Can Texas HOAs, apartment complexes restrict political signs?

With election season underway, campaign ads and signs have become commonplace across Texas. But two places that might have restrictions or limitations on campaign signs? Homeowner association-run neighborhoods and apartment complexes. Under Texas Election Code, the state outlines that property owners’ associations — i.e., HOAs — “may not enforce or adopt a restrictive covenant” that outright bans political signs within 90 days before Election Day or 10 days after the election. However, that doesn’t mean homeowners necessarily have free rein, said Chad Ruback, a Dallas appellate lawyer. “The HOA can require that the sign be mounted in the ground on a stake, as opposed to in a window or out on a balcony,” Ruback said. “An HOA can prohibit a resident from displaying more than one sign for a candidate, or more than one sign for a ballot measure.”

What are the rules for political, social issue signs in HOAs? While HOAs are required to allow political signs during the allotted timeframe, that doesn’t mean all signs yearround get a free pass. Ruback said under state law, HOAs can legally restrict signs to specific items on that election’s ballot, such as candidates or propositions up for a vote. With us entering the 2022 midterm elections, a sign for a political candidate in the 2024 presidential election, for example, could legally be prohibited, if an HOA chose to ban them. Similarly, signs related to social issues — such as those displaying “Black Lives Matter” or “Back the Blue” — can be banned since those aren’t specific ballot items up for election. “Those social justice themes, those social justice causes are not specifically on the ballot. While they might be generally perceived as aligning with one party or another or one candidate or another….those are not directly on the ballot anywhere,” he added. That isn’t to say an HOA is required to ban political signs outside the Election Day window. It’s up to the discretion of an HOA board to opt whether or not to allow political or social issue signs beyond the 100-day grace period, as outlined in a deed or HOA community rules.