DEAR SOMEONE ELSE’S MOM: We have a young couple living in the townhouse next to ours and last Christmas season they put up a light display that was left on overnight, every night, and was so bright, my wife and I had to buy blackout curtains for our bedroom and the guest bedroom at the front of the house. The HOA is less than useless, because they told me (and I double-checked them) that there aren’t any rules about holiday light displays beyond them not being allowed to “spill over beyond the limits of the confines of the owner’s property.”
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Well, they did it again this year, and although their decorations stay within their property, the light certainly spills out all over the place. Would I be a big Scrooge if I tell them what I think about their holiday display overload? --- NEEDS LESS MIDNIGHT SUN
DEAR NEEDS LESS MIDNIGHT SUN: Since the letter of the HOA rules are on their side, perhaps your next step is to approach your neighbors politely and directly to see if they might agree to have the display, or at least a large part of it, shut down after a certain time each night.
If you haven’t spoken to them yet, they may not have any idea you and your wife are having a problem with their holiday lights.