Since July 1, 2020, Idaho law has prohibited homeowner's associations from enforcing any covenant that "prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting" political signs in owners' yards.
The Legislature added the protection with House Bill 503. Gov. Brad Little signed it March 24, 2020, in the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it took effect that July. In 2022, lawmakers moved it into the Homeowner's Association Act.
Its first subsection says that "no homeowner's association may add, amend, or enforce any covenant, condition, or restriction in such a way that prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting the display of a political sign." A ban written into a subdivision's CC&Rs before 2020 may remain on the books, but the association may not enforce it. The statute forbids HOA amendments that would prohibit political signs.
The law defines a political sign as "any fixed, ground-mounted display in support of or in opposition to a candidate for office or a ballot measure." A banner hung on the house, a sign in a window, or a sign about an issue that is not on the ballot falls outside the definition, and the association's ordinary rules govern it.
The same section lets an association "adopt reasonable rules, subject to any applicable laws or ordinances, regarding the time, size, place, number, and manner of display of political signs." A rule that confines political signs to windows does not fit that language because it effectively prohibits the one kind of sign the law protects. The statute does not define "reasonable."
An association may remove a political sign without notice and without liability if the sign "is placed within the common areas, including limited common areas, other property or improvements owned or maintained by the homeowner's association," "threatens the public health or safety," "violates an applicable law or ordinance," or "is accompanied by sound or music or if any other materials are attached to the political sign."
For a sign on an owner's own lot, the association must first give three days' written notice that "specifically identifies the rule and the nature of the violation" before removing the sign or imposing any fine or penalty.
A fine takes longer. The power to fine has to be "clearly set forth" in the covenants, and a majority of the board has to approve each fine at a meeting. The owner must receive written notice of that meeting at least 30 days in advance, delivered in person or by certified mail. An owner who starts fixing the problem before the meeting, and keeps at it in good faith, cannot be fined. Any notice served after Oct. 4 leaves no time for a fine vote before Election Day.
