The Parity Act Failed Again. Here's Your 2026 HOA Plan.
The Amateur Radio Parity Act has failed six times since 2014. A sober look at the current legal landscape and what HOA hams can realistically do in 2026.
The Amateur Radio Parity Act (or whatever name it is using this Congress) has been introduced, passed a committee, nearly made it to the Senate floor, and died. Six times. The seventh version was introduced in 2025 under yet another name. It will probably die too.
That is the honest summary. Everything that follows is what you do with that information.
A Decade of Stalled Bills
The legislative history here is worth knowing, not because it is going to change but because operators keep asking "what is the current status" and the answer is always the same: introduced, waiting for a floor vote, then gone when the Congress ends.
| Year | Congress | Bill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 113th | H.R. 4969 | Introduced; died without Senate action |
| 2015-2016 | 114th | H.R. 1301 / S. 1685 | Passed House on voice vote (Sept 2016); died in Senate Commerce Committee |
| 2017 | 115th | H.R. 555 / S. 1534 | Passed House (Jan 2017); withdrawn from Senate Commerce Committee markup (Oct 2017) |
| 2019 | 116th | H.R. 466 | Introduced; ARRL Board withdrew FCC petition and issued "reassess approach" statement (Jan 2019); died |
| 2021-2024 | 117th-118th | H.R. 4006 / S. 3690 | Introduced; no floor votes |
| 2025-2026 | 119th | H.R. 1094 / S. 459 | Introduced as Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act; ARRL supports; no votes as of May 2026 |
The 2017 cycle was the closest the legislation ever got. The bill had passed the House. It was in Senate Commerce Committee markup. Then the Community Associations Institute (the trade group that represents HOA management firms) applied enough pressure to pull it from the schedule. It did not come back that Congress. ARRL's January 2019 Board statement acknowledged the stall: "this pause is not, and should not be interpreted as an abandonment of its efforts to obtain relief from private land-use restrictions." That language is still the most recent definitive board statement on the subject.
Seven years later, nothing structural has changed. The Community Associations Institute has the same interest in keeping HOA land-use authority intact. The Senate Commerce Committee has the same dynamics. A bill introduced in the 119th Congress faces the same political math that killed it in the 113th, 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, and 118th.
The 2025 Rename Matters, Even If It Won't Save the Bill
The 2025 reintroduction changed the name from "Amateur Radio Parity Act" to the "Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act" (H.R. 1094 / S. 459). This is not cosmetic.
The old frame (Parity Act, 2014 through 2024) argued fairness: TV antennas and satellite dishes get federal preemption under OTARD, so amateur radio antennas should too. The argument was legally coherent. It was also vulnerable on jurisdictional grounds: OTARD is a reception-device rule, and amateur radio is a two-way communications service. Apples and oranges, politically speaking, which is what CAI argued.
The new frame argues civic infrastructure. Amateur radio is emergency communications capability. HOA restrictions degrade that capability at a neighborhood level. The bill protects the country's ability to communicate during disasters.
That is a stronger lobbying argument in 2026 than it was in 2014. Recent disaster cycles (hurricanes, wildfires, multi-day power outages) have made EMCOMM arguments more legible to legislators who represent affected districts. The ARRL's lobbying has converged on the same register this site uses: amateur radio as civic contribution, not personal hobby defended against HOA boards.
It is worth noting that convergence. Not because ARRL endorsement changes anything (they endorsed the previous six versions too) but because the framing is accurate. ARES and RACES networks activate during declared emergencies. Operators who can operate HF from home are part of that infrastructure. That is the actual case for why the restriction matters.
None of this changes the political math. The 2025 reintroduction has bipartisan sponsorship in both chambers: Senators Wicker (MS) and Blumenthal (CT) in the Senate, Representatives Pfluger and Courtney in the House. Bipartisan is better than partisan. It is not enough, by itself, to move a bill through Senate Commerce against organized opposition.
The realistic expectation for H.R. 1094 / S. 459: it dies in committee before the 119th Congress ends, and the 120th Congress introduces another version.
What Has Not Changed
The legislative stall does not mean the regulatory landscape has gotten worse. It has not gotten better either. These three points are the ones that matter for your actual antenna decision:
PRB-1 applies to municipal restrictions. It does not apply to your HOA. PRB-1 is the FCC's 1985 preemption ruling that limits what a local zoning ordinance can do to amateur radio antennas. A municipality's antenna regulation must "reasonably accommodate" amateur radio communications and be "the minimum practicable regulation." That protection is real and has teeth. The gap is that PRB-1 was specifically held not to extend to private land-use agreements. Your CC&R is a private contract, not a municipal ordinance. The entire reason the Parity Act exists is to close that gap. Since it has not passed, the gap is still open.
OTARD does not cover ham antennas. The Over-the-Air Reception Devices rule (47 CFR 1.4000) protects TV antennas, satellite dishes, and certain wireless broadband equipment from HOA bans. It does not apply to amateur radio transmitting antennas. The FCC issues both rules, they address antenna installation on private property, they look similar on the surface. They are distinct. If your HOA sends a compliance notice citing "OTARD doesn't protect your antenna," they are correct. Quoting OTARD back at them does not help you. PRB-1 is the relevant instrument, and PRB-1's reach stops at your property line versus the municipality.
CC&R restrictions on amateur antennas are enforceable. If your CC&R contains language banning "antennas," "antenna structures," or "exterior modifications" that a reasonable interpretation covers your installation, that ban is legally enforceable in 2026. An HOA can take you to civil court over it. They often win. Your leverage depends entirely on what the CC&R language actually says, what your state's law adds, and whether you have grounds to negotiate a reasonable accommodation.
State laws vary and some change the math. Several states have passed their own PRB-1 equivalents that DO extend to private land-use restrictions. These are the so-called "state PRB-1" laws. Texas, Oregon, Virginia, and Massachusetts have meaningful protections at the state level; California and Florida have intermediate ones; most states have nothing. The ARRL maintains a state-by-state reference at arrl.org/state-prb-1-laws. Pull your state's specific law directly from the state code before relying on any summary, including that one. The list lags, and the stakes are high enough to verify firsthand.
What HOA Hams Should Actually Do in 2026
It is reasonable to be frustrated that a decade of lobbying has produced no statutory protection for operators in restricted spaces. That frustration is widely shared. So are the workarounds.
The right sequence is:
First, pull the CC&R, not the HOA bylaws. They are different documents. The CC&R contains the enforceable property restrictions. The bylaws govern how the HOA board operates. Most operators conflate them and read the wrong document. The antenna language is in the CC&R.
Find the words "antenna," "satellite dish," and "structure" in the CC&R. Count the appearances. If "antenna" appears zero times and only "structure" is restricted, you may have more room than you think. A wire run along the roofline is not obviously a structure in every jurisdiction. If "antenna" appears by name, you are dealing with a specific restriction and you need to know exactly what it says.
Check your state's PRB-1-equivalent law. Use the ARRL state list as a starting point; verify directly against your state code. Most state laws with HOA antenna protections require good-faith negotiation before you can invoke statutory protection. Skip that step and you lose the protection.
If your CC&R explicitly bans antennas and your state has no protection: outdoor permanent installation is not legally available without HOA approval. Your three viable paths are stealth, attic, and portable operation.
The rest of this depends on which path matches your specific constraints. That is what the decision tree article is for.
Stealth and Flagpole Verticals
Flagpole verticals are the highest-performing stealth option for HOA lots. Several commercial products are designed specifically for this: a flagpole that is also a multiband vertical, built to satisfy dual-use clauses in CC&Rs that allow decorative structures but ban antennas by name. The legal argument is that the flagpole is primary and the antenna function is incidental. Whether that argument holds in your specific CC&R depends on the exact language.
Performance trade-offs, price range, and what situations each option is suited for are covered in depth in the flagpole antenna comparison guide.
Magnetic Loops
Magnetic loops are the standard recommendation for apartment and condo operators without attic access. They are also unforgiving. The bandwidth is narrow (10-20 kHz at 40 meters is typical) and tuning drifts with temperature. They work. The work is real.
For a practical rundown of current loop options across price points and operating scenarios, see the magnetic loop roundup.
Attic Installations
A wire dipole or end-fed halfwave in the attic is the right answer for two-story homes with conventional insulation. It is the wrong answer for metal roofs, foil-backed insulation, or radiant barrier installation, all of which attenuate or detune the antenna significantly. The attic install is genuinely useful when it works and genuinely frustrating when the building materials fight you.
Portable and QRP Operation
For operators whose home restrictions are total, portable operation is the de facto path for HF. A QRP transceiver (the Xiegu G90, IC-705, QMX, and similar rigs) gives you HF capability that travels to a park, a field, a parking lot. It is not the same as having a home station, and it does not pretend to be. For many restricted-space operators it is the answer until the housing situation changes.
Club Station Access
The path that gets the least attention: if you cannot operate HF from home, a local radio club station gives you that access. ARRL clubs in most metro areas have HF stations available to members. It does not solve the home-station problem, but it keeps you on the air and connected to the EMCOMM infrastructure (ARES activations, net check-ins, public-service events) while the home situation works itself out.
Where to Start Tomorrow Morning
Pull up your CC&R. Not the HOA handbook, not the welcome packet. The CC&R itself, the document with the property restrictions. Find the antenna language. Note the exact words.
Then go to the restricted-space antenna decision tree and work through it with those exact words in hand. That article maps the constraint (what your CC&R says, what your state adds, what your space allows) to the realistic installation options. The path is specific to your situation, not general advice.
Legislative help is not coming on a timeline that matters to your antenna decision today. The legal tools that exist (PRB-1 for municipal restrictions, state equivalents where they exist, CC&R language precision as negotiating leverage) are the tools you have. They are enough to work with.