13 Annoying HOA Rules That Actually Can’t Be Enforced

Living under a Homeowners Association (HOA) can get a bad rap. Typically, these organizations exist to ensure everyone is happily living under the same regulations and upholding the covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) of the building or neighborhood.

But sometimes, an HOA's power can go too far, giving them the ability to enforce everything from the color you paint your home to the exact height at which your mailbox must be mounted.

Finding yourself confused about what your HOA can actually do? Understanding these 13 HOA rules that can't actually be enforced is a smart homeowner move.

The Fair Housing Act prevents discrimination in any neighborhood, and that applies to HOAs, too. They can't discriminate against any residents (no matter whether they're owners or renters) based on race, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or other identifying factors or groups.

This is one of the more unique rules an HOA can't enforce in states with "right to dry" laws, which empower people to use "solar drying."

What is solar drying? Using a simple clothesline out in the sunshine. An HOA may determine where a clothesline can be used, but they can't prevent you from using one.

Because of the right to freedom of religion, HOAs cannot prevent residents from installing religious displays on the exterior of their homes. As long as the display doesn't directly offend another religion, it is fair game.

An HOA can restrict or prevent the carrying or use of firearms on the property, but they can't actually ban homeowners from owning legally registered guns.

Your HOA secretary can't decide that they don't like green homes and arbitrarily enact a rule banning them. Every new HOA rule must go through a majority vote before it is actually enforced.

Let's say you decided to plant a new crape myrtle out front, and a nosy neighbor has decided she doesn't like it, and she found the HOA rule banning new trees without approval.

But, unless a fine is clearly spelled out in the HOA CC&Rs, there's nothing they can do besides ask you to remove it.

If an HOA rule is going to be enforced, it has to be enforced for everyone. That means you can't let one person change their front door color while telling another person they can't. The HOA's personal taste can't come into play.

An HOA can't have any rules that are at odds with U.S. law. That means they can't prevent you from flying a U.S. flag in your yard, for example. Your rights come before the rights of the HOA.

Your neighbors may not like how your satellite dish looks, but your HOA can't tell you to take it down. The FCC's Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule (OTARD) protects your right to choose your cable television provider, which means you can have a satellite dish if you want one.

However, they can tell you where you can install it and what sizes are allowed, if that's in their rules, that is.

HOAs love a pristine lawn and neat and tidy plants, but if you have your eye on a yard full of native plants, you might be in luck. Some states have passed laws that prevent HOAs from banning native plants. That means you can plant a yard full of pollinators, and no one can stop you.

If you believe your HOA is in the wrong, there is nothing they can do to stop you from taking it past the HOA board and to a court of law.

It's not going to be your cheapest course of action, but it might be worth it if you're truly in a bind.

Because of the right to free speech, an HOA cannot prevent you from displaying political signs. However, they may be able to restrict where you hang the signs as well as the size. That means you can't get into a bigger is better war with your neighbor leading up to an election.

While an HOA may be able to prevent you from running a business in your home if it involves a sign, clients coming in and out of your home, or operating a shop, they cannot prevent you from working from home or launching a remote work business.

An HOA exists to make sure a community looks and operates exactly as its residents expect. They want to uphold standards and create a peaceful, attractive community. But, in the wrong HOA hands, that can sometimes create an environment that overreaches and tries to enforce ludicrous laws.

And, since they're not going to help pay for your mortgage, they shouldn't get to determine what your rights are and aren't.