Lodi homeowner keeping Trump 2024 signs posted on porch despite HOA pushback
LODI -- There is a debate over banners posted on one Lodi resident's house after their homeowner's association sent a letter that said he had to remove the signs he had posted out in front that support Donald Trump.
The letter that was sent to Lodi resident Paul Wood Bonilla last week makes no mention of politics, but Bonilla still feels like he is being targeted.
"The guy took a bullet for me," said Bonilla. "I am going to support him."
The Sunwest Homeowners Association, which is part of Katzakian Property Management, sent a letter to Bonilla that said his signs were in violation because they were bigger than three square feet in size.
"I knew that the minute that I started supporting Trump that they were going to give me a hard time," Bonilla said.
Bonilla's neighbor Jim Brentt thinks the banners violate the visual values of the neighborhood.
"I think it's big. I think it's intrusive," said Brent. "I don't think it has to do with the message. It has to do with the way he is expressing it."
CBS13 read through the HOA contract and the letter and asked local attorney Michael Wise, who is unrelated to this case: Can the HOA require the signs to come down?
"The HOA is completely wrong," said Wise. "He cannot force him to take it down at all."
Wise said that is because the California Civil Code's Davis Sterling Act is clear, reading: "An association may prohibit noncommercial signs and posters that are more than nine square feet in size and noncommercial flags or banners that are more than 15 square feet in size."
Bonilla's banners are not that big.
"It doesn't threaten public safety or health, it doesn't violate state or federal law, it's on a permitted medium," said Wise.
The controversy here has to do with measurements, but Bonilla suspects it would have never been a question if it weren't for the political message.
"I am going to stand up for what I believe in. I believe in President Trump," said Bonilla. "I believe in the American way and I'm not going to be bullied."
Wise said the HOA could face a lawsuit if it forces Bonilla to take the signs down.
Bonilla said his neighbors are planning to post their own Trump signs in support of his.
CBS13 reached out to the HOA and Katzakian Property Management but has not heard back.