Landlords & Tenants
‘Christmas Lawyer’ uses settlement with homeowners association on more holiday decorations
An Idaho lawyer who had been fighting with his homeowners association over his “elaborate holiday displays” said he’s using the money that he received during mediation for even more Christmas cheer in his new home.
An Idaho lawyer who had been fighting with his homeowners association over his “elaborate holiday displays” said he’s using the money that he received during mediation for even more Christmas cheer in his new home, according to a report by Fox News.
Jeremy Morris, also known as the “Christmas Lawyer,” said this year’s decorations will feature camels, choirs, 14 Christmas trees and an indoor winter wonderland.
Morris’ extensive Christmas celebrations began in 2014, when hundreds of families showed up to his house to celebrate Christmas and raise money for children with cancer, according to Fox News.
When he moved to the family’s “dream house” just outside the city of Hayden in Kootenai County, Idaho, the following year, he called the president of the HOA to tell him about his planned display for the following Christmas, according to Fox News.
At that point, one West Hayden Estates HOA board member questioned whether neighborhood atheists might be offended by the display and whether “riff-raff” might be drawn to the neighborhood, according to Fox News. When Morris started decorating the house with about 700,000 lights, the HOA’s lawyer sent a letter to remove them.
Thus began a protracted legal battle between Morris and the HOA that resulted in a $75,000 jury verdict for Morris and landed briefly in the U.S. Supreme Court before heading to mediation, according to the report. Morris said the settlement was more than the jury verdict, according to Fox News.
Morris told Fox News that he was using the settlement money to buy “a lot of Christmas lights.” Morris said while his family still owns the home in Idaho, they have since moved “east due to death threats,” according to the report.
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