All owners within homeowner and condominium associations must comply with the governing documents. The governing documents include the Declaration (CC&Rs), Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation, and Rules and Regulations. It’s the obligation of the community association to enforce the governing documents when violations occur. However, there are instances when an association may lose the right to enforce provisions of the governing documents. Court cases and statutes have evolved over the years to identify circumstances in which an association is prevented from enforcement. Here are a few ways which may create enforcement problems:
1. Arbitrary or Selective Enforcement
The association has an obligation to enforce all of the provisions in the governing documents equally, fairly, and consistently. A restriction in the governing documents is arbitrarily enforced if it does not apply to all members of the association. For example, an association in New Jersey adopted a policy of charging owners who rented their units a $225 security deposit. The court held that such a policy was arbitrary because it created a separate class of owners who were subject to a fee above and beyond the normal monthly assessments. Coventry Square Condo vs. Halpern.
Selective enforcement occurs when an association enforces a restriction against one owner, but not others. Doing so may cause the association to lose its enforcement rights with respect to a particular restriction. Each violation must be treated the same, and each owner must be subject to the same enforcement policies and procedures.
2. Waiver & Estoppel
Most states recognize the legal doctrines of waiver, estoppel and laches. These doctrines are essentially the same, and are defenses to the enforcement of governing documents. If an owner constructs or does something in violation of the CC&Rs, and the association fails to take enforcement action over a lengthy amount of time, the association “waives” the right to enforce and is “estopped” from taking any enforcement action.
An owner asserting any of these doctrines must show: (1) the association delayed asserting enforcement for an unreasonable length of time; (2) the association had full knowledge of all of the relevant facts; and (3) that the delay resulted in such substantial prejudice to the violating owner that it would be inequitable to allow the association to enforce.
Some guidance as to the length of time is found in a South Carolina case where a condominium association failed to enforce landscape restrictions for a period of 4 years. The court found that the Association was estopped from enforcement of the applicable provisions of the CC&Rs. Janasik v. Fairway Oaks Villas.
3. Changed Conditions or Abandonment
Over the course of decades, the aesthetics or architectural styles of the community may change. An association in Utah (created in 1978) required all homes to be built with wood shingles. During the next decade some owners installed roofs using materials other than wood shingles. When the association attempted to enforce the wood shingle provision against an owner, the court found that 23 of the 81 homes in the community were not using wood shingles. As a result, that requirement had been “abandoned” and was no longer enforceable. Fink v. Miller.
4. Statute of Limitations
Statutes of limitations are laws which prevent legal claims after a certain period of time. There are multiple statutes of limitation for different legal claims that may arise in a community association. Seek competent legal advice to ensure you do not lose an enforcement claim as a result of waiting too long.