A Florida man had to sell his house after his homeowners association told him to remove a 17-inch American flag he had placed in a flower pot on his front porch.
Larry Murphree, who spent half a dozen years as an Air Force air traffic controller according to the Washington Post, received a letter in the mail from the Tides Condominium in Sweetwater seven years ago telling him to remove the “unauthorized object” or be fined $100 a day. He refused to remove it and took up the issue with his lawyer after reaching $1,000 in fines.
After filing a lawsuit in federal court, Murphree came to an agreement with the HOA that he could continue to fly the flag, only to discover a few months later that the HOA had made a new ordinance to remove his flower pot. He also discovered they were using money from his HOA dues to pay off his “unauthorized object” fees, causing him to fall far behind in the dues. With foreclosure imminent, Murphree decided to sell his house three years ago.
When he first received the letter from the HOA seven years ago, he said that he “lost it,” according to the Washington Post.
“It just dawned on me there’s people that strap on a gun every day to protect me and the people I love. It’s a small flag, but it stands for a big thank you,” he said.
The HOA also caught him for other violations, including not parking straight in his driveway, leaving snowflake decorations on his window after Christmas, and having solar lights up at Christmas, according to First Coast News.
Murphree currently lives in St. Augustine, Fla. His most recent lawsuit will go to trial next year, the First Coast News reports.
