[who_would_fardels_bear]

A doorway is different than a front lawn. HOAs, especially those run by retirees with large amounts of free time, have crafted very intricate rules to handle all manner of situations.

My HOA will let you put stuff on your balcony, but nothing can be permanently attached. So you can put up some plants to block people from seeing you while you're on your patio, but you can't put up fencing attached to the railing even though the result is similar.

The devil is in the details.

Fortunately all of the units in my HOA have stairs so there are very few retirees here. So the rules are far less onerous on us than the Prisoners at The Villages.

[SaveFerris]

(the Prisoners at The Villages.)

OK that made me laugh

[Angelino97]

A doorway is different than a front lawn.

It is and it isn't.

The Constitution's ban on religious discrimination is powerful, and can strike down "clever" HOA rules.

Can you imagine if lawn ornaments were permitted, but nothing on doorways? And a Christian put a cross on their lawn? In such a case, a Jew might correctly argue that the HOA rules are carefully crafted to permit Christians to express their beliefs, but ban Jews from doing so.

That argument also works in reverse.

HOA rules cannot be so "carefully crafted" that it results in unequal treatment of a race, religion, gender, etc.

[Angelino97]

If fact, just imagine this. An HOA rule that says nothing can be posted on a doorway. This rule applies equally to all religions.

Do you think that would stand?

I'm guessing not, because it would unequally impact Jews, for obvious reasons.

"Disparate impact" is often used to strike down laws and even HOA rules (on the basis of anti-housing discrimination laws).