Drones, Federal Airspace, and HOA Authority

Section 1: Overview — Drones, federal airspace, and community associations

The federal government regulates the airspace above a community exclusively, so a community association cannot lawfully restrict where drones fly overhead, and it retains authority over takeoff, landing, and operation from the property it governs. Federal airspace authority rests on 49 U.S.C. § 40103, which provides that the United States has exclusive sovereignty of the airspace and directs the FAA Administrator to develop plans and policy for its use.¹ Non-recreational small drone flights operate under 14 C.F.R. part 107, while flyers operating strictly for recreation fall within the conditional statutory exception at 49 U.S.C. § 44809.^2,3 Remote identification under 14 C.F.R. part 89 is a federal obligation that runs to the operator, not a tool an association can enforce.⁴ Privacy grievances run through state tort law and state drone statutes, which vary by jurisdiction and appear in the state matrix. Interfering with a drone in flight carries federal and state exposure, including under 18 U.S.C. § 32.⁵ The sections below set out the federal framework, the line between airspace and ground, and what an association can and cannot put in its rules.

Section 2: The federal framework

2A. Federal airspace authority and the operating rules

Section 40103 states that the United States Government "has exclusive sovereignty of airspace of the United States" and that a citizen "has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace," and it directs the Administrator to develop plans and policy for the use of the navigable airspace.¹ Part 107 of 14 C.F.R. governs non-recreational drone operations. A small unmanned aircraft is one weighing less than 55 pounds on takeoff, including everything attached.⁶ The operator must hold a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating.⁷ Part 107 caps altitude at 400 feet above ground level, unless the aircraft stays within a 400-foot radius of a structure and no higher than 400 feet above that structure's uppermost limit, and it limits groundspeed to 87 knots (100 miles per hour) and requires at least 3 statute miles of flight visibility.⁸ The aircraft must remain within the operator's visual line of sight.⁹ The FAA can waive many of these limitations on a showing that the operation can be conducted safely.¹⁰ Recreational flyers operate under the conditional exception at § 44809, which is not a blanket exemption: it requires flight strictly for recreation, adherence to a community-based organization's FAA-coordinated safety guidelines, visual line of sight, yielding to manned aircraft, passage of the recreational safety test (TRUST) with proof carried, and registration and marking.³ Remote identification under part 89 requires most drones to broadcast identification and location; operators had to comply by September 16, 2023, and the FAA applied enforcement discretion for noncompliance through March 16, 2024.^4,11 Every obligation in this subsection runs to the operator, and the FAA enforces it, not an association.

2B. Where federal authority stops

The FAA states its position in the Fact Sheet on State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, issued by the Office of the Chief Counsel and dated July 14, 2023, which replaced the December 17, 2015 edition.¹² The Fact Sheet states that the FAA "has the exclusive authority to regulate aviation safety and the efficient use of the airspace by aircraft," that state and local attempts to regulate in those fields are preempted, and that this field preemption "does not depend on the altitude of the operations affected."¹² The distinction that carries this page follows: regulating flight in the navigable airspace is federal, while regulating activity on the ground by a property owner is not. The Fact Sheet notes that states have "a valid interest in choosing where aircraft may operate on the ground" and that "[l]aws designating takeoff and landing locations have no direct effect on where UAS may operate in the air."¹² In Singer v. City of Newton, 284 F. Supp. 3d 125 (D. Mass. 2017), a federal district court held four provisions of a municipal drone ordinance conflict preempted, rejected field preemption, and noted the city could redraft.¹³ Singer is persuasive district-court authority about a municipal ordinance. It is not appellate precedent, it binds no court outside that district, and it does not address private covenants. An association's case differs, because an association acts through property rights and contract rather than police power.

2C. State-law overlays

State law, not federal law, supplies the remedies for a privacy complaint. Three common law categories reach drone conduct: trespass, nuisance, and intrusion upon seclusion. Their availability and elements vary by state, and their application to overflight is still developing. Separately, many states have enacted drone-specific statutes addressing surveillance, voyeurism, and operation near private property; drawing on National Conference of State Legislatures data, the FAA Fact Sheet reports that since 2013 at least 44 states have enacted laws relating to unmanned aircraft.¹² The state matrix carries which states have which statutes, and what each covers, rather than this page asserting it. Interference with an aircraft in flight is a separate matter. 18 U.S.C. § 32 makes it a federal crime to willfully damage, destroy, disable, or wreck an aircraft, or to place a destructive device in proximity to one, within the statute's jurisdictional terms; state criminal and civil liability can also apply.⁵ Federal law also prohibits operating signal-jamming equipment.¹⁴

Section 3: What associations can and cannot regulate about drones

A. Flight, altitude, and airspace

An association cannot adopt a no-fly zone over the community, an altitude cap, a flight-path rule, or a requirement that operators obtain board permission to fly overhead, because each regulates navigable airspace, a field federal law reserves to itself.^1,12 A rule conditioning flight above the community on board approval attempts the same regulation the district court struck down in Singer, and federal law leaves it equally vulnerable.¹³

B. Takeoff, landing, and operation from association-governed property

An association can regulate takeoff, landing, and operation of drones from common areas it owns, and from lots to the extent the declaration reaches conduct on them, because choosing where aircraft operate on the ground raises a property question rather than an airspace question. The recorded documents and state property law supply that authority, and the FAA Fact Sheet reads consistently with it.¹² The authority rests on the association's property rights and governing documents, not on any claim over the air.

C. Amenity, conduct, and guest rules

An association can set drone rules for amenity areas it controls, such as pool decks, clubhouses, playgrounds, and event spaces, and it can apply general nuisance and conduct provisions to operators who are members or their guests, including short-term rental guests where the declaration reaches them. The recorded documents supply that authority. Boards must apply those rules evenhandedly, because selective enforcement against protected classes risks liability under the federal Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604.¹⁵

D. Complaints, enforcement, and what not to do

A privacy complaint belongs with state law and local law enforcement rather than a board-created flight rule, and an operational safety violation belongs with the FAA rather than the board.¹² Interfering with a drone in flight is not an available response: damaging or disabling an aircraft carries federal and state exposure, and federal law separately prohibits jamming its signal.^5,14

Section 4: Recent rulemaking and litigation

A. Recent federal rulemaking and guidance

B. Recent decisions

No federal appellate decision resolving preemption of state or local drone regulation, and none addressing a community association's drone rule, appears in the record as verified on July 28, 2026. The notable recent state decision follows.

C. State legislative activity

State legislatures continue to act on drone privacy and operation. Drawing on National Conference of State Legislatures data, the FAA reports that at least 44 states have enacted UAS-related laws since 2013.¹² The state matrix carries the current status for each jurisdiction rather than a national count.

Section 5: Interaction with state law and related coverage

The federal layer occupies flight and leaves the ground and the privacy question to state law and to the association's own governing documents. State drone statutes and common law claims for trespass, nuisance, and intrusion upon seclusion vary widely in coverage and remedy, and the state matrix carries those answers jurisdiction by jurisdiction. For a multi-state operator, the practical consequence is that the airspace rule is identical everywhere, because it is federal, while the enforceable remedy for a resident's privacy complaint is not, because it depends on the state and on the wording of the declaration.

HOA Weekly's federal drone coverage updates quarterly as the FAA and the courts act. The rules a board can actually enforce, covering conduct, amenities, and fines, appear in the Fining Authority, Architectural Review, and Short-Term Rentals columns for each jurisdiction in the state matrix.

Footnotes

1. 49 U.S.C. § 40103, Sovereignty and use of airspace (uscode.house.gov) ↩
2. 14 C.F.R. part 107, Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ecfr.gov) ↩
3. 49 U.S.C. § 44809, Exception for limited recreational operations of unmanned aircraft (uscode.house.gov) ↩
4. 14 C.F.R. part 89, Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft (ecfr.gov) ↩
5. 18 U.S.C. § 32, Destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities (uscode.house.gov) ↩
6. 14 C.F.R. § 107.3, Definitions (small unmanned aircraft: less than 55 pounds on takeoff) (ecfr.gov) ↩
7. 14 C.F.R. § 107.12, Requirement for a remote pilot certificate with a small UAS rating (ecfr.gov) ↩
8. 14 C.F.R. § 107.51, Operating limitations for small unmanned aircraft (ecfr.gov) ↩
9. 14 C.F.R. § 107.31, Visual line of sight aircraft operation (ecfr.gov) ↩
10. 14 C.F.R. part 107 subpart E, Waivers (§§ 107.200–107.205) (ecfr.gov) ↩
11. Enforcement Policy Regarding Operator Compliance Deadline for Remote Identification of Unmanned Aircraft, 88 Fed. Reg. 63518 (Sept. 15, 2023) (govinfo.gov) ↩
12. FAA Office of the Chief Counsel, State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Fact Sheet (July 14, 2023) (faa.gov) ↩
13. Singer v. City of Newton, 284 F. Supp. 3d 125 (D. Mass. Sept. 21, 2017) ↩
14. FCC, Jammer Enforcement; Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. §§ 301, 302a(b), 333 (fcc.gov) ↩
15. Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604 (uscode.house.gov) ↩
16. Normalizing Unmanned Aircraft Systems Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations, 90 Fed. Reg. (Aug. 7, 2025), FR Doc. 2025-14992, Docket No. FAA-2025-1908 (federalregister.gov) ↩
17. Long Lake Township v. Maxon, 15 N.W.3d 118 (Mich. 2024) (Docket No. 164948) (courts.michigan.gov) ↩