Vet to be fined for USMC Stickers?

[haldir]

This is why when I get Bill Gates Rich my property line will be 13 miles in every direction from my house...

Keep dreaming big fella, by the time you get that kind of money, BHO will have elminated all property right and confiscated all capital... gotta pay for all these programs you know.

 

[Smitty506th]

No BHO Thread Jacking Please

 

[jeremy]

Keep dreaming big fella, by the time you get that kind of money, BHO will have elminated all property right and confiscated all capital... gotta pay for all these programs you know.

There you go just got to kill my dreams! I am going to go sit in a corner and cry and suck on my thumb...

 

[Soundslikejosh]

I know vigilantism isn't a great way to deal with things, but I think it would be nice if the Pres. of the HOA woke up to find a USMC sticker right in the middle of his car's hood... and no tires.

IMO, as others have said, this boils down to whether or not the contract makes clear what the regulations about the bumper stickers are. It seems that they are misusing a rule by twisting the intent to fit their agenda. If the HOA clearly says "No bumper stickers" then Frank has no leg to stand on. However, I think they are interpreting "No advertising" to mean something completely different. Perhaps Frank has been a PITA? It seems like there is more to this story than meets the eye.

If the HOA is twisting the rules to screw with this guy, I'd think he stands a good chance to win a lawsuit. Of course this is expensive and ridiculous, but I wouldn't take the stickers down. That just gives them the power to continue "interpreting" the rules however they choose.

 

[IndyBeerman]

What really needs to be done is some former Marine's or service member's who are now lawyer's to step up and do some pro-bono work, politely stick it to the HOA President with a lawsuit.

 

[slacker]

Welcome to Home Owners Associations.
There own little Socialist Islands.
My biggest fear is this, maybe what our country is turning into...

*Cough* Southern California *Cough*

 

[DHolder]

Call me silly, but, if these people are that hell bent on rules, why aren't they pitching a fit about the ABUSE of the law of the land The Consitiution? Kinda makes ya wonder.

 

[cce1302]

I know vigilantism isn't a great way to deal with things, but I think it would be nice if the Pres. of the HOA woke up to find a USMC sticker right in the middle of his car's hood... and no tires.

Anybody up for a trip to Dallas? I have a drawer full of USMC stickers right now and could probably come up with enough to cover the entire neighborhood in stickers.

What really needs to be done is some former Marine's or service member's who are now lawyer's to step up and do some pro-bono work, politely stick it to the HOA President with a lawsuit.

I hope they do it soon. I'll contribute to the cause.

 

[Rhys]

...and this is why I live in the middle of nowhere (well..not really....but the closest house is 100 yards away...and I have 13 acres of woods...) no housing developments for me, thank-you! I can have my Jeep out working on it in my driveway, shoot my guns in the back...and no one to say that I can't :-)

 

[oldfb]

Usually these cases crop up when the HOA gets a new group of board members.
For frank I would:
Strap a Dildo on the bumper, dangling truck balls on the rear and let the HOA deal with that artistic beauty. I hated our condo association until we finally voted in some people with brains on the board. Got rid of a bunch of nuisance "bylaws". Then I moved and it went back to the old ways. Snooty pain in the butts are everywhere. Now I try to ignore them all instead of arguing with the "neighborhood watchers". When you don't have a friendly community of neighbors you end up with people crying about this and that for no reason besides their wishes for conformity.

I understand all about protecting property values and such. Funny how people will buy property as low as possible then cry to high heaven about the "declining property values" from a bumper sticker or a car in the driveway.

The lower valued homes were why they got to buy that home for less money and now they want to run the rusty tractor outta town so they can fill their conformity quota and make more money on the later sale.

Just sucks when people don't worry about their own affairs first. Rusty tractor guy included should handle his yard with an eye towards not having his home and property fall apart. But I am not going to force him out over it. It would be nice if he planted some flowers around the tractor for artistic flair.

Maybe be a good neighbor and offer him some help. Before calling the "code cops" realize that person has as many rights as you do. Maybe rusty hates a clean yard and likes his yard cluttered. Maybe he is just to old and poor to care for it any longer.

Maybe instead of complaining about a USMC bumper sticker they should throw a party in his honor for defending their right to have a HOA instead of a government housing gestapo, taxing them into oblivion. Oops NM forgot where we live now!

 

[mettle]

I'd tell them to shove off. If they don't like it? Buy my home for above market value and I'll move. If they don't like that.... well I'll be staying and keeping the stickers.

 

[MACHINEGUN]

 

[vapor100LL]

I think this guy definitely needs to fight the HOA, maybe advertising is defined in the contract, but I'm betting it was intended to keep signs out of yards and off of houses, such as "new roof or windows by Joe Schmoe." Now if he had a Marine recruiting poster hanging on his garage door maybe it'd be different. HOA

 

[POTI]

He needs to run for office become the head of the HOA and then find what the old president loves and screw with it.

 

[Prometheus]

Welcome to Home Owners Associations.
There own little Socialist Islands.
My biggest fear is this, maybe what our country is turning into...

Bingo. I am never ceased to be amazed at people who pretend to be so "surprised" when the condo-commandos pull some crap like this.

Does no one bother to read the 10, 20 sometimes 50 pages of HOA / POA rules and bylaws?

Over the past 3 decades have people not seen, time and again, idiot HOA/POA's doing these things over and over?

Sorry if I don't cry a river for the guy who moves into the HOA when crap like this comes up.

You can bet your ass if someone had 7 islamic cresents on their car his ass would be down at the board of directors screaming bloody murder about covenant restrictions.

At least the paper gets the idea:

A lot of people hear about a story like this and immediately think of free speech and freedom of expression and all those lofty ideals. But by living in a condominium that is part of an association, Larison basically agreed to swap his personal liberties for whatever rules the HOA decided to pass -- some states have passed laws protecting the display of flags and certain political expression, but the general rule is that if you live in a condo, you live by the condo rules.

You move in to a place... make sure your dumbass knows what it's getting in to... I say that as I'm about about to put in a bid on a house in a HOA tomorrow, lol Whatever, plenty of US flags flying and morons flying Cubs flags so my normal sized Gadsden shouldn't be an issue... but we shall see, still need to read the bylaws, shouldn't be too restrictive... but if they are... I agreed to them by buying the place. Shouldn't have moved in.

BTW for those of you saying "fight it", the HOA always reserves to right to decide what is and isn't advertizing or "unwelcomed" and it's written with HUGE lattitude. The idea of fighting it in anything but a court of public OPINION is the only chance this guy has.

In any event, this is like the guy who moves in next to an airport and then complains about the noise...

 

[Bill of Rights]

I agree with you, but... WTF, bumper sticker complaints... Yes the HOA has the "right" to do this. and if i was in a jury i would have to back their decision. it is the contract. the guy signed it. but still.... WTF, bumper stickers... really? people just suck. end of story. bunch of damn busy body bitches with nothing to do but complain about other peoples lack of conformity to their stupid code. we got them in our HOA too. ugh.

To quote the police officer from National Lampoon Christmas Vacation: "Mr., if i had a rubber hose..."

No, you would not have to. You might choose to. Just in case you're ever on a jury and I'm the defendant, please look up "jury nullification".

Thanks.

Blessings,
Bill

 

[danielocean03]

No, you would not have to. You might choose to. Just in case you're ever on a jury and I'm the defendant, please look up "jury nullification".

Thanks.

Blessings,
Bill

Thank you for clarifying that Bill, you beat me to it! Rep'd.

 

[Soundslikejosh]

I don't think anyone misunderstands that when you sign the contract, you agree to abide by the rules.

The real question seems to be whether or not the rule about "advertising" is clear enough to apply to this case. THIS IS THE POINT!!!

There is no doubt that HOAs suck. If they operate within their own boundaries, then all is fair because they disclosed and you agreed to their behavior. The crux of the current issue is whether or not they are perverting the meaning of their own document to screw with this guy.

All the anti-HOA arguments are irrelevant to the discussion. Maybe the guy in question did read the 10 page HOA and decided he could live with it, and now they turn it around to make him look like the violator.

 

[MACHINEGUN]

 

[spasmo]

Well, I for one absolutely hate home owners associations. I live in a subdivision that has one and it was a compromise. Scutter likes them for the most part. I despise them. As a matter of fact, we got a letter from them today. Not once have I never put grass clippings in the street. I did however sweep the ones up in the street from the mower and put them in a pile that I needed to then sweep up. Well, it was hot so I figured I would do it the next day. It ended up raining so they got spread out again and then the street sweeper came. Done and over with... well, guess what. We got a letter today stating that our HA's Development Control committee is receiving complaints regarding residents putting grass clippings in the street. This is in violation of the citys ordinance... blah blah blah... OH MY GOSH!!!! This letter was addressed to us so I do not believe it was sent out to everyone. The next one will probably be that our grass is too long because of the stupid lawn mower issues that most of you probably have read about.

What I read here about H.A.s does not surprise me at all.

The part about home owners assocations is that there will ALWAYS be one person who knows everything down to the letter and goes out looking for issues. You can ask our neighbors. We are good neighbors.

But when anything comes in the mail from the HA, my heart races and then I wonder... What in the world did we do now?