Melissa Doolan, Esq. shares her insights in this featured article, republished from HOAleader.com.
As we reported last year, Florida law changed its laws prohibiting HOAs from banning owners from parking a pickup or work truck in their driveway. But that law may not prohibit HOAs from putting aesthetic restrictions on those trucks, like prohibiting tools from being visible in an open bed or ladders from hanging off or for the truck to not have visible damage.
Here, we explain various restrictions on work trucks and discuss whether this is the solution or even food for thought for HOAs nationwide.
Florida Still in Flux
The 2025 revision to Florida law that prevents HOAs from banning work trucks from owners’ driveways is still causing angst. “I’m not seeing much in terms of condos or HOAs placing restrictions on work trucks because of their appearance,” says Alessandra Stivelman, who is board-certified in condo and planned development law and a partner at Eisinger Law in Hollywood, Fla.
“But I have had many associations thinking of challenging whether the 2025 law applies to them because of Kaufman language,” she says. “And I’m seeing a lot of opinions back and forth on that issue.”
Stivelman is referring to a situation unique to Florida named after the Kaufman v. Shere case. The term “Kaufman language” stands for the principle that, if certain language appears in your Florida governing documents, your documents incorporate new laws into them as they’re passed. In this case, it appears communities might be considering fighting the ban, claiming the new law doesn’t apply to their community because of the Kaufman quirk.
“If you’re focusing on aesthetic restrictions on work trucks, I think you miss the mark,” adds Stivelman. “But some associations really do have concerns in situations like when the truck bed is open. Kids might be nearby, and maybe you really do need to create enforcement to prevent harm. But you have to be careful. I’ve seen a lot of concern about this issue, but not a lot of enforcement or litigation.”
Appearance is Such a Sticky Wicket
“Aesthetics seems hard to address,” says Melissa S. Doolan, an attorney at The Travis Law Firm in Phoenix, who has represented community associations for the last 15 years. “Do you really want to get into regulating how something looks?
“In Arizona, it’s community specific whether to allow commercial vehicles and to what extent,” she states. “If the documents prohibit those trucks, then you have to enforce that.
“Among my clients, maybe a community will say owners can’t have ladders on a truck parked in the community,” adds Doolan. “Or they might require the truck to be parked behind a gate or in a driveway and not on a street. Some communities require owners to put something over decals on the truck when it’s parked in the community.”
It’s ladders that seem to be a big concern. “I’ve seen trucks where ladders are hooked to the side of a truck or the owner of the truck hangs work tools on the side of a truck,” she notes. “I see many problems with things like ladders on the side of trucks. Most of my clients say the ladders are unsightly.”
Are Trucks the Right Focus?
With all the fights HOAs have with owners parking work trucks, hard-to-answer questions often arise.
“A little bit of a hot-button issue for my clients is whether it’s just any pickup truck you’re trying to regulate,” notes Doolan. “What’s the difference between a truck being parked in your community and a big SUV?”
That leads to a similar point raised by Adrian Chiang, a senior associate at Swedelson Gottlieb in Los Angeles who represents about 100 condos and HOAs throughout California at any given time. “In California, almost all the CC&Rs do have some commercial vehicle restrictions, and they’re typically based on a certain weight of the car, signage on the vehicle, and vehicle attachments.
“The most common issue I’m seeing come up is vehicle weight,” he explains. “Back when many CC&Rs were written, the average car weighed maybe a ton, or about 2,000 pounds. Today standard cars like electric vehicles are heavy. Most are near or above the commercial weight limit. For instance, a typical Tesla can weigh 3,500 to 4,000 pounds. So are you enforcing your weight restrictions on all cars rather than just trucks?
“When it comes to signage and attachments to vehicles, I get it,” says Chiang. “That’s about aesthetics. Nobody wants to see all these things popping up on vehicles, and those restrictions will be enforceable. But typically weight is thrown into the CC&Rs, and I don’t know how relevant that is today.”
Think About the Effect of Your Rules
More and more community association experts are raising concerns over work vehicle limitations because they hit laborers harder than they hit office workers.
“My general recommendation to my clients is they put themselves in the shoes of the unit owners,” advises James P. Arrigo, a partner at Rathje Woodward in Wheaton, Ill., who has counseled and represented HOA and condominium associations ranging from 3 to 1,950 units for more than 20 years. “Someone may not have a choice but to drive a work vehicle.
“The way they pay their bills and their mortgage may require that they take their vehicle home with them every night,” he explains. “Maybe my place of employment is 40 miles away, and I have to begin doing my work at 6 a.m. So I really have no choice but to do that. And in some of those cases, maybe it’s not a vehicle those owners can fit inside their garage.
“A lot of associations will object to that truck being parked in the community,” notes Arrigo. “I have no issue with associations putting in place reasonable restrictions on the appearance of commercial vehicles. Forgive my language, but maybe a truck can’t be a rust bucket with junk hanging off it. And you can try to prohibit exterior equipment like ladders, but that might be what the vehicle is required for.
“Overall, I have no problem with enforcing these types of rules and regulations as long as boards are aware of the occasional exception,” he notes. “If another homeowner is complaining, ‘I don’t want to look at that truck!’ I understand that. But as a board member or association representative, I’d ask that owner who’s complaining to step into the shoes of their neighbor.
“What if all of the sudden everything changed and you had to take a job that required you to do what your neighbor does?” asks Arrigo. “You’d be looking for the same courtesy we’re providing your neighbor.
“Of course, that neighbor with the truck has to go to the association and make their argument for the exception,” he says. “But I do counsel associations to put themselves in the shoes of the people they’re trying to regulate out of their jobs.”