Misunderstanding Covenants/Bylaws

1. Board members are different than Officers.
2. Board members are voted on by homeowners, officers are voted on by board members
3. You do not have to be a homeowner to be an officer
4. Officers don't vote, Board members vote.

What covenants are and that they even exist.

1. Laws regulating HOAs in other states do not apply here.
2. A survey is not a vote.
3. Your tenant has to follow the same rules as everyone else.
4. A budget is a blueprint. It is not rigid. If something needs to be fixed and we didn't budget for it, we will probably fix it anyway.
5. We can raise the monthly charge. We do not need your vote to do it. We do not raise the monthly charge except when we need to.
6. You cannot fire or call a building vendor or give them instructions. Only the board can do so, or the manager because the board has authorized them to.

Many newer associations’ bylaws are poorly written, as they are usually cut and paste from older ones. The developers don’t GAF about what happens to the community after they leave, so they out little effort into the governing documents.

OUR HOA was ONLY responsible for LAWNCARE! (We did have a clubhouse/pool). The HOA paid for everyone's yard to be cut/maintained.

Thinking that the HOA insurance was THEIR insurance. Had a few over the years NOT get homeowner's insurance thinking the HOA covered them.

Sign restrictions were For SALE/RENT only.

any phrase in the docs that starts with Wherefore or Therefore.

Amusing and spot on!

There’s often confusion between the two; people often think “bylaws” are all the community rules. I don’t want to get into a pedantic argument with them, so I usually just refer to “the governing documents”.

I agree. Best post yet on the subject.

Honestly, most of our residents have never read and have no idea the difference between Covenants, Bylaws, and Rules; so they don't even know enough to misunderstand any of it. As a new community, the biggest misunderstands to me are the roles of the Developer (a large local construction company that only recently got involved in residential work), the Builder (a well-known, national, home builder that has the exclusive rights to building homes here), the property manager, and the board.

Most assume the Builder is who built the clubhouses (No, the developer did that) and is responsible for maintenance of our common grounds (No, the developer is responsible for that but eventually it will be the Association.) They also think the property manager should make repairs to our common elements (Nope, still the developer.) Many think that our on-site property manager is a fellow resident and don't realize she is a paid employee.

When I was on the board I created a Welcome Committee to meet every new resident and explain all of this. Unfortunately, new owners are so overwhelmed with the move that they don't seem to absorb any of the information they are given.

FYI

I was one of the original buyers in our patio home HOA. As part of the sale process the Declarant had a potential buyer sign for a copy of and initial each page of the Covenants, Bylaws, and R&R's. As time goes on our issues are rarely with original buyers. The problems are more with 2nd or later buyers. Claiming they did not get a copy of the docs and/or the seller said so and so, and/or the real estate agent said so and so. The prime claim being the real estate agent said so and so when I asked them. Real estate agents are the cause of more grief for us grief then any others.

Thelanguage of "trust" isn't commonly used in CA, if at all, and maybe not in many states. You're right to point out there's lots of variation among states.