HOA Wants Vet To Remove Decals From Vehicle
by Big Dog on May 29, 2009 at 18:48 Political
A Homeowner’s Association in Dallas wants a Marine veteran to remove the Marine Corps stickers from his vehicle. They claim the stickers are advertisements and therefore violate the Association by-laws.
This is a ridiculous claim. The stickers are signs of pride in his service, a service that resulted in injury. He fought for the right to display the stickers and they should be allowed just as any political sticker should. I wonder if Obama bumper stickers have to come off because they are advertisements for The Won?
Fortunately for Marine Frank Larison, many of his neighbors are on his side.
Source:
My Fox Houston
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Tags: dallas, free speech, homeowner's association, marine, sticker
I loathe Homeowners associations and would never join one. However, they are voluntary (live somewhere else) and when people sign up they are agreeing to a contract which to some degree waves their rights. Private club, freedom of assembly.
If this fellow has many neighbors on his side, then he shouldn’t have to much trouble having this stupid rule changed or it’s stupid interpretation clarified so he can keep his sticker.
Let’s hope not, but there are many of our dumbest citizens, and they serve on the POAs- power corrupts, right?
“power corrupts”
DAR
Yes it does. But POA’s are voluntary and usually powered by the members no?
This is a well known quote but lessor known is the complete quote, which I like better:
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That unalterable rule applies both to God and man.”
[Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, April 5,1887]
I think he was getting a dig in at the Hebrew Scriptures.
Poas are not voluntary, but enacted first by the home builder(s) ostensibly to maintain the median sale price of homes in a neighborhood- Voluntary in the sense that you do not have to buy a house there, but mandatory if you do. While POAs can be benign, they can also be predatory, putting liens on your home for missed dues, etc.
They all depend on leadership.
Remind you of anyone?
Barama?
Barama?
Most new communities (and decent homes) have some sort of HOA for various reasons (to grab more of my money if you ask me). The problem here is the interpretation of the rules governing the display of an “advertisement.” How is it defined in the bylaws? Is the definition inferred are specifically spelled out somewhere in the document? If it is not specifically defined in the document then it is up for interpretation and I think a “reasonable” person (a court’s general use for interpretation of bylaws) would not support that a Marines sticker is advertising anything but pride in their service. If it is a recruitment sticker PERHAPS an argument can be lamely generated. But failing that I don’t see how they can force the removal of this sticker unless they further remove all “go green” stickers or “country club” identification stickers or, yes, political stickers. If you sell Avon or Mary Kay, those would certainly be a problem as well. I think this is a slippery slope and this HOA full of idiots if they think this is a responsible use of the community’s money.
HOA’s should be outlawed or their abilities should be limited. I still get pissed when I think of the vet who was pressured by his HOA to take down his American flag.
Unfortunately, there are many petty people in this world, and I think they all want to be on an HOA, or POA. Some of these people would go into politics if they were not so odious, because they, like many in politics today, believe they know what is best for you.
True, some in these orgs. do sincerely want to help their neighborhood, but for others, its about the petty power.
Quiet hours, the height of your grass, and whether or not Girl Scouts can come knocking on their doors should be the extent of an HOA or POA. The first is common curtosey, the second should be the pride someone takes in what they spend the bulk of their income on, and the third should be a personal choice. I remember very distinctly seeing “No Solicitaion” signs on doors when I was a GS so I would just skip those houses which isn’t really all that hard. But no one is going to tell me what I can have in my yard (a flag) or on my car (I proudly sport a yellow ribbon, a USAF decal, and a Miami U decal while my husband has his University of Alabama elephant). People in that HOA would have a heart attack if they came over here to see how proud military members are of their service, as they should be.