Homeowners' association rules don't violate state constitution, rules New Jersey Supreme Court

Rules and regulations enacted by a homeowners' association governing the posting of signs, the use of the community room and access to its newsletter did not violate state constitutional guarantees of free expression, the New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled.

The defendant was a nonprofit

The stated purpose of the rules governing signage was to preserve aesthetic value in the common areas and to facilitate lawn maintenance and leaf collection. The association charged rent for using the community room to pay for maintenance costs. The purpose of the newspaper was to provide residents with news and information about the community, and its content was determined by an editorial committee.

The plaintiffs sued the association seeking to invalidate various rules and regulations. They claimed the association effectively assumed the role of a municipality and therefore its rules and regulations should be subject to the free speech and association clauses of the state constitution.

A trial judge held that the association was not a "quasi- municipality," as plaintiffs claimed, and its rules and regulation were therefore subject to the state constitution.

The New Jersey Supreme Court agreed.

"[W]e find the nature, purposes, and primary use of [the defendant's] property is for private purposes and does not favor finding that the [defendant's] rules and regulations violated plaintiffs' constitutional rights. Here, the [defendant] has not invited the public to use its property.

"[Further, the defendant] permits expressional activities to take place on plaintiffs' property but with some minor restrictions. Those limitations are clearly not an 'untoward interference with' or a 'confiscatory restriction' on the reasonable use by plaintiffs' on their property implicating due process standards."

Committee for a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Homeowners' Association (Lawyers USA No. 9937046) New Jersey Supreme Court No. A- 118-122-05. July 26, 2007.

Credit: Lawyers USA Staff