association. People move to HOAs voluntarily and with full
knowledge of the rules and regulations. In that sense, they are
similar to legal immigrants who move to the USA....
Unfortunately, this libertarian paradise is under constant attack.
First, amazingly, numbskulls move to the HOA and immediately
begin to violate the rules and regulations that they knew
beforehand and that made the community a desirable place to
move to in the first place....
And then these numbskulls like Dianne Soto go whining to the media because they think the rules shouldn't apply to them.
Besides, look at the picture in the story. A large sign held up by several rolls of duct tape is sure to damage her neighbors' property values. But instead of thinking about the larger community in which she lives, Soto is only concerned about her self and her property rights.
If this selfish 0bama voter wants to make her property look like trash, she should move into a trailer park, so the rest of us can enjoy our HOA-protected homes.
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