Christmas comes early, but not holiday spirit
In an effort to make this holiday season the best one yet for his family of five, Michael Moffa vowed to have their Christmas lights professionally installed and not miss out like they had the past two years.
To do so, Moffa agreed for a Tampa, Fla., company to put up their lights earlier than usual on Nov. 6, nearly three weeks before Thanksgiving, as it was the only time the business had availability.
The early holiday spirit had brought joy to the family this month — until they got a letter from their homeowners association threatening them with up to $1,000 in fines for putting up their lights too early and violating their HOA agreement.
“I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ It’s Christmas lights,” Moffa, 40, told the Washington Post. “I’m not taking them down, even if the guidelines said I put them up too early. Everything looks so nice and for them to be a Grinch like this, it’s just unheard of.”
Jonathan Ellis, an attorney representing the Westchase Community Association, told WFLA, the first to report the story, that a neighbor complained about the lights at the Moffa residence, “which led to community manager to investigate it.”
In a statement to the Washington Post, Ellis said that the HOA had yet to decide whether to fine Moffa.
“The association has not levied a fine and there has been no decision on whether a fine will be levied regarding the failure of Mr. Moffa to comply with the association’s rule regarding holiday decorations,” he said.
The back-and-forth over the early holiday display in Tampa has received local and national attention in recent days, and rekindled a long-standing question: How early is too early to put up your Christmas lights?
Perhaps the most notable person to offer their support to Moffa was singer Mariah Carey.
“My personal preference is to wait until after Thanksgiving but there’s no regulating festiveness!!!” Carey tweeted.
“With the pandemic and the kids going through a different year at school, Christmas is something we’re really looking forward to celebrating this year,” Moffa said. “Because of the long hours I work, we got the lights professionally done.”
“It put a big smile on our kids’ faces,” he said. “We go out every night and look at the lights and feel good.”
Then, about two days later, Moffa said he received a letter from the Westchase Community Association.
The homeowners association wrote that its policy allows seasonal decorative lights to be displayed between Oct. 15 and Nov. 7 and between Thanksgiving and Jan. 15.
Since Moffa had his lights up on Nov. 8, he was in violation of the HOA agreement, according to the letter.
If he does not remove the lights, the family could face fines of $100 a day and a maximum of $1,000 total.
He told the Washington Post that he requested to not turn on the lights but keep the display up until they’re allowed back on at Thanksgiving - which was also denied.
Moffa, who said this isn’t the first time he’s been in conflict with the HOA, questioned Westchase’s arbitrary guidelines in which there is a 17-day gap prohibiting decorative lights.