Fines For Early Christmas Lights? Amarillo Is In Trouble If So.

So Thanksgiving is right around the corner. The holiday where we all look to overstuff ourselves, take a turkey nap...then head out Black Friday shopping right?

It seems as though things are a bit different this year though.

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I've been noticing that ever since Halloween wrapped up, people haven't wasted getting those Christmas lights up and rolling outside.

Now, I'm fully aware I'm new to Amarillo and MAYBE this is a normal thing here that I'm just not aware of. If it's not though, there's a lot of Christmas spirit in the air.

And it's not just here in Amarillo, it's happening all over the country. Maybe it's just the way the last couple years have gone. I mean, I know I went all out with my outdoor decorations last year. Spent several days putting them together, adding things, changing things.

But is there a TOO early when it comes to Christmas decorations? Apparently in a certain area in Florida, there is. A man in Westchase, FL. hired a company to come out and hang his Christmas lights on November 6th. I mean, it's early but not THAT early. At least he got through Halloween.

He needs to hire a company to do it for him because he can't climb up on to the roof himself. Due to the rising popularity in hiring companies to hang lights, November 6 was the only date they had available to do it. So he said let's go.

Lights got hung, then letters started showing up. His HOA started sending letters threatening fines if he didn't take them down. There is apparently a rule with his HOA that Christmas lights are not allowed to be hung until AFTER Thanksgiving.

It further explains he could be fined $100 a day up to $1,000 total if he doesn't take them down. He offered to just not turn them on until after Thanksgiving passes, but the HOA said nope, doesn't matter. Take them down.

Ridiculous, right? Now I've heard of many horror stories about HOA's from various people. They have a tendency to wield a little TOO much power if you ask me, but I also understand why we have them in existence. They can do good things for a neighborhood and home values.

But this is like a real life Grinch story isn't it? The attorney for the HOA said the rules are in place to avoid people leaving them up too long. Again, I can understand that, but have a heart.

Reading this story made me wonder if any of the HOA's in Amarillo have rules like this? The gentleman in Florida didn't even know that rule existed with his HOA. If the same applies to Amarillo, I have a feeling there's gonna be a lot of fines getting thrown around. I've seen quite a few light displays up already.

I'd love to see if this exists in the city. I want to hear if if your HOA has a rule like that or not. I mean, maybe you don't even know if they do or not. I'm curious to see if the Grinch has invaded Amarillo!