Condo resident being threatened with lawsuit for hanging American flag

Article and Video Courtesy of Count-On-2-News-First

By Delia D'Ambra

Published October 17, 2017

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The American flag has sparked a nasty war of words at a condo complex in Southwest Florida.

A man living where Hurricane Irma first made landfall put the flag out to support first responders.
    

Now, his condo association is threatening him with a lawsuit.

Frank Apuzzo received a letter from the La Peninsula Condo Association just days after Hurricane Irma ripped through the community on the Isles of Capri.

The board demanded Apuzzo take the flag down.

"You can't modify your unit without approval. You need to remove it immediately, or we're going to take you to arbitration, and we're going to do this legal stuff and sue you," Apuzzo said.

 

He says the flag was a sign of hope to him and his neighbors trying to rebuild after the storm.

"I just took solace in it to be able to sit here at the end of the day, all beat up, no air conditioning, no power, nothing. Little bit of a breeze and the flag blowing gently in the background, it was nice, I loved it," Apuzzo said.
 

Federal law actually protects Apuzzo's actions.

The Freedom To Display the American Flag Act, passed in 2006, prohibits condo associations from restricting homeowners from displaying the United States flag on their property.
  
"Whoever is complaining has nothing better to do. I think the association has to bend. If he wants to fly a flag, he should be able to," said another resident, Will Ingoglia.

"I don't see how it’s hurting anybody; I don't believe I’m doing anything wrong," Apuzzo said.

We reached out to the condo association, but they have not returned our calls.


Apuzzo is keeping his flag up. A neighbor from the building next to Apuzzo has been flying an American flag off of his porch for more than a decade and says he's never gotten a letter asking to take it down.

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