Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By Joe Kollin

Published December 28, 2007

Owners in at least two South Florida condos learned the hard way last week that while they may be the kings of their castles, their reign doesn't extend to the outside walls.

The residents hung Christmas and Hanukkah decorations, but their boards ordered them taken down.

On Dec. 9 Allan Nellis, of Oriole Gardens 2 in Margate, put a wreath and a 104-foot-long string of blue-and-white lights on his catwalk.

"The lights represent both Hanukkah and Christmas and the wreath represents Christmas," Nellis said. "This time of year is celebrated universally throughout the country, and I did it in concert with everyone else here in the building."

Considering the association decorated the clubhouse, he didn't think there would be any objection to decorations on his catwalk. He paid the $50 cost and is paying for the electricity.

"Besides, you drive here at night and it's dark and dingy. It looks like everyone's inside waiting to die," he said. "The lights add a little festivity."

On Dec. 15 his board ordered him to remove the decorations. On Dec. 20, when he hadn't complied, the association took them down.

Bruce Neill lives in the Isle of Sandalfoot 6 near Boca Raton. Two weeks ago, maintenance personnel put up a tree, lights and Hanukkah decorations in the lobby. The board removed them.

"We were livid," he said of his neighbors.

On the evening of Dec. 14, in what he called a spontaneous reaction to the removal, residents put the decorations back.

No further action has been taken, although a notice has appeared on the association's locked bulletin board saying the community's documents might be amended to provide "no unit owner may openly celebrate Christmas without obtaining prior approval."

The dispute came in the midst of a two-month effort by some Sandalfoot 6 residents to recall their board.

Representatives of the Oriole and Sandalfood boards couldn't be reached for comment despite multiple attempts.

"When you move into an association community, you agree to give up many of your individual rights," said F. Blane Carneal, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who represents unit owners. "Technically, boards would be correct [to refuse decorations], but some people just go out of their way to make life miserable for other people."

Fort Lauderdale attorney Matt Zifrony, who represents associations, said most documents give boards the right to approve exterior changes "so the association has the right to step up and object."

But Zifrony said the association's decision must be based on "reasonableness." He said courts also consider whether others have been allowed to do the same. However, court rulings have been confusing, he said.

Jan Bergemann, president of Cyber Citizens for Justice, which fights for the rights of unit owners, advises owners who want to put up holiday decorations to ignore their boards.

State law requires boards to give owners time to comply with an order, 14 days in a homeowner association and "reasonable" time in a condo, he said. By the time the 14 days or "reasonable" time is up, he noted, the holiday is over.

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