It is that time of year again when our neighborhoods and buildings have been festooned with placards touting the newly minted best candidates and propositions to be arriving soon on your ballots in the upcoming elections. How did these requests for your attention arrive on the street corners, in the doorways, and on the lawns near your home? What right do they have to remain as part of your visual landscape?
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides us all with the right to the freedom of political expression. However, if you have chosen to live on property that is subject to the governing documents of homeowners associations (“HOAs”) or condominium associations (“COAs”), then your association can place reasonable limitations on the display of political signs, as long as they do not completely ban them. Landesberg v. Fairway Village Homeowners Association, 546 P.3d 502 (2024). RCW 64.38.034(1), which governs homeowners associations created prior to July 1, 2018, provides that HOA governing documents “may not prohibit the outdoor display of political yard signs by an owner or resident on the owner’s or resident’s property before any primary or general election.” RCW 64.90.510(2), a provision of WUCIOA, which governs all common interest communities created since July 1, 2018, and which will govern all common interest communities after January 1, 2028, states: “[HOAs] may not prohibit display of signs regarding candidates for public or association office, or ballot issues, on or within a unit or limited common element, but the association may adopt rules governing the time, place, size, number, and manner of those displays.”
HOAs are permitted to establish rules and regulations regarding the placement and manner of display of political yard signs. However, these rules and regulations must be reasonable. They can reasonably dictate the placement and manner of display of these signs, such as specifying the size and location of signs, and can require that signs be removed by a certain date after the election.
HOAs may not completely ban political signs; they can, however, impose reasonable restrictions on them. This legislative intent supports the idea that while political expression is protected, it can be reasonably regulated to balance individual rights with community standards and aesthetics. When deciding where such signs can be placed, safety and sight lines should be a guidepost. Further, when one decides to subject themselves and their property to oversight by a Board of Directors, it is usually as part of a trade-off to obtain a certain aesthetic. Most of us did not sign up to have our neighborhood be a canvas for the next Banksy.
Be a vocal American and support the candidates and propositions that you believe in. Just remember that if you are showing your support with yard signs or window stickers, you need to abide by the rules that your Association’s Board of Directors has established to balance each homeowner’s personal choices with those of the community as a whole, as long as they are reasonable.
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