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FINED FOR CAMPAIGN SIGNS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published August 14, 2020
Every time we are
closing in on an election the fight over campaign signs and/or
banners and flags we see owners fighting with associations over
the posting of these signs.
Eric explained on
Monday the legal remedies about posting these signs.
If you are unlucky
enough to live in a community association that tries to prohibit
you from showing your support for a certain candidate, you still
have an option to circumvent this violation of your First
Amendment rights. The trick can be found in the Florida
statutes.
If you live in an
HOA that has sign restrictions, you might want to read the
statutes carefully – because there is a loophole that leaves you
a time-limited option.
This is the wording
of
FS 720.305(2)(b):
A fine or suspension levied by the board of administration may
not be imposed unless the board first provides at least 14
days’ notice to the parcel owner
and, if applicable, any occupant, licensee, or invitee of the
parcel owner, sought to be fined or suspended and an opportunity
for a hearing before a committee of at least three members
appointed by the board who are not officers, directors, or
employees of the association, or the spouse, parent, child,
brother, or sister of an officer, director, or employee.
The wording is similar in all other association statutes.
In reality that gives you a 14-day timeframe to post the sign to
let your neighbors know who you support in the upcoming
election. Have your sign(s) ready and put it in your front yard
14 days before the election. Even if you receive a violation
letter, you have fourteen days to remedy the violation – see
statutes.
Just remove the sign the evening after the polls closed to stop
the association from fining you.
Make sure you put up your signs. It’s more important than ever
in the upcoming election.
Since I don’t live any longer in a HOA, my signs are already
posted.
NO ASSOCIATION SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO RESTRICT YOUR FIRST
AMENDMENT RIGHTS!
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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