Idaho Jury Finds HOA Discriminated Against Religion in Christmas House Case

[Stan]

A camel, goats, 200,000 lights, and hundreds of people being Shuttled into your neighborhood to meet Santa Claus? HOA says, "No Thanks" and gets slapped with a religious discrimination lawsuit, and the jury rules against the HOA. The post Idaho Jury Finds HOA Discriminated Against Religion in Christmas House Case appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV - Celebrating Liberty of Conscience.

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[dgrimm60]

STAN

well I can see the issue of both  sides  ==== but it was  handled in the wrong way

dgrimm60

[Gregory Matthews]

I was once a member of the Board of Directors of a small 44 unit HOA.  We denied a request for an exemption from one homeowner.  Immediately we were hit with a charge of discrimination.  Our lawyers settled the case by granting the homeowner the requested exemption and paying that homeowner $10,000.  NOTE:  A lawsuit was never filed.

 

 

[B/W Photodude]

12 hours ago, The Wanderer said:

what is HOA?

Home Owners Association. These governing bodies are from neighborhoods that come with a lot of covenants on a home when you buy. Probably most of the time they can be great for maintaining a neighborhood, but at times they have become horror stories for some residents. I would never buy a home in a HOA neighborhood.

They can be petty enough to tell you what color you can paint your house, where you can park your vehicles, how big a flag out front of your house can be, the ages of people who can live there, and so on. One HOA area in Arizona will not let anyone less than 55 live in the neighborhood. This was in I believe Sin City, I mean … Sun City, Arizona!

[Gregory Matthews]

Photodude said in the quote below:

There are multiple "Sun City" places to live located in more than one Stated.  They were built by the Del Webb corporation.  They were organized under the provision of a Federal law that mandated that all residents be 55 years of age, or older--all.   An exemption has been carded out for a person who is severely disabled and is 55 or older, and who need full time care by a person who is  younger than 55 years of age.  In this event there as a formal process to go through that allows such a caregiver to live with the disabled person.

 the HOA has the legal requirement to enforce the restrictions of that Federal law.   But, it  has nothing to do with the nature of the restrictions, except to process the exception that I have listed above.   These restrictions are  spelled out in the Federal statute and in the specific manner in which the settlement was organized.  To be clear:  A HOA may be organized under the provisions of State law in a manner in which people of any age can live in that community.

I have lived in both types of HOA communities and I have been a Board Member in one of those.  I have  my issues with HOAs.  But, they do have some good points.

Comments have been made as to painting one's house and more.  That will depend upon the "Covenants".   The Covenants are a set of legal provisions under which the HOA was organized.  They spell out everything that the HOA can and can not do.  So, if the Covenants say that the HOA can tell you what color to paint your home, it can.  If they do not say such, it can not.  State law will govern what the HOS can enforce as to the Covenants.  I am aquainted with a HOA that prohibits parking on a street overnight and has penalties for doing so.  That specific  HOA can not enforce it as in that specific case, that provision violates States law.  But, I know of other HOAs, in that same state  where parking on the street overnight is prohibited and enforced.  These two HOAs have different situations.

Bottom line:  Read the Covenants before you purchase in a HOA.

By the way:  HOAs area big business.  Some have thousands  homes in them with budgets running into multiple of millions of dollars.

 

Quote

One HOA area in Arizona will not let anyone less than 55 live in the neighborhood. This was in I believe Sin City, I mean … Sun City, Arizona!