New here, homeowner possibly filing suit for trespass?

Jason,

First of all, do not reply to him in an agressive manner. Send a polite letter with the covenant against signs and explain that it was removed because of that rule. Explain that there are alternatives to the sign. My developement uses a plastic hang box on the lower part of the mail boxes.

Secondly, he should have been sent a letter, asking him to remove the sign himself. That should never be allowed by the Board and the Mg. company should be clued in really fast, not to do that again. I would have been mad as well but if you xplain nicely, he may have cooled down and might even listen..

Third, I hope that you are enforcing this evenly and not being selective.

Jason, If it is a restrictive covenant that no signs may be on a yard, then you cannot give any variences...NONE. Apparently you have a covenant about yard structures, birdbaths and statues? Huh! Almost sounds like Hammock Creek?

He now sounds unreasonable and will not be easily appeased. I do agree that for sale signs and all of the others do look junky in a neighborhood where houses are close together. Enforcing statutes and birdbaths had become impossible to enforce in my developement so the Board just ignored them. Most of that art work and statuary actually made the yards look nicer and more individual from other houses. I think that it is a dumb rule.

Anyhow, if you have an association lawyer, he better write a note to this guy to calm him down and inform him that thesign was illegal to have. The situation sounds like it may be beyond the Board's ability to solve.

Jason,

I'm curious about exactly what it says in your documents that restricts the use of "for sale" signs. Would you care to post the exact verbiage?

Also, even if the existence of the sign is in violation of the documents, I would examine your documents to see if any Board Member or Agent thereof actually has the rights to correct a violation on the spot (e.g., removing the sign). A more extreme example: If someone paints their house an unapproved color, you don't hire a contractor to repaint their house right away and then send them the bill. You tell the homeowner first (in a violation letter) and give them a chance to correct the violation before other action is taken.

In general, my though is that even if a Management Company and/or Board of Directors is granted access to homeowner property by the documents, it should only be for inspection-related purposes, and no other activity should take place. The proper method would have been to send the violation letter citing the verbiage in the documents that indicates it is indeed a violation. That way, you're educating homeowners, giving them the opportunity to correct a possible mistake, as well as enforcing the rules.

If I were the homeowner, I would be upset too. I don't think he is being unreasonable, I just think he feels he has been wronged, and your attempts to explain why something was done are possibly not sufficient. If it turns out that you were wrong to actually remove the sign, a simple apology would be in order and perhaps that would satisfy him.

Here is the use restriction language... some words may be misspelled because the text is being copied/pasted from a PDF:

Section 30. Signs and Flags. No Sign (Including brokerage or for sale/lease signs), flag, banner sculpture, fountain, outdoor play equipment, solar equipment, artificial vegetation, sports equipment, advertisement, notice or other lettering shall be exhibited, displayed, inscribed, painted or affixed in, or upon any part of VERDE RIDGE that is visible from the outside without the prior approval being first obtained from the ARC as required by this Declaration provided, however, any owner may display one portable, removable United States flag or official flag of the State of Florida in a respectful way; provided, further, on Armed Forces Day, Memonal Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Veterans' Day Owners may display an offlalal flag 01 the United States Army, Navy, Air Force Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Flags may not exceed 4 1/2 feet by 6 feet.

No "for sale," "for rent' signs or other signs advertising the sale, renting or leasing of a Dwelling shall be displayed on or within any Lot or Dwelling. Except as hereinabove provided, no signs or advertising materials displaying the names or otherwise advertising the Identity of contractors, subcontractors, real estate brokers or the like employed in connection with the construction, installation, alteration or other improvement upon or the sale or leasing of the Dwellings shall be permitted. Declarant is exempt from this Section provided, further, the Declarant specifically reserves the right, for Itself and Its agents, employees, nominees and assigns the right, privilege and easement to construct, place and maintain upon any property within VERDE RIDGE such signs as it deems appropriate in connection with the development, improvement, construction, marketing and sale of any of the Dwellings.

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Here is the enforcement language:

Enforcement. The Association, the Declarant and any Owner, shall each have the right to enforce, by any proceeding at law or In equity, all restrictions, conditions, covenants, reservations, liens and charges now or hereafter Imposed by the provisions of this Declaration or as may be expressly authorized by deed restrictions as described In Section 1 of this Article. Failure of the Association, Declarant, or any Owner to enlorce any covenant or restriction herein or therein contained shall In no event be deemed a waiver of the right to do so thereafter. If a person or party is found in the proceedings to be In violation of or attempting to violate the provisions of this Declaration or such deed restrictions, he shall bear all expenses of the litigation, including court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, including those on appeal, incurred by the party enforcing them. Declarant and Association shall not be obligated to enforce this Declaration or such deed restrlotlons and shall not in any way or manner be held liable or responsible for any violation of this Declaration or such deed restrictions by any person other than itself.

OK, so "for sale" signs are definitely a violation (along with just about everything else imaginable).

I'm not so sure your enforcement and lot entry verbiage actually gives you (and the Management Company) rights to enter property and do anything other than observe. I'd even be careful entering property unannounced to observe.

And since his sign was removed, but others' lawn ornaments were left untouched, I think he has a strong leg to stand on that you are selectively enforcing the rules. I don't get the feeling that he personally was a target, but that you felt his violation in particular required immediate correction (whereas the lawn ornaments did not). Either way, you cannot be selective like this.

To me, it sounds like your Management Company messed up here. Therefore, repeated insistence to the owner that you and the Management Company had the right to do what you did, may not actually be true and is likely just exacerbating the issue.

As Donna recommended, an apology letter or perhaps only an apology discussion might be appropriate. Good luck.

Our HOA has a restriction on For Sale/Rent signs. They are the only ones allowed. We are no longer under Development control.

The HOA could have been polite in sending a notice to the homeowner to remove the sign with a statement of the rules. However, it's not necessarily required. This person doesn't have a case nor they ever.

Here's the thing about empty threatened lawsuits...They aren't REAL until they are filed. The HOA's response should be "Go ahead and sue. We will file a countersuit". You will get threatened with frivolous lawsuits like this ALL the time. Until there's actual paperwork, then nothing to worry about except for chatter. Besides a countersuit is cheaper for the HOA. The HOA will need a lawyer to represent them in court but that cost will be part of the countersuit.

Another thing to keep in mind as I tell EVERYBODY...Suing your HOA is suing yourself and your neighbors. It's a useless circle of lawyers and court with nothing being achieved in between. Plus you can't sue for "Trespass" when it is a CRIMINAL offense. That requires a police report NOT lawsuit. Plus what is the owner going to sue for? Take that into consideration. A court system's judgement can ONLY make a person "Whole" not "rich". Worst case the HOA would have to pay for a cheap For Sale sign and maybe legal costs.

Put things into perspective before knee-jerk reacting. Stay calm and realize you dealing with irrational. You don't have to be.

Why didn't someone just go "Knock " on the the door explain the problem and ask them to remove the sign, problem solved ! Oh, if I saw someone on my property removing anything I would think they were vanadals and call the police.