Election Signs

In Maryland it is state law that a condo/HOA homeowner may place political signs outside of a home for 30 days before an election or referendum and for 10 days after same. I'd be surprised if Florida did not have a similar law.

For us, a much easier way to handle it was to propose an amendment to the Signs restriction allowing for, among other things, political signs xx days before and after elections, garden signs (in the landscaping bed, such as Welcome, Nana's Garden), security signs (signs warning of the use of security system on the premises), and signs on door decorations (again, on wreaths, etc, that say things like Welcome, etc).

Each "exception" was it's own subsection and was voted on independently of the others.

That way the residents get to say what they feel comfortable with that allows them to maintain property values AND personal voice.

Each section passed overwhelmingly.

We now no longer have to play Violation Notice Tag during election time.

However, until the amendment was passed, we enforced the "No signs except for sale of lot signs" covenant.

I will say this, most people did take the signs down after they received the letter. Had they not, I'm not sure what the board would have done. By the time you get attorney's involved, and try to scare up a legal remedy, the election is over and the signs are gone.

We don't have a fining structure in our documents.

Actually Michelle, your amendments may have made things worse. From what I've been able to tell from reading about court cases, when HOAs get in trouble for sign restrictions it's when they try to enforce based on content. If your CC&Rs say no signs at all, you are more likely to be able to win if it goes to court than if you try to enforce no business signs but allow political signs.

Your thoughts about the time frame is correct though. If your enforcement procedure calls for first sending out a "Reminder" notice before immediately jumping to fines, then more than likely you can send out a notice or two and the signs will be gone anyway before you could escalate to more drastic measures.

With all due respect, I don't agree. Our language was well-vetted.

I think these two links from the New York Times may shed some useful light on the subject:

Court Upholds Curbs on Signs in New Jersey
July 27, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/nyregion/27home.html?fta=y

In a ruling that could have implications far beyond New Jersey, the State Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the right of homeowners’ associations to restrict the posting of political signs and other forms of constitutionally protected speech, as long as the restrictions are not “unreasonable or oppressive.”

“We conclude that in balancing plaintiffs’ expressional rights against the association’s private property rights, the association’s policies do not violate the free-speech and right-of-assembly clauses of the New Jersey Constitution,” the court ruled unanimously.

"The homeowners’ association rules in Twin Rivers did not forbid all political signs, but allowed signs only in flower beds and windows."

However, the earlier, overturned ruling is just as interesting:
Chalk One Up for Homeowners
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/12njHOME.html?pagewanted=print

And here is an article from today's newspaper:
HOA: SIGNS MUST GOAug 16, 2008

Pat and Heather Stefl received a citation from their homeowners association for posting election signs in the yard of their Stafford home.

Volunteer homeowners were once responsible for inspecting the community of 454 homes. But last year, the neighborhood's management company, Landmarc Real Estate, took over that task.

"It just became too much of a job for volunteers," said Linda Solomey, the community's property manager.

Two other homeowners also have been cited for displaying campaign signs, according to Landmarc.

Homeowners with a violation receive two warning letters. If they fail to correct the problem, they must come before the full board of directors at an HOA meeting. The HOA can order payment of a one-time $50 fine or up to $10 a day for up to 90 days.

fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/082008/08162008/402401 - 46k - 7 hours ago -

Kirk and all,

As I posted above, I am not in favor of any signs being posted in the HOA.

My Fl home had the covenant where NO signs were allowed. None!. For sale signs were an item that was treated with a clear plastic 8-1/2 X 11 box which hung from a cross bar under the mailboxes. Everyone knew what they were for including agents and people who had gotten thru the gates without being buzzed in (another subject). It said on the front of the box--"HOME FOR SALE"

Then comes the 2004 elections. The State had a couple of referendums , one which was a very hot subject all around our country.It was abortion/stem cell use, etc. Now we have a resident who is a Dr, fully in favor of the subject. He erected a 5' X 10' sign on his front yard. Before the last hammer swing was put to it, his neighbor had an anti sign, the guy across the street had 7 G.W.Bush signs up. This was in our Estate section where homes were near $800,000. I don't need to tell you that as fast as our P.M could get them down, they sprouted up in another spot.

Every once in a while, someone will try another sign but the neighborhood and association learned from this experience that if the covs say NONE, then it has to be none, no matter what the subject is.

Here we go parsing words again, and splitting hairs.

So be it. The amendment that was approved stated:



So even IF a generic "political" sign not in conjunction with an election were placed on a lot, and it would still be restricted to the time frame above and be confined to a certain size.

Michele,

Were I king of Hoosierland associations, I would ban all signs. I think political signs are especially tacky. And next come real estate open house signs. But I am on the losing side of that one.

Nevertheless, two observations/questions from your post.

It appears that there is no restriction on the number of signs on any one lot/unit. Could a resident display one sign for every candidate and issue? A yard full of signs?

What about non-public elections? What about elections for the association board, or for issues coming up for a membership vote? What about elections to the local PTA board? It appears that signs for these could be displayed as well. Would you say that is intended in the rule.

Oh, and by the way, were I a practicing attorney, I would have a field day in court with the verbiage, "and approval may be arbitrarily and unreasonably withheld." Dems fightin' words, if I ever heard any. Any rule or decision that is arbitrary or unreasonable is contrary to public policy and even contract law.

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Q: What do they call a good-looking, intelligent female in Kentucky?

A: A Tourist.

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The wording regarding Arch Comm approval is on every subsection. It is common language in many covenants and has been tested at various times in various cases that have bubbled up in court. No, I can't cite any, but our vetting process, which also included a retired judge, was pretty thorough.

Also, I retyped the content, (I don't have it on this computer to cut and paste), and it actually does say OR.

The main portion of the Signage section limits signs on lots to one.

If you notice, that is subsection V. (five).

And/Or aside, I support language such as that being discussed. Makes things easier for Boards, and is simple for HOs to understand, despite the obvious fact that it can also be used for favoritism and/or punishment and/or retaliation.

Political signs only confirm to me that my political philosophy is clearly in the minority in our neighborhood.

But if they were not effective, they would not be so prevalent.

Goerge,
Actually, as a Journalism major in school, we studied advertising, which is basically what the purpose of the signs are. Anyhow, signage is an antiquated form of advertising, used at a time when there was no e-mail, no T.V., and all of our modern means of communication. So some creative ad guy figured out that if you stuck your message on a billboard, many folks will see your message. Political signs are a form of that type of advertising. They are basically alot cheaper than many other forms of getting your message out. I think that we have moved past their effectiveness but thank gosh for them because so many of these print shops would be looking for new clients. And we would not have to go out with trucks to pick them out of the ditches.

Michele,

Fell free to take offense (your vetted language, not mine), but I was simply stating the obvious. When I think Discretion, Arbitrary and/or Unreasonable don't imediately pop into my mind. Reasonable does.

I place a sign in my unpstaris window and will be putting a bumper sticker on my car. That will work.

Our signs do not need to be approved prior to posting.

The only "review" is when or if a resident complains of an offensive or inappropriate sign.

If a sign violates the restriction (there are 5 different types of signs permitted by the restriction), then we request it be removed.

If it doesn't violate the restriction, it stays.

Period.

Dwight,
I agree. To me its all or nothing. Allowed or not allowed because there is always going to be some smart pants who finds just the smallest loophole and away we go with the arguements