Charlottesville Blogs

In a January post (here), we wrote about the significant influence that homeowners' associations sometimes play in deciding what a person can and cannot do on his property.  We said that clients are as likely to object one way as the other to the rules established and enforced by their homeowner's association:

It is not uncommon to hear clients complain about their association being either too intrusive or not intrusive enough in terms of regulating their -- and their neighbors' -- rights. It can certainly be a difficult line to draw, as neighbors try to be good neighbors but also express their own preferences for what is or is not reasonable.

Now, word arises from the West of a fascinating homeowners' association struggle with a property owner who objects to the association's rule against flying certain kinds of flags.

Marc Lacey has the story in Monday's New York Times, here.

According to Lacey, homeowner Andy McDonel received a notice from his association - the Avalon Village Community Association - demanding that he stop flying the Gadsden Flag on his property.

FLAG HISTORY INTERLUDE: In case you haven't recently studied the historical flags of the United States, the Gadsden Flag (which includes an image of a coiled snake and the phrase "Don't Tread On Me") was used by certain Continental naval forces during the American Revolution. It was named for Colonel Christopher Gadsden from South Carolina. More recently, it has taken on a renewed political importance as a symbol, for some people, of the Tea Party Movement. It association with the Tea Party is, no doubt, the reason that McDonel's story has received national attention. For property law junkies, it's just a good debate-starter! 

According to Lacey, the Avalon Village Community Association has taken the position that it is within its rights to prohibit its members from flying the Gadsden Flag because that flag was not included by the Arizona legislature in a law that listed several flags that all property owners have the explicit right to display.

Avalon's argument is based on the idea that the Arizona statute, by including a particular list of flags, necessarily excludes all flags which are not listed; in other words, a homeowners association logically has the right to prohibit its members from flying the flags that are not listed in the Arizona statute, including the Gadsden Flag.  This interpretation is rooted in the legal theory of "expressio unius est exclusio alterius" (now there's some Latin to spice up your Friday!), which means that items excluded from a statute were intentionally excluded by the legislators who voted for the law.

Interestingly, the Code of Virginia includes a provision similar to Arizona's, stating that property owners have the right to display the American flag, which cannot be infringed by a homeowners association. The difference is that Virginia's statutory provision is even more limited than Arizona's, as it references only "the flag of the United States."

"No association shall prohibit any lot owner from displaying ... the flag of the United States whenever such display is in compliance with ... the United States Code." (Code of Virginia Section 55-513.1)

The Avalon Village Community Association's lawyer has made the point that Andy McDonel should have been aware of the prohibition against flying the Gadsden Flag, particularly since he was formerly an officer of the association.  On this point we can certainly agree: potential owners would be wise to spend a couple extra hours reviewing their association's bylaws and other governing documents, to be sure that they agree and are comfortable with the neighborhood's rules. And if you are an adamant flag-displayer -- be it the Gadsden, the Parrothead, the Soviet, or the Cavalier Football Flag! -- be sure you have the right to fly your flag before signing your purchase contract.

It's Labor Day weekend, and The Fall is just around the corner.

• 162 of 2906 properties of all types sold in C'ville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson  in August 2010.
• 127 of the 162 were  single family homes.  2047 of the 2906 properties currently available are detached, single family homes.
• This means homesellers had a 6% rate of success.  Or, to put it the other way, a 94% chance of failure.
• Sales were down 30% for all types of inventory in the City + 5 Counties from August 2009. 
• Sales for individual counties have not yet been posted, to compare with July 2010's news, which included a nationwide drop of 27% in sales to a  15 year low, plus a drop of 48% in Albemarle County for single family homes.  Read.
• Inventory for August 2010 is up 50% from August 2009.
• Inventory in August 2010 is up 20% from July 2010. 
• "18 Months of Inventory" means that it would take that long, at this pace, to clear the housing stock.  A "balanced" market has 6 months of inventory.
  
• National inventory (existing) is at 12 months supply.
• Mortgage Rates ave declined for 10 of the past 11 weeks, now at 4.3%.

The data comes from Nest Realty Group.  Broker Jonathan Kauffman comments that the market will continue to "correct" itself, but that the two major factors are unemployment rising locally and rising nationally, plus  huge inventory. 

Actually, the most important element holding back sales in this market: price.  Inventory will clear out when prices reflect  the idea that bubble prices of earlier years do not indicate actual value now.  In this area, Foreclosure resale prices are closest to "fair market value," and Short Sale pricing is getting more realistic as well.  Check out daily "Price Reductions" on Trulia.com.

Read the Nest Realty Group post.

Below: Graph of 2009 and 2010 Single Family Home Sales in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson  
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Below: Table of 2009 and 2010 Single Family Home Sales in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Nelson.
Click for larger image in new window.

Below: Changes in Inventory Levels for All Property Types, C'ville + 5 Counties
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Below: Table of Inventory and Sales 2009 - 2010, All Property Types, C'ville + 5 Counties
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Colored graph via C'ville Bubble Blog; all others via Nest Realty Group