Bylaws

Did the attorney say WHY he or she considered them weak? Was he or she referring to all of them or just a few? And are you sure he/she meant the bylaws? Usually, the bylaws dictate how the association is to be run, like how many people can serve on the board. The CCRs concern how the common areas are to be used, so this is where your see rules on renting (like your last post) exterior changes, etc.

Go back to the attorney as ask for more details and what sections should be strengthened and how. If he or she isn't very good at explaining, you may need to find another one who will take time to do so. That said, not everything in HOA land will be addressed in the documents -most give the board the ability to adopt additional rules to flesh out the documents. You should be reading them yourselves to determine that.

Finally, there's no guarantee any rule will stand up in court. That will vary, depending on the judge and facts of the case. The key is to set reasonable rules, have an appeals process, such as the homeowners on why they should care, and being fair and consistent in enforcing them. You will always have people who push back so try to set yourself up for success the first time. All this should help you with your third question.

You've asked several questions that make me think you live in a new community, and like a lot of new communities, the developer probably didn't give you much guidance on how the homeowners should run it once they took charge. You may want to check out the community association institute website (CAI), which has lots of information brochures and books (and webinars) for new and experienced board members on a number of topics. There may even be a chapter in your area that sponsors seminars. Those are good for meeting homeowners from other communities with which you can exchange war stories and get ideas on best oractices, vendors to consider or avoid, etc.

Write the violation letter anyway. Sometimes this is enough to get a member to correct the violation. If push comes to shove, then come back here and post. Folks here will be happy to advise about whether your association should take the violation to court.

A few observations:

-- In my opinion, the above insinuates a meaning of "selective enforcement" that is not legally correct. In large part the reason it is not correct is for the reason you gave: In a dispute that lands in court, the defendant condo member, accused of violating covenant x, would say simply: "Well the condo association is not enforcing covenant y. This means it cannot enforce covenant y." But this is not how covenants work.

-- Many condominium's Bylaws/Master Deed state that an association's failure to enforce a covenant does not translate to the association's not being able to enforce the covenant in the future.

-- You can google and see definitions of "selective enforcement." Off the top of my head, it means that the association is enforcing a covenant against Member 1 but not against Member 2.

-- If you can somehow provide a link to your Master Deed (redacting all identifying information) and bylaws (again,redacting identifying information), this would be the best way to get responses here that are meaningful. The site does not want the names of actual HOAs/condos used here. I presume this is to protect the site from litigation (frivolous or otherwise).