Live in a home governed by a condominium, co-op or homeowner’s association? Have questions about what they can and cannot do? Ryan Poliakoff , an attorney and author based in Boca Raton, has answers.
Editor’s note: Ryan Poliakoff is out for the week. The following column is a re-run that first appeared in February 2022.
Question: Many of my neighbors in my adult community are displaying a flag that, to me, represents hatred and intolerance. What, if anything, can be done to prevent the display of this flag in the community? I do not see anything in the rules on this subject. Signed, T.T.
Dear T.T.,
Florida law protects the right of homeowners to display a portable, removable US flag or official flag of the State of Florida, and one portable, removable flag no larger than 4.5 feet by 6 feet representing the armed forces, or a POW-MIA flag, regardless of any covenants or rules that might restrict flags in any community.
This would not however include the flag you described in your letter (I’ve redacted the type of flag you described because I don’t think it’s fruitful to debate the meaning of a specific flag — it could be anything under the sun and the legal outcome would be the same). It is generally accepted that community associations may, either by covenant or rule, ban the display of flags that do not fit within the express parameters listed in the statutes.