Florida HOA out of Line

In the news today, a homeowner in Florida had a bit of trouble with his Homeowners association. He planted trees which were, in their minds, too short, and is being fined a hundred bucks a day for it

Here are a few reflections on the matter.

1. The homeowners association is way off on such issues. What difference could short trees make to property value?

2. You should be careful about signing away your right to property ownership to a bunch of other property owners who really only want to be busybodies.

3. Homeowners associations are ultimately socialists writ small.

4. Sure, there are reasonable exemptions to what even a property owner should be able to do with his property. But note the word reasonable; property owners should never have to kowtow to the neighborhood simply because the neighborhood thinks they should.

5. You aren't protecting your property one bit by dictating every little thing your neighbor can do. You're just being a little Hitler, and a pretty petty one at that.

6. This demonstrates that private individuals acting privately can't always be expected to fully understand property and personal rights issues. That's why property rights should be protected by law rather than, perhaps, shallow local opinion.