A Villages couple fighting to keep a little white cross on display in their front yard has welcomed a new attorney to their cause.
Keith Arago of Arago Law Firm is now representing Wayne and Bonnie Anderson, who are being sued by The Villages, demanding the removal of the little cross from their home in the Village of Tamarind Grove.
“Within hours of hearing of the fight to display the little cross in The Villages, his firm jumped into action and immediately offered to help,” said Wayne Anderson.
Anderson, who lives on Ansley Path, has remained firm in his opposition to removing his little white cross, which is deemed a “lawn ornament” under the deed restrictions in Community Development District 8.
Little white crosses can be seen in yards throughout The Villages. The vast majority remain in place because no complaint has been lodged against them. Others remain standing because they are on display at homes located in community development districts with no prohibition on lawn ornaments.
“We are a firm that takes a lot of David vs. Goliath cases,” said Arago, from his office in Kissimmee. “Whether it is prosecuting cases against international banks and lenders who have run afoul of homeowners’ rights, or defending against malicious cases brought by Community Associations or Community Development Districts run by individuals with axes to grind or gross misunderstanding of homeowners’ rights, we are happy to step in to represent homeowners facing these Goliaths and act as a legal rock to our clients’ proverbial shepherd slings.”
The Notre Dame Law graduate said The Villages’ attempt to force the Andersons’ cross from their property has overstepped its statutory authority regarding real-property rights.
CDD 8, which is the entity suing the Andersons, is a “special purpose” government, created by the Florida legislation to be “beneficial” to home owners.
Arago said he is confident the court will find the district has overstepped its boundaries and is violating state and federal law with its punitive enforcement of the deed restriction, prohibiting the reasonable display of the cross on private property.
The Andersons said they are not the only homeowners that districts within The Villages have targeted, they are eyeing tens of thousands of Christians in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
“The Knights of Columbus, a charity and faith organization, has made and distributed some 28,000 crosses in The Villages. All of these homeowners are targets for anonymous complaints and demands for removal. Here, the districts within The Villages are only willing to do the ‘trolls’ bidding,” Anderson said.
The attorneys for the American Center for Law & Justice sent The Villages two letters on behalf of the Andersons, stating homeowners had the legal right to display a little, reasonable cross in their yard. That firm later stepped back from the case.