Court Rules HOA May Not Enforce Time-Based Restriction on Political Yard Signs

The Washington Court of Appeals recently affirmed that homeowners associations (HOAs) that are still subject to RCW 64.38 may not impose time-based restrictions on owners' display of political yard signs. RCW 64.38.034(1) (which governs HOAs created before July 1, 2018, but not condominium associations of any age) states that HOAs' governing documents "may not prohibit the outdoor display of political yard signs by an owner or resident on the owner or resident's property before any primary or general election." Those documents may only "include reasonable rules and regulations regarding the placement and manner of display of political yard signs."   

HOAs created on or after July 1, 2018 and older HOAs that have adopted RCW 64.90 in its entirety are governed by RCW 64.90.510(2), which expressly authorizes them to "adopt rules governing the time, place, size, number, and manner" of political signs. This court decision does not affect those associations.  

WA Court of Appeals Rules HOA's Adopted Covenant Is Valid Change to CC&Rs

Division One of the Washington Court of Appeals recently published an opinion concerning the power of a homeowners association governed by RCW 64.38 (to be distinguished from those governed by RCW 64.90 and condominium associations governed by RCW 64.32, RCW 64.34, or RCW 64.90) to change its set of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs). The association's CC&Rs restricted its members from obstructing one another's views with six foot tall fences and outbuildings and granted them the authority to change it with seventy-five percent approval. The association adopted a covenant increasing the height constituting an obstruction to fifteen feet and expanding the type of obstructing object to trees and vegetation. An owner argued that this was not a change to the CC&Rs but a new covenant that was not authorized by that document.

Changing the CC&Rs cannot involve eliminating an existing covenant or adding a restriction where none existed before - only modifying that document in a manner that results in less of something (fewer things are restricted or restrictions are lessened) or more of something (more things are restricted or existing restictions are increased). The appeallate court decided that the adopted covenant was a valid change to the CC&Rs rather than an invalid new covenant because it increased certain view obstruction restrictions already in that document.