HOA Governing Document Hierarchy: Which Rules Override the Others?

The One-Minute Answer

HOA governing documents are the recorded and internal documents that create an association, allocate rights and responsibilities, describe how it operates, and regulate property or common-area use.

A useful starting hierarchy is:

But the diagram is a starting point, not a substitute for legal analysis. Federal law controls only when it applies to the issue. Some state statutes defer to declarations or apply only to communities created after a certain date. Articles and bylaws may address different subjects rather than conflict. Local ordinances may also matter. A court order, agency ruling, plat, easement, deed, contract, or other recorded instrument may affect the answer.

1. What Are HOA Governing Documents?

Every association operates within several layers of authority:

• Government law: federal, state, and local requirements.
• Recorded property documents: declarations, CC&Rs, plats, easements, and amendments in the county land records.
• Corporate documents: articles of incorporation and bylaws.
• Board-adopted documents: rules, regulations, resolutions, schedules, and policies.
• Administrative materials: committee guidelines, applications, forms, handbooks, and staff procedures.

Some documents attach restrictions or obligations to property. Some create and structure a corporation. Others explain how the board administers authority already granted.

That distinction matters. A parking rule adopted by a board is not equivalent to a recorded covenant approved through the declaration’s amendment process. A form used by an architectural committee is not itself a source of architectural authority. Meeting minutes may prove that a decision occurred, but minutes ordinarily do not replace the formal instrument required to amend a declaration or bylaw.

When a dispute arises, do not start by asking which document has the newest date or which one the board prefers. Start by identifying:

1. The precise issue.
2. Every source that addresses it.
3. Whether each source applies to this association and property.
4. The source’s place and function within the governing structure.
5. Whether it was adopted, approved, and recorded as required.
6. Whether a later law or valid amendment changed the result.

2. The Hierarchy at a Glance

A more accurate hierarchy

The hierarchy in the executive summary can be expanded into four working layers.

Conflict is not the same as overlap

Two provisions conflict when complying with one would violate the other, or when one permits an action the other validly prohibits.

Documents often overlap without conflicting. A declaration may authorize architectural control, while a board rule specifies submission requirements. The rule can supplement the declaration if the board has authority, follows required adoption procedures, and adopts reasonable provisions consistent with higher authority.

Silence is not automatic permission

If the declaration says nothing about an issue, that does not automatically give the board unlimited power. The board still needs authority from the declaration, bylaws, statute, or another valid source. Conversely, silence does not always prevent a board from managing common property or adopting reasonable operational rules within its delegated powers.

3. Federal Law

Federal law is best understood as issue-specific. It does not provide a complete HOA code, but certain federal statutes and regulations can displace or limit inconsistent association restrictions.

Fair Housing Act

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. Disability protections can require a housing provider or association to consider reasonable accommodations to rules, policies, practices, or services and to permit qualifying reasonable modifications.

Examples of questions that may raise federal fair-housing issues:

• Must an association consider an exception to a no-pets policy for an assistance animal?
• Must a board consider a disability-related parking accommodation?
• Can an owner make an accessibility modification to a home or common-use area?
• Is a rule being applied differently because of a protected characteristic?

“Service animal” is not the only relevant category under federal housing law. HUD’s housing guidance uses the broader concept of assistance animals in appropriate circumstances. Boards should use a lawful accommodation process rather than treating every request as a normal pet-rule exception.

FCC Over-the-Air Reception Devices rule

The Federal Communications Commission’s OTARD rule limits restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance, or use of certain covered antennas in areas within a person’s exclusive use or control and in which that person has a direct or indirect ownership or leasehold interest.

Association restrictions may still be permitted for qualifying safety or historic-preservation purposes if they satisfy the rule. Coverage depends on the device, location, property interest, and restriction. “The HOA can never regulate a satellite dish” is too broad, but a blanket ban or burdensome prior-approval requirement may be preempted.

U.S. flag protections

The Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 limits condominium, cooperative, and residential real estate management associations from adopting or enforcing policies that prevent qualifying members from displaying the U.S. flag on residential property they separately own or have the right to exclusively possess or use.

The law permits reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions necessary to protect a substantial association interest. It does not invalidate every flag-related rule.

Americans with Disabilities Act

The ADA is not a universal substitute for the Fair Housing Act in residential communities. It may apply to places of public accommodation or other covered facilities and activities, while FHA requirements more directly govern many residential housing issues. Whether a clubhouse, leasing office, public event, or other facility falls within the ADA depends on its use and legal status.

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

The SCRA can affect certain legal and financial proceedings involving protected servicemembers. It is not a general HOA rulebook. Associations and their counsel should check its application before pursuing collection litigation, default judgments, liens, or foreclosure actions against a servicemember.

Federal-law checkpoint

Before treating a covenant or rule as invalid under federal law, identify:

• The specific statute or regulation.
• Who and what it covers.
• The protected activity or right.
• Any exceptions.
• The agency or court with interpretive authority.
• Whether the facts satisfy every required element.

4. State and Local Law

State law provides much of the operating framework for HOAs, condominiums, and cooperatives. It may regulate:

• Board and membership meetings.
• Elections and recalls.
• Notices, agendas, and voting.
• Record inspection.
• Budgets and assessments.
• Reserves or reserve studies.
• Enforcement, hearings, and fines.
• Collections, liens, and foreclosure.
• Insurance.
• Architectural review.
• Declaration and bylaw amendments.
• Disclosure and resale packages.
• Solar, flags, political signs, drought-tolerant landscaping, parking, or other property-use issues.

Examples include California’s Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, Colorado’s Common Interest Ownership Act, Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 116, Florida Statutes Chapter 720 for homeowners’ associations, and Florida Statutes Chapter 718 for condominiums.

These labels are not interchangeable. A state’s condominium statute may not govern a subdivision HOA, and an older community may be subject to different provisions than a newly created community. A statute may:

• Apply to every association of a defined type.
• Apply only to communities created after an effective date.
• Apply retroactively only in listed respects.
• Supply a default rule unless the declaration provides otherwise.
• Prohibit contrary declaration language.
• Permit a declaration to impose additional requirements.

Local law can also matter for parking, towing, building safety, short-term rentals, zoning, fire access, occupancy, landscaping, and permits. A simple federal-to-state-to-documents diagram should therefore include applicable local law when the issue calls for it.

State law example: mandatory meeting notice

The number is hypothetical here. The actual period and calculation method must be confirmed under the current statute for the state, association type, and meeting involved.

5. Declaration and CC&Rs

The declaration is often the foundational private document for the community. It may be called the:

• Declaration.
• Declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions.
• CC&Rs.
• Master deed.
• Condominium declaration.
• Protective covenants.

The document is usually recorded in county land records and intended to bind property within the community. It commonly addresses:

• Property-use restrictions.
• Association membership.
• Common areas and easements.
• Unit or lot boundaries.
• Maintenance and repair responsibility.
• Assessment authority and allocation.
• Architectural-control authority.
• Insurance obligations.
• Voting rights or allocated interests.
• Leasing and occupancy.
• Amendment procedures.
• Enforcement rights and remedies.

Why the declaration usually outranks board rules

Owners purchase property subject to recorded restrictions and rights. A board rule is adopted through delegated authority and generally must remain within the boundaries of that delegation. A board cannot use an ordinary rulemaking vote to perform an end run around a declaration amendment that requires owner approval and recording.

Declaration amendments

A valid amendment may require:

• A stated percentage of owner approval.
• Approval by different classes or mortgagees.
• A signed written instrument.
• Certification.
• Recording in county land records.
• Notice or other statutory procedures.

Once validly adopted and recorded when required, the amendment modifies the declaration. Always review the original document together with every recorded amendment, supplement, annexation, restatement, and court order that may affect it.

Not every recorded restriction is enforceable

Recording does not insulate a covenant from later statutes, federal preemption, public policy, expiration, procedural defects, waiver arguments, changed-circumstances doctrines, or other legal challenges. A disputed recorded covenant calls for legal analysis, not unilateral deletion from the association’s working copy.

6. Articles of Incorporation

The articles of incorporation create or formally establish the association as a corporation under state corporate law. They may be called articles, a certificate of incorporation, or a corporate charter.

Articles commonly identify:

• Corporate name.
• Nonprofit or other corporate form.
• Registered agent.
• Principal office.
• Initial directors or incorporator.
• Membership structure.
• General purposes and powers.
• Limitations required by law.
• Dissolution provisions.

Homeowners consult the articles less frequently because they rarely contain detailed parking, architectural, or amenity rules. They still matter when a question concerns corporate existence, membership, director structure, or corporate power.

If articles and bylaws appear inconsistent, confirm the applicable corporate statute and each document’s subject and amendment history. Do not resolve the question solely by choosing the document with the later date.

7. Bylaws

Bylaws are the association’s operating manual. They typically explain how corporate decisions are made rather than impose the community’s primary recorded property-use restrictions.

Bylaws commonly address:

• Number and qualifications of directors.
• Director terms, nomination, election, removal, and vacancies.
• Officer roles and duties.
• Board and membership meetings.
• Notice.
• Quorum.
• Voting and proxies.
• Committees.
• Fiscal administration.
• Bylaw amendments.

CC&Rs versus bylaws

The subjects can overlap. A declaration may state voting allocations while bylaws explain election mechanics. Read them together and give effect to both where possible. If they cannot be reconciled, check the declaration, state statute, articles, and controlling legal authority before deciding which provision applies.

8. Rules and Regulations

Rules and regulations are board-adopted requirements that implement the declaration, bylaws, law, or the board’s authority to manage common property.

Common examples include:

• Pool hours.
• Clubhouse reservations.
• Guest parking.
• Trash-container placement.
• Amenity access.
• Move-in procedures.
• Common-area conduct.
• Architectural application details.
• Pet-registration procedures.

A valid rule generally should be:

• Authorized by law or the governing documents.
• Consistent with higher authority.
• Adopted using the required process.
• Reasonable and related to the association’s legitimate responsibilities.
• Clear enough to understand and follow.
• Distributed or made available as required.
• Applied consistently and without unlawful discrimination.

What rules cannot safely do

A rule should not:

• Contradict an express declaration provision.
• Expand the board’s authority beyond its source.
• Replace an owner vote required for a declaration amendment.
• Eliminate a statutory notice or hearing right.
• Override protected activity under applicable federal or state law.
• Be enforced before legally required adoption or notice steps are complete.

More specific does not automatically mean more powerful

A detailed parking rule may supplement a general declaration grant of parking-control authority. Its specificity does not make it superior to the declaration. Its validity depends on the authority delegated and its consistency with higher sources.

9. Policies, Procedures, Guidelines, and Forms

Policies describe how the association will exercise existing authority. Procedures describe the steps staff, directors, owners, or committees should follow.

Examples include:

• Collections policy.
• Covenant-enforcement procedure.
• Hearing procedure.
• Fine schedule.
• Records-inspection process.
• Architectural-review procedure.
• Reserve or investment policy.
• Vendor procurement policy.
• Conflict-of-interest policy.
• Committee guidelines.

A good policy translates authority into a repeatable workflow:

A policy is not a safe place to invent new authority. For example, a fine schedule cannot cure the absence of valid fining authority, and an application form cannot create an approval criterion that the board lacks power to impose.

Forms and handbooks should accurately reflect the adopted documents. If a form conflicts with a policy, or a policy conflicts with the declaration, revising the form alone does not resolve the underlying problem.

10. Real-World Conflict Examples

These examples demonstrate the reasoning process. They are not conclusions about any specific state or association.

11. A Decision Framework for Document Conflicts

Use this sequence whenever two rules appear inconsistent.

Step 1: State the issue narrowly

“The board is wrong” is not an issue statement. Better:

• Can the board require approval for this exterior paint color?
• Was this fine imposed using the required hearing process?
• Does the rental amendment apply to this owner?
• Can a rule change the voting allocation in the declaration?

Step 2: Use the current documents

Ask for a complete, dated set. Check for:

• Recorded amendments.
• Restatements.
• Supplements and annexations.
• Current rule revisions.
• Rescinded policies.
• Effective dates.
• Pending but not yet effective changes.

Step 3: Identify authority and procedure separately

A board may have authority to adopt parking rules but fail to use the legally required notice process. Conversely, it may follow a flawless rulemaking process but adopt a restriction beyond its power. Both authority and procedure matter.

Step 4: Read for exceptions and definitions

Definitions determine coverage. Exceptions often determine outcomes. Check terms such as “owner,” “occupant,” “lot,” “unit,” “common element,” “vehicle,” “meeting,” “record,” and “architectural change.”

Step 5: Preserve the analysis

Boards should document:

• The issue considered.
• Sources reviewed.
• Advice received.
• Conflicts identified.
• Decision and rationale.
• Required follow-up amendment or policy revision.

This creates a more defensible, repeatable governance process than relying on informal recollection.

12. Where to Find Each Document

Do not assume the association’s convenient “governing documents” PDF contains every recorded amendment. Compare the association set with the title commitment, resale package, and county record index when the issue is material.

13. Owner Rights and Board Responsibilities

Owners should

• Request the complete current document set.
• Read the specific provision cited in a notice or decision.
• Ask for the source of board authority.
• Check whether a rule was adopted and made effective correctly.
• Raise conflicts in writing and identify the higher authority.
• Meet response, hearing, appeal, election, or court deadlines while the dispute is evaluated.
• Seek legal advice before deliberately violating a recorded restriction.

Disagreeing with a rule does not automatically make it invalid. Owners should distinguish an unfavorable rule from an unauthorized, improperly adopted, or unlawful rule.

Boards should

• Maintain an organized, current document library.
• Keep recorded instruments separate from board-adopted materials.
• Label every policy and rule with adoption and effective dates.
• Cite the source of authority when adopting or enforcing a restriction.
• Review proposed rules against law, the declaration, articles, and bylaws.
• Follow statutory and document-based notice and voting requirements.
• Provide required due process before fines or other enforcement.
• Apply rules consistently and evaluate accommodation requests lawfully.
• Correct forms and handbooks when higher documents change.
• Obtain legal review for significant conflicts or uncertain authority.

A practical document register

Boards can maintain a register with these fields:

14. Common Misunderstandings

15. Questions to Ask Before Accepting an HOA Decision

Use these questions for an enforcement notice, architectural denial, election decision, assessment, accommodation request, or policy change:

1. What exact action or restriction is disputed?
2. Which document and section authorizes it?
3. Does applicable federal, state, or local law address the issue?
4. Is the cited law current and applicable to this association type?
5. Is the declaration the original, an amendment, or a restatement?
6. Were all declaration amendments and supplements reviewed?
7. Does a rule or policy conflict with the declaration, articles, or bylaws?
8. Was the document adopted by the correct decision-maker?
9. Were required notice, meeting, voting, signature, and recording steps followed?
10. Is the provision effective yet?
11. Does a definition, exception, grandfather clause, or effective date change the result?
12. Is the board applying the requirement consistently?
13. Does the issue involve disability accommodation, discrimination, antennas, flags, military protections, or another federal concern?
14. Is a local ordinance or permit requirement relevant?
15. Should enforcement pause while counsel resolves the conflict?

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Resources

Official Sources

• HUD: Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act
• HUD: Assistance Animals
• HUD and DOJ: Reasonable Modifications Under the Fair Housing Act
• FCC: Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule, 47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000
• Congress.gov: Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005
• California Legislature: Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, Civil Code Section 4000
• Florida Legislature: Chapter 720, Homeowners’ Associations
• Florida Legislature: Chapter 718, Condominiums
• Colorado General Assembly: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 38, including CCIOA
• Nevada Legislature: NRS Chapter 116, Common-Interest Ownership