Court Says HOA Cannot Treat Every Political Display as a Prohibited “Political Campaign Sign”

In this case, the court considered whether an HOA could prohibit an owner from displaying a flag containing political commentary under a covenant that banned “political campaign signs.” The homeowner displayed a flag first saying “Biden Sucks” and later “Let’s Go Brandon.” The HOA treated the display as a prohibited political campaign sign and sued for injunctive relief after the owner refused to remove it.

The relevant covenant prohibited signs without board approval and further stated that “no political campaign signs shall be permitted.” The HOA argued that the flag violated this restriction because the phrase was political and understood as criticism of then-President Biden. The owner argued that the flag expressed a political viewpoint, but did not advocate for or against a candidate, campaign, election, or ballot measure.

The trial court sided with the HOA. An advisory jury found that the flag was a sign and that the “Let’s Go Brandon” flag was a prohibited political campaign sign. The trial court adopted that finding and entered an injunction requiring the owner to remove the display.

The appellate court reversed that portion of the ruling. The court held that the covenant prohibited “political campaign signs,” not political speech generally. The court emphasized that political significance alone was not enough. A political viewpoint does not become a political campaign sign unless it advocates the election or defeat of a candidate, promotes a campaign, urges a vote, supports or opposes a ballot measure, or otherwise seeks electoral action. Because the flag did none of those things, the court held that it fell outside the scope of the restriction as written.

The court’s ruling was careful and narrow. It did not hold that HOAs can never regulate signs, flags, or political displays. It also did not hold that this particular phrase could never violate a differently worded covenant. Instead, the court held that this HOA’s declaration, as written, did not: