The HOA Board Quarterly Winter 2015 Issue #12 | Page 3

DO WE LOVE TO BE GOVERNED?
By Brian Blackwell, CCAM

A

I like to share a simple synopsis to describe the
primary documents:

A government is the system by which a state or
community is governed. Government in some form
currently affects nearly every human activity in many
important ways. Accordingly, some political scientists
suggest that government should not be studied by
itself; but should be studied along with: 

In addition to these three primary documents,
community associations also include:

homeowners association is governed by a group
of documents which include the Covenants,
Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs), Bylaws, Articles
of Incorporation and Rules & Regulations, known
collectively as the Association’s Governing Documents.

•
•
•
•
•
•

anthropology
economics
history
philosophy
science
sociology

Do people have an instinctive desire or need to be
governed? Arguably, perhaps we do. Certainly, there
is a long historical record of governance; The Code of
Hammurabi (the first written code of law), the Ten
Commandments, the city-states of Greece and the
law courts of Rome provided much of the ancient
governing tradition that culminated with the Magna
Carta in 1215. On this continent, traditions of selfgovernment predate the America Revolution, with
the Mayflower Compact and various charters for
individual Colonies. A visit to Colonial Williamsburg
to the House of Burgesses proves that people in the
colonies took the art of governance seriously decades
before the declaration of Independence was penned
and the Constitution ratified. And, history indicates
this is an evolving process. Even the constitution
has had 27 amendments, including the original ten
in the Bill of Rights. The French expanded on
these American documents, with their revolutionary
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, and
the Napoleonic Code. Today, the idea that written
rules should delineate the powers and responsibilities
of both the governing and the governed is a tradition
firmly rooted in the human experience.
This Edition’s article is intended to help understand
the documents governing community associations;
why there is a board of directors, how the members
are impacted, and how all of the governing documents
work in harmony with one another.

• Articles of Incorporation: Govern the
Corporation
• Bylaws: Govern the Board of Directors
• Covenants, Conditions and Restriction
(CC&Rs): Govern the Members/Owners

• Condo Plans
• Rules and Regulations
• Architectural Guidelines
As well as many sub-policies such as:
• Solar Policy
• Plumbing Policy
• Electric Vehicle Policy
Articles of Incorporation: only a few
pages long and identify the corporation as an
association formed to manage a common interest
development under the Davis-Stirling Common
Interest Development Act. They state the business or
corporate office of the association, and the name and
address of the association’s managing agent, if any.
Bylaws: Establish policies and procedures for the
governing of an association, including:
• qualifications for the election of
directors
• Their number and term of office
• Their powers and duties
• The appointment of officers
• When and how meetings are held
• Quorum and voting requirements
• Appointment of committees, etc.
CC&Rs: Unlike bylaws, which address the governance of
an association, a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions
& Restrictions (“Declaration” or “CC&Rs”) describes
the rights and obligations of the membership to the
association and the association to the membership.
CC&Rs generally cover the following:
• Restrictions on the use of property
• Member and association maintenance
duties
• Enforcement powers
• Lender protection provisions
co