How do we start a yard of the month award in our HOA?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 20, 2026

How an HOA board sets up a yard of the month award: judging criteria, rotating sections, water-wise yards, fair housing care, the prize and sign, and a first-year plan.

Part of the HOA board handbook: residents and communication.

The short version

A yard of the month award is cheap, popular, and easy to get wrong. To run one well, the board needs five things in writing before the first sign goes up. It needs criteria drawn from the association's own landscape rules, a small judging group that is not the board, a rotation so every street gets a turn, a prize small enough that nobody fights over it, and a rule for the yard sign. Most programs that fall apart do so because the same few yards win, a director's neighbor wins twice, or a water-wise yard loses to a lawn the state says the association cannot require. Plan for those three problems up front and the award mostly runs itself. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, so check the declaration's sign and landscape provisions before you launch. This guide is general education, not legal advice.

Write the criteria from your landscape rules

Judges need a score sheet, not a feeling. Build it from the landscape and maintenance standards the association already enforces, so the award rewards what the rules ask for. A workable sheet has five lines scored 1 to 5. Overall upkeep covers edges, weeds, and dead plants removed. Plant health covers trees, shrubs, and beds that look cared for. Design covers a front yard that looks planned, whatever the plant palette. Water sense covers drip irrigation, mulch, and no runoff onto the sidewalk. Street appeal covers the view from the curb, including the mailbox and walkway. Leave out anything the owner cannot control, such as the condition of the common-area strip in front of the home or the city street tree. Leave out holiday decorations too. They change weekly, and judging them invites arguments over religious displays that the association has no reason to start. Publish the sheet with the announcement so owners know exactly what judges look at.

Pick judges and rotate the sections

Do not let the board judge. A three-person landscape or social committee works better, with members who serve a one-year term and step aside when a yard on their own street is up. If the community is too small for a committee, ask a local garden club or the county extension master gardener program whether a volunteer would judge a few times a year. Split the community into sections of 15 to 30 homes, such as by street or phase, and judge one section each month. With 120 homes and 6 sections, every home gets looked at twice a year. Judges drive or walk the section in the same week, score from the street only, and never go onto a lot. Add a rule that a home cannot win again for 12 months, and that homes with an open violation or a delinquent account are skipped that month. Write that skip rule down and apply it quietly. Announcing who was skipped and why tells the neighborhood about an owner's account, which is the board's business, not the newsletter's.

Water-wise yards must be able to win

In all three of the big HOA states, the law protects drought-tolerant landscaping, so a score sheet that only rewards green lawns can put the association on the wrong side of a statute. In Texas, Property Code section 202.007(a)(4) bars an association from prohibiting or restricting drought-resistant landscaping or water-conserving natural turf, though under 202.007(d)(8) it can still require plans for review. Section 202.008, effective September 1, 2025, adds that an association may not fine an owner for brown turf during a mandated watering restriction. In Florida, Statutes section 720.3075(4)(b) says the governing documents may not prohibit Florida-friendly landscaping. In Colorado, CRS 38-33.3-106.5(1)(i) and (1)(i.5) bar an association from prohibiting xeriscape or drought-tolerant landscapes, and for detached homes the association must allow a design with at least 80 percent drought-tolerant plantings and pick at least three preapproved water-wise front-yard designs. An award is not enforcement, but a program that never picks a xeriscape yard sends a message the board does not want in writing. Score design and upkeep, not the amount of turf, and make sure a well-kept rock and native-plant yard can score a perfect sheet. Our guide on how an HOA should respond to drought watering restrictions covers the enforcement side.

Keep it fair and keep a record

The Fair Housing Act, at 42 U.S.C. 3604(b), bars discrimination in the provision of services or facilities because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin, and 3604(c) covers notices and statements about housing. HUD's rule at 24 CFR 100.7 makes a party liable for failing to correct discrimination by its agents when it knew or should have known. A yard award is small, but the committee acts for the association, so the same care applies. Judges score the yard, never the people who live there. They do not comment on toys in the yard, the language on a welcome mat, or who parks in the driveway. Keep every score sheet for a year. If an owner says the award favors one group of neighbors, the board can pull the sheets and show the scores. Have each judge sign a one-line statement on the sheet that they have no family or business tie to the homes scored that month. If the same street wins three months running, the rotation has broken, so fix it.

The prize, the sign, and the tax question

Keep the prize modest. A $25 to $50 gift card to a local nursery, a mention in the newsletter, and a yard sign for the month is plenty. Read the declaration before ordering the sign. Many restrict yard signs, so the board may need to adopt a short rule that allows the association's award sign for 30 days. Order a sturdy sign with a wire stake and have the committee collect it at the end of the month for the next winner. On taxes, the IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC put prizes and awards in box 3 of Form 1099-MISC only when an owner receives $2,000 or more in a year, the threshold for tax years after 2025. A gift card program will never come close. On Form 1120-H, at least 90 percent of the association's spending must go to acquiring, building, managing, maintaining, and caring for association property. Prizes are not part of that, which is one more reason to keep them small and to put them on a budget line of their own, such as community events, so the treasurer can see the total.

A sample first year

January: the board passes a motion. Sample wording: 'Moved to create a yard of the month award, run by the social committee using the attached score sheet and section map, with a prize of no more than $40 per month from the community events budget line, and to allow one association award sign per winning lot for 30 days.' February: the committee recruits judges, sets the section map, and orders two signs. March: the newsletter announces the program. Sample paragraph: 'Starting in April, our yard of the month award will rotate through one section each month. Judges score from the street using the published sheet, and water-wise and native yards are scored the same as lawns. Winners get a nursery gift card and a sign for the month. Homes can win once every 12 months.' April through October: judging happens in the first week of each month, and the winner is named in the next newsletter with a photo taken from the street, only if the owner agrees. November: the committee reports to the board with the winners list, the total spent, and any complaints. December: the board decides whether to keep the program, change the criteria, or end it. Our guide on how to write an HOA newsletter has tips for the announcement.

Mistakes to avoid

Letting directors judge or win. A board member's yard winning in the first year is the fastest way to lose the program. Make directors' homes ineligible during their term. Judging in July in Texas or Florida. Heat and watering limits make summer a poor month, so run the award in spring and fall and pause in the hottest months. Photographing yards without asking. Get the owner's permission before a photo goes in the newsletter or on the website. Turning losers into violations. If a judge notices a real violation, it goes through the normal enforcement process, not onto the score sheet. Mixing the two makes the award feel like a disguised inspection. Letting it drift. Put the committee report on the November agenda each year so the board decides on purpose whether the award continues.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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