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Family told by HOA that it’s ‘too soon’ to decorate for Christmas, ordered to take down display

Posted at 4:00 PM, Nov 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-12 16:00:56-05

SAN ANTONIO, Tx. (WJW) – A family is in shock after they were told by their homeowners association to take down their Christmas decorations.

“I was like, ‘Wow, that’s a first,'” Nick Simonis said in an interview with WOIA. “I was angry, because there’s a reason why we’re doing it.”

On Nov. 1, he set up a snowman, some reindeer and a Santa hanging from a helicopter in the front yard.

A couple of days later, he got a letter in the mail from the HOA notifying them of the violation.

It read in part, “Maintenance – Holiday Decorations Need To Be Removed. Please remove the snowman until closer to the holiday season.”

“They didn’t even clarify what day that is,” said Nick.

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His wife Claudia is eight months pregnant, so they wanted to get an early start this year.

He said at this point they have no intentions of taking down the display.

“We’re not going to do it,” Nick said in an interview. “It’s the Christmas spirit. We’re not going to be forced by the HOA to take it down.”

Other neighbors caught wind of what happened and are now putting up their own decorations in solidarity.

“These are the holidays. This is what we do. We take care of our neighbors. That’s what a neighborhood is about,” Charles Minton told the TV outlet.

WOIA reached out to the HOA for a comment but did not hear back.