The CC&Rs - Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions - are the foundational legal document of your homeowners association. They establish what homeowners can and can't do with their property, how the association is structured, and what rights and obligations everyone carries when they purchase in the community.
They also go out of date. A CC&R document written in 1987 or 2003 may say nothing about solar panels, electric vehicle chargers, short-term rentals, or fence materials that now exist and cause disputes. Some communities have CC&Rs with provisions that conflict with current state law.
Amending them is necessary work - but it's a formal legal process, not something the board can do by passing a resolution at a meeting.
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Understand what you're amending before you start
Before drafting any changes, get clear on what type of provision you're changing and what document it lives in. This matters because different documents have different amendment procedures.
CC&Rs (Declaration) are typically recorded with the county at the time the community was developed. Amending them almost always requires a supermajority vote of the homeowners - commonly two-thirds, but sometimes 75% or higher depending on your documents. They're the hardest governing document to amend, and for good reason: they affect property rights that homeowners bargained for when they bought.
Bylaws govern how the association operates - board elections, meeting requirements, officer roles, quorum thresholds. They also require a homeowner vote to amend, though often with a lower threshold than the CC&Rs.
Rules and Regulations are different. In most associations, the board can adopt or amend Rules and Regulations by board vote alone, without a homeowner vote - though proper notice is usually required. If you're trying to address a new situation that isn't covered by the CC&Rs, ask your attorney whether a Rules and Regulations amendment might accomplish your goal without the heavier lift of a CC&R amendment.
Step 1: Identify what needs to change and why
Amendments fail or get challenged when they're vague, internally inconsistent with other provisions, or drafted without legal review. Start by being precise:
- What specific language are you proposing to add, change, or delete?
- What problem does the change address?
- Are there other provisions in the documents that might conflict with the proposed change?
- Does your state's HOA statute require or prohibit anything relevant to this provision?
Don't draft amendment language yourself unless you have a legal background. The cost of having an HOA attorney draft or review the language is small compared to the cost of passing an amendment that doesn't hold up.
Step 2: Confirm the amendment threshold and voting procedure
Your CC&Rs will specify the vote required to amend them - read this section carefully. Common requirements:
- A percentage of all voting members (e.g., 67% of all unit owners, not just those who vote)
- A percentage of votes cast at a meeting where quorum is established
- Board adoption followed by ratification by homeowners
Some states have modified these thresholds by statute, particularly to address situations where reaching a supermajority of all owners is effectively impossible for older communities with large numbers of absentee owners. Your attorney can tell you what the controlling rule is in your state.
The Community Associations Institute maintains state-by-state resources on HOA law that can help you understand the baseline before you meet with counsel.
Step 3: Notify homeowners properly
Before the vote, homeowners must receive proper notice. State law and your governing documents specify how much advance notice is required - 30 to 60 days is typical. The notice should include:
- The exact proposed amendment language (not a summary - the actual text)
- A plain-language explanation of what changes and why
- A side-by-side comparison of old and new text if the changes are substantial
- Voting instructions and materials
- A deadline for ballot return or the date of the meeting where the vote will occur
Notice sent by first-class mail is typically required. Email notice may also be permitted if homeowners have consented to electronic communication - but confirm this in your documents before skipping paper mail.
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Step 4: Conduct the vote
Depending on your documents, the vote may occur:
- At an annual or special meeting where homeowners vote in person or by proxy
- By secret ballot sent and returned by mail (required by some state statutes for CC&R amendments)
- Through a combination of advance ballots and meeting-day votes
Count the votes carefully and document the tally. Keep all ballots for a period of time after the election - your attorney or state law will specify how long. If the amendment passes, certify the result in writing (some states require a specific certification form).
If the amendment fails, you need a clear threshold it didn't reach. If it passes narrowly, be prepared for challenge - a well-documented process is your defense.
Step 5: Record the amendment with the county
A CC&R amendment is not effective until it's recorded in the public land records for the county where the community is located. This is the step that makes the change legally binding - and the step most commonly missed or delayed.
Work with your HOA attorney to prepare the final recorded document. Recording fees vary by county but are typically modest. Once recorded, you'll receive a recording confirmation with the official document number.
Update all copies of the governing documents held by the association, your management company (if any), and your document storage system. Homeowners should be notified that the amendment has been adopted and recorded.
What the HUD fair housing guidelines mean for your amendment
Any amendment that affects how the community is used - who can live there, what activities are permitted, how complaints are handled - should be reviewed for fair housing compliance. Some CC&R provisions that were standard decades ago (restricting residency in ways that tracked race or national origin, for example) are now illegal, and your attorney should confirm that the overall document doesn't contain language that creates liability.
New amendments that restrict certain uses or require certain behaviors should also pass a fair housing review before they're finalized.
The most common mistakes in CC&R amendments
Reaching out to homeowners too late. Running a vote with minimal notice produces low participation and makes the result harder to defend.
Not getting legal review of the language. Amateur drafting creates provisions that are ambiguous, internally contradictory, or in conflict with state law.
Forgetting to record. The amendment doesn't exist legally until it's in the public record.
Applying the amendment before it's effective. Enforcing a provision that hasn't passed the vote or been recorded is a mistake that can lead to legal exposure.
HOA-OS makes it easier to communicate with all homeowners at once, distribute voting materials, and keep a record of notice delivery and vote documentation. Learn more at hoa-os.com or see our pricing.
Amending the CC&Rs is one of the most significant actions a board can take. Done correctly - with legal guidance, clear communication, and proper recording - it's a legitimate tool for keeping the community's foundational document current. Done carelessly, it creates more problems than it solves.