California’s Davis-Stirling confirms it: if a neighbor goes overboard with Christmas decorations in their yard, your HOA can review the CC&Rs to have them removed

The holiday season is upon us and to get in the festive mood many Americans decorate their homes inside and out with lights and Christmas displays. However, the joy that those bring to one homeowner may cause discontent with one’s neighbors and lead to holiday discord.

Homeowner associations typically set out guidelines dictating what is acceptable and what isn’t, including when you can put out your holiday display and the hours when the lights can be turned on. Failure to follow these could see you getting a notice that you’ll have to take them down and undo all your hard work.

Make sure your Christmas decorations don’t cause holiday discord

First and foremost before you go about setting up your holiday display, you should check your HOA community Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) guidelines. These will inform you of any specific restrictions in your community so that you can avoid running afoul of them.

If you are planning on putting up an outsized display, you will most likely want to consult with your HOA board to see if you need to get any permits and help plan for any extra traffic issues that may arise from people coming to take a gander. Also talk with your neighbors to make sure you’re not going to kick up a hornet’s nest by catching them unawares.

Furthermore, you will want to make sure that if you are going to be putting up large decorations that they won’t negatively impact your neighbors’ views nor infringe upon their ability to enjoy their property. This can take the form of noise pollution if you have music as part of the display or generators for inflatable decorations.

Light pollution can also be a concern. Make sure that the intensity of the light is not a nuisance nor illuminating their windows. You can use timer systems to ensure that the lights don’t stay on past the designated permissible hours.

Be sure to understand when you can put up your display and when it will need to come down. Otherwise, you may have some unplanned work complying with your community’s CC&Rs.

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