A community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has found itself on the front lines of the movement to prohibit homeowner associations from restricting an owners ability to dry their laundry on a clothesline.

CAI was contacted about this situation for an article in the Allentown Morning Call. Click here to read the article.

The story also appeared on Philadelphia’s NBC10 on March 17, 2010. Click here to view the video.

The television news story more accurately reflects the issue of rules in a community association than did the story in the Morning Call. The NBC10 piece clearly made the point that the owners can vote to change the rules and permit the use of clotheslines if they so choose. But in the absence of such a vote, the rules must be upheld in a non-discriminatory manner and all owners, who are contractually bound to obey the rules when they purchase their home, must comply with the rules of the community.

What the story on NBC 10 appropriately points out is that associations are governed by those who own homes in the community and majority (sometimes super-majority) rules. That’s as it should be. Community associations are, after all, democracies in action.

A Bill currently pending in the Pennsylvania State House would prohibit a homeowner’s association from restricting the rights of owners to use clotheslines and other “solar drying devices.”

What’s your spin? Should the legislature get involved or should the issue of governing these private communities be left to the people who own homes in the communities?

Post your comments below. Click the link to the right to review CAI’s Blog Comment Policy. Only responses that list your name and affiliation will be considered for publication in Community Assets. Anonymous responses will not be published.

Over the course of the last ten years, CAI has from time to time engaged a national research firm to study whether or not people who choose to live in an association governed community are happy or not. The results of the latest study by Zogby International reveal similar results to the initial study conducted in 1999 by the Gallup organization. The basic finding is this – those who live in community associations are happy with the lifestyle they’ve chosen, contrary to some stories that are sensationalized in the press and that would make one believe the opposite is true.

For the complete article and information, click here to visit CAI’s national website.