Military homes are provided with multiple benefits, but unfortunately, avoiding the bane of neighborhood communities, HOAs, is not one of them. That said, a group of service members and their families at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida received a rather cold message notice from the organization that manages their privatized housing. The message told them to take down all their holiday home decor because it’s too early in the year to be celebrating Christmas. Needless to say, the Grinch would be pleased.
“All holiday decorations should be reflective in their respective months and not any sooner than 30 days before the given holiday. If you currently have Yuletide decor present on the outside of your home, please remove it and reinstall it in accordance with your community guidelines listed below.”
The message was sent out by Balfour Beatty Communities, which manages the privatized housing at Tyndall Air Force Base, according to Task & Purpose. “They are enforcing the community standards outlined in the legally binding lease agreement all residents voluntarily sign,” Captain Justin Davidson-Beebe at Tyndall explained. Understandably, no one was happy with this restrictive holiday decoration enforcement. “And if this was off-base, then fine…But it’s NOT,” clamors one commenter. “First off, when did an HOA take over base housing? That in itself is crazy,” remarks another.
Several on Reddit more or less shared the same sentiment: HOA should not be telling military families how to decorate their homes, especially on-base. “Oh hey look, it’s that War on Christmas Republicans are always harping about every year!” one user exclaimed. “The year is 2025. Donald Trump is President. The Military is fighting a two-front war on Thanksgiving and Christmas,” added a second. Of course, a few people noted that they agree that the first weeks of November are too early for Christmas decor to go up.
However, this one person makes a very good point about the current situation of many Americans: “Life in the U.S. is becoming increasingly bleak, so if holiday decorations provide some joy and hope, then so be it. Let people have their happy place.”
