MUNDY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Three months ago, James Cunningham created www.LPV.hoaspace.com, a Web site featuring crosswords, recipes, horoscopes and a chat forum for fellow condo owners in his Lake Park Village subdivision.

“I did it so we could get to know our neighbors and discuss our common problems,” he said.

But the management company for the complex has ordered the retiree to shut down the site or face a lawsuit.

Dennis Shaw, owner of Spectrum Property Management, said the association objects to the Web site because “it looks like the official association page.”

He added, “It’s never been the association’s intent to limit freedom of speech.”

But in a May 16 letter, Shaw directed Cunningham to shut down the site within 24 hours or “the association’s attorney will commence suit against you, and all legal costs will be assessed against your unit per the association’s rules and regulations.”

In response, Cunningham changed the name of the site from “Lake Park Village” to “LPV Sentinel” and posted a disclaimer on the home page: “This Web site is not affiliated with Spectrum Property Management or the Lake Park Village board of directors.”

Cunningham, who has lived in his condo with wife Helen for 13 years, said he’s simply exercising his right to free speech. And he intends to keep talking.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” said Cunningham. “They’re going to have to come in here and physically shut it down.

He also hired an attorney, Robert Fraile, who fired off a May 21 letter to Shaw stating that the Web site doesn’t violate any known bylaws and is protected speech under the U.S. Constitution.

But that didn’t end the war of words.

In a June 8 letter, association attorney Timothy Knecht renewed the association’s claim that the site “is portraying inaccurate information and should be shut down immediately.”

Cunningham, who said he’s wrangled with Shaw – his next-door neighbor – for years over drainage woes in his backyard, believes the manager feels threatened by the site.

“Shaw does not like this,” he said. “He’s losing control.”

Shaw, who said he registered for the site but is no longer allowed access, insisted, “This isn’t a personal thing.”

CM END YORK

(Sally York is a reporter for the Flint (Mich.) Journal. She can be contacted at syork(at)flintjournal.com.)

2007-06-21-CONDO-WEBSITE

AP-NY-06-21-07 1423EDT