I am deeply concerned over the actions taken by the California Condo Association in threatening fines of $50 a day against a homeowner for keeping a mezuzah on her doorpost.
State laws give condo associations nearly unlimited discretion in setting and enforcing rules that unit owners and tenants must abide by.  Unfortunately, this power is frequently abused by trustees who think they can do anything they want.  I have seen instances where the trustees use the rules to conduct personal vendettas against residents who have dared to cross them.  And they get away with this time and time again.
In this case, the association has clearly crossed the line and violated the laws of the land that prohibit religious discrimination.  They have made a resident feel unwelcome in her own home simply for meeting one of the most basic obligations of being Jewish.
Sad to say, the only effective remedy would be a legal injunction to bar the association from imposing the threatened fines and from engaging in any future retaliatory actions.  The trustees need to be taught a lesson that there is no room in America for their kind of discrimination.

David J. Ellis
Natick, Mass.

Editor’s note: See story breaking 4/4/12 that the California Condo Association agrees to allow mezuzah.