LONGWOOD, Fla. - Like it or not, homeowners' associations can set standards of behavior inside residents' homes. That's the view of a Florida appellate court, anyway.
On Thursday, the court handed to the Brantley Harbor Homeowners' Association a victory in its lawsuit against the former owner of a home once occupied by a gay live webcam operation. The suit began more than five years ago, when the HOA sought to evict College Boys Live from its midst, ostensibly because HOA rules prohibit operating a business in a residential neighborhood.
Despite the HOA's often-stated position that the content of the gay website wasn't at issue in the lawsuit, comments made after the court's decision gave another impression.
"They were surrounded by two-story homes, so we had a lot of children, 8, 9, 10, living in bedrooms that were restricted from looking out the windows," former Brantley Harbor HOA president Mike Tower told local television station WFTV.
The HOA succeeded in evicting College Boys Live from the home in mid-2004 after winning a lawsuit against the website's operator. However, to ensure everyone got the point, the association continued to pursue the woman who leased the home to the website. Judith Crago sold the property in 2004, but she always has maintained she didn't realize whatever was going on inside the house violated HOA rules.
Her attorney told WFTV's Eyewitness News he will seek a rehearing of the case because College Boys Live wasn't included as a defendant.
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