Civil Code section 4750.10 will become effective in 2016 and makes unenforceable any provision of the governing documents that effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts an owner's ability to use a clothesline or drying rack in the owner's backyard.  Restrictions of this nature are common in CCR's. The following is typical language contained in such a restriction:

 No laundry shall be dried and no exterior clotheslines, cloths poles, or the like, shall be erected or maintained by any owner except within the interior of such owner's respective condominium unit or appurtenant courtyard, provided further, that in no event shall any clothesline be erected or maintain where such clothesline is visible from any other unit, or from any other portion of the project.

 Commencing in 2016 provisions of this nature will be void and unenforceable. The new law still allows provisions that impose reasonable restrictions on an owner's backyard for the use of a clothesline or drying rack. Reasonable restrictions are those that do not significantly increase the cost of using a clothesline or drying rack. The section applies only to backyards that are designed for the exclusive use of the owner. Clotheslines and drying racks may still be prohibited in other portions of the project.