Cohousing-L Mailing List: Are CC&R's and Bylaws Binding?

[OCCNG11 (normangauss]

When I moved into our California cohousing community, I had assumed that the  
Governing Documents (CC&R's and Bylaws) that came with our condominium units 
were indeed the standard rules and regulations that would be respected, 
observed, and upheld by every member in our community.

Yet when I moved in, I was shocked to learn that these Governing Documents are 
regarded by several key people as just boilerplate submitted to the California 
Department of Real Estate to establish the legitimacy of our Common Interest 
Development.  Ever since then, there has been an ongoing debate about the 
degree to which we are obligated to follow the Governing Documents.

There seems to be an attitude that the only rules and regulations we have to 
observe are those that we agree to by consensus in community-wide meetings.  
Since almost nobody has read the Governing Documents, we wind up debating 
issues that are already decided in our Governing Documents.

Does anybody have any perspective of whether the CC&R's and Bylaws are legally 
binding?  Does the community have the option of ignoring the Governing 
Documents? 

Norm Gauss