Political office signs arrive on an even-year schedule. For some, they are the epitome of free speech. For others, they are like crabgrass sprouting up in the middle of a beautiful lawn or a roadside clothesline with wet underwear swaying in the breeze.

The Supreme Court says they are protected speech - except there seems to be some proviso related to properties in HOAs that allow some restrictions on when signs can go up on private lots and when they must be removed.

In the State of Maryland the current law says HOAs may limit the period for display of political office signs to 30 days before the primary election, general election, or vote on the proposition; and 7 days after the primary election, general election, or vote on the proposition. OPA recently passed new sign guidelines limiting when association members may place political signs on their lots to the above Maryland law time frame.

Many association members are ignoring the new political signs Guideline.

The 2024 election date is November 5, 2024. Thus no political signs can be placed on OPA lots until around October 6th.

As of September 12, OPA's CPI department had issued 77 violation notices for political sign violations, 34 of those in the last 10 days. Reliable sources say most violators have quickly removed the signs after receiving the first violation notice letter. Three individuals refused to do so and have received a second notice.

Refusal to comply could result in the lot owner requesting a hearing before the Board of Directors and the possibility of OPA seeking to force Guideline compliance in Court.

When the political sign Guideline was passed, this commentator predicted it was useless as written since CPI inspectors lacked the authority to remove the signs when issuing a violation. That prediction may now prove accurate, depending on what action the OPA Board of Directors eventually takes on violations.

The rub is that the long, painfully involved process of OPA sending multiple notifications to sign violators, the new Maryland HOA act requirements granting association members the right to a hearing before the Board of Directors, and possible subsequent court filing, means an obstinate lot owner may refuse to remove the sign and little or nothing can be done before the date when the signs are allowed to be placed.

OPA legal counsel Bruce Bright made this clear in his post to OceanPinesForum.com where he wrote: "If owners choose to deliberately 'game' that process, knowing that their continuing violation might end before the M-01 [OPA Resolution on Guidelines Violations] process runs its course, that's disappointing and would say more about that owner than it would about the enforcement process."

Bright also confirmed the view of this commentator as to the issue of when the 30-day clock starts ticking. Board member Elainie Brady also posted her view agreeing with Bright.

Bright wrote: "The allowable time for posting political signs under OPA sign regulations (within ARC Guidelines) is 30 days before and 7 days after the general election. This is consistent with State law. Under section 8-301(a) of the Election Law Article of the Maryland Code, the statewide 'general election shall be held on' the Tuesday following the first Monday in November, in each even-numbered year. Accordingly, in my view, the 30-day time period runs (backwards) from the day on which the general election occurs under State law, rather than from the day that early voting begins."

This was in response to opinions expressed in the long forum discussion by former board member John McLaughlin and former chair of the By-Laws & Resoluitions Committee Jim Trummel that the 30-day period begins on the first day of early voting.

The entire discussion makes for some interesting reading, including former board member Marty Clarke disagreeing with attorney Bright about whether or not CPI inspectors have any right to go on private lots for inspection purposes.

Bright wrote: "The authority that CPI has (as stated in M-01) to go onto properties, reasonably and when absolutely necessary, to inspect for violations, is (in my opinion) legally implicit, based on the restrictions and prohibitions contained in the DRs and the associated enforcement powers. Without the ability to ascertain whether, where, and to what extent violations exist on properties, which in some cases might require entry to conduct an inspection, violations might continue unabated, might be hidden from view, and enforcement of the DRs might be rendered impossible in some cases. I believe a Court would agree."

The Board of Directors should enforce the political signs Guideline and take violators to court even if the case is heard after the period when signs can be legally placed. To do otherwise would allow violators to "game" the system.  Whether OPA attorney Bright would approve such an approach is currently unknown.

What do you think about political sign placement time restrictions?