San Diego Condos, Homes and Real Estate News

It's the season of the year again, when we bring out the lights and decoration to express our appreciation for the wonderful holidays. However, for many San Diegans who reside in a shared ownership community, or SOC (Downtown San Diego condos, co-op or HOA), arguments pertaining to religious embellishment can make the time of year a lot less celebratory. SOC documents often limit adornments and signs, and these limitations continue into the holidays. Therefore, before you string up the wreath and connect those lights, here are a couple of things to consider:

1. Don't forget to check your written documents first. Although you may possess your home, if you reside in an SOC (a community where neighbors share ownership of typical property), you accorded to the community's set of rules and regulations when you signed on the contract. When you didn't have a copy of the HOA's rules, be sure to ask one and read it very carefully. It's highly usual for Downtown San Diego condos, co-ops and HOAs to make rules that regulate ornaments and lights, particularly when those ornaments are positioned in usual areas. A few of these rules are intended to maintain the cleanliness and condition of the property, but a few may come up to safety concerns, and every association has dissimilar policies pertaining to how rigidly they implement decoration rules around the holidays.

2. Your association may have the right to ban your decorations even if they are religious. In this country, the Constitution assures that the government will not prevent us from deliberately expressing our religions. However, community associations are not governments-they're private corporations operated the by homeowners, and Federal courts have broadly ruled that freedom of expression doesn't touch these organizations (while they may not show prejudice against one faith, a rule applied equally to all religions is commonly enforceable). Because of this situation some states have enacted their own laws that assure the right of owners to put religious emblems on their doors or mantles. Nevertheless, these laws may not guarantee that you can put any sort of holiday ornament on your door. Therefore, even though you possibly celebrating a religious-related holiday, freedom to display your religious beliefs may not apply.

3. Keep in mind that board members are unpaid workers who are doing a very difficult work for your community, and they are still your neighbors. So if you're not so sure about decorating your condo this approaching holiday, begin with a friendly approach instead of an angry letter. If that is useless, you may have a legal right to place items on the agenda for the following committee meeting and have it discussed publicly so that the entire community can express their opinion. Occasionally, you may discover that there are fine reasons for a limitation that appeared unreasonable-for an instance, several cities have laws that regulate lights that might disturb native wildlife. Other times, merely discussing an issue can convince board members to ease up on a limitation that initially appeared like a good concept.

It may be difficult to take, but in some cases a bit of regulation in Downtown San Diego condos may not be the bad thing in on earth. Before you hang that wreath and place those lights, contemplate first on how you would want to celebrate the holiday, and what kind of festivity you would take from your neighbors. However, if you believe that your board is implementing your rules badly, don't hesitate to speak your mind.

For further information on any Downtown San Diego Condos contact:

Gregg Neuman

1-800-221-2210

Contact the Neuman and Neuman Team

www.SellSanDiego.com

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