I recently was elected to the board of my voluntary association. In the past, some boards enforced the covenants, while others did not, believing that enforcement was unnecessary. What is a board’s
Look to your governing documents. Some associations’ documents remove any discretion from a board by mandating it to enforce the association covenants consistently. Other associations’ documents provide a board with the discretion to enforce by using such discretionary language as the board has the “right” to enforce the covenants. Often this type of document will also grant the owners a “right” of enforcement. However, your board should be aware that even if the documents do not require board enforcement, failure to do so may lead to board liability. This is especially true if your board randomly enforces the covenants without a uniform decision making process.
