A South Florida teacher says she’s proud to be an American. To show it, she flies the American flag just outside of her front door. When her homeowners association told her to take it down, she turned to Help Me Howard with Brandon Beyer. Monique Rodriguez loves being a fifth grade teacher. Monique Rodriguez: “Just making an impact in the lives of the kids.” She also really enjoys how much time it allows her to spend with her own children. Monique Rodriguez: “They go to the same school that I teach at so we come and go together. Our mornings our afternoons, after school activities. Like they’re with me all the time.” She’s a proud mom. Monique Rodriguez: “I love that I get to be on the same schedule as my kids.” Something else she’s proud of? Being an American. Monique Rodriguez: “I love our freedom, I love our soldiers, I have family members that have served.” It’s why she proudly flies the American flag outside of her Miramar home and has since she bought her house 15 years ago. Monique Rodriguez: “As soon as we moved in, the flag was out there, we put it up there.” Monique says she wishes she saw more flags flying. Monique Rodriguez: “Just with everything going on in our country, I think what we need to see in our country is unification.” All those years, she says her American flag has never been an issue. But then just a few months ago, she got a letter from her homeowners association. Monique Rodriguez: “They just placed at my door saying that I was violating the association rules, saying that I’m not allowed to fly a flag out.” She found it odd but didn’t think much of it. Monique Rodriguez: “Then 10 days later, I got the same letter again saying that I’m being warned, that I need to take down the flag so that I don’t get fined for having the American flag outside of my house.” Monique didn’t know what to do. Monique Rodriguez: “Do I leave it up? Which is what I want to do, or do I take it down because I’m a law abiding citizen and I do want to follow the law.” Howard, she’s proud of her country and loves flying the stars and stripes to show it. Can her HOA force her to take it down? Howard Finkelstein: “No they can’t. The law prevents you from being prohibited to fly the American flag. However, it must be done in a respectful manner. As long as Monique does that, she can fly her flag.” We called Monique’s HOA and they told us they’d have a meeting and let her know. Then Monique stopped getting those letters. Monique Rodriguez: “I haven’t received any other letters saying that I was going to be fined or anything for having the American flag. They’ve just kind of left it alone.” And just as she’d hoped, Monique says she’s seeing more flags flying in her community. Monique Rodriguez: “Now we have another resident that has an American flag out there and it’s being flown. So now we have two flags in the neighborhood.” And it gets even better for Monique. Howard says you’re allowed to fly two flags. Old Glory and a state flag, or any branch of the military. Hey, got a problem? Need a hand? Here’s how to find us. It’s Help Me Howard, I’m Brandon Beyer, 7News. CONTACT HELP ME HOWARDEmail: [email protected]: Brandon Beyer at [email protected]: 305-953-WSVNBroward: 954-761-WSVN ...read more read less