Homeowners Associations Have a Duty to Enforce their CC&Rs

Homeowners associations regularly deal with issues about compliance with their governing documents such as the conditions, covenants and restrictions (commonly referred to as the “CC&Rs” ), and their operating rules. For various reasons, many homeowners associations fail to take any action relative to the enforcement of their CC&Rs after their board of directors has been made aware of facts which indicate that there may have been one or more violations of the CC&Rs. Such inaction subjects the association to potential legal actions that may be brought by members of the association in an effort to recover damages allegedly caused by the association’s failure to take action on CC&Rs, and/or seeking an injunction to compel the association to take action to enforce the provision(s) in question. More often than not the outcome of such litigation instituted by another member of the association depends on how the association’s board of directors handled the violations of the governing documents.