Judge rules Missouri family's purple swingset can stay

[Miles Archer]

Judge rules Missouri family's purple swingset can stay

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/31/judge-rules-missouri-family-purple-swingset-can-stay/?intcmp=hpbt3



A Missouri judge has ruled that a suburban Kansas City family's purple swingset won't need to have its color changed after a homeowner's association threatened the family with fines or jail time.

"We're super excited, we’re very happy," said Marla Stout, who owns the swingset, told Fox4KC at a neighborhood barbecue Sunday celebrating Friday's ruling.

Stout told "Fox & Friends" earlier this month that she painted the swingset purple at the request of her two young daughters more than two years ago. But it was only this summer that the homeowner's association for the subdivision the Stouts live in told Marla that the color was not in harmony with others in the neighborhood.

Stout also told Fox4KC that she received a letter from the homeowners association saying that she hadn't gotten the playset color pre-approved. Another letter from the homeowner’s group said the lawsuit will cost the Stouts “far greater than any principal [sic] you are trying to prove.”

[Bettie]

1. How small are people's lives

if THIS is the thing they have to complain about?

What's next? "Um, you dressed your children in bright colors, the HOA states that people who live here may only wear approved shades of beige and light blue."

[TipTok]

8. The ideal HOA is the society from The Giver...

[valerief]

2. Principal???

[Bettie]

4. The leader of the HOA is usually

the loudest and nosiest person, not necessarily the most educated.

[Baitball Blogger]

7. Or the most devious.

There is a whole other side to HOAs that people don't know about.

[Bettie]

11. Either way, they are generally not

the best and brightest. They are, however, the most rigid in their belief that whatever they want/like is the only proper way to do things.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. We are in bad need of rethinking the HOA board idea.

The law has given these people the authority to take your house if you don't comply to their rules, though these boards are often mismanaged by individuals who have formed cabals to pilfer the Association's resources. Worse, they have learned how to latch onto the community networks OUTSIDE the Association, where they can garner extra protection from the homeowners they are abusing.

HOAs are a reflection of the political scheming that goes on in our country every day.

[Miles Archer]

15. SNAKES.

In my life, I have rented three townhomes.

#1: Homeowners association had a GENUINE interest in the cleanliness and security of the community. I give them an A+, NO complaints.

#2: Horrible, small, petty, gossiping, power-obsessed, meddling sociopaths.

#3: See #2.

[yellowcanine]

6. Yes, they forgot "the principal is your pal rule"

Apparently. When you spend your time fretting over the color of swing sets that can happen.

[CTyankee]

3. I love the color combination! I think it is beautifu. and appealing...

I would hate to live in that subdivision. The kind of thing is such a waste of time...

[kcr]

17. I agree. I was not expecting that.

HOAs are ridiculous. Bad enough they're throwing a fit over a swing set, but that one is actually nice. I like that color, too.

[Iggo]

5. The HOA threatened them with jail time?

Wow.

[yellowcanine]

9. I am guessing the HOA would run this old lady out of town.....

When I Am Old.

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me,
And I shall spend my pension
on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals,
and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired,
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells,
And run my stick along the public railings,
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens,
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat,
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go,
Or only bread and pickle for a week,
And hoard pens and pencils and beer mats
and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry,
And pay our rent and not swear in the street,
And set a good example for the children.
We will have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practise a little now?
So people who know me
are not too shocked and surprised,
When suddenly I am old
and start to wear purple!

Jenny Joseph

[Jake Stern]

10. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is an example

of why I avoid HOAs like the plague.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. What was the judge's legal reasoning?

The reason he took a week was because his decision could open a can of worms if not worded properly. I couldn't find anything in the article that provided any clues. Typical Fox reporting.

[NV Whino]

13. I bet she has some leftover paint

Time to paint the front of the house.

[hobbit709]

16. I would NEVER live in a place with an HOA-nothing but wannabee petty tyrants.

The ultimate Gladys Kravitz types.

[1monster]

18. I purposely live in a subdivision that has a voluntary home improvement association

with no legal authority over the home owners.

It makes for a much more diverse neighborhood, and, I think, happier residents. And I can have a purple house if I want one. Heck, I just painted my house pale pink with a darker pink trim. I LOVE it!

[ProfessorGAC]

19. That Swingset Is A Problem?

How? It's not ramshackle, the paint is all peeling off.

Geez, let the little kids be happy.