6 Things a Pennsylvania HOA Can’t Stop You From Doing in Your Yard
You bought the house, but the yard can still feel like it belongs to your HOA.
Pennsylvanians who live in a homeowners association may be glad to learn that some choices are protected by law.
Here are the yard choices an HOA has to leave to you.
Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Association rules vary by community, condominiums, planned communities and cooperatives can be treated differently, and the law is subject to change, so check your governing documents.
1. Flying the American Flag
Your HOA can’t ban the American flag from your yard.
Act 93 of 2006, the American, Commonwealth and Military Flag Act, says an association may not prohibit your outdoor display of one American flag.
Congress passed the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005.
That law bars an association from adopting or enforcing any policy that restricts or prevents a member from displaying the flag.
Both laws cover property that is yours or that you control exclusively, not the shared lawn.
Pennsylvania’s law caps the flag at five feet by three feet.
Mind the size.
Your HOA can still adopt rules about the placement and manner of display.
The federal law also lets it enforce reasonable time, place or manner limits that protect a substantial interest.
Pennsylvania’s law also requires the flag to be displayed in a manner consistent with the federal flag code.
2. Flying the Commonwealth Flag
The same law means your HOA can’t stop you from flying the Pennsylvania flag.
Act 93 lists one Commonwealth flag right beside the American flag and the military flag.
It defines that flag as the one described in a June 13, 1907, act of the General Assembly.
The law excludes a depiction of the flag made of lights, paint, roofing, siding, paving materials, flora or balloons.
A flag outlined in string lights or planted in a flower bed isn’t covered.
Only the flag itself counts.
An association can set rules on the location, size and use of a flagpole, but it can’t prohibit wall brackets.
That flagpole rule and the one-flag-of-each limit apply to all three flags.
3. Flying a Military Flag
Your HOA can’t stop you from flying a military flag either.
Act 93 defines it as a flag of any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces or the Pennsylvania National Guard, plus flags for prisoners of war and those missing in action.
A military flag has to be made of fabric, cloth or paper and flown from a staff, a flagpole or a window.
Any HOA rules on a military flag must also let you fly it, respectfully, on named days.
Those days include Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day, Pearl Harbor Day and the birthday of each branch of the Armed Forces.
This year, Veterans Day falls on Wednesday, November 11.
Mark your calendar.
Psst! How much do you know about your Pennsylvania HOA’s power over your yard? Flip these cards and see how many you can call right.
4. Satellite Dishes
Your HOA can’t ban a satellite dish in your yard.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set the rule in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), at 47 CFR § 1.4000.
It blocks HOA restrictions that impair a dish on property you own and control exclusively.
The rule covers dishes up to one meter across.
A restriction counts as impairing your dish if it unreasonably delays installation, raises its cost, or keeps you from an acceptable signal.
That protection reaches yards and patios used exclusively by one household.
The roof and exterior walls an association owns don’t qualify.
Location is everything.
5. TV Antennas
An over-the-air TV antenna falls under the same FCC rule, so your HOA can’t ban one.
Unlike a dish, a TV antenna has no size limit under the rule.
The mast that holds it up is protected too.
Cord-cutters, take note.
Your antenna still has to stand on space you use or control exclusively, so a roof the association owns is out.
What a Pennsylvania HOA Can Still Say About Your Yard Antenna
The FCC rule blocks bans and delays on your yard antenna, not every rule about where it goes.
Your HOA can enforce a restriction that serves a clearly defined, legitimate safety objective, as long as it applies the rule to comparable devices the same way.
If your HOA imposes a restriction anyway, the burden of proving that it complies sits with the HOA.
6. Wheelchair Ramps
A ramp across your front yard comes with a catch the other five don’t.
Under the Fair Housing Act, homeowners associations must permit reasonable modifications that a person with a disability needs.
The federal guidance names adding a ramp to make a primary entrance accessible as one example.
The change has to be tied to the disability, so a ramp built for looks alone wouldn’t qualify.
That’s the catch.
Your HOA can still ask for a description of the work and require building permits and workmanlike construction.
Where Solar Panels Stand
Solar panels are the obvious yard question for this list.
Pennsylvania law has no rule that stops an HOA from blocking them, according to Solar United Neighbors.
House Bill 1239 would change that for roofs that aren’t part of the common areas.
The state House passed it on July 1, 2026, by a vote of 109 to 93.
As of early October 2026, the bill was still in a Senate committee.
A separate bill, House Bill 67, would add a right to dry clothes outdoors, and it has been in the same Senate committee since May 2025.
Until then, your governing documents decide whether panels or a clothesline are allowed.
Ask before you buy.
Psst! How much do you know about the American flag your HOA can’t ban? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
Flag Code IQ
Answer these questions on the U.S. Flag Code. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
A flag hangs vertically over the middle of an east-west street. Which direction should its blue field face?
Notice Before a Fine
Your HOA can fine you for a yard violation, but state law puts a step in front of that.
Under 68 Pa.C.S. § 5302, an association can levy reasonable fines for violations only after notice and an opportunity to be heard.
Answer the notice.
Under § 5102, those fine rules also reach planned communities created before the law took effect.
Those fine rules belong to the planned community law, so a condominium or cooperative may answer to different rules.
While a violation stays uncured, the association can also suspend your right to vote, to serve on the board and to use common facilities.
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