Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Enforcing CC&Rs

[PAMELA LEITCH (info]

Hi Petra,

You need to be careful in how/when you “enforce” Rules, Policies, Guidelines, 
Agreements, or whatever your community calls them. Rules usually require a 
specific procedure to get them passed by the group (usually the Board, 
sometimes the Owners) authorized to pass them.  Then, most states will have 
specific procedures on how to enforce and what needs to be in place before any 
enforcement.  Your governing documents will also likely say something about the 
Board’s role in doing this.  And the Board may actually have a duty to enforce 
the Rules . . . it will depend on the legalities of what you have in place. 

The link you referenced from HOAmanagmenet.com <http://hoamanagmenet.com/> is 
generally how it works. At least one cohousing community got into a legal mess 
about this and being cohousing did not excuse them from following the legal 
method of enforcement. I recommend Community Associations Institute as a great 
place to get educated about what it means to be a condo or HOA.

CC&Rs (called a Declaration in some states) can be charged by the owners, and 
should have an attorney who specializes in HOA law guiding the process. 


Pam Leitch, JD, CMCA
HOA Coaching, LLC
hoacoaching.com <http://hoacoaching.com/>




> On Jun 21, 2024, at 8:31 AM, Petra Martin <petra [at] petramartin.com> wrote:
> 
> Our (young) community <https://fifthstreetcommons.com/> was founded by two
> couples, one of whom never lived here (but owned a unit that has since been
> sold) and the other who did live here for a while (but that unit has also
> been sold). They retrofitted intentional community into a former apartment
> complex and outfitted us with what looks like a boilerplate set of CC&Rs
> <https://fifthstreetcommons.com/governing-documents/>.
> 
> Bottom line, we inherited a bunch of rules that we had no hand in creating,
> one rule is being violated (don't store stuff in the carports), and we've
> been going around in circles for nine months trying to rewrite that rule in
> a way that works for everyone, with no resolution in sight.
> 
> Some of us are thinking, "Hey, it seems like it might be less painful to
> just enforce the rules as written," but no one has ever done that here.
> 
> So, two questions:
> 
>   - Do you have community-generated CC&Rs that you're willing to share
>   with me, so we can see how other cohousing communities have written  their
>   rules and agreements?
>   - How do you enforce your community's rules? What are the
>   steps/escalations? (These
>   <https://www.hoamanagement.com/how-can-hoa-enforce-rules-regulations/> feel
>   fairly standard for HOAs but don't necessarily seem like a perfect match
>   for cohousing/intentional communities).
> 
> Thank you for helping us work through this!
> 
> Petra Martin (board president)
> 360.202.7403
> *WhatsApp* <https://wa.me/13602027403>
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