Opinion No. (1998)

DANIEL E. LUNGREN Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE DICK ACKERMAN, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY, has requested an opinion on the following question: May the owner of a mobile home park, the owner of an apartment complex, or the homeowners' association of a condominium project prohibit uninvited, nonresident political candidates from distributing their campaign materials door-to-door? CONCLUSION The owner of a mobile home park, the owner of an apartment complex, and the homeowners' association of a condominium project may prohibit uninvited, nonresident political candidates from distributing their campaign materials door-to-door. ANALYSIS The question presented for resolution concerns the door-to-door distribution of campaign materials by political candidates in mobile home parks, apartment complexes, and condominium projects. The distribution of materials is unsolicited; the candidates have not been invited by the residents, and "no solicitation" signs have been placed at the front walkways. May the owners 1 of such developments ban all door-to-door distribution of campaign materials? We conclude that they may. We begin our analysis…