Legal Question in Real Estate Law in South Carolina

Put so simply, it would seem not.

But you asked this question before, didn't you,and it appeared that the association felt yourparticular truck was an eyesore and they felt justified in asking.

Here are some very vaguely worded thoughts on association rules. I honestly don't know thisarea of law very well and I suggest you take what I write with a grain of salt and then go hirean attorney to talk with you for two hours or so.

For each association, the starting point is the document itself, the association's rules. See what they say. However, it is NOT the final answerfor several reasons. First, not all convenants written into the rules are legally enforceable --imagine, as an extreme example, if there were a ruleagainst having black people there. On another hand,the law will allow the rules to compromise one's freedom and individuality for the common good, ingeneral, for the sake of conformity. BUT the rules should not give the leaders wide discretion to decide ad hoc what's okay and what's not and if it gives them that much power, and in so doing, allows them to, say, pick on people they just don't like, it's probably not legal.

Now the reality is this: even without a leg to standon, an association can make someone's life miserableif they are determined to do so as can anyone who can afford to hire an attorney when the other party cannot.

I suggest, however, that you consult an attorney. Find outwho knows the law in this particular field, and simply gointo that person's office and get his or her opinion. Bringyour copy of the rules (get them first from the court house ifyou don't already have them -- they are registered where landtitles are kept). If you spend $100 or $200 just getting ideasfrom an attorney, it could help you stop worrying. And you wouldn'thave to listen to my ill-informed uneducated guesses.

Tell the attorney up front that you are not seeking to hire him todefend you as much as you are trying to get good advice and a goodopinion on the law and your rights.

Frankly, off the record, unless the pickup is somehow particularlydisgusting, I think they'd be overstepping the bounds of decency and intruding too far into your personal lives to tell you that it doesn't fit in.