Peter Franceschina
homeowner faces foreclosure for flying U.S. flag
Fri Sep 12 18:07:57 2003
67.1.149.48


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-pflag11sep11,0,4807489.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
Jupiter homeowner faces foreclosure for flying U.S. flag

By Peter Franceschina
Staff Writer
Posted September 11 2003

Defiant flag flier George Andres once again is facing the prospect
of losing his Jupiter home after a Palm Beach County judge ruled
Wednesday that his homeowners association could go forward with a
foreclosure sale next month to collect legal fees.

Andres, a Marine veteran, said he was worried about losing his
home, but he vowed to appeal the latest ruling in a legal saga that has
spanned more than two years. "We are going to fight," Andres said.

It is the second time in recent months that Andres' home has moved
toward the auction block. He was granted a reprieve in May when Circuit
Judge Edward Fine agreed to reconsider his order authorizing the
foreclosure.

The Florida Attorney General's Office stepped in and argued that
Andres' home was constitutionally protected under the state's homestead
law from foreclosure by a homeowners association attempting to collect a
legal debt.

Andres' homeowners association prohibits flagpoles, and Andres has
a 12-foot flagpole in his front yard. Another judge ruled that Andres
didn't have a right to put up the flagpole, and the association filed a
lien on the property to collect roughly $21,000 in attorneys' fees and
legal costs expended in winning the case.

Fine rejected the argument from the Attorney General's Office and
issued a ruling Wednesday that found the association's right to file a
lien against the property was established in 1982, when its covenants
and bylaws were recorded in land records, six years before Andres
purchased his home.

West Palm Beach attorney Steven Selz, who represents the
homeowners association, said the ruling makes sense.

"There has to be a way to give the association a right to enforce
its claims on the property," he said.

Boca Raton attorney Barry Silver, who represents Andres, said he
would file an appeal. Mediation has failed, while the attorneys' fees
continue to pile up for both sides.

"They find George to be very intransigent because he has the right
to fly the flag, and they think he is stubborn because he fights for
that right," Silver said.

Selz said he hopes Andres decides to reach a settlement rather
than face losing his home, which is scheduled to be auctioned on Oct. 9.

Andres said previous settlement offers required more of a
compromise than he was willing to make.

"They said remove the flag and the flagpole, and that is not a
compromise," Andres said. " I'm 66, and I don't have much left anyhow.
We have to go ahead and fight."

Peter Franceschina can be reached at
pfranceschina@sun-sentinel.com  or 561-832-2894.