A property owners association gets its legal authority from two places: state law, and a set of legal documents commonly known as the governing documents. For most associations that means four documents, and knowing which one controls what, and which one wins when they conflict, is half of serving on a board well.
In California, Civil Code §4150 formally defines "governing documents," so this is not just industry convention, it is the legal definition boards and owners are working from.
For most associations the governing documents are the Articles of Incorporation, the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (the CC&Rs), the Bylaws, and the Rules & Regulations. Two of these, the Articles and the Declaration, are recorded in the county's public land records. Because the Declaration is recorded against the property itself, its terms "run with the land": they are binding on every current owner and every future owner, whether or not that owner ever read them or was involved in adopting them. The Bylaws and Rules & Regulations are internal governing documents, they are not recorded, but the association's members and residents are still bound by them.
The Declaration, usually called the CC&Rs, is the association's foundational document, separate from and above the other governing documents. It is often described as the "constitutional law" of the association: everything else the association does has to fit within the limits the Declaration sets. It defines the scope of ownership for both individual owners and the association, and gives the association the authority it needs to fund and enforce its obligations, including levying assessments and recording liens against an owner's property for unpaid amounts. It typically covers:
Because the Declaration is a recorded document, changing it usually requires a formal amendment process and a vote of the membership. It is worth checking whether you are looking at the original recorded Declaration or a later recorded amendment, since amendments control over the original text they modify.
The Bylaws lay out the framework for governing the association that the Declaration authorizes, covering the association's structure, the board, the officers, and how decisions get made. Board members lean on the Bylaws constantly, they are usually the first place to check when a question comes up about quorum, notice requirements, or how a vote is supposed to work. Bylaws typically address:
Rules & Regulations are the operational and behavioral standards that apply directly to residents, owners, and their guests, typically addressing things like noise, pets, use of common areas, and fining procedures. They sit at the bottom of the governing document hierarchy, which also makes them the easiest to adopt or update, usually by board action rather than a full membership vote.
In California, that process is not informal: the board has to give members advance notice and a chance to comment before adopting or changing an operating rule (Civil Code §4340 through §4370). Because rules are often where boards and owners butt heads, getting that process right matters, but well written rules ultimately protect the whole community and its common areas.
Because an association can have several governing documents in force at once, conflicts come up: a rule that seems to contradict the CC&Rs, or Bylaws that are silent on something the Declaration addresses. When that happens, the documents follow a clear order, from highest authority to lowest.
In practice, this means a Rule cannot override the Bylaws, the Bylaws cannot override the Declaration, and none of the association's documents can override state law. When in doubt about which document governs a specific situation, start at the top of the list and work down.
Our Online Assistant answers homeowner questions from these exact documents, your community's own CC&Rs, Bylaws, and Rules, any hour, and cites the section it used. The board keeps every decision.
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