JACKSONVILLE, FL (RNN) – Air Force veteran Larrry Murphree said he’s had to sell his home at a loss after a dispute with a homeowners association over an American flag.

The legal dispute over the flag has gone on for seven years.

He placed a small flag in a flower pot on the front porch of his condo, First Coast News reported. In response, The Tides Condominium HOA sent him a violation letter, saying the flag was an “unauthorized object.”

Murphree decided to fight the group on it, and they assessed tons of fines against his property – $100 a day for the violation.

He filed suit but came to an agreement with the HOA that the flag can be displayed.

Murphree said the HOA  then turned around and changed the ordinance to a flower pot ordinance, prohibiting display of the flag inside the flower pot and charging him fees again.

The HOA said he can fly a flag in a flag pole but not in a flower pot, News4Jax reported.

In 2014, the HOA placed a lien on Murphree’s property, claiming he hadn’t paid his dues when he said he had.

It turns out the homeowners association was using the money that they were withdrawing to pay the fees for displaying the flag in the flower pot, leaving his dues unpaid and allowing them to place a lien on the property for unpaid HOA dues, he told First Coast News.   Read more:

“I’m not doing this out of disrespect for anyone. I’m not doing this to prove a point. I’m doing this because I love the American flag and what it stands for,” said Jackie June, a Palm Harbor homeowner.

June said she first placed about 15 American flags outside her front yard in March. Her son, who is serving in the Air Force, was expected to be home in March for two weeks.

“I had about 15 of them, just the tiny ones that you get at a dollar store,” said June.

In April, her homeowner’s association sent her a letter. Since then, she’s received three more letters.  Read more:

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-north-pinellas/palm-harbor/hoa-orders-homeowner-to-take-down-american-flags-from-yard

LYSANDER, NY – Barry and Nicole Enck bought a home in Lysander about 10 years ago and, as their young family grew, they decided they’d like to have a couple chickens in their back yard.

About two years ago, the couple got the chickens and their young children cared for them and collected their eggs each morning.

Now, the family has been told by their homeowners’ association they can’t raise chickens at their Seneca Estates home, said lawyer Tom Cerio, who is representing the Encks. The couple declined to be interviewed for this article, but authorized Cerio to speak for them.  Read more:

The issue is a growing bill after making a late assessment payment.

It’s you against their attorneys.

Your odds are not good.

But Chad Lakridis beat those odds!

We’ve been following Chad’s story for months.

He says it started when he got a threatening letter from his HOA.

Chad says it’s the only reminder he received about missing an HOA payment to the Desert Ridge Community Association.

He says at the time he had a serious brain injury.

But Chad says his attempts to make up payments were rejected.  Read more:

https://www.abc15.com/news/let-joe-know/he-fought-his-hoa-and-won

Submit your questions to news@kplctv.com. Civil matters only, please.

QUESTION: Can a Home Owners Association enter my property and remove something that does not meet the rules of HOA? Do property owners have the right to protect their person and property? Is this a violation of the property owner’s constitutional rights?

ANSWER: Provided that the Home Owners Association rules are not against public policy or in violation of some federal and state law, then the rules are valid. Home Owners Associations’ community documents set out building restrictions, rules, and regulations, declarations, covenants and so much the more. These rules affect the properties maintained by the association but can be amended.

One of the purposes of Home Owners Association rules is to protect the aesthetic value of the property within the community and to keep the peace.  Read more:

COMMERCE CITY, Colo — Parking isn’t just a problem in downtown Denver or in Cherry Creek.

It is also a growing issue at apartment and condo communities throughout metro Denver.

Two tenants at The Lakes at Dune Park in Commerce City reached out to Denver7 on Saturday, after waking up and finding their vehicles had been booted.

There is high demand for on-street parking in the complex, just off U.S. 85 and 112th Avenue.

Signs posted throughout the complex state that parking is limited to “48 hours,” and that “violators will be booted.”

Aggressive Parking Enforcement

Adriana Trevizo believes parking enforcement has become overly aggressive.

She said residents were initially allowed to park on both sides of the street ringing the complex, but now can only park on one side.

On Saturday morning, Trevizo discovered that her car had been immobilized with a boot. Read more:

25 horror stories that will make you fear the homeowner association

A South Sound homeowner has paid thousands of dollars just to satisfy a bill for a few hundred dollars.

That bill was from the homeowners’ association and the cost skyrocketed because the payment was late.

Jennifer Hart pays her homeowners’ association $310 a year to live in Lakeland Hills, near Auburn. 
She forgot to pay that amount in January 2017 and, to date, she has now paid out $7,753.59 in late fees and attorney’s fees.

For months, Hart has spent hours every day pouring over documents and she still doesn’t understand how that $310 bill became $7,753.59.

“It was just an oversight. Every other bill that I pay is online, as far as my power, my water, cable,” Hart said.

She said she never saw the bill from the Lakeland Homeowners Association in the mail in January 2017, so she didn’t even think about it until she opened her mail last October and discovered that an attorney had filed a lawsuit for $2,967.37 and a lien against her home.

“I emailed the attorney right away and explained some things that were going on, and how can I fix this. Garnishment will literally devastate my family.

So he responded back and said, ‘You need to propose something,’ so I started proposing offers to him to make sure this didn’t go to garnishment,” Hart said.

She said her offers were refused, and her wages, as well as her husband’s wages, were garnished for nearly two months.

The family of seven struggled through the holidays but saw the light at the end of the tunnel: In January 2018, their debt was supposed to be satisfied.

“Getting the next bill was quite a bit of a shock,” said Hart, who said the bill was for $4,078.

So, if you’re keeping track, that’s a total of $7,753.59 Hart has been billed, of which $1,120 is late fees plus dues owed to the HOA, and $5,374.76 is attorney’s fees.

“I accept the original garnishment as my error. It’s the additional $4,078 that hurts really bad. 
It’s like they’re out to actually devastate families instead of work with them,” Hart said.

We took her case to Seattle property attorney Katie Comstock.

Comstock is not the attorney for Hart’s HOA but she’s seen this situation before.

She said part of the problem is that many people don’t understand the process of contesting a lawsuit such as this.  Read more: