Amy Cooke and her husband have been proudly flying the U.S. flag outside their San Marcos condominium for more than 20 years.
But now their homeowners association is threatening them with a $100 fine, arguing the display of Old Glory flies in the face of community rules.
Cooke has made it clear that the flag isn’t coming down without a fight.
“It’s a symbol of freedom,” she said in an interview with The Times. “What does it say to people who are risking their lives for our country … that we can’t fly this flag? It makes me very angry.”
The fight between residents in the complex and the Ambiance Owners Assn. began in 2024, after the HOA passed a policy prohibiting any flags, signs or banners from being displayed in common areas.
At the time, neighbors like Cooke thought the policy was meant to deter flags showing support for sports teams or espousing political views. Cooke said she assumed the American flag would be excluded, given that flying the banner is protected under state and federal law.
But not long after the policy was enacted, neighbors in the San Diego County community started getting letters about their Stars and Stripes.
Resident Terri Collins has already been fined $100 — a penalty she’s refused to pay — for flying the U.S. flag outside her condo.
The red, white and blue banner has been on display outside every home Collins has ever lived in, even the apartment she and her husband, Dave, occupied shortly after they were married.
“Dave and I grew up in homes where it was very patriotic,” she said. “It’s always been our tradition. We’ve always stuck a flag out in front of our home and it will always be that way. These people aren’t going to bully me.”
The Ambiance Owners Assn. did not respond to a phone call seeking comment from The Times on Wednesday.
In a memo circulated to residents in October 2024, the association’s board of directors said banning flags in common areas was in the best interest of everyone in the community.
“Once the members allow use of common property by an owner to express what is essentially a political or affiliative view in a flag, sign, or banner, other owners will want to do the same and the common area will degrade,” the letter states, quoting the association’s attorney.
The policy states that flags in common areas or extending into common areas are prohibited. The rules also state that only one flag, sign or banner may be flown per household in exclusive use common areas — which are reserved for the private use of specific homeowners but owned by the entire association — and that flags are to be a maximum of 4 feet by 5 feet in size.
State and federal law does protect people’s right to fly American flags on their private property.
In 2005, Congress passed the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act, which ensures HOAs or similar groups can’t prohibit residents from displaying the U.S. flag on their property. The law does give HOAs some leeway to determine how the flag is displayed.
Similarly, California law states that “except as required for the protection of the public health or safety,” no organization shall limit or ban the display of the flag within an exclusive use common area.
In Cooke’s case, the HOA argued in a June letter that the flag mount on the couple’s garage door frame is installed on “HOA common area fascia.”
David Keating, the president of the nonprofit Institute for Free Speech, said the HOA’s interpretation of common area is a stretch and likely to be challenged if the situation is taken to court. A GoFundMe launched by Cooke for legal fees related to the fight had raised more than $2,700 as of Wednesday afternoon.
“They’re really opening themselves up to probably a successful lawsuit against attempts to enforce this, not to mention public ridicule on the eve of the nation’s 250th birthday,” Keating said.
The post California HOA threatens fines for flying the U.S. flag. Some residents are fighting back appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
