My Homeowners’ association has been writing letters to residents informing them that they are to remove their McCain/Palin or Obama yard signs. Thanks to a commenter here, I was able to buy four Obama signs and distribute three to friends in the neighborhood.
Can an HOA do this? There is nothing specifically in our covenants that restricts them. Does anyone know if there is a Georgia law that references this? (And yes, ThymeZome, I did try teh Google.)
I basically told the HOA that, if they are going to enforce this “rule,” I would be sure to ask the property manager to enforce the “dogs on leashes” rule that is consistently violated by many members of the Board.
These people are all my friends, but this really pisses me off, and I am keeping my Obama sign, just as I would support my neighbors who have McCain/Palin signs.
Joe Beese
"You have the right to free speech / As long as you’re not dumb enough to actually try it."
calipygian
Thats what you get for buying a house in a planned community with an HOA, AKA "StupidrulenforcenStaffel"
HOAs are un-American.
calipygian
You can’t delete a comment, can you?
D-Chance.
You had to BUY your Obamamerica signs?
Pathetic.
Polish the Guillotines
Push back. Ask them to cite chapter and verse of the C&C’s that either disallows the signs or allows the HOA to make you take them down.
mvr
Chances are that without some specific provision in the covenents they can’t (and maybe not even then) but you want your answer from a local lawyer. A call to your local ACLU would probably also give you good info.
John Cole
That is what you get for living in an area that requires a Homeowner’s Association, you yuppie scum. Let me guess, you are also upset because you saw someone scratch your BMW while you were walking from Pottery Barn to Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
:P
w vincentz
Were the signs skeerin’ the chickens wanderin’ the yards?
Llelldorin
Check your CC&Rs. If there’s a "no signage" rule, (our HOA has one), then you’re out of luck. Otherwise, you should be able to protest the rule by demanding to know what it’s based upon. (You might have to write a formal protest letter to the board via the management company.)
HOA’s aren’t intrinsically bad—I live in a condo where we share walls and have common exterior landscaping. Without the HOA, maintenance would be impossible. From what I’ve seen, though, the less the HOA actually needs to maintain, the more officiously stupid the board seems to become. HOAs in single-residence neighborhoods with city-maintained streets seem to exist entirely to piss people off.
jake 4 that 1
Why would there be a state law about yard signs?
As everyone else has said, if it isn’t in your contract or covenant or whatever, no they can’t make shit up at random. Some asshole saw a sign for a candidate he didn’t like and whined.
Anne
Here’s a discussion of the issue:
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/Speech/personal/topic.aspx?topic=yard_signs
The answer really is…maybe.
SamFromUtah
Clearly you need a shit moat.
gbear
I would guess that if you signed an agreement to live there, you also signed an agreement to follow the rules of the association. The townhouses across from me have a rule against lawn signs and one of the owners is getting around it by putting the sign on her porch. No one’s made her take it down.
I know they can be pretty strict about the rules. Someone tried to augment the boring garden that came with the townhouse, and the association made them dig out the plants and put it back the way it was.
qwerty42
the HOA is probably concerned that this will lead to neighbors getting into all sorts of arguments. It seems an odd sort of "rule" nonetheless, as I would imagine all the groups would be willing to get together to fight back. Check the HOA rules. have signs been displayed in the past? I believe HOA rules banning clothes lines (always a favorite) have been tossed in some areas.
Llelldorin
Yeah, that’s pretty typical, if exterior landscaping is the responsibility of the HOA. What they’re afraid of is that the gardener will move out, someone else will move in, and then begin howling that maintaining the previous owner’s incredibly involved garden is the HOA’s responsibility, because "it says so in the CC&Rs!"
We have that in our complex. A lot.
If exterior landscaping is the individual owners’ responsibility, then it’s just the board playing at tin-pot dictators.
Duncan Watson
Break the rules if they even exist. Encourage your neighbors to do so as well. The more who break the rule (or non-rule) the harder and more expensive for the HOA to try to enforce it.
Stevious
Your right to free speech as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution trumps any HOA rules. Most HOA boards have the good sense to let homeowners display political yard signs. My HOA limits size to the smaller yard signs, not allowing the big banners, and they have to be gone after the election…
Polish the Guillotines
That has to be one of the funniest sentences I’ve ever read. Ever.
Jim Wilson
Without more info about your association paperwork, it’s hard to say. But in my townhouse condo (6 units), the outside walls and all the exterior land belong to all of us. I only own the inside of my own unit.
Thus, if I were to put a sign in the common area, it would effectively be the same as putting a sign on the lawn of a house down the street: It’s not "my" yard. I can, however, put signs in my windows, since that’s on my property.
There is, I believe, a Supreme Court decision that allows you and me to fly an American flag attached to our condos/homes, but I don’t think it covers political signs.
Not a definitive answer, but best I can do, not being a lawyer.
Dennis - SGMM
A shit moat – hilarious! Thank you for a much needed laugh.
Spotty
Here’s what Spot suggests: tell the HOA that you don’t think the rule is enforceable. As a purely private matter, you maybe able to contract away rights or made promises not to observe or use them. It doesn’t sound like you did here, though. Rules have to be adopted by the association members, and if there was no prohibition in the rules when you moved in, and no such rule has been adopted since, no HOA minion should be able to even ask you to take the sign down.
Whether you did or didn’t, any legal action against you to remove the sign would involve the courts – state action in civil rights lingo. In that case, you could literally make a federal case out of it.
There are municipalities (including the one where Spot lives) that do have ordinances about places and times that political signs may be displayed; Spot has tested them without any response from the city. Sigh.
But time and place restrictions – like parade permits – have to be reasonable, and they cannot serve as to prohibit expression entirely.
Again, the situation is a different because private action is involved and not a municipal ordinance, but perhaps the analogy is to racial restrictive covenants, which are written in many deeds and HOAs, but cannot be enforced.
Tell the HOA, politely, sue me if you disagree, and by the way, you don’t have permission to come on my property to remove the sign. If you do get sued, Spot suspects you can find a public interest lawyer.
This is all well and good, of course, but your real issue is your neighbors. And toilet paper. And eggs.
Spotty
The above assumes you are talking about a sign on your own property, not a common area as one of the earlier comments suggests.
Loneoak
A good friend’s mom is the head of her HOA and started legal action to kick someone out of his home for painting his garage door the wrong color. Not pink or purple, but the wrong beige. As if there were a right beige. Beware, or Putin will rear his head in your neighborhood.
You might try this.
MikeJ
Tell them to sue you. No way to get a court date before the election. Remove the sign after the election, motion dismiss as moot.
"Sue me" works really well with HOAs in my experience. Going to court is such a huge pain in the ass, and a huge expense to everybody in the community. Point out the probability of losing their seats on the community board for bankrupting association over a lawsuit against a sizable percentage of its members.
YMMV. This isn’t legal advice. etc, etc.
Michael Demmons
What I wrote to the association members – a bit of a prick, I am, I know. They all own dogs:
******
Apparently, some homeowners have received mail from the property manager informing them that they have to remove their McCain/Palin or Obama yard signs.
Sue me. Not gonna happen until after November 5th and I’m willing to spend the money to keep mine. Are you willing to spend the money to stop me?
Or I’ll make you a deal. Whenever every single member of the board LEASHES their dogs every time they are out on the greenspace – and enforces the rule with everyone else – I might consider it. Until then, I’ll exercise my right to political free speech, just as some of you blatantly break the rules by allowing your dogs to run free in the greenspace (as I, admittedly, do as well.)
To put it simply, I am keeping my sign. And if the issue is forced, I will work my ass off to ensure that all rules are followed; specifically, ensuring that every one of you who let your dogs run free in the greenspace are reported to the property manager, and fines issued as spelled out in the covenants. I don’t mind leashing my dog and taking her to the park. Do you?
Any takers?
I can totally understand if someone has a sign in his or her yard advertising an event or something out of the ordinary. But a sign supporting a candidate? Do ya REALLY want to go down this road for something that only occurs every few years and only for a couple months??
I’ll go down that road with you. Whether you are an Obama or a McCain supporter, your sign is typical of things you see in every neighborhood in Atlanta. I believe the covenants are wrong. Sure, we’re technically wrong, but this is just silly.
P.S.: For what it’s worth, I know that the covenants prohibit signs. They also prohibit dogs off leash. Do you really want to have that fight? Because I am willing to have it – on behalf of both people who have Obama OR McCain signs.
P.P.S.: And if you really want to worry about what’s in peoples’ yards, how about spending more time on, oh, I don’t know, PINE STRAW and LANDSCAPING….stuff we’re supposedly paying for?!
lutton
Here’s a very recent article about this very subject in the Philly area, although the municiple vs HOA angle might be somehow different.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20081001_Moorestown_relaxes_rule_on_political_signs.html
But I’d pushback if I were you. We’re within a thirty-day window of the election, which I think is a reasonable time frame for such political speech.
The Moar You Know
This has nothing to do with the government and free speech, which is what the First Amendment covers. Michael signed a contract pledging to abide by the rules and judgements of his HOA. If Michael wants to break said contract, that is fine – but then Michael forfeits the right to live in that community.
I live in an HOA condo complex and am grateful for it. We are lucky in that the board is not full of wannabe Hitlers (I’ll probably take a turn on the board at some point to make sure it stays that way), and they do a great job with the maintenance. The neighborhood is beautiful.
The solution to this problem is quite simple and allows you to live within the rules; put the sign in your window.
D. Mason
If it were my neighborhood association trying to pull this shit I would tell them to sue me. By the time anything could be in motion regarding a suit the election would be over and the sign would be gone, along with any fees they paid to file suit.
Michael Demmons
@Spotty: Unfortunately, everything outside the walls of my house is common property. I’m not removing the sign. Fuck ’em.
RandyH
I live in a condo / townhouse (whatever) and I can’t have political yard signs or even signs in my window, etc. The only allowed sign is "No soliciting" on the front door.
Laura
A friend of mine had the same issue. Oddly enough, he also lives in Georgia. Is this sort of thing common there?
grisjuan
Ah, this old chestnut. Our Board gets this stupid argument all the time. Can you really think of nothing better than this? Do you think the Board reacts to this by saying "well here we have an intelligent, reasonable person with whom we can likely negotiate a harmonious outcome"?
Today I saw a bicycle run a red light right in front of the police – and the officer did nothing! Now I guess by your logic I have the right to break one other law of my choice, right?
grisjuan
All you people saying "sue me" should keep in mind that if the Association has a rule against signs, they can enforce it via a fine.
If you don’t pay, they file a lien against your property. It’s all very painless for the association…all the attorneys fees just get added to your account.
SamFromUtah
A shit moat – hilarious! Thank you for a much needed laugh.
Wish I could take credit for it. Did you read the link?
Teh Sadlies = awesome.
Badtux
HOA’s are of course free to prohibit anything on their commons. Whether political signs displayed on your private property can be banned appears to be a matter of state law. Of course, even in states that prohibit banning political signs from private property (i.e. the inside of your window), HOA board members, under the impression that they *are* the law, have attempted to ban political signs and issued bogus fines and such. So… (shrug).
Everytime someone lauds the benefits of privatization, I point’em at HOA’s. HOA’s are the privatization of functions that formerly were done by government, and you see the result — they’re run by petty tyrants who peek into windows and back yards and issue you fines if your garbage can stays out by the street for one second too long.
Zuzu Hussein's Petals
Michael, I found this 2006 e-mail from a Georgia HOA attorney in a discussion board. Unless Georgia law or local ordinances have changed since then, it may be helpful.
HOA discussion, JulieS post
Also remember that they probably don’t even need to sue you. Chances are they will warn you once more and then impose a fine…maybe even for every day you display the sign.
Good luck !
patrick
"in a unanimous decision (see City of Ladue v. Gilleo, 114 S. Ct. 2038 (1994)), the Supreme Court ruled that cities may not bar residents from posting political signs on their own property. The Court wrote that, even if the ban did not favor some speech over others (in effect, a ban on all signs), it would still be unconstitutional because it prohibited too much speech."
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Michael,
I used to work for a HOA/COA management company.
Expect to get fined for every single day you don’t remove that sign.
If you are okay with that, go for it.
Darkness
Um, no. The constitution applies to the government and only the government.
RandyH
A Homeowners Association can prohibit anything that is visible from the exterior of the building. This includes your window coverings (or lack thereof,) signs, window tint, door-knockers, whatever. You agree to these things when you buy the place.
steelhead
I’ll contribute funds to your free speech defense fund. Keep the faith, brother.
kilo
Channelling Rube Goldberg…
A long piece of pipe attached to an inside wall would still be your property, would it not?
So if that pipe stuck all the way out to your lawn and had a sign hanging off it, no problem, right?
BombIranForChrist
I don’t mind HOA’s if they actually maintain something. If your little group has a fountain with a fairy in it, I think it’s important to share the cost of keeping that fairy functional.
The HOA’s I do mind are the ones where little Fanny Fuckup decides its her god given privilege to tell you that you can’t paint your house Fire Hydrant Red, because red is only allowed when between an agreed upon set of frequencies in the spectrum, and Fire Hydrant Red is 2 angstroms off.
So I avoid them. Unless they are dedicated to fairy fountains only.
r€nato
it completely depends on your state. For instance, my state says HOAs cannot prohibit solar panels so long as they meet certain requirements. So even though the CC+Rs say one thing, they may be superseded by state laws or case law which took effect after the CC+Rs were written.
If your CC+Rs do not specifically prohibit yard signs, demand (nicely, these are your neighbors) that they show you where in the CC+Rs yard signs are prohibited. If it’s not written down, they have no right to ask anyone to remove them unless they amend the CC+Rs in order to do so.
FWIW my HOA is a very laid back one and I like it very much. We have private streets (but no gates) and a few common areas so it’s necessary to have the HOA to maintain these. We throw a great Memorial Day party at the clubhouse every year. I know that HOAs can be nazis and places for little Napoleons to act out their power trips, I guess I got lucky and I belong to one of the good ones. We only pay $69/month which is a screaming deal for what we get.
Our CC+Rs prohibit yard signs but some people do have some up (for local JP or school bond elections, exactly zero for presidential race), I guess people are overlooking the rules against them so long as they don’t create friction. I could probably get away with putting one up but I don’t since my GOP neighbors don’t, if I did they would probably do the same, and I like to get along with the people I have to live next to, if possible.
well no, they don’t actually kick you out if you violate the CC+Rs! But they CAN fine you, IF you are violating them and IF they choose to enforce them against you and IF they have followed proper procedures by notifying you in writing that you are violating the rules and that you will be fined if you don’t comply.
That’s a good point, but – speaking as someone who served on our HOA board, which again was not at all a haven for wannabe Hitlers – the board generally has discretion in how and when to enforce CC+Rs. It’s a giant loophole which allows them to play favorites if they want to, but it also allows benevolent boards to be more relaxed. I mean, do you REALLY want your board to consistently enforce every little rule against everyone, for the sake of having your yard sign?
You have a good argument in that regard; if you feel the board is being highly selective, build a case. Document everything and bring some neighbors who feel likewise. Treat it like going to court. Check your emotions at the door and appeal to their logic and sense of fairness, using the CC+Rs and evidence as the foundation of your case. If there are trivial inconsistencies in CC+R enforcement, that’s one thing; if the board routinely engages in selective enforcement, that’s another and you have a pretty good case, at least if the board is of a mind to be fair to you.
Above all – and I suggest this to any of you who ever have to deal with a matter with your HOA board – be civil. You will get a lot farther with these people – who are, after all, your neighbors – by being reasonable rather than by showing up out of the blue, having seldom if ever attended a board meeting, and being demanding and imperious and outraged.
If they prove to be jerks after you’ve tried using honey, then you can reach for the vinegar.
If this is really important to you, I would suggest consulting an HOA attorney. A half-hour (or less) consultation should not cost much and they can give you a very good idea of where you stand, especially wrt any changes in state law or relevant case law since your CC+Rs were written.
And it’s a certainty you’ll get more useful advice than asking internet non-lawyers for their opinions for free ;-)
phil
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled last year (Committee for a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Homeowners’ Association) that homeowners’ associations can ban homeowners from displaying campaign signs because, although homeowners’ associations are basically another layer of government and have so many attributes of government actors, the New Jersey Supreme Court parked its collective brain at the door and let them do whatever they want.
r€nato
Well, I think Zuzu has your answer. Good job Z.
If the CC+Rs do not specifically prohibit yard signs or if the board cannot cite a relevant CC+R which allows them to do so, they are SOL.
If, however, your CC+Rs specifically prohibit yard signs, you’re the one who is SOL.
You could, of course, get together with your fellow yard signers and ask the board to overlook this rule (if, again, it exists). They have the discretion to do so. It’s unlikely, however, if the CC+Rs are on their side that they will choose to do so once they’ve headed down the path of asking everyone to remove them.
Bob In Pacifica
I once owned a house where there was a homeowners’ association. We were there a week when someone from the HA showed up and cut down the tree in our front yard. Someone had made a decision that my tree needed to come down. They apparently pissed off enough people that everyone just stopped sending them dues and they went out of business.
Jasper
I’ve served my time on HOA boards and the key to them working is getting good people on them. Most people want the crap to be taken care of but are too "busy" to go to meetings or serve their time.
That’s fine, and what you’re left with are petty individuals who have nothing better to do with their time than figure out who broke a rule which gives them an opportunity to exercise a little bit of power in their otherwise meaningless lives. That’s a little harsh, but not much.
Run for a slot next time or support like thinking individuals. Idiot rules like no signs in a Presidential year can be ignored.
mellowjohn
i was "asked" by the management co. that runs our condo to take down the obama sign i had in my window.
i was going to make an issue of it, but my wife (also an obamite) said "we’ve got more cats than we’re supposed to have under house rules. take the sign down."
fwiw, there were no objections to my kerry sign 4 years ago.
r€nato
I agree with everything Jasper wrote, and especially with both of the above sentiments, 110%. Your board can and should ignore these silly little rules if they are not causing problems.
Ours is doing just that. I think we have an unspoken agreement not to shove our politics in each others’ faces, so I don’t see any yard signs hardly anywhere here except for the homes which sit on the main street which runs past our community, and even those signs are only for the Justice of the Peace election and the school bond election.
jimBOB
One thing you might consider if you don’t like the way your HOA board works is you could try to get on it yourself. If it’s like ours they are grateful for getting people to serve, plus its a good way to meet your neighbors and learn about what’s going on.
Our agreement has restrictions on signs, but they’re pretty commonsense and don’t prohibit normal yard signs during campaign season. The board has a fair amount of discretion, but when push comes to shove they have a hard time enforcing against a determined homeowner. You could refuse to pay their fines and they probably won’t be able to get their money until you move out (by which time they’ll have liens filed and will recover with interest).
If it were me I’d write the letter in a less confrontational way and I would not have brought up the leash business; that’s neither here nor there. If the only site for the signs in common area, you are probably on weak ground trying to put one up.
Bonavox
I didn’t see this answer given, so figured I would add my two cents in since I work for an HOA.
Typically, most CC&R’s will have a sign provision along the lines of prohibiting yard signs that do not meet certain criteria. This is mainly a provision aimed at real estate signs, however it can include political signs.
I would suggest you review your CC&R’s for the specific verbiage on the sign policy as generally speaking, most political signs are acceptable as long as they meet certain size criteria and are kept to your private property and are not posted in the common area.
In terms of consequence, how a typical HOA non-compliance issue is dealt with can vary, but usually the complaint is logged and the homeowner is given a certain amount of time to comply. This varies but is anywhere from "immediately upon receipt of notice" to 15-30 days. If the homeowner is still determined to be in non-compliance, then a second notice is sent with another timeline for compliance. If after the second notice the homeowner is still in non-compliance, the Board may elect to call the homeowner to a hearing at the next Board Meeting where the homeowner could face possible fine. And HOA’s are required by law to give sufficient written notice (certified and regular mail) of a hearing.
All told the process from initial warning to hearing is over 30 days. So unless they are willing to go around and physically remove the signs themselves, your HOA won’t be able to really do anything punitive until actually the election is over.
My advice? Stick the sign in your front window and ignore the warnings, then take it down on Nov. 5 and tell them you’ve complied. ^_^
Zuzu Hussein's Petals
BRILLIANT !
JasonF
Man, I still miss Joe Strummer.
cleter
Are you allowed to have holiday decorations? Could you, for example, have Obama-themed Halloween decorations until Oct 31, followed immediately by Thanksgiving decorations that were remarkably similar? Could you put some foilage around the Obama sign and call it a wreath?
grisjuan
> Your board can and should ignore these silly little rules
> if they are not causing problems.
As a Board, you do have to be a little careful with precedent. If someone puts up a decorative wreath on their door and you ignore it, someone else will put out giant Grecian urn in the hall outside their door, cite the precedent of the wreath, and threaten to sue the Board if they don’t let it stay saying the Board isn’t applying the rules fairly. Then other neighbors complain to the Board about the giant urn and insist the Board get rid of it….
Limniade
The HOA may also be concerned about vandalism from passers-by. I’m just pointing this out because there may be other motivations at work besides "We just don’t like those nasty yard signs." I know that we’ve had a problem in some suburbs up here, where people have reported that their signs were taken and/or property damaged.
Not that the onus isn’t on the asshole who needs to trash a yard sign (and/or other property), but that doesn’t help when you come home to a bunch of broken stuff.
ECS
What you should do is call your local Bar association and see if they have low-cost, or no cost, attorney referrals, or if the Bar offers a neighborhood legal clinic, and run the situation past a real estate attorney.
It’s extremely likely that you do have restrictive language about external signage, decorations, appearance in your CCRs. But–can the Board prohibit a political campaign sign, which by its nature is a constituionally-protected exercise in freedom of speech? You might also want to run it by your local ACLU chapter. You should also look into getting assistance from law students at legal clinics run by a nearby university.
Here’s a thought–have you considered approaching the McCain supporters about how they feel about the sign ban? This might be a way to "come together" with other Americans, despite political polarity, for the common good of protecting legitimate citizen exercises of freedom of speech.
namekarB
As mentioned earlier, the CC&R’s will reveal what yard signs are permitted. I live in a retirement community (California) and our CC&R’s restrict all yard signs, except, campaign signs of a certain size (no gigantic signs) during elections.
If you want to change the CC&R’s then you should be able to submit a change request in accordance with the procedures outlined in the CC&R’s and have it voted on by association members.
As a side note, we also have a prohibition against pink flamingos. But, we allow Xmas decorations. My neighbor has pink flamingos as yard Xmas ornaments (blinking pink lights outline the flamingos) so there is always some method of giving the finger to authority.
Adam
Threatening them won’t get you anywhere. It’s not a racially-restrictive covenant, so they can probably enforce it just like they can force you to adhere to certain colors of paint despite your purported freedom of expression; and if they can’t enforce it they can still make your life miserable.
The suggestion about putting the sign in your front window is on the right track, but you might not want to be passive-aggressive.
A better option might be to ask them, "Hey, can you tell me if there’s anything in the HOA agreement that says I can’t put political signs in every single one of my windows?" (There isn’t.) They won’t enforce the yard rule if they know you’ll just move the sign to your windows and add twenty more with it.
James
California has a statute that voids all such HOA restrictions of sale and political signs, provided that the signs adhere to "reasonable" use. Not a constitutional issue if there is a statute, but perhaps only available in "blue" places.
Jasper
grisjuan,
That’s a good point.
A lady next to me for a good reason parked a car in the yard for a couple weeks, long story. Anyway, people complained, we wrote the letter, I hand delivered it with assurances nothing would actually happen for the time she needed to get things squared away, etc. but we couldn’t ignore it unless we wanted to potentially be forced to allow a house with a junked car on blocks covered with weeds to be parked on the front lawn in the future. That’s a real concern in Tennessee where I live :)
Equal Opportunity Cynic
Oh, well then, they’re apparently supporters of Barr or some other smaller-party candidate. Good for them.
Jinchi
Looks like you’re out of luck in Georgia:
Jeff
What’s nuts is my neighborhood was packed with Bush/Cheney signs in 2004. So far this year, not one. The only sign I’ve seen so far is one Yes on Prop 8 sign (California Marriage Amendment).
Marshall
When we were looking for a house, I avoided any houses with any sort of powerful homeowners associations, and made that very clear to the realtors, which shocked them. They are undemocratic and value subtracting.
Now, IANAL, but here in Virginia, if the HOA thinks you are in violation, they basically have to take you to court (except that some HOA agreements say that they can cut your grass or whatever and charge you). So, I would tell them that if they don’t like my signs, take me to court.
lushboi
My HOA is a bunch of Nazis. They even told me I have to take down my ADT security sign next to my door. I told them to shove it. We’ll see what happens next. HOAs are worthless. My next home will be in an HOA free neighborhood.
dewberry
There was an actual Supreme Court case on this, City of Ladue vs. Gilleo that ruled cities can’t ban yard signs.
My neighborhood did not allow them prior to this case, but they now make no effort to stop them.
r€nato
goddamnit why didn’t I think of that? LOL
r€nato
i don’t believe that precedent is as binding on an HOA board as it is in the judicial system. It all comes back to the nature of the board, the nature of the ‘precedents’ and the involvement of the HOA members (homeowners).
Boards can usually cite differing circumstances to explain what seems like inconsistent enforcement; however if a board consistently favors some homeowners over others – for instance, enforcing restrictions on how some HOA members can paint or remodel the exterior of your house while completely overlooking what board members are doing with their exteriors, or otherwise acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner – then they are liable to be replaced or otherwise have their lives made miserable by their neighbors.
So long as an HOA board is not violating the law or openly looting funds, they can pretty much do what they want, and the only thing to stop them is homeowners who get involved. There’s a lot of room for abuse. They can do all sorts of crap in ‘executive session’ (no homeowners allowed to attend), if they are of a mind to be up to no good. I’ve heard of some pretty shocking stories of out-of-control HOA boards. They can also get away with a lot if homeowners don’t show up at meetings to see what is going on.
So the bottom line is, try to be involved. Talk to neighbors and see if you can all take turns attending monthly meetings just to keep up with what’s going on and keep an eye on them.
Bob In Pacifica
By the way, while Homeowners Associations have reputations as being only in uppity, rich communities, alas, it is not true.
The house where I lived where the HOA cut down the tree in my frontyard was in a section of the town that had initially been a designated area where "Negroes" were sent when they wanted to buy a home. It was fully integrated when housing in San Francisco proper got too expensive for white and Asian families.
I’m not sure who invented the concept of HOAs, but these days they seem to be another layer of bureaucracy to frustrate the rights of homeowners. As such, I see them diminishing in the future.
blondie
Comrade Michael-
I practice HOA law in Arizona. I commend to you the comments of renato (44) and Bonavox (52). If the yard signs are not specifically prohibited in the CC&Rs or rules, then they cannot make you take them down. HOA regulation of political signs is prohibited in AZ, but unless there is a statute prohibiting political sign display in yards in Georgia (I STRONGLY doubt it) then the CC&Rs are all you need to look to.
It’s likely that your Board has made a policy decision about these signs. At least they are smart enough to ask everyone to take them down. Don’t forget though, that the Association is required to adhere to federal Fair Housing Laws which prohibit discrimination based on gender, race, creed, color or age (and a few others that escape me without my morning coffee).
Good Luck!
Ian
HOA = EPIC FAIL
You know, I’m yuppie scum with a fancy car too, but at least I had the sense to get a fee simple townhouse without an HOA.
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Well, when some folks shop around for a domicile to purchase, some observe the need for a national, state, county, and occassionally, municipality government to regulate their daily lives.
Some folks want to take it one step further and insert a neighborhood government to enforce an agreed upon conformity. Sometimes these little neighborhood governments to have additional bulwarks of defense, like a piked fence with a gate that may or may not have a uniformed little old lady designating who amongst the ‘other’ can penetrate their little community.
Sometimes, these gated communities can, like they have in my town, sprout around state and city parks and abbrogate the ability for the ‘other’ to park on the streets near the park, essentially shutting out the ‘other’ from access to the commons.
Michael, I agree with about 90% of all your postings. As much as I’d like to agree upon you here, you willingly chose to enter into a type of community whose smiley McAuthoritarianism (along with box seating and SUVs) are a textbook example of what is irreparably wrong with American society. Your venting has the same flavor as listening to my colleague who bought an H3 18 months ago bitch about the gas tax.