GREENWOOD — GREENWOOD — A Greenwood man makes a discovery about the legality of putting political signs in your yard. The homeowner found a law that many Hoosiers may not know about. It keeps homeowner associations from regulating political signs, close to Election Day.
“A lot of HOA’s may not even realize this code exist,” said Chris Schoettle, who thinks he may have stumbled upon some useful information for homeowners wanting to show their support for political candidates by putting signs outside their homes. “Scanning through Indiana code and eventually found it, I am glad I did. I hope it helps other people,” said Schoettle.
The code prohibits homeowners’ associations from adopting or enforcing rules prohibiting certain types of signs on a homeowner’s property from 30-days before an election until five-days after an election.
Schoettle only found this out after having his own encounter with his neighborhood's HOA. “This year I put a sign in my window around August. HOA, asked me to remove it. I went back and forth with them then eventually removed it."
He waited until October 3rd to put the sign back out, this time armed with knowledge that he says protected his rights. He soon noticed neighbors followed his lead. "I felt like they were just playing a bit of a power trip and I shouldn't allow them to do that," he said.
Schoettle and his neighbors have since been allowed to keep their signs out without any push back. The statute applies to signs for or against candidates in either a primary or general election. Signs supporting or opposing a party and signs urging people to vote for or against a referendum question. In addition, a homeowners’ association can restrict the size of the sign, number of signs allowed in a yard, and location of a sign.