DALLAS - Frank Larison is a disabled veteran with more than 14 years of service, including more than a year of combat duty in Vietnam.
The 58-year-old former Marine now finds himself under attack by his Dallas homeowners association for displaying seven decals on his vehicle supporting the Marine Corps.
"To me, it's being patriotic, and it shows that I served," the veteran told FOX 4.
The board says the decals are advertisements that violate HOA rules, and must be covered or removed.
Otherwise, the homeowners association for The Woodlands II on The Creek --- where Larimore has lived for eight years --- says in a letter it will tow the car at Larimore's expense. The board also threatens to fine him $50 for any future incident.
Larimore says the decals, ranging from the Marine emblem to Semper Fi slogans, aren't advertisements for anything. "You can't buy freedom," he reasoned.
Some neighbors are outraged.
"That is his identity," said neighbor Mary Castagna. "He goes to a lot of the veteran meetings, and it means a lot to him. Everyone else agrees with it; it doesn't bother anybody."
"He's in the Marines, and he's proud of it, and I don't blame him," said neighbor Paul Hardy. "If I'd gone through what he's gone through, I'd be kind of proud of it myself."
The letter from the board states you can't have any form of advertisement anywhere on your car on your property. FOX 4 cameras spotted bumper stickers for political parties, health causes, and other non-commercial interests on the property as well.
One board member said he was unaware the HOA presidents sent the letter and did not know of any issue with Larimore's vehicle.
"I will be looking into it," said board member Art Bradford. "I didn't know anything about this. I haven't seen this."
The board president was out of town and unavailable. The condo management company did not want to comment.
That is insanity! I complain about my HOA being kind of petty, but it is nothing like this. Fundamentally we don't have much in the way of rules we have to abide. The heavy hitters are pool hours and conduct, no parking in the private drives / easements, no rentals, and trash barrels and yard waste aren't supposed to be at the curb until after 6PM the day before pickup.
I've heard of some really stupid rules in other neighborhoods. For example, a friend of mine was looking at buying a house in a really pricey 'hood in the next town over until he read in their covenants that it is only legal to have your garage door open while moving your car in or out of your garage, and you are not allowed to park your car in your driveway... it must be in the garage if it is at your house. Additionally, the only way to legally remove your lawn mower from your garage is to open the trunk of your car inside your closed garage, put the lawn mower in the trunk, open the garage, back the car out, close the garage, remove the mower from the trunk while the car is still running, open the garage, drive the car back in, and close the garage. Then apparently you have to exit your house through some other door to go mow your yard.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
Who comes up with these rules? And then who thinks they makes sense and enforces them? It is amazing how even just a little power goes to some peoples' heads, such as being on the HOA board, school board, etc.....
I have no idea who was hitting the pipe to come up with the lawnmower thing in that neighborhood. Sounds absurd to me, but then again I guess life is different when you live in the million dollar + home 'hoods around here.
I rarely have interaction with my HOA. Its generally all the same group of neighborhood busy bodies who just change jobs on the board. They don't care for me too much because I am not a stay at home mom and I don't participate in their monthly Bunko games.
One year the wuzband got himself elected to the vice-president slot, but that is just because he wanted to give himself permission to build a shed on our property. The shed never happened. That was the same year I evicted him from the neighborhood.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
I don't think I'd get along with any HOAs. It's my property, I'm going to do what I want. If I want to park in my driveway, have a garage sale, build a shed, decorate for Halloween, etc., I don't want to have to get permission for it. I'd want my house to reflect my personality, not look like everyone else's. I can understand not having garbage out or wanting people to mow their lawns, but the only ones I hear about are the ones that take it too far.
I'm the same way, Mz. I wouldn't last long in a community with such rules.
I can see a neighborhood association needing something in place to deal with "that one guy" that is a true problem, but micro managing every little thing to avoid that one guy, is going to far.
I know a guy in Lincoln who is a ham radio operator that moved into a community with a "no antennas" covenant. He bought his house, soon after got a city permit, and put up a 50' ham radio tower right next to his house. The association went to him and told him to take it down. He said "sue me". They did. He won. He's not very popular in the neighborhood, but he still has his radio tower.
I mind my own business and pretty much do as I please. I keep my yard mowed and don't illegally park 99% of the time.
The only reason I even know that some of the ladies around the 'hood don't like me is that I started out on a bad note with 2 of them the first week in the neighborhood. My daughter in law and I went to use the pool and these two were there and got really snotty with us right off instead of just asking if we lived in the neighborhood. I backed them down.
I'd also had a brief conversation with one of their husbands a few days earlier regarding the late fee they tried to tag me with on the HOA dues which I had been told were already paid for the year when I bought the house. He showed up on my doorstep drunk and trying to start a fight with the wuzband over the note I included with the dues check informing them that I was not paying the late fee because I had only taken ownership of the house 3 days before. The wuzband told him he would have to speak with me, so I came to the door. Dude's tone abruptly changed when he got a load of me standing there with the large butcher knife I had been using, still in hand. Suddenly he was very agreeable and even went immediately to get me a pool key. I swear I was pleasant the whole time I was speaking to him. Didn't even raise my voice. That story got around the 'hood REAL fast.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
