New Supreme Court Ruling Could Prohibit Use of Open House Signs

As a real estate salesperson trying to direct open house traffic to your listing, one of your most effective tools is the A-frame sign (the signs you see propped up on street corners every weekend pointing in the direction of open houses).  At busy intersections you might even see 3 or 4 from different brokerages.

In addition to helping funnel buyers into your open houses, A-frames are also a way for brokerages to build brand recognition.  They are usually emblazoned with your company logo and colors, so even when passerby aren't headed to your open houses, the signs and your company gradually become familiar.

However, due to a recent Supreme Court ruling, the right to display these signs on public property may be in jeopardy.  The ruling states that any sign regulation passed by a city government must be content-neutral, meaning restrictions can be placed on the placement, type, or size of a sign, but not on it's message.  As a consequence of this ruling, any municipality with an active sign code will be forced to re-evaluate the regulations to ensure they are content neutral.

This puts the use of open house signs in jeopardy because many cities permit their use only through an exemption to their sign code.  Upon re-evaluation, these exemptions will likely be seen as non-content neutral, leaving city lawmakers with two options:

1) Grant the right to place directional signs to everyone, not just real estate brokerages.  This means gun shops, liquor stores, adult entertainment stores etc.

2) Throw out all sign exemptions so that no businesses can display directional signs.

The second choice would be the easier, so many cities are likely to go that route barring some lobbying from Realtor Organizations.  The Supreme Court ruling does leave room for exemptions to a sign code if the exemption serves a compelling government interest, and Realtor Organizations will likely use this as the grounds to their lobbying since the Supreme Court has in the past cited open house signs as an asset to fair housing practices.

One thing is for sure: RealSmart Properties, and other brokerages across the nation, will be waiting eagerly to see how this all plays out at the local level.  We rely heavily on A-frame signs, especially when we have listings in areas that can be tough to navigate like Emerald Hills.