The Declaration for an HOA or Condo is part of the Governing Documents of the Association. The Declaration establishes the community association, the concept of members and the relationships between association, the members and the land.
For a condo, there is a Declaration of Condominium which by law includes:
• Easements for ingress and egress to common areas and individual units.
• Maintenance and upkeep of the common elements, which is the responsibility of the board.
• Define the financial obligations of owners.
• Provide binding authority to association to act for the unit owners.
• Establish the name of the condominium or other association.
• Provide the legal description.
• Provide identification of each unit by letter or number.
• Establish the ownership percentage of common elements, which is property, shared by all owners.
• Provide for the division of expenses.
• Create and defines appurtenances which are acquired by ownership.
• Appurtenances are rights of ownership that go with the property.
For an HOA, there is a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, which would include:
• Description of the common areas.
• Easement and use rights to owners and guests.
• Define the obligations and standards for maintenance of the property, which defines the basis for the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R) Committee, or the Architectural Review Committee (ARC).
• Outline the financial obligations of the owners, including the protocol for levying annual and special assessments.
The Declaration is the first and highest priority of the governing documents.
Stay tuned for the next two pieces: Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.