In Florida, a lawyer shared a video of a recent issue she had with her local HOA, wherein citations were sent to her home because of her Ramadan decorations. Luckily, her neighborhood wasn’t having it and managed to get the HOA to reverse course.
Posted by TikTok user Sarah_esq (Sarah), Sarah gives a quick explanation of her problem. Despite having Ramadan decorations up for several consecutive years—four years, to be specific—her HOA, for some reason, had a problem now. Sarah admits she had a “long, nasty gram typed up,” but thought better of it. Instead, this was going to be an “educational opportunity” for her to teach her HOA exactly what Ramadan was.
Fast forward a few days, and Sarah’s original video goes viral. More importantly, Sarah’s neighborhood caught wind of her issue, which she says she didn’t “expect.” In response, several members of the community sent “complaints” directly to the HOA office, defending Sarah and admonishing the HOA for their ignorance.
Sarah specifically names her neighbors across the street, Claudia and her husband, as upstanding allies. She says they went “in person” to their community’s HOA office to advocate on Sarah’s behalf by filing a complaint. “Mind you, I didn’t even ask them to do this,” Sarah says, but was otherwise grateful anyway. In a text exchange between Claudia and her, Claudia tells Sarah it was because she wanted her to know she “wasn’t alone.”
Additionally, the HOA did reach out to Sarah, only this time it was to apologize. They weren’t aware of what Ramadan actually was, or its finer details, such as when it’s celebrated and for how long. Most importantly, they told her the case was “closed,” including any “violations” related to her decorations.
People Online Reacted With Outrage and Curiosity
Given that in the U.S., you are free to practice whatever religion you want, or none at all, people got heated. They weren’t too happy about someone’s rights being pushed aside, especially by an HOA.
Several viewers suggested that Sarah pursue a legal route. “I think a lawsuit would be extremely educational,” one viewer wrote. “But not for Christmas decorations? Lawyer time,” wrote another.
One TikTok user commented that they, too, had to deal with their HOA. “I responded and said we will be keeping our Eid and Ramadan decor up for the remainder of the month. Please let me know if that will be a problem,” they shared. The HOA responded with a simple “All good.”
Many took this as an opportunity to badmouth HOAs, with virtually zero commenters having anything good to say. “I haven’t heard a single good thing about HOAs,” one commenter wrote, while several shared that HOAs were a deal breaker when it came to buying a home. A viewer claiming to be an HOA manager commenter stated, “Most states have laws against sending violations for religious decorations.”
Other viewers took this as an opportunity to educate themselves, asking what Ramadan decorations actually look like. The majority of them involve lanterns, stars, and moons. That raises the question of why Sarah’s HOA felt the need to bother her at all, if that was the case.
