The governing documents, and which one wins

An association is governed by several documents that were written at different times by different people, and they do not always agree. When they conflict, the higher one controls.

• Federal and Washington state law — above everything. A provision that conflicts with a statute is unenforceable however clearly it is written.
• The declaration (often called the CC&Rs) — recorded against the land. It creates the association, defines the units and the common elements, allocates the interests, and sets out the core obligations. This is the document that runs with the property.
• The bylaws — how the association operates as a corporation: the board, elections, terms, officers, meetings, quorum, voting.
• The rules and regulations — adopted by the board under authority the declaration gives it. Use, conduct, appearance, amenities, parking, pets, noise.
• Board resolutions and policies — formal decisions of the board: a fine schedule, a collection policy, an architectural standard.

The declaration is the hardest to change

It is recorded, it binds successors, and amending it usually requires an affirmative vote of a large supermajority of the ownership — sometimes with mortgagee consent as well. That difficulty is deliberate: the declaration is what a buyer relied on.

The bylaws are easier, but not easy

Amendment thresholds are set in the bylaws themselves and are typically lower than the declaration’s, but still require an owner vote.

Rules are the flexible layer

The board can usually adopt, amend or repeal rules on its own, within the authority the declaration grants and subject to any notice and comment the documents or statute require. A rule cannot contradict the declaration — if it seems to, the declaration wins.

Start with the definitions

The declaration defines its own terms, and the definitions are frequently narrower than everyday usage. "Common Element", "Unit", "Owner" and "Limited Common Element" in particular are terms of art, and an article makes no sense read with the ordinary meaning.

Check for amendments

A declaration recorded decades ago may have been amended several times. An amendment is recorded separately and does not appear in the original document. Confirm you are reading the current version, including every amendment, before relying on anything.

Watch the verbs

"Shall" is an obligation. "May" is a discretion. "Shall not" is a prohibition. A great deal turns on which one a sentence uses, and the difference is easy to skim past.

AGM prepares section-by-section abstracts of many associations’ documents, and they are in the portal alongside these guides. They are summaries, written to be read. They are not the record. Where an abstract and the recorded document differ, the recorded document controls — and if a decision turns on the difference, read the recorded document.