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Disabled veteran fights homeowners association lawsuit over flagpole in Florida yard
Print Close By Sarah Rumpf-Whitten Published May 30, 2025 A disabled veteran in Volusia County, Florida, is at the center of a heated dispute with his homeowners association (HOA) over a flagpole installed in his yard. According to Fox News affiliate WOFL-TV, the Countryside Villas PUD3 HOA has filed a lawsuit against the unnamed veteran, claiming he failed to obtain the required approval before erecting the permanent structure. Despite the legal friction, community support for the veteran has surged, with neighbors speaking out against what they see as harassment and unnecessary litigation. "Leave the veteran alone. He hasn't done anything wrong," Frank Johnson, a veteran himself, told the outlet. "He's called me crying that they're harassing him and bullying him. He's served this country. He's paid his dues. They wanted to get him on a flagpole and some weeds in the lawn. It's pathetic. It's really pathetic." ASSOCIATED PRESS MOVES TO DISMISS DEFAMATION CLAIM FROM VETERAN WHO DEFEATED CNN IN COURT The HOA maintains that its actions are grounded in procedural compliance. In a letter sent to the veteran, the association emphasized that it was not denying his right to fly the American flag, but rather enforcing a policy requiring prior approval for permanent flagpoles. The letter noted that the veteran's military service does not exempt him from these rules. The situation only escalated when the veteran refused to remove the flagpole, accruing $1,000 in fines. The HOA responded by initiating a lawsuit for $8,000 and threatening to place a lien on his property. Orlando Law Managing Partner Jennifer Englert told WOFL-TV that this action may not be legally defensible. Englert explained that Florida statute says as long as the flagpole is under 20 feet, a homeowner can have a flagpole on their property, even if the HOA has rules against it. "Why are you fighting about something that you know you have to allow? That is very clear," she said. MARYLAND SCHOOL SUSPENDS MARINE HOPEFUL AFTER AMERICAN FLAG LAW CONTROVERSY Concerned neighbors and a caregiver have come forward to condemn the HOA's tactics, describing them as bullying and deeply disrespectful to someone who served the country. Margaret Murphy, a resident who attended HOA meetings, took the issue to State Sen. Tom Wright, expressing in a letter that her own father's legacy as a Pearl Harbor survivor compelled her to act. "My father was a survivor in Pearl Harbor. He would be rolling over in his grave if I didn't say something," she told the outlet. In a statement to WOFL-TV, The Countryside PUD Unit III-B HOA, Inc. Board of Directors said that they never told the veteran homeowner that the "flagpole/flag was prohibited." "Factually, this has never been about a flag or a flagpole. The resident was told via multiple correspondences that he absolutely can have them. The situation boils down to that he failed to submit an ARC application, which is required for flagpoles by the HOA. That rule has been in place since 1990," they said. "The resident was given multiple opportunities to remedy the situation including assistance from the American Legion and the Elks. He also was given an opportunity at a hearing that he never showed up for. Florida Statute makes it clear that an HOA resident also needs to follow the governing documents which he has failed to do. This situation is no different than any other architectural guidelines in our docs. As a result, a fine was imposed, and he failed to pay the fine." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September. Fox News Digital has reached out to The Countryside PUD Unit III-B HOA, Inc. Board of Directors for comment. Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital. Since joining in 2021, she's covered high-stakes criminal justice—from the Menendez brothers' resentencing, where Judge Jesic slashed their life-without-parole terms to 50-years-to-life (making them parole-eligible), to the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump's life and shifting immigration enforcement, including her reporting on South Florida's illegal-immigration crisis, covering unprecedented migrant crossings from the Bahamas and ensuing enforcement operations. Beyond those beats, she reports on crime, politics, business, lifestyle, world news, and more—delivering both breaking updates and in-depth analysis across Fox News Digital. You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn. Print Close URL
Associated Press
33 minutes ago
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Texas Legislature approves $8.5 billion boost for public schools after years of stagnant funding
The Texas House on Thursday gave the final stamp of approval to legislation authorizing roughly $8.5 billion in funding for public schools, sending the bill to Gov. Greg Abbott 's desk where it is soon expected to become law. Final passage of House Bill 2, which will give schools additional money for teacher and staff salaries, educator preparation, special education, safety requirements and early childhood learning, comes on the heels of extensive negotiations between the House and Senate over how the final version of the bill would look. Abbott has already said he intends to sign the bill, a notable difference from two years ago when he and the Legislature withheld billions from public schools following a failed attempt to create a private school voucher program. This year, lawmakers vowed to approve vouchers and new public school funding in tandem. The Legislature finalized the education finance package on a 122-13 vote nearly a month after vouchers officially became law. The new dollars in HB 2 will allow school districts to begin making a dent in some of their long-standing challenges — a laundry list of items that includes reversing budget deficits, providing raises to full-time employees and keeping up with rising operational costs. Before the legislation's final passage on Thursday, Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, raised questions about the bill, underscoring that public schools' dire situation is partly the result of stagnant funding since 2019, the year lawmakers last raised schools' base dollars and passed a comprehensive education finance package. He sought to have Republican Rep. Brad Buckley of Salado, the bill sponsor, answer why the Republican-led Legislature has not passed major school funding legislation since then, including last session when the state had a historic $32.7 billion budget surplus at its disposal. The House public education chair only had a few moments to answer the question before lawmakers' speaking time expired, but his response instead focused on HB 2's investments in the basic costs of running a school and paying teachers what they deserve. HB 2 will provide districts with a $55 per-student increase to their base funding — a number short of the $395 per student hike proposed by the House earlier in the session and far less than the roughly $1,300 school officials said they needed to keep up with inflation. That base funding, known as the basic allotment, provides districts the most flexibility to address the range of needs on their campuses, from salaries and maintenance to instructional materials and athletics. The bill raises educator pay, which represents more than $4 billion of the proposal's overall funding. To do so, it dictates: HB 2 also includes funding for an expansion of the Teacher Incentive Allotment, a state program that awards raises to educators who demonstrate that they have improved their students' academic outcomes — currently about 6% of teachers. In place of a significant boost to the basic allotment, the bill will give districts $45 per student that they can only use to increase the salaries of school counselors, librarians, nurses and other support staff. The bill also grants schools $106 per student to pay costs associated with transportation, insurance, utilities and hiring retired educators, which has become more common as schools struggle to fill teacher vacancies. Furthermore, the legislation will overhaul Texas' special education funding system to account for the individual needs of each student; establish a compensation system for educator preparation and mentorship programs; set aside money for schools to better identify learning difficulties among the state's youngest students and fund prekindergarten services; and increase the money districts receive for safety upgrades. ___ This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
