SANFORD, Fla.—A Seminole County judge has ruled in favor of a homeowners’ association that claimed a group of men leasing a house in its neighborhood were violating its restrictions on running a business out of a home. The men installed 24 cameras in the house and charged customers to view their sex acts on a Web site.
"We are certainly encouraged by the judge’s decision in this case," said ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull. "This profit-making venture from illicit activity in the midst of a neighborhood of families was not only a nuisance that was in clear violation of the homeowners’ association’s regulations, it also posed a danger to the residents."
Local counsel for the case,
Brantley Harbor Homeowners’ Association, Inc. v. Judith T. Crago and Magnetic Real Estate Network, Inc., was Frederick Nelson of the American Liberties Institute. The suit was filed in the Seminole County Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit.
According to the lawsuit, residents were concerned about a wide variety of activities surrounding the business at the home, including increased speeding traffic, noise related to parties at the home that were advertised through the Web site, and numerous unrelated people frequently moving in and out of the property.
Crago leased the home to Charles Foulk, the owner of the Web site, under the name of College Boys Live, Inc. Foulk has stated that he believes the lawsuit is motivated by the fact that he and his roommates are homosexual, but other homosexuals in the neighborhood have also complained about Foulk and the activity at his home.
"This case has nothing to do with persecuting homosexuals. It has everything to do with abiding by the rules and living peaceably with your neighbors. The members of the community went to great lengths to avoid this suit, but letters, pleas, and attempts at negotiation were unsuccessful. In the face of such resistance, the residents were left with no option but to seek legal aid," Bull said.
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Related Information
Trial court judgment, 8.18.2005