Local News
Lehi neighborhood rallies around family after religious decoration HOA fine
The Khan family lives in east Lehi’s Ivory Ridge neighborhood and received an unexpected HOA fine. The Khans, who are Muslim, displayed some traditional decorations to celebrate their faith’s holiday of Ramadan.
The decor included a “Happy Ramadan” vertical porch sign with some lights around their porch and walkway.
“We tend to have some decorations around the house so we can express that we’re celebrating Ramadan and create an ambiance of Ramadan, especially for the kids,” said Khan in an interview with KSL television.
Khan also said he spoke with the community HOA manager to explain what the decorations were for, and he said HOA personnel were unwilling to listen and insisted he pay the fine.
Neighbors started to get word of the Khan’s violation notice and quickly rallied around their neighbor by organizing a petition and sent a letter of support to the HOA to defend the Khan’s decorations.
“Residents from the Ivory Parkside Estates are writing to notify Ivory Homes HOA of our collective disappointment to learn that our neighbors (The Khan Family) received a fine for displaying and not removing a Ramadan sign and lights. The actions from the HOA have caused extreme distress and anxiety for our neighbors, and the neighborhood is writing to express our dissatisfaction with this course of action.” said neighborhood member Vanessa Perez, who spearheaded the support for the Khans.
Ivory Homes controls the HOA as the area is still being developed. Ivory Homes contracts with a national property management company, CCMC, out of Scottsdale, Arizona, to manage the community.
As of Tuesday afternoon, CCMC rescinded the Khan family’s fine and issued an apology.
When reached for comment, CCMC provided the following statement through Delores Ferguson, the division president for Utah.
“As a company, we celebrate all our residents and appreciate their diverse backgrounds and the rich culture they bring to our community. The people who make up CCMC value each of you and are always willing to work through any concerns and issues that arise.
We want to make it very clear; we offer our sincere apology for the avoidable situation involving your neighbors, the Khan family, and their celebration of Ramadan. Their home decorations for Ramadan should not have come into question.”
When reached by the Lehi Free Press on Tuesday, Ivory Homes also provided the following statement, which was sent to HOA members in the community.
“We are aware of an unfortunate and avoidable situation where a homeowner in the Ivory Ridge community was fined for their Ramadan decorations. Ivory Homes is committed to supporting diversity and creating communities where everyone is included.
As such, we are incredibly disappointed in the communication and approach of the property management company in this situation. Immediately upon learning about this situation on Monday afternoon, we demanded that the property management company take prompt corrective action and apologize to the Khan family and the Ivory Ridge community.
We are extremely proud of the support and care that our homebuyers have shown the Khan family. We also stand with them. We are committed to working with all our property management partners to ensure there are tangible steps taken to make every homeowner welcomed.”
Ivory Homes also informed residents that the local community HOA manager has been relieved of her duties.
