Patrick Barber, used with permission
As we and others have said, hundreds of thousands of people across Cascadia—and tens of millions across the United States—live where homeowners associations (HOAs) (or apartment or condo rules) ban clotheslines. Clotheslines are a quintessentially sustainable tool that saves money, prolongs the lifespan of laundry, and eliminates pollution. A “right-to-dry” movement has sprung up and won laws in six states––Florida, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, and Vermont—to render these bans void and unenforceable. In another 13 states, I have discovered to my surprise and delight, solar access laws already on the books appear to protect solar drying.
Yet in all of these 19 states, illegal bans persist in community rulebooks, such as HOA Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs), and a number that likely runs into the millions of residents do not know they already have a right to dry. Solar access laws, many of them from the 1970s, and obscure amendments to state property law hardly fall in the category of common knowledge. When Sightline sent out an email alert asking people to let us know about bans where they live, over a third of responses came from inside these 19 states.
In the map below, I have marked clothesline bans that readers notified us about (keep telling us about more by writing to editor@sightline.org!) or that I have found in other ways. The explicit right-to-dry states are those with blue pushpins marking clothesline bans. Of the 220 bans marked on the map as of today, 26 are in states that specifically mention clothesline bans as void. The solar-access-law states are those with yellow pushpins marking bans. Some 103 bans are in these states. The two green pins show bans in Utah, where individual land-use authorities may protect the right to dry. While laws in Delaware and New Jersey allow for roof-mounted solar systems and Washington law overrides bans on solar panels, these states and 27 others have no legal protections for solar energy generally or clotheslines specifically. In these states, marked in red, the right to dry is not yet protected.
View a larger version of our map of clothesline bans.
Consider one example: The Forest Heights neighborhood, Oregon’s largest ever new-home community, is located in Portland’s posh West Hills. The community boasts over 1,600 single family homes, covering 600 acres.
A pillar of the Forest Heights marketing campaign is environmental stewardship: the HOA website boasts that the community has set aside more than a third of its acreage as common green space, complete with seven walking trails and a private pond. The website promotes a “Go Green” campaign and offers residents an “EcoShuttle” service.
At the same time, and in direct contradiction to the community’s green claims, the Forest Heights CC&Rs limit placement of clotheslines to “service yards” that are “completely screened so that the elements screened are not visible at any time from the street or any adjoining property.” This amounts to a de facto ban: The average lot is under a quarter acre, and nearly all homes have two stories, so completely concealing a clothesline is virtually impossible. The ban is also illegal, rendered toothless by a 1979 Oregon Law that says any restrictions on “solar radiation as a source for heating, cooling or electrical energy” are “void and unenforceable.”
Clotheslines appear to fit under the umbrella of Oregon’s, and other states’, solar rights because systems for hang-drying rely on the sun’s radiation to evaporate water in wet laundry. Clotheslines rely on solar energy, so their use is protected where laws provide blanket allowances for use of solar.
In addition to Oregon, the solar access laws in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin all delineate a homeowner’s right to install a “solar energy system,” “solar energy device,” “solar collector,” “system for obtaining solar energy” or “solar energy collection device.” The legal terminology varies, but the letter and spirit of these laws has one overarching message: homeowners may utilize the power of the sun.
Susan Taylor, used with permission
Nationwide in the United States, more than a quarter million homeowner associations govern upwards of 60 million people. Alexander Lee, a champion of the right-to-dry movement, estimates that “more than half of them (HOAs) restrict or ban the clothesline.” If he is right, tens of millions of Americans are subject to either full or partial clothesline bans. Some 19 states, including populous ones such as California, Florida, and Texas, have right-to-dry laws. These facts combined suggest that millions of Americans live under illegal clothesline bans.
So spread the word! If you live in any of the states listed below and HOA rules have hampered your drying, take heart. The law was on your side all along. When Spring arrives, grab your clothespins and laundry basket, string up a line and hang out the wash. If anyone hassles you, point to the relevant statute. The table below specifies chapter and verse for each right-to-dry state.
The worst that could happen is that you might become part of a test case—a law suit that cements the right to dry in your state.
| State | Law |
| Florida | Florida Statute 163.04 |
| Colorado | Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act, Section 38-33.3-107.7 |
| Hawaii | Senate Bill 1338 |
| Maine | Maine Revised Statute Title 33, Chapter 28-A |
| Maryland | Senate Bill 224 |
| Vermont | Vermont Statutes, Title 27, Chapter 5 |
| Oregon | Chapter 105, Section 105.880 |
| Arizona | Arizona Statutes, Article 3, Chapter 4, Section 33-439 |
| California | California Civil Code Section 707-714.5 |
| Illinois | Homeowners’ Energy Policy Statement Act |
| Indiana | Indiana Code 32-23-4 |
| Louisiana | House Bill 751 |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 184, Section 23C |
| Nevada | Nevada Revises Statutes, Chapter 111, Section 239 |
| New Mexico | New Mexico Solar Rights Act |
| North Carolina | Chapter 22B, Article 3 |
| Texas | House Bill 362 |
| Virginia | 2010 Code of Virginia, Title 67, Chapter 7 |
| Wisconsin | Chapter 236, Section 292(2) |
| Utah* | Utah Code, Title 10, Chapter 9a, Section 610 |
* Utah has clothesline-specific protections under the jurisdiction of some land-use authorities.
Read more on clotheslines:
Jon Howland is a Seattle-based teacher, debate coach, and Sightline volunteer. Alan Durning edited this post.
me says:
LOL – Thank you for addressing one of my major pet peeves! I thought folks were pulling me leg when I learned that people here aren’t allowed to dry their own laundry in their own backyards. Never mind ecological reasons, or missing out on the joy of freshly airdried sheets, or mold in the home… from a pure liberties perspective, this is just ridiculous. I never knew anyone else felt as strongly about this as I did…
Steven Lake says:
This is such an important article. Its so important to point out that although their are laws in place to protect the homeowner that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be able to line dry without it being sighted as a problem by their community.
Ive spent two and a half years on this documentary…
http://www.dryingforfreedom.com
if you love the clothesline it might be worth your while checking it out.
Steve
PG says:
They can try to take our solar, but they can’t take away our freedom… to clothesline.
One tip – when the weather is not clothesline friendly, move it indoors. It works and all you need is a shower type rod, brackets to hold it and plastic coat hangers that you probably already have. it takes about 8 hours to dry the heavy cotton and lessens your need for the dryer by 70%. put it over your washer/dryer if you can.
it’s slow drying but will do the job when outside won’t.
xo xo
clothesliner in hiding
Georgie Bright Kunkel says:
Can you imagine, mounting legislation in state after state for the right to hang clothes on the line? Our government is getting too complicated. There must be some way for us to simplify our lives.
I wouldn’t want to go back to the farm but cities need to be decentralized so that people have more control over their own lives without too many levels of government rules and retulations.
Georgie Bright Kunkel says:
Sorry. Regulations was misspelled.
Justin says:
The argument from HOAs is that people agree to certain conduct in the CCRs. That is, they give up certain rights (say, to paint a house any color you want or to hang a line) to gain the privilege of living in that development. It’s then only a contract dispute, not a matter of rights.
I don’t like this argument, but it seems to hold up in court. The only exceptions I’m familiar with are those dealing with CCRs based on race or religion. Outside of that, courts just won’t even consider the case.
Am I wrong? Have you seen case law that says otherwise?
Hi Justin,
I think you’re right about the argument made by HOAs. The rationale behind that argument is that clotheslines are an eyesore that decrease property value. I’m unaware of any actual evidence that establishes this casual relationship, but I digress.
The exceptions you bring up — race and religion — are just two of many examples. Here in Washington State, HOA bans on political yard signs, hanging American flags, and installation of solar panels are all rendered void by this state law: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=64.38&full=true.
States can, and do, limit the reach of HOAs.
Six states have specifically named clotheslines as one thing HOAs cannot restrict. I’m not sure of any court cases in these states, but the HOAs wouldn’t have a leg to stand on since the law is so clear. Another 13 states protect the use of “solar energy devices” or “solar energy systems” or so forth. The point I’m making in the article is that laundry on a clothesline is being dried by solar energy, so clotheslines are covered by these sort of solar access laws.
I suspect that citing the state laws linked in the table above will scare off HOA enforcers 99% of the time. In that 1% of the time where neither the HOA or the homeowner will budge the courts would have to weigh in…
Stephanie says:
Hello,
In regard to this article (and thank you all so much for all your work on this!), I live in Vero Beach, Florida in a HOA mobile home community. Being Florida is now a right-to-dry state, can my HOA still prohibit me from hanging out my clothes to day? Cause they do.
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie,
In fact, your HOA cannot prohibit you from hanging out your clothes. You can point them to Florida Statute 163.04.
Part 1 of the law says, “the adoption of an ordinance… which prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting the installation of… clotheslines…is expressly prohibited.” The only exception is “patio railings in condominiums, cooperatives, or apartments.”
Florida’s law is looked to as the model, nationally — it offers the strongest protection of any state in terms of using clotheslines.
So, dry on!
Best,
Jon
Doug says:
Jon,
I just moved from a very “wet” state North Carolina to New Mexico a very “dry” state and was very disappointed to learn, today, that the neighborhood that I am purchasing a house in has restrictions on clothes lines. My question to you is do you feel that the New Mexico solar law REALLY protects you from HOA’s and their restrictive covenants? If so, I’m going to probably give it a try. I’ve hung clothes out at all the states that I have lived in (Oregon, North Carolina, Washington, Rhode Island,Colorado) and do not want to get “stopped short” in a climate where the clothes will dry in record time! Please let me know your thoughts as soon as possible as I “close” on my new home at the end of the month. Do you know an attorney that my take my case, on a low fee basis? Thanks
Hi Doug,
I feel pretty good about New Mexico’s Solar Rights Act protecting solar drying. Here’s why:
The law says you can use “solar collectors” and defines these as devices that rely on sunshine as an energy source and can collect at least 25,000 BTUs on a clear winter solstice day. A clothesline can collect much more than this. Electric dryers don’t generally measure their energy use in BTUs, but natural gas clothes dryers do: the designs I’ve seen use upwards of 20,000 BTUs for one load. And, even on the shortest day of the year, a clothesline could dry several loads of laundry.
What’s more, outside this BTU requirement, the law protects your use of a device to heat water — that’s how clotheslines work, the sun evaporates the water in wet laundry by heating it.
So, I think you’re doubly covered.
I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t recommend bringing up these facts before or after closing… I also don’t know any lawyers in New Mexico, but I’ll ask around.
Good luck! And keep on hanging out!
Best,
Jon
Kelly says:
So This is a bit confusing. I rent an apartment in California. The landlord told me today that I am no longer allowed to line dry clothes. Is this legal? Am i protected by the right to dry or do I have to stop? I am not good with legalese and would appreciate a translation by someone that understands my rights. Thank you!
Kelly says:
Might I add that we are also “not allowed” to make any holes in the walls or hang or mount lines inside. I have a toddler that makes drying racks pointless to use.
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for posting your question.
My reading of the California Civil Code is that it protects owners but not renters. So you may be out of luck.
That said, you could try to tell your landlord that “California Civil Code, section 714(a)” gives you a right to dry. I’ve copied this section below. There’s at least a chance he’d be convinced…
Your argument is that your lease is a “contract” outlining your “interest” in the property which makes the “restriction” against clotheslines “void and unenforceable.”
Good luck,
Jon
714. (a) Any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any
deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting
the transfer or sale of, or any interest in, real property, and any
provision of a governing document, as defined in subdivision (j) of
Section 1351, that effectively prohibits or restricts the
installation or use of a solar energy system is void and
unenforceable.
Suzanne Crawford says:
I live in Jacksonville, Florida and for a week now have to battle for my “Right To Dry.” I am getting nasty emails after posting FL Statute 163.04 to provide the law that gives me that right. I have been reading countless online reports on this issue. I KNOW I am right and told them to uphold/defend the old covenant is specifically prohibited.
To circumvent any excuses for prohibiting me from putting up clotheslines I even turned my request in to our Architectural Review Board–not to ask if I may put up a clothesline, but to get the location approved. I’ll have to wait for their answer.
I cannot find any reference to whether or not our HOA can tell us if we have to remove the clotheslines every time we’re done drying outside, what we can hang out there or not, the material of the contraption, or the length.
From what I can tell by some emails I am receiving, our HOA director would now be trying to go about it with those restrictions.
FL Statute 163.04 is not specific enough to answer my questions. Is there anyone out there who can help?
Hi, Suzanne,
Thanks for posting and I’m sorry you are having to go through this with your HOA. FL Statute 103.04 does indeed protect your right to “install” a solar device, including a clothesline. So, my reading of the statute (though I’m not a lawyer) is that you can leave the clothesline up. And the intent of the law seems to point toward your right to hand dry whatever you want to.
If you email me at jonhowland [at] gmail [dot] com I’ll send along the email address of someone who might be able to help, or at least point you in the right direction…
Best,
Jon